Did you know that you can use your Medical FSA funds to buy first aid supplies for your emergency kit?

I know all about this since I got a rather bad burn on Thanksgiving while cooking turkey. Don’t ask. Just know that I have a 2nd degree burn on my arm and I didn’t have to make a special trip to buy first aid supplies because I already had what I needed at home to get me through the first week.

Typically, it’s good to buy extra gauze and tape, the 1″ wide kind. I like sterile gauze in packs, but can’t stand paying $7-10 per box out of pocket at the drugstore. But if I have medical FSA funds that are going to go to waste if I don’t use them up, I’m all about the expensive sterile gauze. Lots and lots of it! I would rather have too much than too little and start cutting it up into smaller and smaller pieces to ration it out. I find that for a wound like a burn or something extra bloody, it’s good to have lots of extra dressing available. A burn usually needs to be kept moist and changed daily, if not twice a day. I have found that I prefer to change it twice a day to ensure that it’s kept moist with burn cream or Aquaphor. I honestly prefer Aquaphor because my old roommate (the SICU nurse) told me it’s what they use on burn patients in the hospital, and because it did a great job on a second degree burn I got once before. (It healed so well that you can’t tell where the burn is without straining your eyes.)

The great thing about this stuff is that it doesn’t expire. Unlike over the counter medicines like allergy meds, analgesics, acidic stomach meds, etc, which you might end up throwing out anyway, bandages and dressing supplies last years if stored properly.

Suggestions for your first aid kit:
Non-stick pads
Gauze pads
Rolled gauze for bendy places
Micropore tape - paper tape that is breathable! It’s great for sensitive skin, i.e. your elbow pit or inner forearm. Trust me.
Waterproof tape - for dressings that might get wet but still need to stay on till you change it. I usually get this as a 1/2″ tape instead of 1″, but they do make the wider one.
Hydrogen peroxide for cleansing without stinging (or “less stinging” than alcohol, but this does have an expiration date usually.)
Burn cream for first aid. (It’s not really for healing scars. It basically numbs a burn when you first get one. Look for creams with Lidocaine. And this usually also has an expiration date as well.)
Neosporin/antibiotic creams (Expiration date here too!)

I’m not a medical person by training. I have only some basic understanding of first aid, so if anyone out there has more knowledge they’d like to share, please do. This is just the stuff I know I like to have around because I go camping, live hard, ride motorcycles, etc. (The old burn scar is from an exhaust pipe.)

Plonkee came to DC for a visit. CleverDude was kind enough to pick the venue in Chinatown where we could have homemade noodles. I loved it. It was cheap and soupy and wonderful stuff. Total dive with roaches and all, but damn if the food wasn’t excellent. I will definitely eat there again, if only to watch the man make noodles in the window. I love watching people do that. They’re so tasty!

Then we stopped off for beer at dessert at RFD a few blocks away. I got a sampler of Brooklyn Brewery Chocolate beer and some Beeramisu to share. Tasty combination, but the Bell’s Cherry Stout beer that CleverDude got was the best. Plonkee, without my totally biased guidance, picked Yuengling!! YAY! (Yuengling is from suburban Philly. We like it there.)

Mrs. Micah was in attendance and due to my lack of foresight, no one else could come out since they mostly had other plans.

Trying to focus but getting distracted with late night long distance phone calls for hours. (Free with my cellphone on off-peak minutes!)

I have stuff for you. It’s just not sharp and well-written. It’s rambly crap I want to tighten up before putting it out there.

As is, there’s an international visitor the DC PF Bloggers are hosting tonight. At the very least, there will something about that tomorrow.

I looked at airline tickets a week ago. Then I looked over the holiday weekend. Because I couldn’t decide if I could squeeze a quick trip into Tahoe with my friends, I ended up dilly-dallying and spending an extra hundred dollars for my airline flights.

Total damage is over $500 with Virgin America, however, I am flying two non-stops, which is unheard of these days. In the last 15 years of flying to San Francisco, I have learned, post-9/11, to suffer through 10-14 hours of travel time one-way because all the long haul flights have disappeared off the schedule. No longer can I fly 6 hours on an empty red-eye flight from BWI to SFO and stretch across 3 seats like I did in the 90’s. Those days are long over.

Virgin charges $25 extra for the exit row. That’s fine. I don’t need the legroom, but I did want to get on that specific flight out. I will have to get a rental car as well, but I might wait till the following day to pick it up when my parents arrive to shave off a day.

I am bummed about waiting the extra week, but for a minute there I seriously thought I might go to London for New Year’s Eve, or skiing in Tahoe. I hate being dependent on other people for plans. Being free to come and go as I please, may be ultimately one of life’s most priceless pleasures.

In the end, I decided that I’d rather save up my vacation time and roll it over into 2008. If I cut my trip a little short, then I’d probably save money because I wouldn’t be indulging myself for a full week. Of course, this means no shipments of wine back to VA, which is a huge bummer. My pantry is empty and needs filling up. (Why is it that I’ll spend $250-$300 on a case of wine in CA but not locally in DC?)

FMF serves up the chuckles. His advice is spot on, “Come on, people, control your spending!” Just the reminder I needed before splurging on a trip to London for NYE with friends. I have to remember to keep my pennies tightly clenched in my fists. What is it he says in Croupier? “Hold on tightly. Let go lightly.” (Let it be known that despite my well-established fetish for blonds, Clive Owen is simply ridiculous looking with blonde hair. Ah ladies, but he’s dangerous. Very dangerous. I wish he was 007 instead silly, pouty-mouthed Daniel Craig. Twit.)

I wager FMF doesn’t really listen to rap music. I don’t really think of P. Diddy as a “bad boy rapper”. Then again, the last and only serious rap album I bought was Fear of a Black Planet. What do I know?

I’ll just keep repeating to myself, “Come on, people, control your spending!”

Seriously, this isn’t that interesting, but here goes:

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Please stay in your lanes. I watched an SUV swerve into my lane several times this evening. I suspect, the driver had been to happy hour, or else was totally clueless about the size of his vehicle. If you think I’m slamming SUV’s, guess again. That silver Mitsubishi Eclipse got me on the 495-Port of Wilmington split today. I was passing on the right (I know, that’s bad, but the lane was totally free and clear!!!) between the middle lane and the Jersey wall. For some reason, Mr. Sport Car Idiot swerves into my lane without turning his head to check to see if I am there. I nearly crash into the wall! Thanks bub.

At any rate dear drivers, today was an Almost No Spend Day. I only bought gas this morning and spent money on tolls. Gas at the local independent retailer in VA was $2.98 this week. I got gas on Tuesday morning. I stopped in again today to fill up and it was $3.01. The Citgo was $3.08. The DE rest stop I like was $2.99 STILL!!! However, I’ll fill up on the way back. Mom let me fill up tonight for free, otherwise it costs $3.13 at her station, per the nightly news, that’s about the norm here in PA.

The luggage I bought for Mom went over well. It was a $220 Samsonite 26" spinner bag in light blue. The link is for the “Aspire Lite”, but it was marked “Silhouette 8″ at the store. (It appears I could gave gotten a better deal on Amazon, however, I didn’t know what I wanted till I was at the store getting it. Bummer, but there is time-value to factor in. She needed the bag before our trip to CA for Christmas.)

Mom was very happy with the lighter color. She hates confusing black bags on the luggage belt at the airport, so blue suits her just fine. I think the bag is from a discontinued line from the outlet store. Along with the bag, there was a special deal on a huge sturdy tote bag for one penny so I got one for myself. However, I gave mom the penny tote too since she seemed to like it. I told her the roof was a no-go next year and that it’s very possible I won’t be getting any bonus since I haven’t heard from my director if the numbers look good. I will assume the near worst for now. (Worst being a RIF, but no word on that either and I’d be the last to go. Someone has to shut the servers down.)

Please expect light posting since I’m actually going to have some no spend days or almost no spend days this weekend.

CELEBRATE BUY NOTHING DAY THIS FRIDAY!

And with all that, please have a happy and safe Thanksgiving holiday weekend!

Very very mundane. There’s a lot going on at work, plus the holidays this weekend, so there was no post yesterday and probably light post for the rest of the week.

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Some are new. Some are old. Mostly stuff I read this week and thought was good.

Bluebird at Hedonic Adjustment writes about the genius of Ben Stein, asking the same question I’ve always wondered as well. But I do agree with Mr. Stein that Taco Bell’s Taco Supremes are very good. Every once in a while I crave a crunchy taco and nothing but a Taco Supreme will do.

Wine tips for your Turkey feast! Kojo is a great radio host. I could listen to his voice every day.

Holiday Stress relief! This is a pretty good list. What works for you? For me, I break out the spinning wheel, turn on old archives of The Diane Rehm Show or the Kojo Nnamdi Show.

A horrifying article about health care policyholders being dropped in the name of bonuses. A sensationalized one-sentence summary, but it’s not that far off. The original post is called “Greedy Enough to Make You Sick”. Thanks Financial Armageddon!

SingleMa shares her awesome news. I am so proud of her. She’s an inspiration!

Madame X, ah, reveals TMI.

If you can stomach another article after that (I’m still shuddering), try reading about The Ethicist and the adviced doled out to a child who thinks they should get a bigger share of their parents’ assets because their sibling gets more now. Is your family as complicated as this? Is a perception of equity a big deal to you? It is to me, but at the same time, I don’t think there will be anything left to divide. What matters more? Being loved equally by your parents or economically subsidized? Are they the same thing to you?

As a lapsed Catholic, I’m all about true confessions. CleverDude encourages you to stop hiding your secret! Two weeks ago I went to the PostSecret book signing in Bethesda and I had an opportunity to meet the artist and facilitator. (Thanks ~Dawn! I found the event through your repost.) He mentioned several times that debt is a big crippling secret people keep.

Alrighty. That’s enough for now. I’ve been working hard on a programming project and I have to thank Commenter Dean a lot for the tip he offered yesterday. I flat out told him I was stumped and he served up something on the fly.

How long is your commute?
Do you sit in traffic for long periods of time?
Does it bug you that you’re idling away all that gas and therefore money?

Well if it does, try this trick to save some money.

1. When you’re stopped, wiggle your wallet out of your pocket when it’s safe to do so.
2. Pull out your highest rate credit card and call your credit card company with your hands free cellphone.
3. Ask them to lower your rate!

Commenter Dean did this while driving home yesterday. He talked to one agent and asked about lowering his rate. They transferred him to a second agent who asked him what other card companies were offering him. He told them 2% lower APR. The second agent said they could do better and beat it by another 2% so in about 5 minutes he reduced his APR by 4%!

Give it a try! I might have to do this with my 15% APR card even though I don’t carry a balance on that one. Why not make all my rates as low as I can?

Who else can you call in 5 minutes to TCB? My sibling calls me while driving home all the time. Due to the 3 hour time difference, it works for us because I’m usually safely at home and they’re on Hwy 101 looking at pretty, pretty brake lights.