Two weeks ago, I had the pleasure of attending an event hosted by Staples on Internet and Personal Safety. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but I knew that it was going to be a great excuse to hang with some of my favorite bloggers. My recap will not come close to Stefania’s hilarious post; but I did come to the realization that I am a personal security nightmare or AKA some thief’s wet dream.
I learned a few things and added a few things to my “must do” list:
1.) Don’t throw out any bills or random bits of info without shredding! Otherwise someone can go through your trash and find out enough to make your life horrible. Yikes! I am guilty as charged. I sometimes tear pages into quarters before throwing it into the trash– but not often enough. Sheesh!
2.) Must do: Buy a shredder that cross cuts paper and cds. (According to Staples micro cuts are best.) There is no taping those shreds back together in an hour! Check out the one Staples makes (Mail Mate M3 Shredder) – it’s pretty fancy, quiet, yet compact. I want one!
3.) Don’t leave your laptop when you are blogging at Starbucks. Not only are leaving your pride and joy, but if it is stolen, there goes all your pictures, emails, calendar etc. Aaack – guilty as charged again – dang! In my defense, I am pretty good about backing up my info, but losing my laptop would really suck!
4.) You can actually buy a lock for your lap top…hmmm.. What an idea! Though, I think I may use the one the kind folks from Staples gave me for my bike. Thanks Staples!
5.) Wild Bill Stanton has a cute puppy which helped him lure little kids to his car. His videos on personal safety are pretty interesting. Must do: talk to the kids about cute puppies and strangers. Amid all the “baby and sweetie” comments, he did accurately point out that kids get into trouble when they are being “polite” to strangers. He emphasized giving kids language to use when in tough situations. Good idea.
I left the evening with a whole new list of things to do and with some good reminders. You can also take a quiz here to find out how safe you are or are not. Look out, I’ve already ordered my shredder!
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