GADGET GAL

I have all ready admitted to being a gadget whore. I just love clever sounding ideas. My Mom was an inventor.   However, she was always just a wee bit late as someone else had always thought of her idea just a little bit sooner and owned the patent. I have had the same luck with my few bright ideas. 

As I always appreciate the "thinking" person and am quick to support them--I was reeled in again.   As I eagerly opened the package I was struck with a strange thought.  Sometime in the future, the auctioneers at my estate sale are going to be flummoxed. 

They will be holding a variety of strange objects in the air for the buyers saying,"Have no idea what the heck this is--- what say we start the bidding at fifty cents."

This is my newest "thingy".

Therapik

It is small about 6 inches, will fit in most purses or fishing tackle boxes and is inexpensive--$12.95. What is its purpose?   It takes the nasty out of insect bites and works on a 9V battery.

I learned a few years ago when I had my first ever bout with poison ivy that heat really puts itching to sleep.  It was something I learned from the Internet and was surprised how well it worked.

I stuck my ivy ravaged, itchy legs in the tub and ran hot water over the area.  I got it as hot as I could for as long as I could and got instant relief for a full nights sleep. Love the no chemical approach. 

A hair dryer will also work but it is really easy to burn yourself with one of those and it covers such a large area if you only have one bite. 

The Therapik works on a similar heat principal. Most insect venom is thermolabile(sensitive to heat). Via a little light bulb covered by a screen, you are able to apply heat directly to an individual bite. Usually just thirty seconds achieves the required results. There is a video at the above site that shows how on the TV show "The Doctors", they successfully tested it on a bee sting.  

Of course, this would not be a good idea if you have bee sting allergy. You would still need your Epipen. 

Once or twice a year, I get spider bites in my sleep. Man do they itch and raise massive whelps for a LONG time.  So I thought this would be the perfect gadget for often the bites occur in places that it would be hard to stick under a hot water faucet. Besides I liked the idea of limiting the area treated to just the bite. 

Sadly, once I got it, I learned it doesn't work all that well on spider bites but it is killer on relieving the pain of  bee stings,  hornets,  jelly fish and taking the itch out of  mosquito bites, fire ants and most stinging or biting insects. 

My spider bite relief is minimal. It will give me some itch relief from the bite but it must be repeated.  Where I live has zero mosquitoes but I do get the occasional bee or wasp sting gardening so I can rationalize the purchase.   

I did get to test it last week on a bite from a three cornered fly to the back of my neck while mowing. Excited by the opportunity, I used the pen right away.  The itch was quickly  gone and there is nothing there now. Usually that would have resulted in a raw, swollen sore for about a week.  Yes!!!  Money well spent. 

If you spend a lot of time outdoors, this may be the perfect carry along.

One other gadget I'd like to tout is the warren hoe. This is less of a gadget and more of a superior tool that I have used for years  but am grateful for the inventor every time I use it. 

It is regular hoe length with a triangle head. This is the very best weeder I have ever used. It saves back and knee strain for you can weed standing up and the sharp point makes pinpoint weeding a breeze. It can daintily coax a single weed out of a bed of flowers or can easily root out a large clump.  If you hate weeding or even if you enjoy the task but don't all ready use the warren hoe, I can only recommend it highly. I now almost like to weed. 

Ok, the gadget gal is through sharing. I do hope one of these clever items will make your life easier. That is my goal.