Home Basics

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Telephone calls VERY IMPORTANT—Front door lock Extras Smoke detectors Fire extinguisher Emergency exits/stairs Home safety Comfort Water Electricity Parking Mail and newspaper Recycling and garbage Convenience outlets

Telephone calls

• Long distance calls are free anywhere in Canada and the United States (except Hawaii) when you use our home line.
• Please use your calling card or call collect should you need to call anywhere else in the world.

 

VERY IMPORTANT—Front door lock

• We are providing you with a guest door code.
• If you miss too often, there will be an alarm sound (not very loud, but still). Simply wait till it stops, press the lock icon as if to relock and enter the code again.
• We are also providing you with one front door key, in case the batteries go down.
• Should you forget your code or loose the key, please contact XXX at XXX.
• We trust that you will pay for the replacement of any lost key (they cost around $5 CDN each).

 

Extras

• We have five bicycles, two helmets and a repair kit. They are in the garage. The combination to the garage lock will be provided to you upon your arrival.
• Make sure to lock the bicycles whenever you are not using them.
• We trust that you will pay for any lost or stolen bicycle (they cost about $200 CDN each).

 

Smoke detectors

• As required by law, there is a smoke detector in working order on every floor.
• There is a carbon monoxyde detector in working order in the hallway, on the ground level.
• Please test detectors to familiarise yourself with the sound.
• To test detectors, simply press the test button.
• Should the batteries go dead, you will hear a recurring clicking sound.
• There are batteries in our pantry, in the basement.

 

Fire extinguisher

• There is a fire extinguisher on the 2nd floor, in the hallway.

 

Emergency exits/stairs

The are five exits in this house, including two emergency exits:

• The front door, on the ground level.
• The back door, on the ground level.
• The side door, on the ground level.
• The window in the yellow room, on the 2nd floor (leads to emergency stairs).
• The window in the smaller bedroom, on the 3rd floor (leads to emergency stairs)

 

Please make sure to spot all these exits, as there are bars in the windows on the ground floor. There are windows in the basement, but they may be hard to open. 

 

Home safety

Ottawa is one of the safest capitals in Canada. However, all efforts should be made to avoid crimes of opportunity:

• Please keep the garage door locked at all times.
• Please keep all doors and windows locked when you are not in the house unless, of course, there are bars on them.
• At night, please keep windows closed and locked near emergency stairs (as well as ground level windows that are not equiped with safety bars).
• Don't leave unattended items on the porch, including unattached chairs and seat cushions.
• Lock your car doors and don't leave any valuables in the car.

 

Comfort

• Hot air heating system.
• The thermostat is in the dinning room, centrally located.
• There is no air conditioning.
• There is a remote controll ceiling fan in the master bedroom (leave the wall switch in the "ON" position)
• There is a manual/remote controll ground fan... somewhere.

 

Water

• Back in 1919, they used lead pipes (water main only). In the morning, or when you come back from a day of visiting (several hours with no activity in the house), let the water run a minute or two before consuming it.
• According to the home inspector, our tap water is safe for drinking if we do this.
• To save time and water resources, we normally keep drinking water in the fridge.

 

Electricity

• The service box is located in the basement.
• There should be a flashlight on the "hand rail" going down to the basement.
• To reset power, open the power box and push the corresponding button. We almost never have to do this, so if you find that you have to do it often, perhaps there are too many things plugged in the same outlet (toaster, toaster oven and coffee maker all at once, for instance). 
• The main power switch is a humongous handle on a box of its own.

 

Parking

• The driveway is ours. However, be careful to leave three (3) feet of free space between the next building and your car (neighbour’s right of way).
• The garage is used for storage, you may not park you car in it. 
• Read the street signs carefully should you decide not to park in our driveway.
• Parking is forbidden on Lyon Street from Monday to Friday, from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
• During weekends, you or your guests may park on Lyon, on our side of the street.
• Be careful not to block the neighbour's driveway : it's all grass.
• Parking in the streets is forbidden from 12:00 a.m. to 7 a.m., from November to April, if the weather forcast predicts snow falls. Also if the City needs to remove the snow banks during the night.
• Parking more than 3 hours on a same spot on a working day is prohibited (that's anywhere in Ottawa). 

 

Mail and newspaper

• There is a mail box nearby, on the corner of Flora and Kent.
• Since 2007, the price of stamps is not indicated on stamps in Canada. It costs roughly a dollar to mail something to the US. 
• Mail is delivered every working day, at around 1:30 a.m.
• Please place our mail and magazines in the mail basket. 
• Feel free to use any newspaper or magazine delivered to our house (you may dispose of the newspapers afterwards but we're keeping the magazines).
• You can purchase local newspapers at the convenivence store, on the corner of Gladstone and Bay.  Watch your change : the gentleman is almost always wrong.

 

Recycling and garbage

• Monday is garbage/recycling day. Underpiviledged people go through garbage at night and they are often noisy. You will sleep better if you put garbage out Monday morning instead of Sunday night. 
• By municipal by-law, recycling and garbage are not to be taken out until the night before pick-up.
• The garbage truck is usually very early.
• The recycling truck comes later in the day.
• Please use designated bins only.
• Black bin: All paper items (except milk and juice cartons), including stapled paper and window envelopes. Photos and wet or soiled paper or carboard, including pizza boxes, are not recyclable.
• Blue bin: Glass, plastics and milk and juice cartons go in the blue box. Plastic bags and wrapping, including plastic boxes made of thin; harder plastic; plastic yogurt or margarine containers; any broken glass and ceramics are not recyclable.

 

Convenience outlets

• You can purchase local newspapers at the convenivence store on the corner of Gladstone and Bay. Check you change carefully and ask the prices beforehand. These people often make mistakes to their advantage, especially the owner.
• The Middle East grocery store Nayla, near the corner of Lyon and Gladtone, is more reliable and much cleaner, but they don't have everything you'd expect to find in a convenience store.