Light the Night Walk for Leukemia and Lymphoma Society

Allgood Pest Solutions employees, friends and families will come together on Saturday October 11th to participate in the annual “Light The Night Walk” for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. It will take place at 6:00 at Centennial Park. The night is a time for celebration, reflection, and hope for those who have and continue to battle blood cancers.

Because of our employees, customers, vendors and friends, along with a company matching gift, Allgood Pest Solutions has surpassed all previous years’ totals with over $42,000 in donations this year. Allgood Pest Solutions has continued to partner up with a number of other Georgia Pest Control companies to donate over $500,000 in the past 6 years.
Allgood Pest Solutions invites you to come out and join our team members and families to support all those fighting this disease. Thank you all for being a part of such a worthy cause.

Before winter sets in and the most you do outside is make a mad dash from the car to house, set aside an afternoon for some auto maintenance.

• Routine checkups will help keep your car in tip-top shape and avoid any future problems. Inspect the tires. Check the air pressure and add more if needed. Also inspect the tread by placing a penny, head down, into a tire groove. If part of Lincoln’s head is covered, you have more than 1/16” of tread left (tires need replacing when worn down to 1/16” or less).


• Check fluids monthly, including the engine, transmission, radiator/cooling system, brakes, battery, air condition, window washer.


• Wax your car. It preserves paint by slowing oxidation and provides a barrier against bird droppings, tree sap and more.


• Change the oil. In the past, auto manufactures suggested changing the oil every 3,000 miles. But with today’s improved oil, you can usually go longer between changes, especially with synthetic oil. – check the auto manual to be sure.


• Check and replace windshield wipers if needed. They should be replaced at least once a year, more often if kept outside in a hot, sunny climate.


• Clean the battery. You’ll extend its life and prevent a dead battery by occasionally wiping it down with damp rag, cleaning the terminals with a paste of baking soda and water and coating the terminals and clamps with a thin layer of grease to prevent corrosion.


• Check brakes. Anti-lock brake systems are sensitive to moisture so have the brake fluid “bled” every three years, or according to the owner’s manual.


• Change the filters. These include the oil filter, air filter (replace when dirty), fuel filter (once a year) and the transmission filter (every 25,000 miles).


• Change spark plugs. Sometimes poor vehicle performance is due to faulty spark plugs. If part of routine maintenance, change them according to the manufacturer’s recommendations.


• Inspect 4-wheel drive components. Be sure the system engages and disengages easily.

Simple Steps to a Greener Home

Did you know that if every home in the country replaced one light bulb with a compact fluorescent bulb, it would be like ditching 800,000 cars and would save enough energy to light more than 2.5 million homes for a year, according to Energy Star, a joint program between the EPA and the U.S. Department of Energy? When it comes to conserving our resources and “going green” there are many simple things a normal household can do.For starters, you can save the most money and energy by replacing high-use lights with compact fluorescent bulbs. The five highest-use fixtures in a home are typically the kitchen ceiling lights, the living or family room table and floor lamps and outdoor porch or post lamp. CFL’s use 75 percent less energy than normal bulbs and last up to 10 times longer.If you’re not recycling, now’s the time to start. You can recycle everything from cell phones to paper easily. For example, Waste Management (www.wm.com) has a new mail-in program for recycling batteries, compact fluorescent light bulbs and electronics. Also, most of us have a recycling bin provided by our trash service. Use the bin for aluminum cans, glass bottles, paper, plastic bottles and steel cans.You can also stop the never-ending flow of junk mail and help reduce waste. Out of the 17.8 tons of bulk mail the U.S. Postal Service delivers, only 22 percent is recycled each year. Stop junk mail by visiting the Direct Marketing Association’s Web site at dmaconsumers.org. For just $1 you can be put on the “do not mail” list. You can also eliminate the slew of credit card and insurance offers for free at optoutprescreen.com. Lastly, forgo bottled water and buy a reusable bottle. More than 28 billion single-use water bottles are bought every year and 80 percent of those end up in landfills, according to the Container Recycling Institute.For even more ways to help make the world a greener place, visit www.energystar.gov, www.epa.gov or www.earth911.org.

Preparing Your Lawn & Garden for Fall

For many of us, the advent of fall means a welcome break from mowing lawns, weeding gardens and other outside chores. But before you hang up your weed eater and rake, take time for some maintenance and get a jump start on next spring. Allgood Pest Solutions can tackle any pests invading your garden or lawn but the rest of fall preparations are up to you.If you planted a garden this year, make notes of what vegetables performed well and what didn’t. You may also want to draw a garden map and mark areas with problem weeds, wet/dry spots or non-producing plants. Make sure you remove any plant trellises or tomato cages, clean them and store for next year. If you installed an irrigation system, remove and store hoses, sprinklers and other accessories as well. Instead of just piling garden tools in a shed, clean, sharpen and oil them. Before you clean your tiller though, use it one last time to till the garden and chop up any remaining plant matter. You can also plant a cover crop like clover to prevent erosion and build up the soil for next season. Lastly, plan to do a soil test in the next month or two so you’ll be able to apply any needed nutrients well before it’s time to plant again.Other fall chores include prepping your lawn, bushes and perennials. Now is the perfect time to prune flowering annuals and perennials (but don’t prune woody shrubs as it makes them more susceptible to cold damage). If you’re planning on adding new plants, do it now and also replenish your mulch. The mulch will help insulate the roots and retain moisture.If you’ve noticed problems with ants or other outside pests invading your garden or lawn and then migrating inside your home, it’s probably time to give Allgood a call.For lawns, keeping leaves cleaned up allows sunlight, water and nutrients to reach the grass’s roots more easily. Also, if you haven’t had a soil test done on the lawn in the last three years, have one prepared now. Lastly, mow the lawn one setting higher than normal – the extra height will help insulate the grass during the winter.

Get Ready to Tailgate

It’s about as all-American as you can get – football, fans and food.

If you’ve never tailgated before you are missing out on a time-honored tradition. For the uninitiated (or those who just need a refresher) here’s a short tailgating 101 course from your friends at Allgood Pest Solutions.

Any tailgating party needs three basic things: food, friends and a parking space. Beyond that, the sky’s the limit (a double-decker bus with a roof-top patio might be a bit much but, hey, if you’ve got the spirit, go for it!).

For food, bring already cooked items or pack up the grill or smoker. Popular menu choices include sausages, hamburgers, chicken wings and even lobster and shrimp. Whatever the cuisine, practice food safety – keep hot foods hot and cold food cold and don’t let food sit out for more than two hours.

Pack a cooler with plenty of ice or icepacks and store it in the air conditioning – not in your trunk. Bring two other coolers: one for drinks and one for ice. Don’t forget paper goods, aluminum foil, lots of water (for washing hands as well as drinking), toilet paper, garbage bags, wet wipes and anything else you might need.

For seating, bring a tailgating tent or canopy, chairs, table and, depending on the weather, a heater or fan.

Pick a spot with a view of the scoreboard or at least a good view of the stadium, if possible. If you have a generator or some external power, bring along a small TV or radio for play-by-play updates.

Don’t forget to decorate your space. Some outdoor carpet, team pennants, balloons and streamers will give your tailgating party a festive spirit. You also may want to fly a team flag so friends can easily find you in the sea of tailgaters.No matter what, tailgating is all about having a great time with friends and family. So bring out the armchair quarterbacks and enjoy the game!