Ten Weeks of Bakuchiol, and I Went Back to Tretinoin Twice a Week
Tretinoin 0.025 percent left my cheeks flaking 5 days a week. Bakuchiol serum cost $44, ran 10 weeks. Cheek photo count: 11 Sunday shots, same window. Blackheads on my nose dropped 8 to 5. The 11-lines barely moved. The compromise is tretinoin twice a week, bakuchiol the other nights.
Day 88 of 90, and the Calculator Disagreed With Me
The Schengen window allows 90 days per 180. My spreadsheet said 4 remained at Athens airport. The official calculator said 2. The gap traced to a December Lisbon arrival I logged wrong. Arrival and exit days both count. A ferry receipt settled it.
My Dentist Charged $480 for a Guard. I Kept the $36 One.
My dentist's night guard cost $480. A boil-and-bite guard cost $36. I logged 60 nights on a 1 to 10 jaw scale. The dentist guard averaged 3.1. The cheap one averaged 3.4. It went loose at night 31, fixed with a re-boil. The $480 one sits in a drawer.
The $14,500 Sewer Line Was Buried on Page 6 of the Inspection Report
A 1962 ranch in Greeley, Colorado, listed at $385,000. The sewer scope found roots at 18 feet and a belly at 32. Plumbers quoted $9,800 to $16,200. The $14,500 replacement bid sat on page 6 of a 47-page report. We walked. Earnest money: $11,550 returned.
Twelve Hours and $287 to Keep a 12-Year-Old Subaru Alive
My 2012 Outback hit 108,431 miles with the timing belt 3,431 miles overdue. Cascade Subaru quoted $1,687. I bought a Gates kit for $214, coolant for $48, gaskets and clamps for $25. Two Saturdays, about 12 hours, one borrowed torque wrench. Parts total: $287.
Nine Hours on the Tarmac in Gander
A JFK-to-Heathrow flight diverted to Gander, Newfoundland, over a medical emergency. Tarmac time: 9 hours. The airline gave 600 CAD, a hotel, and a shuttle. The missed Edinburgh connection cost a $180 B&B deposit. My $94 travel insurance policy refunded it in 11 days.
Quoted $250 a Session. The Laser Total Landed at $2,150.
The medspa quoted $250 a session for my back. The quote assumed six sessions. It took eleven over fourteen months. Shoulders added $75 a visit. A hormone panel cost $100. The total landed at $2,150.
My Neighbor's Tree Fell. My Policy Paid the First Dollar.
A neighbor's oak fell across my Durham fence on August 29. Her tree, my damage, my claim. My carrier paid $1,850 of a $2,850 rebuild after the $1,000 deductible. Her insurer denied liability in 11 days. A $700 arborist report then found root rot in her second oak.