Hot Weather: Take care of your battery!

Steamy hot days can take a lot out of us, but they can take a lot out of your car battery, too. When the temperatures rise, the liquid inside your battery actually evaporates, and if your battery is more than a couple of years old, you could end up stranded with a dead-as-a-doornail battery that won’t hold a charge—and may not even jump-start! If your battery is three years old or more, consider replacing it right away, because you don’t want to be stuck with a dead car on a hot day!

Cold Weather: Look at your tires!

When temperatures go down, many things can happen, but the one you should always keep at the front of your mind is that the air pressure in your tires will be lower in cold weather than in hot. It’s simple physics, really—cooler air means slower molecular motion, and that causes the air pressure to drop. Invest in a tire gauge and learn how to read it. Tire pressure affects your gas mileage, tread wear, and most importantly—safety. Take care to keep your tires properly inflated when temperatures are cooler and you’ll cruise through the cold weather cool as a cucumber.

Rainy Weather: Take care of your finish!

When storm clouds roll in and darken your day, take care that they don’t blemish your finish, too. This is more than just a cosmetic concern—water is corrosive, and encourages oxidation in the form of rust, which can weaken not only your car’s body but the frame as well, if left unchecked. Not only that, but those little drops of water act like a magnifying glass and can focus the sun’s rays against your finish, actually burning it! It seems counterintuitive, but in periods of heavy rainfall, take care to keep your car washed often and always use a wax sealant, taking particular care with the “flat” areas of the hood, roof and trunk where water is more likely to pool. After a rainy day, take care to displace any droplets left pooling on your finish. Properly guarding against water will preserve your vehicle’s structural integrity and keep it looking shiny, too.

Windy Weather: Focus on Safety

When most people think of driving in harsh weather, they may think of snow or ice. While these hazards are serious, driving in heavy winds can be just as dangerous. You may have felt heavy winds threaten to push your car sideways while driving before. When the winds pick up, take care to focus on driving safely. If you're a habitual one-handed driver (like most of us), drive with both hands during windy conditions to keep more control of the car. Don’t follow anyone too closely, especially tractor-trailers and other vehicles with something in tow. Keep a sharp eye on the vehicles around you, and drive slowly enough to allow plenty of reaction time should the wind topple a trailer or cause a car to swerve.

Guest blogger Jody DeVere is the CEO of AskPatty.com Inc, a website, blog and marketing agency providing automotive education to female consumers.

While my wife wishes I’d take up a safer hobby—croquet, maybe—my buddies and I know how to stay protected in the brush. We also keep our senses on high alert when we hit the road during this time of year, because you never know what might cross your path. Whether you’re heading out for the hunt or just passing through a deer-populated area, there are a few safe driving tips to keep in mind as deer season gets into full swing: Be aware of your surroundings Deer cause more than 1.6 million motor vehicle crashes in the United States each year, according to the Insurance Information Institute, and these crashes spike from October to December, when deer activity rises. To avoid becoming part of this statistic, pay close attention to what’s around you, especially when driving through the woods. Whenever I spot those yellow deer crossing signs, I slow down and keep my eyes on the sides of the road, since these often signal areas with a history of deer-related crashes. Look out for the pack Deer don’t usually travel alone, so if you see one in your path, keep your eyes open for the rest of the group. Slow down (or stop) and do your best not to swerve if a deer enters the road—you don’t want to cause one type of accident while trying to avoid another. Also, be sure to leave plenty of space between you and the cars around you, in case you need to brake quickly. Check the clock Deer tend to be on the move during dawn and dusk. Since road visibility can be low during these times, try turning on your high-beam headlights to get a better view—just make sure you tone them down when oncoming traffic approaches. Keep your car in good shape While a set of antlers may look amazing mounted on your wall, you sure don’t want a pair coming through your windshield. Ensuring that your brakes and tires are in good working order can help protect you from damage if you need to react in an instant. You should also check that your seatbelts fasten properly, as buckling up can improve your chances of emerging from an accident unscathed. Have an accident action plan Like all animals, deer are unpredictable. While you can take many steps to improve your safety, you can’t defend yourself against every possible scenario. If you do get into an accident with a deer, see if anyone is injured and call the local police and/or medical services. Do not attempt to touch a deer that’s in or near the road. Since there’s likely to be damage to your vehicle, make sure you also contact your insurance agent to report the accident. Though safe driving is important at all times, these few extra steps can help get you through hunting season accident-free. As for me, I probably won’t be behind the wheel all that often—I’d rather enjoy hunting season from a tree stand!

While tailgating provides all kinds of fun, you have to return to work Monday morning and you don’t want your boss to know that “gameday you” spends his weekends draped in your favorite team’s jersey, screaming at the top of your lungs and acting like a fanatical maniac. You’ve spent years fooling your boss into believing that “workday you” is an even-keeled professional, and those types of shenanigans just aren’t you. On that note, here’s a Monday-morning checklist that will both maintain your professional appearance and limit gameday mishaps to those not requiring an insurance agent…or a doctor. Grill safely. Keep the grill well away from your car, as the taste of burning upholstery imparts a funny flavor to hot dogs, and don’t use anything but charcoal starter (or propane if it’s a gas grill) to light it. Singed eyebrows take a while to grow back. No Facebook photos! This requires a pact with your friends, almost certainly a signed contract and perhaps even a blood oath. Painting your body in team colors and waving the foam finger is fun when you’re tailgating, but photographic evidence probably won’t do much for your career advancement. Be careful with color. Speaking of body paint, make sure any colors you apply to your body are completely washed off before you pull into the parking lot Monday morning. You might not land that new contract when the client reminds you to wipe the blue from the corner of your eyes and behind your ears. Pass on the “Hail Mary” pass. Tossing a football in the parking lot is one thing; trying to thread the needle on a 60-yard bomb is another. You’re not Tom Brady. You’re not even Tom Brady’s towel boy. So if you tear your rotator cuff during the final scoring drive of a parking lot football game, think of excuses before you see your coworkers. When asked, come up with something like, “I hurt my shoulder helping to build an addition onto the community center.” It sounds much better than the fact that your would-be touchdown pass fell 10 yards short and the receiver ran headfirst into someone’s car door (and didn’t even make the catch!). Save your voice. Screeching like a wild banshee for hours in an effort to will your team to victory will have you sounding like Joan Rivers gargling thumbtacks on Monday morning. With flu season approaching, it would be easy to blame it on laryngitis, but avoid saying it’s strep throat…because you may be quarantined in a plastic bubble by guys in haz-mat suits. Keeping this checklist handy can help you show up to work as your usual, dignified self, without injuries and repairs to your car (or image). Then again, if your co-workers are discussing ESPN’s coverage of your debut on the stadium jumbotron, you might have some explaining to do.

This weekend, the Allstate® Tailgate Tour visits Iowa City, Iowa, as the Michigan State Spartans take on the Iowa Hawkeyes on Saturday, Nov. 12 at 11am CST. Don't forget to visit Allstate.com to see if the tour that visits 22 games throughout the regular season is coming to your town.

 

For a chance to attend the Allstate BCS National Championship, enter the "60 Seconds of Mayhem" sweepstakes from September 1st - November 30th. In addition to a grand prize of a new car, the winner will have 60 seconds at halftime of the Allstate BCS National ChampionshipTM to kick field goals into the Good Hands® Nets for the chance to also win a boat, a motorcycle, an RV, and a home makeover. Fans can enter online at www.allstatecfb.com, via mobile phone, in-stadium at select games via text messaging, and at the Allstate® Tailgate Tour .

Teach your kids three simple letters: D.I.Y. Now is the perfect time for getting your kids involved with doing things for themselves, and along the way, showing them that Mom isn't always going to be there to wipe their...noses. Even a very young child can help with picking out items for a homemade costume, cutting simple shapes and gluing. Older kids can sew and even use hot glue guns (under adult supervision, of course). Children take pride in their own creations, even if one sleeve ends up shorter than the other, or if their idea of "ghost" looks more like "marshmallow" to you. Keep moderation in mind when keeping up with the Joneses. Okay, so your kids aren't into crafts and they won't stop whining about the name-brand Hannah Montana or Spiderman costumes they see everywhere from the local grocery store to the home improvement center (seriously, can't a woman get a break?) They also want the plastic pumpkin buckets, the light-up laser swords, the oversized spiders with eyes that glow in the dark and everything else they lay their eyes on. Because of course, "Emily's parents bought her one!" You don't necessarily have to subject your kids to a lecture about saving for that good ol' college fund, but it is a good idea to start some gentle discussions about budgeting, if you haven't already. Explain how the amount of money you have to spend on "holiday" things is finite. Spending more on Halloween now will mean spending less on Christmas. Metaphors with candy work really well here. Look to tradition. Another way to help kids enjoy the holiday without breaking the bank is by looking back to older, more wallet-friendly times. I love watching movies such as The Worst Witch (can you believe this is considered old now?!) They're full of spooky goodness without all of the expensive, glitzy slickness of modern productions. My twins love it, too; so much so that they want to dress up like Flora and Fauna Amor (the Siamese twins from The Addams Family) this year. If you haven't already established inexpensive, simple traditions, such as picking and carving your own pumpkins or serving a special, homemade Halloween meal complete with pumpkin muffins, pumpkin stew, and "worms in mud" for dessert, do so ASAP. Choose your commitments wisely. Choosing to commit to a holiday project is very much like choosing to commit to a husband: you're taking on responsibility for a relationship with a living someone/something that will grow and change in ways you could never imagine over time. Now, I love my husband dearly, but I am very glad that I only have to deal with one. Halloween has become such a big deal (you know because Martha Stewart has gotten herself involved) that people can't help but get perfectionist about it. That's fine if you truly love whatever projects you get yourself into, but if you're just doing them to be "the perfect mom" and it's stressing you out, you need to let something go. Your kids won't remember with misery the fact that you didn't finish stitching the cape onto your dog's Superman costume, or that you didn't hand-carve individual pumpkins for every step of your outside staircase. Trust me. The terrors of rationing candy. Many of my friends look with fear on this holiday, not because of the goblins and ghouls, but because of the thought of having to wrest the hard-earned, sugary bounty out of their children's chocolaty paws. Some parents prevent the problem altogether by not allowing trick-or-treating; others try and use the trick of "eat all you can tonight, then it goes away" to teach their kids about candy making you sick. I'll admit I'm really not a big fan of giving my kids straight sugar and I try to limit their intake of candy bars to once a week. But I still remember my own trick-or-treating with fondness, so for this one time a year, I let them make their own sugar-intake decisions. One last thing to mention: if you have pets, be very careful about letting kids store candy in their rooms. Ending the Halloween season with a dog in the emergency room is not at all fun.

Have your own tips for keeping Halloween in perspective? Share them with us in the comments below!

If you're a fan of motorcycling and college football, these fall rides can lead you to some of the season's biggest games. And when it comes to incredible game day experiences, it's true what they say: getting there is half the fun!

Nebraska vs. Wisconsin, October 1 @ Madison, WI

Not only might this be the perfect time of year to take the 500-mile ride from Lincoln, Neb. to Madison, Wisc., but it also has the potential to be one of the biggest games of the season. If you decide to stay off the interstates as much as possible, and choose US 20 as a part of your route, consider making a quick stop in Dyersville, Iowa, to check out the #Field of Dreams Movie Site. What to see in Madison: A trip to Madison just isn't complete without a stop at the Memorial Union Terrace. Located on the shores of Lake Mendota, this is "the" spot on campus to take in an amazing view and grab a brat or a scoop of the legendary Babcock ice cream. No matter what, don't leave your seat to go to the concession stand during the break between the 3rd and 4th quarters. If you do, you'll miss one of college football's best (and most fun) traditions, the "Jump Around." This is when all 80,000 red-clad fans stand up and literally jump around as the House of Pain song of the same name plays over the PA system. Where to eat: Win or lose, after the game head to The Great Dane. Located just a couple miles from the stadium, this is one of Madison's favorite spots.

Auburn vs. South Carolina, October 1 @ Columbia, SC

Things are going to get plenty heated down south as last season's national champions head east for what will surely be a fierce battle. Hop on your bike for a scenic 336-mile ride from Auburn, Ala., to Columbia, S.C.'s Williams Brice Stadium. Kick off your ride by exploring the natural beauty of Alabama as you make your way Northeast along I-85 amid the rolling hills and vibrant fall colors. Keep pushing forward into Georgia, until you arrive at the Oconee National Forest. Here you’ll encounter the spectacular Lake Oconee Georgia’s second-largest lake. Eventually you’ll find yourself rolling through Milledgeville, and headed toward one of the state’s crown jewels — Augusta. Be sure to swing past the home of golf’s most celebrated course, Augusta National, home of The Masters. What to see in Columbia: If there’s one thing South Carolina fans take seriously — besides the game, itself — it’s tailgating. Roaming around the legions of cars, campers and fans, you never know who you might run into outside the stadium — including a former Heisman winner! In fact, for just a $10 donation to the George Rogers Foundation to help fund academic scholarships, fans can have their photo taken with the 1980 Heisman recipient while holding the iconic trophy. Where to eat: One delicacy South Carolina residents can't seem to get enough of is pimento cheese, and "the" pre- or post-game spot to grab the area's most legendary pimento cheeseburger and pimento cheese fries is at Rockaway Athletic Club. Reminder: The 2011 Allstate Tailgate Tour will be making a stop at this game. Visit us on game day for fun interactive exhibits, a sign-making station and more!

Stanford vs. USC, October 8 @ Los Angeles, CA

Prepare for the ride of your life on the way to one of the most exciting college football games of the year. With just 450 miles separating Stanford Stadium and the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, it’s the perfect opportunity to take a fall cruise down the California coast. Head west and hop on the legendary Pacific Coast Highway south along some of the most picturesque stretches of road in the country. Just after you ride through Carmel Highlands, you’ll reach the breathtaking 90-mile stretch known as Big Sur. But that’s just the beginning of your epic journey. Next up is Bixby Bridge a massive concrete arch more than 260 feet high and 700 feet long. Be sure to have a camera handy to capture one of the most photographed stops along the PCH. What to see in Los Angeles: First things first: No trip to USC is complete until you’ve taken a stroll past the bronze statue of Tommy Trojan, the ‘most famous man of Troy.’ Forged in 1930, Tommy Trojan is arguably one of the most recognized collegiate landmarks in the country. Where to eat: After the game, evade the masses of fans and take a short sunset ride over to 1410 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica. There you’ll find Yankee Doodles, home to some great pub grub, including the 24-oz. “Monster Burger.”