Originally published at Zazbot Discount Shopping. Please leave any comments there.

You know it’s pretty gross when it comes down to buying used hearing aids. It’s also sad to think that someone who really need to have hearing aids to function day to day, hasto buy used hearing aids.

The whole idea of sticking some used hearing aid into my ear, that someone else has done for days, months, or years, makes my stomach turn. Even if the hearing aids have been disinfected and cleaned thoroughly the thought of sticking someone elses mess into my ear is “yecchy”.

So when is it worth buying hearing aids that are “preowned”?

I would say buying used hearing aids works if they have been used very little. In other words, someone bought them and found out they didn’t work for them and they returned them after very little use. You want to make sure the aids are clean, antiseptic clean that is. They have cleaners that will work on your hearing aids, but the discoloration will still be there of course. Sort of a yellowish hue really – you know what I mean.

The other problem is that these used hearing aids may be damaged internally and there is no way of knowing this. You may spend some big money on used aids that work fine for a few months, but then they are done for good – not repairable and ready for the garbage can.

Make Sure You Buy High Quality Hearing Aids If Buy Used Ones

If you decide to buy hearing aids that are preowned then for goodness sakes, but HIGH end (high quality) aids. The higher end hearing aids last much longer internally and electronically, so you may get some that will make it worth your while.

The Most Important Thing When Buying Used Hearing Aids

The most important thing to keep in mind when buying used hearing aids is WHERE you buy them. Make sure you ask around, or do some research online to find out which merchants, sellers, companies, or stores that have a very strong reputation for not ripping people off.

I have watched some of my older family members get completely hosed when buying hearing aids. My mother-in-law has gone through 6 sets of hearing aids! She FINALLY has a good set now that she can rely on. It really burns my butt that the elderly get taken advantage of on hearing aids purchases.

Make sure you help the elderly in your family and go to the store to do some research. If any salesman tells you that they have a hearing aid brand that works perfectly – run for the hills. There is no such thing as a hearing aid that works perfectly. Maybe someday a manufacturer will make a “perfect” hearing aid, but we’re a long way from that day, in your humble narrator’s opinion.

There is a Canadian company that makes hearing aids that I’ve heard about (can’t remember the name right now) that is on the verge of manufacturing an excellent model, but they’re not there yet.

So when you are helping someone find a good used hearing aid by brand try and look at the Apex models or the Destiny Models. They make fairly high quality aids that have a reputation for lasting a long time.

Good luck and good day.

Originally published at Zazbot Discount Shopping. Please leave any comments there.

The Spot satellite tracking and messaging unit looks like a toy, but it can save your life, or just keep your family alerted to your whereabouts.

It’s actually called Find Me Spot, and it’s

My parents are on an extended RV trip across Canada and back, and they have a Spot on board. Exactly the same one as you see in the picture here.

My brother and I get an email from their “Spot” periodically, depending on how my Dad uses it, which gives us and email update saying that, “We’re OK”.

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Originally published at Zazbot Discount Shopping. Please leave any comments there.

So we bought the KleerTemp Windowpane Thermometer for the RV today. So this is a product I have to say really is a value and this is my review on it. First of all – it works, which surprised me because it was only 11 bucks to buy it. It was the last one at the RV shop where I bought it. I bought it on our RV trip going through Reno (Nevada) at Safari RV and the service was excellent.

So when I read the packaging on KleerTemp Thermometer I noticed they said don’t put it on and drive with it on, which to me makes no sense at all. That is when we want to use it the most so we can decide if we want to shore down for a few days or awhile – you know what I mean.

I decided to stick it on the back windowpane as to avoid winds and water hitting it at high speed. The only wind and water to hit it on the back window will be swirling effect elements – we’ll see if it’s still there after we drive through a rain storm.

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Originally published at Zazbot Discount Shopping. Please leave any comments there.

It amazes me how cheap they make these RV beds. The mattresses are fairly lame and the under structure is usually thin plywood. Not only are the bed frames and mattresses usually cheap in quality, much of the components used in RVs are inferior.

So what can you do about it? What we did was reinforce the bad frame by taking off the cheap plywood (thin stuff) and replacing it with 1 inch plywood. We also reinforced the under frame of the plywood with a few 2×4 pieces.

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I’ve been looking for some Bobcat parts for my skid steer in Alberta. I found this site at zazbot.com which seems to be a general shopping site. Anyone know others that are better. Looking for a good deal.

Originally published at Sane Advice. Please leave any comments there.

Your Anxiety Will Pass

It’s very important that when you are suffering deeply from anxiety or depression that you remember that it’s temporary. I know from allot of personal experience that it’s very hard to believe that your depression and anxiety will pass. That is what is so crippling about it. You must learn to remember that it WILL pass.

Five Magic Words

When you find yourself in that frightening hole, just remember that it’s treatable, there is help, and it will pass. The important thing is that you say these words to yourself,

“I WANT TO FEEL GOOD”

Repeat these word to yourself as often as you can during the day. I WANT TO FEEL GOOD. Just keep on saying these words to yourself over and over again until it’s like a mantra. What happens is you wash your brain of your negative and self-defeating inner dialogue.

These five magic words will slowly give you the strength to take the action required to overcome your fear, anxiety, and depression. You may be suffering from depression and anxiety as you read this. Start now. Say these five magic words to yourself right now. “I WANT TO FEEL GOOD”

Take Action Immediately

Don’t wait in fear and suffer from high anxiety, loss of sleep, and day to day depression. Take action today and find a clinic near you. If you live in a country that does not provide national health care, use the Internet to find information like you are reading right now.

If there is any way you can get in to see a doctor, do it. Don’t wait. As soon as you get in for help you will begin to feel a little bit better. You may still be in a fog of fatigue, fear, depression and anxiety, and you may feel afraid to even go outdoors, but make sure you slowly pull yourself together and DO IT.

By taking action you will be carrying out what you have been saying to yourself in those five magic words. I WANT TO FEEL GOOD. Your action is the way out of your anxiety, fear and depression.

You Are Not Alone

You’re going to be OK. All of this will pass. You are going to be fine, and NEVER forget that you are not alone. You are a perfect beautiful person created by love and universal energy. You are never alone. Millions and millions of people suffer from anxiety and depression in our world here on earth. You will make it through this. Just take it slow, and start making changes in the way you have been thinking - begin finding help because there are many, many people that want to help you.

Originally published at Sane Advice. Please leave any comments there.

During my struggles when dealing with my anxiety disorder, I found that when my sleep patterns are solid my anxiety soon goes away. When you’re suffering from basic everyday anxiety or from extreme anxiety, you need to focus on getting your sleep. That’s really easy to say and really hard to do when you are stressed out and anxious.

You can use medications to help you get to sleep, but then your sleep is not as good. If you just can’t get to sleep naturally, then medication may be the only way to get some sleep. Some sleep is always better than no sleep however.

I’ve gone from stages of crippling anxiety to a perfectly normal stage of anxiety after one night of sleep. This is how important your sleep is.

Tips for Getting Some Good Sleep

1. If you can’t sleep, try not to worry about and make things worse. Your body will only go so far before it you will doze off at some point. Don’t worry that you only sleep for 5-10 minutes and wake up with a flood of anxiety. This is normal if you have extreme anxiety. If you are in that state you must not be afraid to go the doctor and get some help in the way of medication. Usually one Ativan will put you to sleep if you take it before you go to bed.

2. Don’t fight it. If you can’t sleep don’t worry about it and whatever you do don’t go to bed and lay there awake stressing about it. Go to another room and watch some bland television, or read a good book. If you are suffering from extreme anxiety then you will have trouble concentrating on the television program or the the book but that’s ok. Just keep watching or reading and eventually you will doze off to sleep - even if it’s just a few minutes, like I said above. It’s all good when you doze off. Just remember that you body will always bring to the point of getting at least a little sleep.

3. What to do when you try to sleep and your mind just won’t let you. If you are suffering from extreme anxiety you will notice the following symptoms. You will try to sleep, and you will move really slow from lack of sleep, but you won’t be able to sleep. You lay down on a bed in a quiet room, and every time you feel like you are about to fall asleep, you’ll get another rush of anxiety, and wake up in a panic. Don’t let this freak you out and cause you more anxiety. This is normal from extreme anxiety sufferers.

If you are having this symptom of extreme anxiety then it’s important to get yourself to the doctor and get some professional help. Your doctor will very likely prescribe some medication to put you to sleep. You may sleep for a very long time and that’s great!!!

Once you have had a couple days of sleep you have a great window of opportunity. You may have some of the extreme symptoms of anxiety, but you will feel better, and this is your chance to get everything back on track.

Now - when you have had some sleep, wake up and IGNORE any scary thoughts or anxious feelings. Let the anxious thoughts and feelings come. Don’t fight them. Just except them and let it go. Remember, this  to shall pass. Just get up from bed and find some healthy food that sticks to your ribs (such as oatmeal) and get that done. If you are suffering from extreme anxiety then eating may be a problem as well, so get some long lasting food inside you and focus the next few hours on doing something. Find a job or mundane household duty that take very little concentration and do it. Getting on your hands and knees and scrubbing the floor or baseboards is a good example. Why? Because as you are busy cleaning you will feel the sense of accomplishment, you will be making your body tired which helps your next slumber, you are getting some exercise which is great for you and your heart is gently picking up pace, and you will likely sweat from the mild exertion. All this will help you when it’s time for your next bit of sleep.

4. Once you begin to sleep, don’t worry about it if you are sleeping allot. Your body has been going will very little sleep during your high anxiety and depression during the last days or weeks. Your body is just catching up. Let your body catch up. Sleep. Sleep. Sleep. Just remember to keep yourself busy when you wake up, and don’t just sit around stewing over your condition. You are on your way back to your healthy normal pattern.

5. If it’s possible, try and go to work no matter how hard that may seem. If you have a job where you have to focus and concentrate, then you might not be able to, but if you can find jobs at work that are manually laborous then take those jobs. The interaction with other people will help you deal with your anxiety. If your employer is completley insensitive to your condition, you MUST inform them of what you are going through and explain that you want to work, but you need jobs are in the “grunt work” category. If you manage to go to work, then great. This will help you sleep the next time you get ready to slumber. If your boss or your employer does not have these kinds of jobs and is possible unsympathetic to your situation, then you need to get away from that job and take a stress leave. Use every possible avenue to get away from work and still maintain your monthly paycheck. Give yourself time to recover from your episode of anxiety and/or depression. Give yourself to time to slowly get back on track.

Originally published at Sane Advice. Please leave any comments there.

Most people suffering from anxiety disorders consider medication at one time or another. If your anxiety seems unmanageable and you’ve had weeks in a row with very little sleep, feelings of depression and hopelessness, then you should see a doctor and at least try medication.

All anti-anxiety medications such as Paxil or Effexor XR which are serotonin re-uptake inhibitors require routine. You need to take your prescribed dosage every day as the doctor and pharmacist instruct you. No missing your pill, and no stopping your pills. You must avoid any other drugs that may conflict with your anti-anxiety medication as well.

You must give it an honest effort and after a few weeks you will start to feel some relief from your anxiety symptoms. If you don’t feel any improvement, then get back to your doctor to try a different medication. Why? Different medications work for different people. A medication that works for me might not work for you and vice versa.

Don’t be afraid of trying medication because it does work, and it’s not addictive. Short term anti-anxiety drugs such as Ativan are addictive if taken or abused for an extended period of time, but if you take 3 Ativan a day for a few weeks while your Paxil or Effexor kicks in then so be it. It won’t kill you to do that and you won’t become addicted with a short term solution. Besides, your doctor won’t likely give you enough of a prescription to allow your body to become dependant.

If you can still sleep and you can manage your life fairly well then you likely don’t need any anti-anxiety medication. Just feeling bored or blue doesn’t mean you need to take medication so don’t just take medication off hand. Only try anxiety medication if you can’t manage your life anymore and you have symptoms of extreme anxiety.