If you routinely experience gas pains and bloating, keep a log of everything you eat and drink. When you have symptoms, check your log and note foods that might be giving you trouble. Then see if cutting those foods from your diet helps.  For example, you might pass gas excessively and feel bloated after eating a big bowl of ice cream. Limiting or cutting dairy products could provide relief. Foods affect people differently, so try to find out what’s causing your issues. You might find that all common gas-causing foods give you trouble, or that 1 or 2 items cause your symptoms. The most common gas-causing foods contain hard-to-digest carbohydrates, fiber, and lactose. Try cutting dairy products from your diet for a week, and see if your symptoms improve. If you’re still gassy, try avoiding beans, broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage. If you still experiencing gas, try reducing your fiber intake. See if cutting down on whole grains and bran helps. Sorbitol is an artificial sweetener that causes gas. While sorbitol can make you gassy on its own, products that contain it often cause or worsen gas in other ways.  For example, carbonated beverages cause gas, and soft drinks that contain sorbitol can be even harder on your digestive system. Swallowing air can cause bloating, and you swallow more air when you chew gum and suck on hard candies. You might be even more gassy if you’re chewing gum or candy contains sorbitol. Beans and some fruits and veggies contain carbohydrates that are hard to digest. Avoid or eat less broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, apples, pears, prunes, and prune juice.  Fruits and veggies are an important part of a healthy diet, so don’t cut them out entirely. Instead, go for options that are easier to digest, such as lettuce, tomatoes, zucchini, avocados, berries, and grapes. To make beans easier to digest, soak them in warm water for at least an hour before cooking them. Be sure to discard the soaking water and cook them in fresh water. Do your best to avoid greasy, high-fat foods, which can slow digestion and cause gas buildup. Examples include fatty cuts of red meat, processed meats (such as bacon), and fried foods. Swap these for leaner, more digestible items, like poultry, seafood, egg whites, and easy-to-digest fruits and veggies. Larger particles of food are harder to digest, so chew your food until it’s liquefied. Additionally, the more you chew, the more saliva you produce. Saliva contains digestive enzymes, which break down your bites and make your meals easier to digest. Take smaller bites and chew at least 30 times, or until the food feels like a mushy paste. Probiotics help to promote a healthy gut biome, which means that the bacteria in your digestive system are balanced. Include probiotic foods or a probiotic supplement in your daily diet. Probiotic foods include: Yogurt Kefir Sauerkraut Miso soup Kimchi

Summary: Try to keep track of which foods cause your symptoms. Cut 1 food group at a time from your diet to find the culprit. Avoid items that contain sorbitol, such as gum, candy, and soft drinks. Stay away from beans, vegetables, and fruits that cause gas. Work on cutting fatty foods from your diet. Chew your food thoroughly before swallowing. Include probiotic foods or a supplement.


You will either need an air mattress repair kit or the equivalent components: an adhesive and a piece of vinyl that’s larger than the hole you’re repairing.  Use any vinyl repair kit instead of an air mattress repair kit.  Choose an adhesive that’s made expressly for sealing seams. Try McNett’s Seam Grip or Coleman’s Seam Sealer. You can also consider using rubber cement. Duct tape can be used in place of the vinyl if no other alternatives are available.  You may also need something with which to apply the adhesive. A small paint brush is ideal.  Use the applicator that came with the adhesive or small paint brush. Make sure you cover the entire surface of the patch. If the leak is small and in an area where a patch cannot make full contact with the mattress fabric, you can try plugging the leak with a small a bit of adhesive. Press firmly and smooth it out. The goal is get the patch to make full contact with the mattress. Consider weighting down the patch with a 10-pound weight to ensure full contact between the patch and the mattress. Exact drying times will depend on which adhesive you’ve used. Refer to the directions on the package.

Summary: Gather your materials. Measure and cut a patch that’s at least ½ inch bigger on all sides than the tear. Apply the adhesive to one side of the patch. Press the patch, adhesive-side down, onto the tear or hole. Let dry for several hours.


Naturally, the word "cave" is very loosely used in the case of developing a man cave. It can be the attic, an unused bathroom, the shed out the back, the garage, or the basement. Or anywhere else that's spare, has adequate elbow room, and is left currently unused or pretty much abandoned.  Build a shed or dig out a basement if your options are looking thin. . Having a man cave in the house may require delicate household negotiations and compromises. You may have to agree to something in exchange for your man cave been allowed into the house. If your man cave is using up the only relaxation space, no one's going to end up happy. Try offering one of the following in exchange, if your partner or housemate is interested:  Setting up another room as a sewing room, exercise room, sauna and spa, playroom, model collection space, or astronomy observatory. Promising a certain number of hours each month on household repairs, odd jobs, or chores. Arranging regular dates or family time. Man caves often start in corners of the house without insulation. Make your man cave warmer and more sound-proof by installing fiberglass or other insulation material between the wall studs. Unless your cave is in a stand-alone shed, or you're living alone, put a priority on sound proofing when choosing insulation material. You don't want your midnight sports or poker game to be interrupted by a tired spouse or neighbor. If you've been relegated to the dingiest, smallest room in the house, bright colors will give a sense of more light coming in, and more space. On the other hand, dark colors are good for home theater setups, or a relaxed bar-like atmosphere. If you couldn't care less and just think a wall is a wall, congratulations. Skipping this step is the first benefit of having a space where you get to make the decisions. Install recessed lighting or a light on a dimmer switch if you want to watch movies in your man cave. If your man cave has windows, put up blackout curtains so you can pull them closed and game at three in the afternoon without the outside world butting in.
Summary: Choose the space. Be prepared to negotiate Insulate and sound-proof the room. Paint or wallpaper the room (optional). Add lighting or curtains if needed.