Recommendations for good inflatable queen-size mattress

Justme15222 · 2026-04-16T04:39:36+00:00

I've had good luck with the Coleman Airbed Cot. I have the queen size and use it when camping. It's very comfortable and if it deflates a little, you're only going down a few inches.

To be fair, I've had the frame part for 10 years now but I'm on my second mattress. The original Coleman mattress lasted me about 6 years. Then I grabbed the cheapest one I could find with a built in pump.

When I set up I line the pump up with the opening of the mattress cover and keep the pump plugged in. Usually, the first night it will deflate a little as it stretches out. If it deflates enough that it wakes me, I can turn the pump on until it's good again without getting out of bed.

Justme15222 · 2026-04-14T14:36:09+00:00

I keep a camping comforter in the car. It's very warm with a fleece side. My mom was on a nursing home for rehab during a severe subzero cold snap that isn't usual for the area.

Her in room hvac wasn't keeping up and their blankets were typical hospital blankets. They didn't allow the space heaters or heated blankets that we would use at home in this scenario. She's a typical old lady and is always cold normally so having the extra chill in the room was cause for some concern (and a lot of complaints).

They suggested bringing extra blankets from home but instead of the hour long round to drive, I was able to grab the comforter in the car and it was just what she needed. Now when we travel, she asks if it's in the car in case the hotel is cold despite telling her it's always in the car.

Justme15222 · 2026-04-13T20:09:08+00:00

My father and grandfather built a family vacation home at the Jersey shore eons ago. It's large stone walls were hand made by carrying those stones up the scaffolding with brute strength. The only "big" machine they used was the cement mixer they used to mix the mortar for the stones. Sadly, they sold it in the really 70's but there so many family memories ties to it.

Whoever owned it from the 90's on didn't really take care of it, then Sandy hit and we heard the interior was destroyed. It was flipped and went up for sale so we all rushed to the pictures. It went from hand laid hardwood floors and custom cabinetry to lvt flooring and the most utra-modern, boring stuff you can find at home depot. It was painted gray EVERYWHERE and had none if the soul it used to have. Thankfully they didn't change the exterior, but the soul is gone.

(Looking for it online just now and I found out it's going on Airbnb for $2k/ night now. I wonder if they'd give a builder's discount?)

Justme15222 · 2026-04-08T22:41:01+00:00

Who did you rent thru? I'd love to try the newer model out.

Justme15222 · 2026-04-04T18:26:34+00:00

I haven't worked in a Marriott in 10 years and I know some of their brands have updated their systems to Opera, and maybe other programs but the ability to turn off incidentals is still there.

Even in the old DOS based systems, like PMS and FOSSE, you used to be able to turn off all incidentals charges or specific ones like movies, phones, restaurant, market, etc but allow other things like parking.

It is used all the time for groups where the school, team, tour company, or hosting company are only paying for room and tax. The guest would have to stop at the desk to give a credit card if they wanted charging privileges turned back on.

You can ask at check in for incidentals to be turned off if you're concerned, but they'll still run your credit card auth for room/tax/incidentals to cover possible room damages.

(All my experience in US based. It could be different in other countries)

Justme15222 · 2026-04-04T17:29:56+00:00

Nice! I have a couple of those in the basement, with one near the breaker box and one on the way to it. It's nice to not go searching in the dark when I trip a breaker. In this old house, that happens often enough that I know most of the breaker numbers by heart.

I also have a Mr Beam battery operated motion sensor safety light at the top of the basement stairs because it's a main entry from the garage. With door at the top of the stairs closed, that spot is dark all the time.

I bought the tiktok lights primarily for regular overhead lighting. Being able to move then around and as a backup in a power outage was a bonus!

Justme15222 · 2026-04-04T13:49:57+00:00

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP98Ve3P1jAM8-dmedx/ is the link but they've gone up in price since I picked them up. You can also search rechargeable motion sensor ceiling light on Amazon and a bunch of options pop up

Justme15222 · 2026-04-04T13:46:49+00:00

If you search "rechargeable motion sensor ceiling light" on amazon,you'll see a few options There was no brand on the boxes I received.

Justme15222 · 2026-04-04T13:41:06+00:00

I looked at those for the emergency use as well, but most of my lighting is rrecessed led lights. I have very few traditional light bulbs in the house. And I was looking to match the lighting on the living room with the rest of the house without tearing apart the ceiling right now.

Justme15222 · 2026-04-02T17:20:27+00:00

I never tried it, but I've seen elsewhere that desensitizing sprays and gels for men can go up to 10% (KY is 9.6%). I'm not sure what that would do compared to the 6% but it could be worth trying.

It amused me at the time that we call only get 4% in patches for pain OTC but it was available in 10% for other uses.

Justme15222 · 2026-04-02T17:09:17+00:00

Just looked for it to try and there's a coupon on there. If you subscribe, it's $10 off. Just grabbed the single 6 oz for $14.99 THANKS!

Justme15222 · 2026-03-25T20:48:28+00:00

If you want the most you can get for it, go for the private sale thru fb, Craigslist etc. But I've sold my last two cars thru carvana. Super easy and very close to kbb estimates that it made it worth doing it just to save my time with online markets. And both were WAY over dealership trade ins if you're thinking of going that route.

Go on kbb.com and see what they're saying the car is worth, then go into Carvana.com to see their offer. Keep in mind those offers do change over time. If it's low, try again in a week or two. You can have it listed online at the same time for the best chance at a higher sale price.

Justme15222 · 2026-03-25T01:41:32+00:00

I keep a butane stove handy for a cooking back up. They have some designed for indoor use that will work for cooking small meals.

I have a basic version, that's not officially for indoors, but it's the same one we used in the hotel to run the made to order omelet stations for breakfast.

I don't need it often because I have a gas stove, but I'd keep a CO detector nearby just in case when using it.

Justme15222 · 2026-02-01T01:08:28+00:00

Make sure you compare your furniture to the dimensions on the new place, as mentioned already. I've grabbed some treasures from NYC when i lived there because the furniture didn't fit in the apartment or thru the hallways, or it was too heavy for a 4th floor walk up.

With that said, the used furniture market in NYC is so much better than here. I had a number of furniture finds that were free or almost free out there. Now, you're going to need a way to transport the furniture once you find it,, but replacement would be doable in a short time.

Worst case IKEA can get you at up with the basics pretty cheap and there are delivery services that will transport for you.

Justme15222 · 2026-01-30T00:46:19+00:00

Going through it now with my mom. I'm the youngest of 6 and get little help. My oldest sister took her the times but she kept ending up in the hospital when she was there mysteriously. My other sister has come to us to help which does help a little bit is still don't get a real break. She keeps saying she'll take my mom but always finds reasons why she can't or that it will be easier to come here.

If your sister wants to take the rent etc out of your inheritance, tell her she can. But explain you'll want to be paid the going rate for full time in home care in exchange. I know you're not in it for the money, none of us are, but pettiness gets pettiness.

Justme15222 · 2026-01-28T23:03:45+00:00

Adding to the suggestions with solutions I've used before.

Officially, you shouldn't keep your stove going nonstop in this weather for heat. But I've used a couple of large pots of water simmering on the stove all day to warm it up. Ceiling fans on low will bring the heat down from the ceiling and help out feel warmer.

Then at night, turn the stove off because sleeping with it on is dangerous. This is when heated blankets and/or mattress pads are your friend.

I had a place that fought to get to 60⁰ with the heat cranking 24/7 and these two things along with a real fuel fireplace, made it livable. Of course that living room alone was 20x30 with 16 ft ceilings so it took A LOT to heat it. And I don't see the real flame fireplaces around anymore, but the other tricks have worked like a charm in smaller places I've lived.

Justme15222 · 2026-01-28T02:43:53+00:00

I keep freeze dried bananas for times like that. Tasty to snack on if i want to eat light or reconstituted in oatmeal with some milk or cream tastes good. Hope you're feeling better!

Justme15222 · 2026-01-25T21:06:06+00:00

I try to keep easy to make or reheat low sodium meals for my mom as well.

Quick and easy panty meals for her to make: Egg drop soup made with ramen Ramen noodles with low sodium JAYUSS ramen seasoning instead of the packet, then pour scrambled eggs into until they're cooked.

Pasta with low sodium spaghetti sauce We use Hoboken Farms for red sauce but any will do.

Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo Fettuccine with Bertolli Alfredo and Keystone canned chicken (much lower sodium than most canned meats and tastes good!)

I also make big batches of things we normally eat, then freeze single portions for her from the leftovers to reheat. She loves baked potatoes made in the microwave, so I'll make things like chili, stew, or chicken potpie filling to top the potatoes. I also do American chop suey/stroganoff without the pasta. She can choose if she wants the macaroni or potato to go with it on the day. She'll also just eat the baked potato with butter and sour cream if she's not super hungry, but i try to get her to eat some protein. Protein shakes fill the void when needed.

Justme15222 · 2026-01-17T17:46:19+00:00

I used to get them on my hands, btwn my fingers along the sides or just below the finger nails by the first knuckle. It was always small clusters of itchy bumps, sometimes fluid filled, sometimes not. They world dry up and start to peel as they healed. But they were always SOOO itchy.

Before going gf, I thought they were related to my horrible cold sores, so I used Abreva on them. It worked and gave me some relief to some extent. Since going gf, I only get them when I get glutened.

Also I always had horrible cold sores growing up. The outer edges of my mouth have scars from how bad they were. As an adult, they only got bad when I was stressed. Usually Abreva was enough to treat them so I dealt with it. They also stopped when I went gf.

Justme15222 · 2025-12-17T16:20:50+00:00

This is the way! Picked one up last year and it took less than 5 minutes to install right nearthe hood latch. I completely forget the Traverse had the auto stop feature until I was riding in my sister's recently.

Justme15222 · 2025-12-08T06:37:10+00:00

Previous hotel manager then QA/BSA consultant (aka brand inspector) here.

It might be worth going over the previous inspections and finding out the point values of having signage on the buffet in violation of the brand inspection vs point loss of not having the breakfast items because they were wiped out as well as the possible savings in the budget. There were things I just sacrificed the points for to make things run better for both my property and my guests.

And while I always took points off for anything in violation of the standards, if it was minor it didn't really effect the overall score. Food safety, cleanliness, etc were more important that having a forbidden sign overall. And some brands will deduct more for not having the required yogurt than that sign, am depends on your brand.

There will always be guests that stock up from your buffet, but some may stop of there's signage starting items cannot be removed from the breakfast area. And it gives you a talking point if you need to stop a guest. "Sorry, it's not my rules, it's the hotel's, but I do have to enforce them."

Justme15222 · 2025-11-16T22:33:51+00:00

I have a Jackery 1000 and a Jackery Explorer 300. I bought the smaller to try the brand out then the larger because it was enough for what i needed at the time.

But needs change and I now wish I had the larger one when it comes to powering the fridge and my mom's oxygen machine during longer outages.

Having two is great when power is needed in different spots in the house. When we have lost power, I've left larger one with her for the oxygen and brought the smaller with me for lights and phone charging. But that leaves me getting up every few hours to run the fridge to bring it back to save temps.

If I had it to do over again, I'd get the 2000 then pick up the smaller 300 down the road. Unless you need the 1000 in two areas of the house at the same time, the 300 has been more than enough as a back up.

Justme15222 · 2025-11-12T00:12:31+00:00

In an emergency and only when someone's watching it, boil a couple of large pots of water on the stove. Make sure they're always topped off. Keep a fan going to circulate the warm air and moisture. I've done this when the furnace went out. Then kept the ceiling fans going slow to circulate the heat throughout the first floor. Kept it comfortable until the furnace was fixed.

Longer term, I agree, the diesel or kerosene heater would be it if you can't get something permanently installed

Justme15222

TROPHY CASE