It’s Officially Fall!

Posted on September 24, 2012 by Karyn Climans

It’s officially Fall. So how many of you are counting the days until Spring? Are you planning to cocoon yourself this winter? If you said yes to either of the above, it’s time to re-consider your coping strategy. Winter is inevitable and it can feel incredibly long if you go out of your way to avoid it at all cost. So how about embracing it and finding some winter sports? Believe it or not, you’ll start to like (if not love) winter if you start skating, tobogganing, skiing and/or snowboarding. And there are other benefits of keeping active, most notably, staying fit. Won’t it be nice to emerge next Spring without those extra pounds you put on because you hibernated all winter?

Winter sports are also a great way to spend quality time with your family. When my sons were younger, we rented a cottage every winter at Blue Mountain. Every Saturday and Sunday, all of us hit the slopes. It was reassuring to know my kids were active and healthy. By the time we came in for dinner each night, we were all tired but happy. I appreciate that skiing is an expensive sport so it’s not for everyone but skating and tobogganing are absolutely free except for the cost of the skates and/or toboggan. There are plenty of public skating rinks with family skate times and all that tobogganing requires is a small local hill.

So what are your plans for the coming months?

Posted in Children, Family, Fitness, General, Health | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Fundraising Made Easy

Posted on September 22, 2012 by Karyn Climans

Fundraising has never been more critical! Schools, charity groups and clubs are scrambling to find new ways to raise money because of the tight economy and government cutbacks. Tail Wags Helmet Covers has a solution. Our fundraising program allows your organization to raise $20.00 for every $40.00 helmet cover sold; in other words, you earn 50% of all sales you generate. Sound too good to be true? It’s actually easier than you think. Tail Wags provides you with everything you need including brochures for every student or family involved in your program. For more details, please visit:

http://www.tail-wags.com/fundraising_info.php

There isn’t a fundraising program with a higher rate of return than ours. And the best part of our program is you’ll be promoting helmet safety at the same time as raising funds for your organization. For more information, or to receive a Tail Wags Helmet Covers fundraising kit, please contact Karyn Climans at:

416-482-3625

info@tail-wags.com

Posted in Fundraising, General | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

No Helmet No Insurance

Posted on September 17, 2012 by Karyn Climans

Helmets are now a mandatory prerequisite for anyone purchasing an Essential Travel Winter Sports Policy (part of the Thomas Cook group). Key to the Essential Travel’s “Use Your Head” campaign, this U.K. based company is ensuring its customers wear safety helmets by writing this stipulation in to their travel insurance policies. According to the company, there has been an increase in the percentage of insurance claims on the winter sports packages for head injuries and they’d like to reverse that trend.

Furthermore, to show their commitment to raising helmet safety awareness, Essential Travel is donating £1 (from the cost of every policy sold to willing helmet wearers) to Headway, the charity that works to improve life after brain injury in the U.K.

It seems an inevitable step for insurance companies wanting to minimize the risk of head injuries to ensure their clients have the best protection available. What do you think of this policy? Do you think North American Insurance companies should follow suit?

Posted in Brain Injuries, General, Health, Holiday, Mothers Against Naked Riding Campaign, NOBI, Safety | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Life Changing Events

Posted on September 11, 2012 by Karyn Climans

Have you ever had one of those events in your life that stops you dead in your tracks and changes either your perspective or direction for the future? Skiing full speed in to a tree was one of those moments in my life. I was skiing with my family when one of my sons suddenly called out, “Mom”. Everything would have been fine if I’d remembered to stop skiing before turning around to check on him. You guessed it … I hit the tree head on! When I regained consciousness, I was staring up at the ski patrol. My skis were on the ground behind me and my helmet was shattered. Amazingly I didn’t have any broken bones. My back hurt and I had a massive headache that lasted for several days but I was lucky. There’s no question that without my ski helmet, I wouldn’t have survived the accident.

In 1988, my dad was killed in a car accident while he was overseas on business. One day he was here and the next day he was gone. My dear friend Michael was told less than 2 months ago that he had Lymphoma. He died last Sunday. Of course, as I’m writing this blog post on September 11th, I’m reminded of the thousands of innocent people who lost their lives in the World Trade Center and other related terrorist attacks.

All of the above serves as a reminder that every day is precious and we can’t take anything for granted. Family, friends and good health are really the only things that matter.

In many ways, September is the start of the new year especially for families with children in school. Jews celebrate the New Year (Happy Rosh Hashanah) at this time of year too. Wishing you and your families good health and happiness this year and always!

Posted in Community, General, Health, Life | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Tail Wags Helmet Covers is Bilingual!

Posted on September 6, 2012 by Karyn Climans

It’s long overdue (but better late than never) … The Tail Wags Helmet Covers web site is now bilingual! I’ve wanted to take this step for several years but my lack of French has been a huge barrier. Thank goodness for Diana Yazidjian who spearheaded this initiative by hiring a translator, Robin Sylvestre, and making sure the French content is in sync with the Tail Wags message. I am very pleased to announce that Diana is going to play an ongoing role within Tail Wags as our new Francophone Community Director. Please welcome her by following her on twitter at www.twitter.com/TailWags_fr.

To celebrate, Tail Wags is offering the following:

* FREE shipping on all Tail Wags online orders for the month of September 2012.

* FREE helmet cover giveaway to one of Diana’s new twitter followers www.twitter.com/TailWags_fr when she reaches 200 followers!

* Please stay tuned for even more special offers and I hope you’ll share this great news with your friends!

Posted in Bilingual, Business, Canadian Made Products, Entrepreneur, General, Giveaways, Small Businesses, Social Media, Women We Admire | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Inflatable Safety Helmets

Posted on August 30, 2012 by Karyn Climans

Perhaps you’ve already heard about the new inflatable, invisible safety helmets called Hövding. Two European entrepreneurs realized Swedish cyclists are reluctant to wear helmets and are critical of the possibility they might be made mandatory for adult cyclists. So they redesigned the traditional helmet in to something they felt would make helmets more appealing to adult cyclists.

Unlike a traditional helmet, the Hövding doesn’t sit on your head. Instead, it’s a fabric collar that is wrapped around your neck and snapped on. If an accident happens, the Hövding’s sensors detect abnormal movement in the cyclist and trigger an airbag in the collar to pop out, inflate in 0.1 seconds, and cover the cyclist’s head.

The helmet is a one-time use. If the airbag triggers, it’s suggested the user sends it back to the company so they can collect the data from the “black box” hidden inside the collar about the specific bike accident or error.

The helmet has been certified and approved for use in Europe — but not in Canada — and has been on the market for close to a year. One Hövding sells for about $600.00.

Jeremy Axon, manager at Urbane Cyclist, isn’t convinced of how safe or practical the invisible helmet is and I am inclined to agree with him. First of all, air bags sometimes fail to inflate. Would you want to risk a serious head injury on the off chance your inflatable helmet fails? As well, a major barrier to its success is the price tag. $600.00 is a lot of money to spend on something that can only sustain one crash. Personally, I’ll stick to the traditional safety helmets sold in North America even if it means a bit of “hat head”.

What do you think? Have you been hearing all of the hype about this product too?

Posted in Brain Injuries, Entrepreneur, General, Health, Mothers Against Naked Riding Campaign, NOBI, Safety | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Why I Won’t Send Production Overseas

Posted on August 28, 2012 by Karyn Climans

It’s simple … Tail Wags Helmet Covers will continue to be made in Canada because:

* There are a LOT of other businesses supported by Tail Wags including my photographer, graphic artist, additional sewers, fabric suppliers, packaging suppliers, printing services, bookkeeper, accountant, and legal services (just to name a few).

* The quality of locally made goods is excellent. I’m able to keep a careful watch on all production to make sure Tail Wags’ high standards are maintained.

When you buy a Tail Wags helmet cover, you are helping to create jobs locally. Please BUY CANADIAN because you are supporting a large number of businesses every time you do!

Posted in Business, Canadian Made Products, Entrepreneur, General, Small Businesses | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

It Takes A Village

Posted on August 23, 2012 by Karyn Climans

Saying goodbye to Michael in the Bahamas was one of the toughest things I’ve ever had to do. It didn’t help that while we were there, we had to say goodbye to his 3 dogs as well (including 2 of the puppies I helped birth 5 years ago) because we found out all 3 of them had heartworm. And that’s not all that happened … several major appliances in the house were broken including the dishwasher and the front fender fell off their car. When it rains, it pours!

Needless to say, my friend, son and I worked hard to help make the lives of our friends easier while we were in the Bahamas. We did endless loads of laundry, made meals, and arranged for a plumber. After all, isn’t that what friends are supposed to do? When we left the Bahamas yesterday, I can honestly say that Michael seemed more lucid and Sherry (Michael’s wife) looked less stressed.

Michael and Sherry were, of course, very grateful for our support but I reminded them that “thanks” wasn’t necessary. Helping them gave us a tangible way to express our love. Besides, no one person can cope with the amount of issues they are dealing with alone. There’s a great quote, “It takes a village” and it means a child does not just grow up within a home but grows up in a community. It’s simply another way of expressing my personal mantra, “Together We Are Stronger”.

Wouldn’t the world be a better place if everyone went back to the notion of community? Do you have a supportive group of neighbours, friends and family that help out when you’re overwhelmed?

Posted in Community, Friendships, General, Health, Love, Relationships | Tagged , , | 8 Comments

Let’s Pretend This Never Happened

Posted on August 20, 2012 by Karyn Climans

My book club recently chose the book, “Let’s Pretend This Never Happened” written by Jenny Lawson, as a light and funny summer read. I don’t want to spoil the book for you in case you decide to read it but I thought I should warn you … I have never seen the word “vagina” used more frequently – not even in a medical textbook.

Here’s what Amazon had to say about the book: Jenny Lawson realized that the most mortifying moments of our lives—the ones we’d like to pretend never happened—are in fact the ones that define us. In the #1 New York Times bestseller, Let’s Pretend This Never Happened, Lawson takes readers on a hilarious journey recalling her bizarre upbringing in rural Texas, her devastatingly awkward high school years, and her relationship with her long-suffering husband, Victor. Chapters include: “Stanley the Magical, Talking Squirrel”; “A Series of Angry Post-It Notes to My Husband”; “My Vagina Is Fine. Thanks for Asking”; “And Then I Snuck a Dead Cuban Alligator on an Airplane.” Pictures with captions (no one would believe these things without proof) accompany the text.

Jenny Lawson began her writing career as a blogger (you can visit her blog site at http://thebloggess.com). Given the huge success of her blog and the support of her loyal followers, Jenny decided to write this memoir. Is it a literary novel? Absolutely not! Has it made her a rich lady? Absolutely yes!

Have you always secretly wanted to be an author of a novel? So what’s stopping you? If Jenny can do it, you can do it too!

Personally I will stick to making helmet covers. Although I enjoy writing the occasional blog post, my lack of success as a blogger proves that I shouldn’t quit my day job just yet! LOL

Posted in Blogging, Entrepreneur, Funny, General | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Saying Goodbye

Posted on August 16, 2012 by Karyn Climans

I’m headed to the Bahamas today with my eldest son and closest friend, Jennifer. I wish I could tell you it is for a much needed and long overdue holiday. Unfortunately, we’re going to visit with and say goodbye to a very dear friend, Michael, who is dying from bone cancer. I wanted to share with you some pages of the iBook we created for Michael. Hopefully, the book will bring back some happy memories to Michael as well as put his infectious smile back on his face.

This is the front cover we chose for the book.

Michael helping my youngest son with his homework.

This photo speaks for itself.

We included the caption, "We Caught A Big One", with this photo.

Caption: May the best man win and loser does the dishes.

Caption: Mini-Me

Michael finally decided to take scuba lessons 3 years ago so that he could join us on our daily dives.

My sons always called Michael their "Black Father".

Like Father, Like Son!

Finally the book ended with the following quote by Oscar Wilde: Laughter is not at all a bad beginning for a friendship, and it is by far the best ending for one.

Posted in Aging, Friendships, General, Health, Life, Love, Relationships | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments