In the early 1990's, after my father died, I was stuck with preparing the family house for sale. Almost twenty years of occupancy had left our home in pretty sorry shape, and it took my sisters and I a long time to pack, clean, and otherwise prepare the house for the block. Finally, toward the end of the summer, I decided to tackle the downstairs bathroom.

My father had remodeled the bathroom years earlier and had included a beautiful tile floor, which he had immediately covered up with wall-to-wall blue carpet. By the time I got to clean the room, the carpet was old and ratty, with odd stains and odder smells. After I tore it up, however, I discovered that the floor was even worse, particularly around the tub, steam shower, and toilet, where there were huge tracts of yellowed, mildewey tile. Being a scorched-earth kind of guy, I decided to pull out the big guns; I dumped the better part of a quart of bleach on the floor.

In this economy, anyone who checks the market and/or gas prices regularly would do well to keep a flask full of something on hand at all times -- if they can afford one.

Luckily The Sportsman's Guide is offering 2 7 ounce Eddie Bauer flasks for $5 with the code SB114. Shipping is another $5.49, but that's still a hefty savings off the $30 sticker price.

And with the "Eddie Bauer" label emblazoned on the front, you won't look too pathetic. It's better than "Faded Glory."

Every day, WalletPop will be bringing you information about a fantastic freebie. Like what you see? Check back tomorrow for more!

A really great way to avoid the ill effects of alcohol is to drink responsibly. Alternative, you could order a special patch that claims to "protect and defend" against hangovers.

Sounds a lot more fun than self-discipline, especially when Sober X will send you 2 free samples if you fill out this form. According to the company:

Sober X provides a unique formula of Milk Thistle, Artichoke, Green Tea and Vitamin C, specifically designed to supply the body with antioxidant effects needed to prevent hangovers. Each ingredient in the Sober X HFTP is FDA Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) and has been clinically tested for safety and efficacy.

Who knew artichokes could prevent hangovers? Wired's "Gadget Lab" is less impressed with the product giving it a 5/10 rating and commenting that "even if the effects of alcohol don't stick around, the patch adhesive will -- a week later I still had the outline of a gluey square on my back."

Bad news for beer drinkers: rising fuel costs and a rise of more than 300% in the cost of hops have led to a year over year increase of more than 4% in the cost of beer at retail.



Check out the video from MSNBC for more color.

Here's a quick tip: if a 4% increase in the cost of beer is enough to impact your financial situation, the rising cost of beer is probably the least of your worries. Please seek help immediately.

Even under the best of circumstances, weddings are difficult affairs. Between the emotionally explosive brides and/or bridesmaids re-creating Ophelia's scenes from Hamlet and the unsure, second-guessing bridegrooms who are contemplating a quick move to a country without extradition, there are the cast of Tennessee Williams extras, including the over-protective daddy, the twitchy mother of the groom, and the various friends and family who are wondering if they will ever have a special day.

But enough about my wedding.

All kidding aside, emotions run high at weddings, which is where alcohol comes in handy. I'm not advocating a Romanesque, bacchanalian free-for-all, but even the best wedding is improved with a little liquid lubrication; for the worst wedding, it can be the crutch that keeps the whole thing from falling into an abyss of despair, recrimination, and permanent estrangement. The few dry weddings that I've attended have had the air of forced jollity, as if everyone was trying really hard to pretend to have fun. We kept saying things like, "See, we don't need alcohol to have fun," "Wow, this grape Kool-Aid tastes terrific," and "Maybe you'll be old enough to drink at your second wedding, Lurleen."

On the other end of the spectrum, of course, there's the massive boozefest, in which the bride and groom blow tons of cash (sometimes theirs, more often daddy's) on a well-stocked bar featuring everything from staples like rum and vodka to exotic horrors like kumquat schnappes and vodka made from scorpions. Of course, there are always a few people who have to try everything, after which they dance like Crispin Glover with a stomach cramp and end up falling asleep under one of the tables.

One of the big problems with alcohol is getting a good selection without overdoing it.

The liquor absinthe, long illegal in the U.S., once provided inspiration to legendary artists and writers including Van Gogh, Oscar Wilde and Ernest Hemingway. Its overconsumption was also thought to lead to madness, the reason for its ban. Fortunately, for those curious about these claims, the drink is again available in the U.S.

Absinthe was often referred to as "the green fairy" because it was believed to cause hallucinations, attributed to one of the key ingredients, wormwood. This bitter flavoring added the chemical thujone which, because it resembles the active ingredient in marijuana, THC, was blamed/credited for the drink's extraordinary effects.

However, recent studies have shown that thujone does not have any psychoactive effects. The madness and other dire consequences once attributed to the wormwood in absinthe are now thought to have been symptoms of plain old alcoholism.

Now, two American firms have begun distilling and selling absinthe in this country, and foreign brands are making their way onto U.S. shelves. If you're interested in giving the green fairy a try, be prepared to spend a goodly sum (the American brand Lucid runs about $60, while imported Verte Suisse sells for $170 or so a bottle,) certainly far more than church-mouse poor Vincent ever spent on his drink of choice.

A caution, though; if you are the kind of person who grows annoyingly amorous when drunk, be careful; it's said absinthe makes the heart grow fonder.