About ReStockIt.com
ReStockIt has a number of writers who contribute to this blog under the same author name. Everyone is dedicated to helping businesses operate smoothly with our supplies!
It’s no secret, Southeasterners are procrastinators. I have no doubt there are people that live in my area of the country who are Johnny-on-the-spot prepared for hurricane season in March, but for the vast majority of us, that is just not so. I’ve weathered 7 hurricanes, three of them Category Four or Five, and STILL don’t get my stuff together until a storm is bearing down on me. I was without power for almost two months after the season of 2004, which saw four landfalling hurricanes in Florida (I was in all four), and yet…I still wait. Most of those of us who have been through it, grown up with them, know how to improvise when we haven’t braved the long lines at the stores when warnings go up.
For those of you that DO like to be prepared, here is a handy list of things you should have available in your house if you are in a storm path. This works for all manner of storms, even northern storms (you just have to add alternate heating sources and blankets to yours), and some of the things are handy to have around in the middle of the year as well.
- Flashlights (fun for scary stories as well)
- Spare batteries for all battery operated items in your home
- A car power converter/inverter – they make your car lighter or power outlet into a regular household outlet
- Non-perishable food for three to four days (canned meats, fruit, dry cereal, non-perishable milk, etc)
- Bottles and bottles of water (for drinking only. Fill up tubs and sinks for cleaning purposes). A rule of thumb is a gallon per person per day. Figure three to four days.
- A first aid kit, with prescription medications for illnesses.
- Extra gas for your car
- A generator. I really can’t stress this enough. Yes, they can be fairly expensive, and you may not even use it in a season, but I learned to appreciate mine when I was standing in a line at Grainger for 12 hours in 100 degree weather, waiting to purchase one after Hurricane Charlie.
- A portable fan. No, people in the south don’t always have portable fans. We always have ceiling fans.
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Tags: better safe than sorry, first aid kit, hurricane charlie, hurricanes, hurricanes in florida, landfalling hurricanes, medication, medicine, milk, non perishable food, Prepare, storm preparedness, storms, tropical storms, water
I remember growing up, my father always had the orange, gritty GoJo in his construction trailer. And at home on the sink, for that matter. Although he was a general contractor and not a mechanic, he learned from his mechanic friends how well the stuff worked, and it really did get the grime off. My mother loved that my dad no longer had grimy hands at the dining room table. Later, when I ran a horse barn, I used GoJo in the stable bathroom to clean up after riding or stall-cleaning.
GoJo has come a long way since then. In 1983, GoJo broke out of the heavy duty hand cleaner niche and created a new one- that of dispensers (which they originally patented in 1952) and sealed refill soaps for washrooms everywhere. From there, they set their sights on new markets and countries, and their products only got better as the years passed.
I was at the gym the other day (okay…maybe it was more like a year ago…) and in the locker room showers, I happened to notice that they had installed new soap and shampoo dispensers, which I thought was a nice touch. To my surprise, it was GoJo products. I say that because I had only known GoJo, up to that point, to manufacture hand-washing soaps and as the company behind Purell hand sanitizer. Lo and behold, they now had a line of luxury soaps for body wash and shampoo! AND IT WAS GOOD!
Since we sell them on the site, I figured I would try them at the house. Smart move! They last forever in a home, and the dispenser makes it so nice! I don’t have to worry about little slivers of soap getting underfoot in the shower and no more soapy residue under body wash bottles; hey, anything to make cleaning my house easier. AND they also manufacture body lotion too! And it’s just as great as any you get at the drugstore. It also comes with a dispenser, so it’s a cinch to apply! What are you waiting for? Go, get some GoJo and make life easier!
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Tags: body wash, cars, garage, gojo, gym, hand sanitizer, liquid hand soap, mechanic, orange pumice, purell, shampoo, transportation
See what I did there? For anyone that reads this blog, it’s apparent that I don’t do things normally. Well, normal for the average home owner. I pick up tips and ideas from businesses and incorporate them into our home. My Rubbermaid kitchen storage is straight out of the restaurant kitchen. My husband is a chef, and he uses the workhorses in the kitchen at work and swears by them!
We use three different types at our house; round, square, and rectangular. All are heavy duty, and all keep our food so fresh! The square containers are my favorites, and I use them for flours (of which we have five different types), baking powder, corn meal, coffee, etc. Not only does it eliminate messy, bulky bags, but keeps the critters away. Unfortunately in Florida, weevils are a big issue. Also, they have convenient measurements on the sides, so I can pull out how much I need accordingly, with minimal fuss.
The round containers I use for pastas. Like flours, we have a lot of pasta in the house. I’m Italian, so it’s what I do best and because of these fantastic containers, I buy a lot of pasta! Plus, I’ve used them for cereals, granola, flax seed and things like that, and they keep everything from going stale. I’m also keeping all of the Halloween candy that was left over in a spare. Shhhh, don’t tell anyone.
The last one that I use is rectangular ones, and these are really my all-purpose containers. I store marshmallows (in the bag, air removed), granola bars, energy bars, Pop-Tarts…any kind of boxed item that is packaged separately. I just empty the packages into the containers and voila! instant organization. I’m all about organization, if you haven’t read some of my other blogs. I highly recommend, especially for you organizational brothers and sisters of mine, to purchase some of these gems for your house as well!
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Tags: convenient, cooking, corn meal, flax seed, food, Food storage containers, halloween candy, kitchen accessories, kitchen storage, minimal fuss, organized, purpose containers, restaurant kitchen, restaurants, rubbermaid, storage, weevils, workhorses
May 12th is Mother’s Day, and I hope that you already have the perfect gift in mind for your mom! If not, I’m here to help. I have a few ideas, especially if your mom is a classy, stylish CEO or VP. Or really, any mom that has an office…
Special thanks to:
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Tags: celebrate, chevron, desk set, fashion, gadgets, gifts, home, jadelite, laptop, mama, mamma, Mom, mother, Mother's Day, shopping, style, stylish laptop bag
Planning a party for Cinco de Mayo? What a better place to get your party supplies! No matter what type of party you’re planning, we got the goods for you! Wine glasses, margarita glasses, plates, servers…we got it all, and probably stuff you didn’t think you needed.
I’m not a “big” party planner, meaning I like small, intimate affairs, but summer parties (yes, early May is considered summer in South Florida) tend to get bigger, because we’ve got the pool, and the sun, and outdoor grills going, so Cinco de Mayo is usually the first big party of the year for us.
This Cinco will be no different. If I could invite you all, I would, but I can show you what I’ll be using at the party and it’ll be just like you were there!
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Tags: Cinco De Mayo, drinking, eating, food, margarita glasses, margaritas, Mexican flag, Mexico, nature, outdoor grills, outdoors, party, restaurants, sombrero
If I’ve said it once, I’ll say it again – I love art work that uses unusual mediums. Not just art work either, but repurposed items too. Give me a tin coffee can and the best I can do is nail it to some driftwood and call it a planter, so people who can turn flatware into a work of art have my vote. Check out the images below for some truly interesting artwork!
Photo Credits:
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Tags: art, art work, arts, cooking, driftwood, flatware, folk art, folk artist, food, fun, home, illustration, innovative, nature, owls, scorpions, sculpture, silverware
When you have a business, you have a place for your employees to gather on breaks, even if it’s the size of a half bath. Somewhere where a coffee pot sits, maybe a microwave is crowded onto a shelf, and possibly a mini-fridge where your employees can put their meals. No matter where I’ve worked, there has been some kind of set-up, whether it was grand or…not-so-grand.
We have a pretty nice break room here at ReStockIt, and tons of coffee. That’s the important thing. We also have the basics like a full-size fridge, two microwaves, two toasters, a toaster oven, and this hot water thingy that the tea lovers use. Frankly, it scares me, but I don’t drink tea. We also have comfy chairs, a TV, an air hockey table…you get the picture.
Most employers usually provide disposables, and personally I like knowing I don’t have to bring in my own plate, utensils, and coffee mug to get broken or, let’s face it, stolen. Not that we have cup thieves here, but it happens. Opening a cupboard in the break room and having a full complement of plates, bowls, utensils and napkins is a blessing!
Some employers also provide food, which I think is fabulous but not in every businesses budget. I worked for a company that had a full cafeteria and that was amazing! There, the food was provided for us, but a friend of mine works for a company where they pay for their food at a deep discount and use their time badge to pay for it (it gets taken out of their paychecks), which I find very convenient. Cereal, chips, cookies, soups…even sandwiches and salads were provided! No matter what type of break room you have for your employees, take it from me, they appreciate the space! Check out http://www.restockit.com today for breakroom deals and discounts!
Photo Credits:
foodservicewarehouse.com
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Tags: air hockey table, Break rooms, cereal, chips, coffee, coffee pot, comfy chairs, creamer, discount, drink tea, drinks, employers, feeding, food, full complement, granola bars, happy employees, mini fridge, mug theives, restaurants, size fridge, sugar, tea lovers, toaster oven, water
Monday is Earth Day, a day to raise social consciousness about our lovely and bountiful home planet. I could go into the politics about Earth Day, but I really don’t want to ruin anyone’s day. I’m not the best environmentally conscious person out there, but I do try to be cognizant of my and my family’s impact on our world.
What better way to celebrate Earth than to have a picnic, surrounded by her beauty? Spend a day outdoors, reading, playing football, walking on trails, maybe getting a jump on Arbor Day and planting a tree, put in some new flowers…man, makes me want to head out now!
I’m sure you may be thinking to yourself how to have a picnic and still honor Earth Day, a traditional “green” holiday? Easy, with recyclable plates and cups! Many manufacturers’ offer recycled products or products made from renewable resources like sugar cane, so that we can shrink our carbon footprint.
No matter how you celebrate Earth Day, or even if you don’t, just keep in mind that if we all recycle, and try to use as many recyclable products, products made from recycled materials and renewable resources, we’ll be able to celebrate a healthy Earth for many millennia’s to come! Happy Earth Day!
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Tags: awareness, carbon footprint, climate, conservation, Earth Day, environment, flowers, football, happy earth day, hiking, nature, outdoors, picnic, products made from renewable resources, Recycling, renewable resource, science, trails, trees, walking
We all know how to finish that sentence. Even though its been around a long time, most of us equate it with a smirking Jack Nicholson with crazy eyes, and frankly that’s not a look I’m going for. Its been proven that a little bit of “play” during the work day makes for a more productive employee. You get some break away time, take a fifteen minute break and put a puzzle together, or surf the internet for a new pair of shoes (a woman’s way of playing, for the most part). No matter what it is, outside of illegal activities, people need some play.
Even if you love your job, you reach a point where you need a non-work related distraction. Something to clear the mind, turn your focus to something besides the spreadsheet or document that you’ve been staring at for two hours. A lot of companies have a no Internet policy, so you can’t do that, but you can have a desk toy!
For the longest time, I have wanted a desk toy. A mini billiards table, that obnoxious ball clacker thingy, even a zen garden would work! But I keep procrastinating, and still haven’t bought one. Seeing as though I don’t want the Jack Torrence look of insanity, I decided to finally look for something, and I came across tons of toys I can use at my desk. Now I just have to choose one…
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Tags: breaks, documents, play, relaxation, shopping, spreadsheets, The Shining, toys, work, zen garden
For once, I’ve already done my taxes for the year, and the money is long gone already. However, I am usually a tax procrastinator, waiting until the very last possible minute to do them, and that usually involved waiting in line at H&R Block for, well, forever.
Then I started doing my own taxes, first using the myriad forms and mailing them in, and now I’ve moved on to online tax preparation that pairs with my accounting software, of which I use Quickbooks at home. SO much easier than the old days of waiting in line.
If you’re like I used to be (and still sometimes am), you wait until the absolute last minute to do your taxes, and are scrambling to get that appropriate time stamp on the envelope. Or you request an extension. Trust me, you are not alone.
Are you still using paper forms? We can help! We have a full complement of tax forms, envelopes, ledgers and even your favorite pen to write it all out! Don’t forget to check out our selection of financial software to help whip your bookkeeping into shape and make next year’s tax time a breeze.
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Tags: finances, Taxes, tax preparation, IRS, April 16th, financial software, Quicken, Quickbooks, accounting software, tax time, waiting in line, ledgers
