What's bugging you? (2014)

[Patrick425]

Leaving for Vegas on Thursday. My wife and I have really been looking forward to this. Now...she's coming down with a cold, and my wife tends to get really bad colds that completely knock her on her butt for 7-10 days. If anyone has any uncommon advice (other than the usual fluids, rest, etc) that they can share, I think she's willing to give anything a try at this point.

 

Have her start taking Zicam right away. I know that helps me get over colds a lot quicker.

 

I've also been using a NeilMed sinus rinse every day for about the past month, and I find that it helps a lot with clearing up my sinuses. If she is all stuffed up, something like that can help. It's the thing where you mix a saline packet with water inside a bottle and then squirt it up your nose. Yeah, not the most pleasant thing, but I find it helps a lot. They're available at most pharmacies.

 

We are both huge on the Zicam thing. Doesn't always work, but sometimes it does seem to have some affect on at least minimizing the symptoms. I actually started taking them a few days ago without symptoms, just to try to "ward off" any possible oncoming cold as we approached our vacation. My wife wasn't as diligent. She took the last one she had in her desk at work this morning when she started feeling a cold coming on. She went home and took another one (but it had expired in June - I'm not sure how Zicam "expires").

[Invader3K]

 

I used to use mine almost every night until that guy died from getting an infection from his. Haven't use it since.

 

Yeesh. Hadn't heard about that. Now you have me worried. I wonder if he never cleaned his? I clean mine thoroughly every other day, and you're supposed to replace it every three months.

 

Edit: I did a Google search, and looks like the deaths that occurred were attributed to the people taking in a amoeba using tap water. I guess I should stop using tap water with my rinse!

[BrewBalls]

I think most new drivers struggle with this. I wouldn't worry about it. I'll never understand why they put any weight on this part of the driving test...especially in WI. I'm not sure where you live or what your parking situation is, but most people do not have to do a whole lot of parallel parking in Milwaukee or in WI in general. Even if you do, it's not something that is really that dangerous if you don't know how to do it....and if for some reason it is something that you end up having to do a lot, you will eventually become a pro at it. It's not some that any driver should be expected to be perfect at before they even have their license.

 

I can't remember the last time I paralleled parked.

 

I avoid it at any cost...

I attended Madison West High School which doesn't have a student parking lot which forced me to parallel park on the nearby streets every day. What made it worse was most of the streets within 2-3 blocks of the school only offered 2 hour parking, meaning every other class you would have to run out to your car and move it or risk getting a parking ticket. And believe me the meter maids were out there everyday marking tires. I remember hitting multiple cars daily, usually just the bumper) when attempting to park. Good thinmg my first car was a complete piece of crap. Although now I can parallel park effortlessly even in extremely tight spots.

[1992casey]

A quick Google search indicates that it's unsafe to use tap water for sinus rinsing unless it's been properly boiled or filtered. There's an exact definition of "properly" that needs to be followed. Otherwise, distilled or sterilized water can be purchased.

 

The deaths had to do with the use of tap water. Tap water contains organisms that can be absorbed by the nasal passages and cause infection. When drinking tap water, stomach acid will kill these organisms.

[hawing]

When I do a nasal rinse, I fill a little glass container with filtered water and microwave it for a bit. At least, no beasties have gotten me yet.

 

If a cold or other upper respiratory bug has me super congested, I use Afrin (or equivalent) spray. That way I can at least breathe through my nose. In the midst of a cold, I typically have to "Afrin up" before the nasal rinse will do any good.

[1992casey]

It's good to be careful not to overuse Afrin and its equivalents. It has an addictive quality. After a couple of days, it stops being effective. The addictive aspect kicks in when people use more and more of it to try to get it to work. That's why the directions tell you to only use it for X number of days.

 

It seems easy enough to use the appropriate water for a nasal rinse. The part that would worry me is proper cleansing of the equipment.

[TURBO]

Getting dark at 4:30 bugs me.........a lot!

[Invader3K]

Getting dark at 4:30 bugs me.........a lot!

I hate it. I hate winter, I hate snow, and I hate being cold.

[TURBO]

Getting dark at 4:30 bugs me.........a lot!

I hate it. I hate winter, I hate snow, and I hate being cold.

 

WORD!

[bani1717]

For a cold, last time I took a combo of meds that helped a lot more than the Dayquil/Nyquil generics I used to take. Here is the daily schedule that I followed:

- 24 hour generic allegra first thing in the morning

- one dose of pseudophedrine (the kind you have to show an ID for) every 4-6 hours starting first thing in the morning as needed to relieve sinuses

- one dose of Wal-tussin DM (generic Robitussin DM) every 4-6 hours starting first thing in the morning as needed to relieve cough

- one dose of Benadryl right before bed (technically not supposed to take with the 24 hour allegra but I did for a couple days)

[Jimbo]

I still have my 401-k vested with my former employer who laid me off in June, 2009. In August, my 401-k took a big hit when the DJI declined modestly. Thought it was curious but didn't dig deep into it. Now, I'm looking to roll it over to my new employer. Today I see the statement a line that $5,200 was "forfeited" in August. Help Desk explained that the former employer retracted 80% of its contributions because I wasn't employed there five years, and would have retracted at any attempt to rollover anytime, anyhow. Didn't know a former employer could do that.

[fondybrewfan]

If you were fully vested at the time you left it doesn't make any sense that your employer could do that; I mean its your money. As far as I know nothing like that applies to my 401K but now I will have to check into that.

[RobDeer 45]

I still have my 401-k vested with my former employer who laid me off in June, 2009. In August, my 401-k took a big hit when the DJI declined modestly. Thought it was curious but didn't dig deep into it. Now, I'm looking to roll it over to my new employer. Today I see the statement a line that $5,200 was "forfeited" in August. Help Desk explained that the former employer retracted 80% of its contributions because I wasn't employed there five years, and would have retracted at any attempt to rollover anytime, anyhow. Didn't know a former employer could do that.

 

"When you say you had your 401k vested with my former employer," are you meaning invested?

 

If your 401k is vested, that means you own all the money in there. If you are not vested, that means that the employer still has rights to the money they put in. Depending on what their terms are, they can take money back that they put in. Five years is a long time though, so that seems questionable. That said, if they state that in their benefits package, then they will follow through on it.

 

How long were you there? Also, I would make sure that if you are laid off if they still have that right. I thought that most vesting schedules were setup only for when an employee quits. Make sure you read the fine print and I can probably help you out.

[whizkid]

If you were in a truly 'laid off' status vs. being terminated outright due to the economy etc., they may have waited a longer time to reclaim their contributions thinking you may return at some point.

 

Five years isn't an unusual period for full vesting. Partial vesting normally occurs before that. How long were you there? If you were only 20% vested I'm thinking 2 years or less.

[Jimbo]

Follow up: I was there seven months, then laid-off. I'll have to read the fine print before I can answer the above questions. I don't feel ripped-off, just irked. The ability for them to pull the money back surprised me, never heard of it.

[Patrick425]

I'm the administrator of our company's 401(k) plan. It's very common for companies to have vesting schedules on their 401(k) plans. Our plan vests 25% each year (fully vested after 4 years). Obviously, this only applies to employer contributions. While vesting is put in place to encourage employees to stay with a company, I'm not sure if the reason for leaving really matters in regards to vesting.

[fondybrewfan]

If you were there only 7 months then it makes sense; they were likely just taking their money back because you weren't there long enough. It does suck but I am sure the company had some sort of vesting policy. For my company it took a full 5 years to fully vest.

[RobDeer 45]

Yes it's their way to motivate people from jumping around from job to job. It's very normal.

[Jimbo]

I find that I was only 20% vested, hence they pulled their money back per their policy.

[fondybrewfan]

Freedom Trophy? Really? Way to slam patriotism down everyone's throat B10. What about a Nebraska vs. Wisconsin matchup screams Freedom. Incredibly lame if you ask me. If they were hell-bent on creating a trophy for this non-rivalry they should have tied it to agriculture somehow; because that's about all that would make sense. The Paul Bunyan Ax is cool, creating new trophies out of nowhere that have no apparent connection to either school is just dumb.

[Patrick425]

The decreasing odds for blackjack payouts in Vegas. Finding a $5 or $10 table that pays 3:2 on blackjack is nearly impossible now (most tables now pay 6:5). Also, the increasing appearance of the continuous shuffle machines at some of the lower limit tables. I'm not talking about the ones that shuffle the next shoe, I'm talking about the ones that continuously shuffle the current shoe that is being played. I can't believe that these are acceptable to the Nevada Gaming Commission.

 

Also, this doesn't really bug me as much as just makes me shake my head....the number of people who sit down at a black jack table and not only do not have any clue as to what they are doing, but don't have any plan at all as to when they will walk away from the table (i.e. a win and loss threshold).

[1992casey]

The Freedom Trophy sounds like something that would be appropriate to give to the winner of the Army-Navy game.

[rwa12]

Patrick,

 

I avoid the tables with continuous shuffle whenever possible. It is the ultimate random game. No strategy, no clue. Just basically one random hand dealt from a six deck shoe. It is pure luck, IMO. I don't mind the BJ payouts, as I don't really factor those into strategy. It's a bonus, nothing more to me. Bally's still had shuffling and 3:2 last December, but that may have changed.

 

I'm not sure why people sit at blackjack without a clue either. There is 3 card poker, roulette, and countless other games that are easy to play, why sit somewhere that knowledge is required. As far as exit strategy, especially in Vegas...I believe most have a win big/lose all mentality. Silly.

[Patrick425]

Patrick,

 

I avoid the tables with continuous shuffle whenever possible. It is the ultimate random game. No strategy, no clue. Just basically one random hand dealt from a six deck shoe. It is pure luck, IMO. I don't mind the BJ payouts, as I don't really factor those into strategy. It's a bonus, nothing more to me. Bally's still had shuffling and 3:2 last December, but that may have changed.

 

I'm not sure why people sit at blackjack without a clue either. There is 3 card poker, roulette, and countless other games that are easy to play, why sit somewhere that knowledge is required. As far as exit strategy, especially in Vegas...I believe most have a win big/lose all mentality. Silly.

 

It's not that I factor the BJ payouts into any "strategy"...I just prefer to get paid more on a BJ win.

 

The funny thing is that at least 2 of the casinos I was at including NY,NY offered even money if you had BJ and the dealer had an ace. This seemed like a no brainer to take to me, especially on a $5 or $10 bet. Yet, there were some not taking it (actually it was probably that they just didn't understand that they could take that and only risk losing out on and extra dollar or two). I sat at a table at Mandalay Bay and they did not offer even money in that situation (the dealer pointed at the 6:5 odds). I stated that NY,NY offers it (both casinos are owned by MGM) and they (the floor manager was standing by the table also) insisted that the dealer at NY, NY must have made a mistake. Got a different dealer/table at NY, NY the next day and again got even money on my BJ (with dealer showing an Ace). When I told them about the Mandalay Bay thing, they seemed confused as to why they would have told me that.

[NeedMoreFans]

I have never really had laryngitis until this week. Sure, I have sort of lost my voice, but it normally was to the point where I sounded like a 7th grade boy at worst. This week, no voice. Nothing. Sometimes I can get a squeak out of me, but it's so bad my wife can't hear me on the phone. My profession? A teacher. Yep. It's been fun.