Photo: CaroWallis1
Most of us have at some point awakened to a common but uncomfortable ailment such as strep throat, poison ivy or pink eye. These conditions are ones we can’t treat on our own at home. So you haul yourself to a lengthy wait in your doctor’s office as the staff attempts to work you in. Or you might end up in an emergency room for that long wait in much less comfortable and more expensive circumstances. Take heart: a solution exists in the “mini clinic.”
Drug stores such as CVS and Walgreens and large outlets that sell drugs, like …read more

How many of us would save the natural resource drain imported foods cause, if only it were really easy? Well, now it is, you self-serving slob (said with love):
Check out LocalHarvest.org to find vegetable and fruit growers, their markets and the restaurants that buy from them, close to your home. Enter your zip code, and you’ll see a handy list of local farmers, gardeners and places to pay for a meal.

Photo: Dave Q
I found this picture the other day on Flickr and was compelled to share. I am clueless as to what the back story on this photo is, but I know you can’t purchase Propan Syrup in the U.S. And I know that kid did not want to get any closer to that fat, ephoric, drug-shilling purple monster, than she had to, for the photo op.
From Drugs.com:
Phenylpropanolamine has been associated with an increased risk of hemorrhagic stroke (bleeding into the brain or into tissue surrounding the brain) in women. Men may also be at risk. Although the risk of …read more

photo: Retinafunk
The price of your (and everyone else’s) inhaler is about to triple…
Wisebread is doing a little analysis on human cost versus environmental impact when it comes to inhalers. You see, inhalers still use CFC’s (bad for the environment; hole in the ozone layer and all that) to give their medicine its motivation, and that’s all about to change to the tune of a $1.35 billion dollar annual cost to inhaler users.
The cost of an Albuterol inhaler is going to nearly triple, due to the re-patenting of the propellant used in the most common drugs used to reduce the inflammation …read more

Photo: lovemetwee
Hospitals (in most cases) are not unreasonable. They’d much rather bargain with you than the alternative.
Think about it from their point of view: Hospitals are between a rock and a hard place when it comes to collections. The gov’t pays peanuts and the insurance companies are no more interested in giving hospitals their due than they’re interested in lowering your rates. Bankruptcy is at an all time high in this country, one of the driving forces of which is medical bills. Also keep in mind that collection agencies usually take 25% or more for their services.
Realizing all of this, …read more

The quitmeter will track the amount of time from the moment you quit smoking, down to the second. It will also tell you how much money you have saved and how many cigarettes you have not smoked.
In my example above, I just set it for 1 year ago. It shows me I’ve saved $1,456 and not smoked 7,280 cigarettes. They even have a way to include your own personal Quitmeter on your lame My Space profile web page.
You fill in the blanks, and it keeps your stats – Quitmeter.com

Bono’s ostentatious (RED) campaign has been making waves due to some figures that have recently come to light. For the uninitiated, the (RED) campaign donates a certain amount of money for every (RED) product someone buys. Like an iPod or GAP t-shirt with the (RED) logo on it.
Here’s what the row’s all about:

Money spent promoting the (RED) campaign as calculated by Advertising Age: $100 million.
Money raised by the (RED) campaign for AIDS prevention and education in Africa: $18 million.

Seems a little off, eh?
In one corner, the watchdog bleeding hearts are saying that Bono is a vacuous turd who’s gone too …read more

This is how you will die before you win Powerball, statistically speaking…

1 in 78: Automotive accident
1 in 314: Assault by firearm
1 in 1,313: Medical/Surgical complication
1 in 2,360: Fall down stairs
1 in 3,060: Drowning/submersion while in/falling into natural water
1 in 4,284: Choking on food
1 in 7,278: Pool drowning
1 in 8,988: Fall from a ladder
1 in 27,559: Caught between (non-automotive) objects
1 in 62,468: Legal execution
1 in 79,746: Lightning Strike
1 in 124,936: Explosion/rupture of pressurized device
1 in 340,733: Fireworks discharge
1 in 500,000: Struck by extra-terrestrial object
1 in 1,249,356: Ignition or melting of nightwear
1 in 1,874,034: Contact with venomous snake/lizard
1 in 146,107,962: Winning Powerball

Good …read more

Disclosure: This is a paid post, which means this company gave me money to check out their website and tell you guys what I think about it. Here we go…

MDVIP is kind of a health country club. It’s not an HMO or PPO. Their website reminds me more of Diner’s Club or something than a health care plan. Basically, they’re trying to save health care from the terrible mess of litigation-fueled red tape and bureaucracy it’s become for patients and physicians, for an (undisclosed, at least online) price. A noble and lucrative cause, to be sure.
It seems like a good …read more

I can see how this could be construed as crass by some people (who suck and are lame), but as long as the employees get coverage, who cares? And if the company sells more t-shirts because of it, all the better for the employee and their benefits package.
via Design fckr