random tip

[cos]

When giving someone a ride, it is a good idea, after dropping them off at the house they're going to, to wait and watch until the go inside, before driving off - as long as it's possible to do without obstructing traffic. I think I first heard this as a safety tip (when dropping off a woman alone at night), but I think it's much more likely to be useful for more mundane reasons like they forgot their key, or they expected someone to be home who isn't there, or it's the wrong house, or oops their cell phone is still in your car, etc. Anyway, it's a really simple thing that makes a lot of sense and yet I didn't think of it until I heard someone suggest it (many years ago), so perhaps I have readers who haven't thought of it yet either and could benefit from seeing it suggested.

Any other random useful tips you'd like to pass along?

Comments

[awfief.livejournal.com]

photocopy your driver's license and keep a copy in the glove compartment of each of your cars. I've never had to use it, and it probably wouldn't be usable, but it just might help.

Keep a photocopy of the picture page of your passport and your driver's license and keep a copy at work and at home -- if you're stuck abroad, someone at work could fax a copy of your passport somewhere, ditto with a friend or housemate.

Keep a photocopy of your credit cards (front and back) at home in a safe place, in case you need to know the #'s. This is mostly useful when you're stuck trying to figure out what # to call to cancel them when they're stolen, so perhaps a list of "phone #'s to call in case my wallet disappears" might be better.

Keep your tax returns forever. I know they say 7 years, but when you're 65 you want to be able to make sure you're getting all the $$ you put in. And I don't think there's a statute of limitations for owing the IRS back taxes, so you're going to want to prove at all times that yes, 15 years ago you DID pay the correct amount of tax $$.

On the other hand, you only need to keep bills for maybe 2 months. So long as your bill reflects the last payment you made, there's no need to keep the bill before that one, because they're cumulative. ie, if the phone bill says "last balance $50, last payment $50, current balance $45) you know that you are current, except for the current bill. If it says "last balance $50, last payment $10, current balance $85" you're not. But so long as the proper payment is applied, you're good.

Keep a copy of the letters you write to businesses forever, and their response(s). If you're angry at a company once, you may be angry again, and it would be useful to have the details, as opposed to saying "something like this happened about 2 or 3 years ago and i wrote you then too!"

For that matter, keep any "Dear John" letters too. It's useful to remember what you said.

[fantasmagoria.livejournal.com]

An alternate to keeping photocopies of important things, espcially credit cards since they can be used with just the number, is to write the information in an email and save it as a draft within your email sever, or as a document on privately hosted web space if you have it. Saving the information as a draft instead of sending it to yourself is more secure, and it's likely that if you're in a place that allows you phone access or fax access in an emergency, you will also have internet access. This isn't a tip for all the time, but it's good when travelling.

[cos]

I keep my numbers (in cryptic form, with enigmatic labels) in private files on my unix servers. But I also have some photocopies of my green card in my backpack.