How to Treat Insect Bites

It's that time of year when those pesky insects come out from hiding only to drive you up the frigging wall. At least they have gone crazy where I live. Those bastard fruit flies are driving me crazy...they are all up in my glass of wine every time I go to take a sip! I know, I know, fruit flies don't really lead to a whole bunch of bites, but they still drive me crazy.

Sorry, just a little bitter...

Moving on - horseflies, black flies, mosquitoes, fleas, bedbugs, and sand flies, to name a handful, are common insects that lead to those annoying bites.

None of the insects listed are poisonous. A substance in the spit from their mouth is irritating to your skin. If you have an allergic reaction to the insect bite or if the bite is infected, the site may turn into a swollen and painful sore. Fleas are somewhat different in such a way that they do not even have to bite you for an allergic reaction to occur...just walking across your skin will do the job (gross!).

Once the insect bites you, the first thing you should do is clean the bite by using plain ol' soap and water (hydrogen peroxide works too). If the bite is too annoying, after cleaning it up, you can rub a cream, ointment, or lotion on the affected site. I prefer creams and lotions because they are less messy than ointments. Some examples of OTC medications include Benadryl, hydrocortisone, Calamine, or Caladryl.

If a large area of your body is covered in bites, then you can take an antihistamine by mouth like Benadryl, Zyrtec, or Claritin. Benadryl is the best over-the-counter option for clearing up the itching, swelling, and pain caused by the bite, but it causes drowsiness in a big way so Zyrtec or Claritin may be better choices if you need to stay awake!

If your reaction to the bite is so severe that your throat starts swelling and you cannot breathe, you need to seek medical attention right away. Good luck with battling the craze of the summertime insects. Let me know if you have any ideas on how to fix my fruit fly problem!

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Garden Sheds: A Variety Of Choices.

There is nothing more useful in the garden than a garden shed. A good shed provides a store for all that garden equipment, furniture and children's toys that would otherwise clutter the place. It also provides security and keeps your possessions safe from burglars and other garden thieves.

There is a large range of construction styles and different construction materials to choose from. Some are constructed entirely of plastic, some are metal, and some are wood. The size, shape and construction can be chosen to suit your specific needs and taste.

In terms of appearance, for many people there is nothing better than a traditionally constructed wooden shed with windows and a pitch roof covered in roofing felt. These kind of sheds suite many traditional gardens. A variety of shapes is available and range from simple cuboid structures to highly elaborate structures that will fit into a corner of the garden or even sheds that will double up as summerhouses, cabins and workshops.

Generally wooden sheds are available in a number of construction technologies. The strongest type of construction is tongue and groove. In this type of construction each wooden panel has a groove machined into one side and the other side is fabricated as a ridge, or the tongue. During construction the panels are joined together by inserting the tongue of one panel into the groove of the adjoining panel. Sometimes tongue and groove sheds are known as shiplap.

A lower cost construction method is overlap. Here rough sawn wooden panels are produced with a tapered cross sectional geometry. As the side panels are built up, the narrow side of the panel is made to overlap the thick side of the adjoining panel. The amount of timber used in this type of construction is much less than in the case of tongue and groove and less machining is needed, consequently it has a much lower cost.

Whatever construction method is chosen, as long as the shed is maintained by periodically painting it with a wood preservative, it can be expected to last for a great many years.

By: stickystebee-16825

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Health Tips on Travelling to an a H1N1 Flu Virus Infected Area

Statistics shows that the major cause of the pandemic A H1n1 Influenza virus is via air travel from an infected country to another. It is a fact that we can not control the people's movement around the world. The best way to do when you are traveling by air is to observe extreme caution and be alert with the people whom you are getting in contact with. Centers for Disease Control Organization have issued travelling guidelines and I want to share it with you.

Common Guidelines:

If you are having these symptoms:

* fever
* cough
* sore throat
* body aches
* head ache
* chills
* fatigue


You are advised to notify the nearest health official or customs officer right away and seek for medical attention.

If you are travelling to areas with reported A H1N1 Flu, these are the recommendations from Centers for Disease Control Organization:

* Discuss your travel plan with your doctor. You should look carefully the risk situation of the flu and the health care capability of the area.
* Make sure you are up to date with your routine vaccine schedules.
* Bring along with you a travel health pack kit.
* Check whether the area that you're going to is covered by your health insurance. It is better to upgrade your medical insurance coverage when travelling.
* Check your own health. Do not travel if you are not feeling well.
* During your trip, observe and follow the rules from the health authorities.
* Expect additional health screening procedures from the airport.
* Practice healthy habits like covering your mouth when sneezing, wash your hands often and put the used tissues in the garbage.
* Avoid touching your mouth and eyes.
* If you think you got the symptoms, self quarantine yourself at home for seven days or more until your symptoms are gone.
* Wear surgical mask when necessary.


The best way to prevent from getting infected is to avoid contact with ill persons. Observe at least one meter away from other person when talking to them.

It is better to do a self quarantine in your home for a week after you arrived from your travel from an infected country. This will help minimize the spread out of the virus in case you got infected.

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