Gear Review and Medicine Review

My best friend tonight on my
night shift...Ricola!

I've added some tabs at the top of my blog labeled Gear Review and My Medicine. The Gear Review tab will lead to a page which summarizes and gives quick links to products I have tried. I'll either recommend them or I won't depending on my experience with that particular product.

Gear Review:

• Bug Out Bag Contents
• Survival Gear
• Cooking Gear
• Home Preparedness Items
• Food Preparedness Stuff
• Medical Kit Items
• Digital Library / Electronics / Videos
• Guns / Weapons
• Sanitation Supplies

The My Medicine tab will lead to a page where I list my trials and tribulations with different medicines. Over the years, I have found cures for most of what plagues me on a regular basis. Obviously, every cure doesn't work on every person and what works for me may not work for you. I am not a medical doctor and you should consult yours regarding what medicine is right for you. But by sharing what works for me, hopefully will spur some friendly talk about what works for other people and we can all learn from each other.

My Medicine:

• Nasal decongestants
• Headaches / migraines
• Sore Throat
• Sleep Aides
• Energy / Appetite Suppressant

I'll add to both categories as opportunities arise. Feel free to comment and add your suggestions.

~OJD

Xpal Rechargeable Portable Power Pack (external battery pack) $20

Xpal Rechargeable Portable Power Pack (external battery pack) $20

Charging my Xpal at work.

On too many occasions, I've been left with a dead cell phone when away from home.  Yes, I carry a charger in my car.  Yes, I carry a wall charger in my shoulder bag. My phone even stays plugged in on my nights stand right next to me as I sleep.

Still, there are times when I accidentally leave the GPS ON for too long and it drains my battery life very quickly.  Or, I leave a wall charger at work and use my car charger at home, then leave home without it. Whatever the case may be, my awesome little Droid Incredible simply eats a TON of juice.

When it comes to backups, I subscribe to the School of Redundancy. I have backups for my backups. Since my wall and automobile chargers aren't enough, I recently purchased a portable rechargeable power pack for $20:

Xpal 88043 Harry II Compact, Rechargeable portable power pack/external battery pack (2000MAH) for portable devices

This handy little power pack fits easily in my shoulder bag and comes with a nice felt-feeling pouch.  The kit is supplied with several adapters allowing me to use the Xpal to charge just about everything from video cameras, iPods, phones, laptops and more. There are six adapters in all. If you can see the keyboard in my photo, you can tell that the Xpal is pretty compact in size. It is smaller than my Droid.

I've had it for a couple of weeks now and it has held the charge that I put on it the day I got it in the mail.  I started to use it tonight on my Droid after loaning my wall charger to a patient in my Emergency Room.  That is why I am charging it in the picture you see on this post.  I had the grand idea of timing how long it would take to charge up my Droid but I got impatient and plugged my Droid straight into the wall. I'm an instant gratification kinda person. Oh well.

It is right around $20 at Amazon and is a nice addition to backup power.  I'll report back when I find out how long it takes to charge up my phone.

Update: The original Xpal is no longer sold, but a pocket backup battery is as handy as ever. A current best-seller in the same spirit is the INIU 45W Portable Charger (10,000mAh USB-C power bank) — one of Amazon's highest-rated, most-reviewed power banks, priced right around what that old Xpal cost.