Hasta La Ideas

Today is Groundhog Day, the confusing day of the year when Americans try to figure out if Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow, and what seeing it or not seeing it means. (Answer: If he sees his shadow there will be six more weeks of winter weather — if he doesn’t, there will be an early spring.)

Regardless of Phil’s predictions, today is a good day because it is the halfway point between the shortest day of the year and the spring equinox. This means that it doesn’t really matter what Phil saw, we’re now closer to the end of this winter than the start of it.

Before most people realize that spring is on the horizon, now is a great time to get ahead of the curve and start making appointments for all of your spring cleaning activities. These appointments are usually best to be made for late May or early June:

• Contact the company that services your furnace and set up an appointment to have your furnace professionally inspected.
• Contact the chimney sweep and make an appointment to have your chimney cleaned, your flue inspected, and your vents tested.
• Make an appointment to have your lawn mower serviced and your blades sharpened.
• Schedule to run a test with your home security system provider.
• Inspect your wood floors for damages or scratches and contact someone to wax or refinish your floors if necessary.
• If you use a lawn service, call now to make sure you’re on the summer schedule.

Obviously, you don’t have to take on all of these tasks if you don’t want to. But, if you’re someone who sticks to a tight spring cleaning regimen, now is the time to set your appointments.

Happy Groundhog Day!

Image from the (very tongue-in-cheek) official Groundhog Day website.