Bohemian Revolution

Antihistamines to fight colds

Jen — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 22:53:48 +0000

So now pseudoephedrine is being sold like a controlled substance in the pharmacy at the back of the drug store, and you have to have a state ID to get it, and some of your favorite versions of the drug may not even be available anymore. A lot of manufacturers just gave up and moved on. Unfortunately, colds don’t do that. What can you do?

A website run by two doctors, CommonCold.org offers a surprising suggestion: antihistamines. Specifically, the older generation ones that can cause drowsiness (the non-drowsy types don’t appear to help colds). Antihistamines are known for helping with allergies, but apparently they can reduce the sneezing, runny nose, congestion and even coughing that often come with colds. I’ve used them myself and found they do a great job drying you up (though they can make you too dry, so stop taking them before that happens). They’re also recommended for chronic post-nasal drip.

There’s more than one type of antihistamine out there, so you may have to experiment a little to find the one that gives you the least amount of side effects and most benefit.

DIY way to level a shelf

Jen — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 16:07:02 +0000

If you’re hanging a shelf and don’t have a level handy, there’s a really simple DIY trick to get it right.

Brace the shelf against the wall a couple of inches below where you want it.
Take a measuring cup, fill it to the halfway point with water and set it on the middle of the shelf.
When the water is level with the line on the cup, use a pencil to draw lightly on the wall to either side of the cup, at the water level. (This is why you placed the shelf a couple of inches lower than you want it – the water line should be where you actually want the shelf to go.
Move the glass along the shelf, keeping the water level, and make some more dots or small lines with your pencil until you’ve mapped out the whole area where the shelf will hang. Now you can use a ruler to draw a line all the way across.
To locate where to hammer in the brackets, set the shelf on the floor and attach the brackets in the same position they will be when attached. If you can, bring the whole mess up to the line on the wall and use your pencil to sketch where any nails or screws should go into the wall for the brackets. If you can’t, measure how far the brackets are from the end of the shelf and use a ruler to map positions on the wall.
Once the shelf is up, the pencil lines will probably be hidden. If not, you can erase them easily.

Clean wax off candle holders

Jen — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 20:39:47 +0000

Very few candles burn so cleanly that they don’t leave any wax gunk behind in your candle holders. Sometimes it’s easy enough to scrape off, but other times – especially if you make your own candles out of old ones – it’s gross. And even when it’s not gross, even the cleanest burning candle tends to leave some residue behind that will dull the shine of a glass or metal candle holder.

Over the years, I’ve found several methods for cleaning off both wax chunks and wax residue. My preferred method is this one:

The microwave

Unless your candle holder has metal or metal trim, or if the wick tab is stuck to the bottom, the quickest and most thorough way to clean it is to put it in the microwave on a low power setting. Start with ten seconds, then see what you can scrape off with a dish cleaning brush or sponge. The wax should be soft and pliable so you can scrape it off completely. If not, or if it cools again before you can finish the process, put it back in the microwave. Be careful not to overheat the glass to the breaking point – if it’s hot to the touch, let it sit a few minutes before microwaving it again.

For metal candle holders

Plug up your kitchen sink so you won’t get chunks of wax going down into your garbage disposal or the sewer. Run some hot tap water into the candle holder – it doesn’t need to be so hot you scald your hands; very warm is fine. Give it a few seconds, and the wax should easily scrape out. Sometimes it even floats to the top so you can just dump it out. Set the wax bits aside to dry, and then you can reuse them to make new candles.

5 things you can clean with Alka-Seltzer

Jen — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 15:09:27 +0000

There are a surprising amount of things you can clean with Alka Seltzer:

Clogged drains: toss 3 Alka Seltzer tablets and a cup of white vinegar down the drain. Give it a few minutes, then run hot water.
Clean a toilet: plot 2 Alka Seltzer tablets in the toilet bowl. Let them fizz for 20 minutes, then brush the bowl, then flush.
Polish jewelry: fill a glass with water and drop in 2 Alka Seltzers, and put the jewelry into the glass for at least 2 minutes.
Clean a thermos: fill the thermos up with water, drop 4 tablets in, and let it all soak for an hour or longer.
Clean glass: to clean a glass bowl or vase, just fill it up with water and drop in a couple of tablets.

Clean artificial silk flowers with salt

Jen — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 16:26:13 +0000

Silk flowers definitely outlast real ones, but they can get dusty and dirty after a time – especially in high pollution areas where the “fresh” air from open windows contains little black microparticles of crud. There are a number of ways to clean them – most people try to dust them with a feather duster, or use a vacuum with attachments to gently suck off the dust. Those methods will do some good, but they won’t get to the grime that’s settled into hard-to-reach areas. The plants may look better after a dusting, but they won’t get back the sheen they had when you first brought them home.

Bag and salt

There’s a simple method to cleaning silk flower arrangements that really works:

Pour a little salt into a paper grocery bag.
Put the flowers in the bag.
Close the bag and shake vigorously. The salt gets into crevices and places other methods don’t reach and absorbs the dirt and grime.
Take the flowers out and see if they look as near-real as you remember. If not, put them back in and shake a while longer.

Watch for new credit card fees

Jen — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 17:11:09 +0000

Government regulations are about to take effect to get rid of some of the sneakier/more unethical ways credit card companies have of getting extra money out of you. In response to this, credit card companies are raising fees on balance transfers, APRs and other sorts of transactions. But they’re also inventing or implementing brand new fees to make up the difference.

Or you may already have seen this: I know my cards made some adjustments last year in anticipation of this. Because my credit is excellent, it wasn’t too bad – one card raised by APR, for example, but I don’t carry a balance.

New credit card fees

If your credit card is implementing new fees, they have to notify you about them in writing, so read your notices. Some of the fees you may run into include:

Annual fees. If your card doesn’t already charge an annual fee, look for them to start. They usually give you a way to offset this, like spending a certain minimum. But it may or may not be worth that in your situation.
Taking away rewards if you’re late with a payment. If you’re earning cash back or points toward airline tickets with your card, they may take that away if you’re late with a payment.
Percentage fees on foreign transactions. They’re now charging 2-3% for transactions with companies outside the United States.

Should you cancel your cards?

If a card is charging you so much in fees that you can’t justify keeping it open, should you close the account (assuming you’re in a position to)? Some creditors are warning customers that if they close their accounts, it’ll hurt their credit. This may be true, but the ding should be slight. Making payments on time and/or getting slowly out of debt should raise your credit rating enough to more than balance that ding, so why pay those fees to avoid a ding when you could put that money toward something that’ll help your credit more?

How to clean copper cookware

Jen — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 15:51:40 +0000

Copper pots and pans are wonderful for cooking, but over time they can develop tarnish. While tarnish doesn’t affect their performance, it’s not pretty. It’s worth mentioning that the tarnish patina actually protects the copper from corrosion. If you can live with the look of the tarnish, you may want to just leave it alone and continue cleaning your cookware normally.

But if you want to get rid of tarnish, here’s how to do it.

Cleaning copper cookware

Wash your cookware in warm water and dry it completely.
With a soft cloth, apply a homemade cleaning solution* to the tarnished areas, rubbing in brisk circles.
Rinse the solution off with clean water.
Dry it with a soft cloth, then buff it to bring back the original shine.

*The homemade solution you want to use depends on how bad the tarnish is.

Mild tarnish: mix a tablespoon of salt with a cup of vinegar.
Moderate tarnish: mix one part salt with one part lemon juice.
Severe tarnish: use tomato paste or ketchup.

Never use abrasive cleansers or steel wool to clean copper.

How to avoid tarnish in the first place

Copper usually tarnishes due to being used to cook highly acidic foods. Fruits, tomato and vinegar should never be boiled in copper cookware.

How to remove splinters painlessly and safely

Jen — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 16:09:02 +0000

If you can reach a spliter with a pair of tweezers, that’s a great way to get it out. But what if it’s not sticking up far enough above the skin to get hold of it? Some people recommend digging in after it with a needle. Even if you make sure the needle it sterilized with boiling water and alcohol to prevent infection, a slip can give you a puncture wound which isn’t pleasant.

Does it really need removed?

Splinters work their way out of your skin over time – usually a day or so. Sometimes it’s just as well to do nothing. The exception would be if it’s causing pain.

The tape method

The simplest method for removing a splinter is to put Scotch tape over the splinter, then pull it off. The tape will grab most splinters and pull them out smoothly, with no pain. In some cases, masking or duct tape may work better. Try whatever you have on hand until something works.

Elmer’s glue

When tape fails, put a dab of Elmer’s (or any other non-toxic, kid safe household glue) over the splinter. Once it dries, pull it off and the splinter should come with it.

Tweezers and needles

If none of the easier methods work, you may need to resort to tweezers and needles. In that case, here’s how to make it as easy as possible:

Ice the area where the splinter is to numb it. It’s like a local anesthetic, so you won’t be able to feel much of anything while you work.
Sanitize your tools and the area. Dip your tools in alcohol and put hydrogen peroxide around the splinter. If the splinter wound is big enough to let the peroxide down into it, it may even push the splinter up a little with its bubbly action. In any case, it’ll help prevent infection.

Dressing the wound

If the splinter has left an inflamed area of skin, put Neosporin or a similar ointment on it and put a bandaid on it for probably 24 hours. After that, it should be healed enough that no dirt can get into the wound, at which point you should remove the bandaid and let it get some air.

If the skin where the splinter has no visible puncture or inflammation, just clean it with some hydrogen peroxide and/or alcohol (if it’s still numb with ice, this shouldn’t hurt – otherwise there is the possibility of a tiny sting from alcohol, so on kids you can stick with peroxide).

Protect yourself against paying too much on health insurance claims

Jen — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 17:01:28 +0000

I recently had a physical. My routine bloodwork claim was completely denied by my health insurance carrier, which made me responsible for paying nearly $400. I called them to find out why, and got a surprising answer: the lab had simply used the wrong diagnostic code – if they would resubmit it with the right code, the claim would be covered (partially – I do have a deductible to meet). I called the lab. They said they had used the code the doctor gave them, and needed a correct code from the doctor. I called my doctor’s office. They needed a request from the lab for the correct code. I called the lab again, and they did their part, but then the doctor’s office played hot potato with the request for two weeks and played the “I thought so-and-so handled it” game when I called back.

In the end – many phone calls later – I got my insurance carrier to call the doctor and explain in small words how to fill out the paperwork correctly. I also left a message with my doctor, asking her to make sure the office manager actually did her job since she hadn’t done it so far. And I left a message with the doctor’s office manager, reminding her that I was a patient and stress was not good for my health, so she’d better take care of this.

In the end, all was well, and I only ended up paying what I really owed. I even got a very friendly call from my insurance carrier letting me know everything had been fixed.

Medical and insurance billing goes wrong all the time, and when it does, it’s usually the patient who gets to pay extra. It’s not just fraud or notorious double billing you have to watch out for – it’s silly paperwork errors and office staff who don’t know/care what they’re doing. The problem is, insurance claims and “explanation of benefit” paperwork can be impossible to decipher for the ordinary person. Here’s what I’ve learned to do to protect myself from getting overcharged.

Don’t be shy about questioning bills

What I’ve learned over the years is to call the insurance company every time I’m billed something above my co-pay and can’t immediately understand why. You have a right to keep a customer service rep on the line until you understand in clear language why you owe what you owe. Don’t let them intimidate you or rush you. If they’re no help, ask for a supervisor. You are entitled to understand your benefits, and they are legally required to help you do that.

Sometimes it turns out there’s a weird policy – test A is covered in full, but the test B they perform when the results from test A aren’t clear isn’t – and I’m stuck with the bill. But often it’s just a mistake, and fixing it makes a big difference on my bill. (Not that I should have to do these people’s jobs for them – isn’t it a tad suspicious when a business always makes mistakes in its own favor and never the customer’s?)

If there is a mistake somewhere, ask your insurance carrier exactly who you need to call to straighten it out, and exactly what you need to tell them. If you find yourself talking to someone who can’t understand (or isn’t really listening), instruct them to call your insurance carrier for a full explanation. If you get somebody who just wants you to pay the bill and is treating you like a deadbeat, ask for a supervisor. If that doesn’t help, call your insurance carrier or anyone else involved in the situation (your doctor, the lab, whatever) and ask them to get involved.
Document everything. Write down who you called, what time on what date, and what you discussed. Hopefully you won’t need it, but…
If the process is dragging on, you can write a letter describing everything you’re doing to get the bill corrected, and what specifically other parties are failing to do (include as many names and dates of phone calls as possible), attach a copy of the disputed bill to it, and mail (or email) it to everyone concerned. This may not protect you from being charged late fees (though if you’re dealing with remotely reasonable companies, it very well may), but it will help establish your good intentions if you find yourself dealing with a collection agency or in court. Hopefully it won’t come to that! I’ve never had a billing mistake go that wrong, but I’m sure somewhere at some time it’s happened.

Help the older people you love

As we age, we often have more health insurance claims and a more difficult time reading the fine print. Medicare billing in the US is especially baffling, for those who use it. If you think someone you care about may be overpaying on health care bills, ask them if you can take a look at their recent claims and bills. If you find discrepancies in bills they’ve already paid, you can still challenge the companies involved for reimbursements. You can also help educate them about their benefits as you gain an understanding of them.

Easy DIY wedding or party favors

Jen — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 15:38:03 +0000

Sew Mama Sew has a lovely triad of wedding or party favor bags you can make yourself to save money or make use of coordinated fabric left over from other wedding decorations. They include a cone and two types of drawstring bags, all designed to be simple and quick to make, since you’ll probably need quite a few.

(I made a batch of drawstring bags just like these about eighteen years ago to sell handcrafted jewelry in, and the ones I still have, I still use. They’re gorgeous, truly easy to make, and they last for years.)

We’ve collected a few other ideas for making quick and easy, memorable party favors over the years:

Make notepads out of junk mail – from Cara at Repurposeful.
Recycle used makeup containers to hold solid perfumes you make yourself or photo holders – from TipNut.
Paper CD cases – burn some photos or music relating to the occasion on a DVD and hand them out as party favors.
Whatever party favors you make, you can turn them into place cards so guests find a little present when they find their seats. (Particularly helpful for getting kids to sit down!)