xtcian

Become intimately familiar with the type of insurance coverage you have -- read your insurance contracts (yes, I know it is a drag. . . I write the stuff! Imagine what my day is like!) so that there are no surprises when you need coverage. Reading and knowing the details of your coverage will avoid such drama as: What do you mean I don't have flood insurance?? My surgery was not covered because I needed a preauthorization??

Carry your health insurance card everywhere. Make photocopies and keep them in the car.

Consider buying LONG TERM CARE INSURANCE. In the United States, Medicaid generally does not cover long term care provided in a home setting; in most cases, Medicaid does not pay for assisted living. People are living longer, and we all would like to live in our own homes with as much dignity as possible, and without going bankrupt -- right? Without become a burden on our family members? That is easier said than done when you are 85 plus years old, and need assistance with the activities of daily living, such as dressing, bathing, eating, toileting, etc. Seniors are often very surprised to find out that such needs are not covered by health insurance, Medicare, or Medicaid. Hiring a private duty nurse is VERY EXPENSIVE and cost-prohibitive. Long term care insurance is expensive, yes, but I think it makes your twilight years much more bearable. Just my opinion, but when I am at the age that I need someone to help me get to the toilet, I want to make sure that I can afford it, and I can do so in the privacy of my own home.

Other advice? Make sure your child knows her phone number, full name, parents' names, and address at a very early age (like, as soon as she can TALK). Fingerprint your child and keep the fingerprints in a safe place. Find a good dentist.

Don't smoke, eat your veggies, and be kind to your spouse!

If you live in the city... Keep a full tank of gas in the car. Keep the car accessible without electric lifts or elevators. Have cash available in case the ATM network stops working. Be wary of hitchhikers; a friend of ours was carjacked during the blackout a few years ago. Have a GPS system in your car, or know a non-traditional route or two out of the city. If you live in a city surrounded by water this might include keeping an inflatable raft handy, as well as an extra car on the other side of the river. Keep a second home so you have a place to escape to. Keep a good stock of water, energy bars, matches, candles,salt, a hand crank powered radio and flashlight, potassium iodide, Tamiflu, duct tape, ammo, and black & white film. Join a militia near your second home so you can protect what you have when the hordes show up.

Now that everything's becoming more digital, having a secure backup of the most important digital data where you can take it with you is important. Maybe an encrypted thumb drive, or a small USB hard disk, or a DVD-R in the bottom of your backpack.

The last time we went to Europe I did a high resolution color scan of our passports and stuck them in a hidden directory on my website. So if we ever lost all ID, and had to go to the consulate to get an emergency passport, I could pull it down from the internets.

When traveling in exotic foreign lands, always carry both a MasterCard *and* a Visa. I've run into several situations where only one or the other is accepted, and when you need diapers, you need diapers.

make sure you can ride a bicycle 50 miles each day. It may be the only way to evacuate if needed.

Don't eat yellow snow!

With respect to data, make back up DVD's or CD's and mail some to relatives in another town. We do this for our son's digital baby photos.

Own a fire proof safe that can hold wills (or copies of them), passports, extra cash, etc.

Have a fire extinguisher in your home . . . that works. Change the batteries in your smoke alarms. Change your home's air filters.

Look both ways before crossing the street.

After Katrina, friends and relatives learned that you should place the items in your safety deposit box (in the bank) in a Ziplock bag to protect them from water.

Now that I own and regularly drive a car (ah, California) I always keep walking shoes, a blanket, and bottled water in it. When traveling just about anywhere, I keep toilet paper stuffed in various accessible pockets, cuz you never know, whether you are on the Inca Trail in Peru or in a movie theater in Palo Alto, if you'll be left to drip dry.

My area of expertise is motherhood. My time saving tips:

You do not need to bathe children every day. Heck, you don't need to shower every day! Spritz on some good perfume, and go. The French have known this for generations! Saves water too.

Keep the car packed with water and non-perishable snacks. Keep some plastic bags in there too. You might get stuck on the freeway, and one of your children has to go potty. I also have a roll of paper towels and a first aid kit in my car.

Kids can survive on cereal alone for weeks. (Ask my Sarah.) Make sure you have a small stock of cereal in case of earthquake or other disaster. Let's face it, they most likely won't eat beef jerky or your energy bars.

Carry Wet Ones antibacterial wipes at all times to clean little hands.

Put the lunch boxes on the counter the night before school. Make your child find it, because it's either in the car, or their room or maybe even the laundry basket, but it's their responsibility to find it or no lunch tomorrow! Go ahead and pack the water and crackers or dried fruit at night, so you just have to throw in the sandwich the next morning. This is a serious time saver when you have more than one lunch to pack.

I'm with you on the luggage. My suitcase wheels once gave out while we were running to catch the only train that day out of our tiny Tuscan town, and we had to carry the suitcase in our arms. NOT fun.

I have two food-related tips: 1) always keep a meal replacement bar in your purse/bag/etc., and 2) always keep eggs in your refrigerator, because they last a pretty decent length of time, are versatile, are a good source of protein, and can be cooked quickly.

Drive winter tires all year. Not "all seasons" but winters. Saved my life twice - once in winter but also once in a massive downpour a mile from a tornado. I was the only car actually attached to the highway. And they stick like hell to the road in the hot days making the minivan feel like a sports car in the corners.

LISTEN to your lawyer.

As a lawyer, I agree with Eric: always listen to your lawyer.

As a parent of a wild second child: never trust your wife's ability to count to 28.

Never let GFWD be your wing man on Franklin Street, or anywhere in the continental US for that matter.

Never go to Bullock's on Monday.

Go see your lawyer before a problem arises. Have him/her review that contract, lease, etc before you sign it vs. after you have signed it and want out of it. that can save you loads of time and money.

Get your will done and executed by a lawyer and not from some downloaded forms on the internet.

Always were a ASTM safety approved helmet when riding a horse. Always . . . even on those rent a horse trail rides, even on your good old steady horse, even on well trained horses. Always!

Always reread your post before posting it. Just wear the damn helmet. It's been a long day.

Well, of course, I have a few..
LFMD hit some of my favorites. Along with long term care insurance I would suggest a living will, or better yet a health care power of attorney or at least tell somebody close to you what it is you want and don't want. Of course, that's not really on the subject of saving your ass.
So, to save you, I'd make sure you know the few real medical emergencies that should make you go to the ER right away. There aren't that many but.. chest pain (especially the crushing kind that makes you short of breath), the "worst headache of your life" and anything remotely like stroke symptoms (numbness or weakness on one side, speech slurring). If these ever apply to you or your family members go straight to the ER and use those terms in describing your symptoms and keep pushing for immediate care. Maybe even call an ambulance (unless that's likely to take longer?) to ensure you get care quickly.
Also, if your child is under 8 weeks old and has a fever higher than 100.4 they should be seen immediately (even in the middle of the night) and if your child is older with a fever higher than 102 and is acting lethargic and doesn't perk up wtih tylenol or motrin - they need to go too.
Most everything else can wait, but those things shouldn't.

Here's one more..

Keep a file of your own medical information including all the Rx drugs you take (and have taken), any lab test results and study results you have, prior vaccines, etc. Every time you get a lab test or study as for a copy of the results and keep a copy of your immunizations.

If you are on a medication make sure you know the name and dose. It helps no one to just say - "I'm on that yellow pill that starts with an x".
Also, if you are on more than one medicine bring the list and all the bottles to every doctor's appt so that ever person you see knows everything you take (include any over the counter herbs, vitamins, supplements, etc - these are drugs too). Probably the number one cause of most people's symptoms are drug side effects or interactions.
With our mess of a medical system most doctors and pharmacies have no real idea what each patient is taking nor do they have an accurate list.

It's also very hard to get records released and transferred from one doctor to the next so if you show up with a copy of your old records in hand (or at least the important prior results) you save so much time and money and will get faster, better care. For now at least, we must be the keepers of your own medical information if we want doctors to have the most accurate and best chance of helping us quickly.

I am going to print Neva's list and put it on my frig! I am always wondering what to do about medical ailments. Which reminds me of another rule: leave the important judgment calls to the professionals. Don't draft your own legal documents (right on, Emma!), don't self-diagnose when you are sick (doctor.com is not the same as a medical professional!), don't try to fix the pipes when you are not a plumber, etc. If you don't know how to do something, pay someone who does to do it correctly.

As someone who was almost plowed down today by a car running a stop sign while making a rapid left turn, I have to echo what GFWD said above, and say, "Look both ways when crossing the street." And wear good running shoes so you can dive out of the way to avoid getting run over. Yeesh.

No matter what adhesive you use, you cannot repair broken plastic. If that piece broke off [tabs especially] it ain't goin' back on for long.

Never use a long time [read: college] buddy for serious business like lawyering or banking. It is hard to look at them and not remember that night when they drank too much Tequila and puked for half and hour.

Never believe your wife when she says,"Lets not get Christmas presents for each other this year". She will and you better.

Tape batteries to the outside of the flashlights and lanterns inside your survival kits. If they touch other metal they might explode.

My personal Apocalypse Starter Kit can be found here:

http://summerburkes.wordpress.com/2007/06/22/starter-kit-for-the-apocalypse/

And remember: Two man enter; one man leave.