October 31, 2015

Okey dokey.....screwed again.

Polariod transfer....

In my last post, I had listed the Dr appointments I rushed to, in hopes of getting things done before the insurance expired.  Turns out I was incorrectly informed.  Apparently the coverage ends on midnight on the date of termination.  So, all I accomplished was increasing the $$ I will owe for the tests and contacts (the only thing that ended up covered was the flu shot and shingles vaccine since I did those on Monday).  One of my coworkers asked about cobra coverage, and I asked Romeo about it ~ and then we promptly got into a fight about it.  I told him that we might at least get it for a month to cover the tests I had done, not to mention coverage for the upcoming visit for my migraines.  

Truthfully, I am a bit upset with Romeo.  He didn't ask any questions about stuff like insurance.  And I'm totally incensed with his employer for not providing him with the cobra information, which they are supposed to do, by law.  Or, they did and he was so freaked out that he didn't pay any attention to it ~ which I understand.  He does not react well to stress.  

And I think they should have told him that the insurance (and any other benefits that qualify) would end on Monday, so that we could make informed choices.  Plus, it just makes sense to me that he had paid for the benefits through the end of the month.....so they should have kept them active at LEAST until the 31st.  

One of my coworkers was trying to make me feel better by pointing out that there are many people in worse shape.  And of course I realize this already.  However, I was not comforted by the thought that there are many other families that are worse off.  Is it just me?

Love, 365

October 29, 2015

As the world turns....

Prickly times......

Because our lives were apparently becoming too comfortably consistent, the powers that be decided that we needed something new to stress out over.  So, after 15 years, Romeo's company decided to lay him off.  This happened Monday, as I was coming downstairs for the morning, he walks in and tells me what happened.  So, ratchet up the stress, and freak out.  With not much of a "severence package" that consists of 6 weeks of pay, and the loss of our medical insurance by the end of the week.  ~sigh~

Luckily, Romeo had recently had his physical and stuff, so he was all caught up on medical stuff, whereas I had kept putting it off and putting it off....& so on.  
Monday ~ flu shot and shingles vaccine.
Tuesday ~ visit the optometrist and order new contacts..refill Romeo's Rx.
Wednesday ~ have the lovely (& really painful this time) mammogram and ultrasound.
Thursday ~ gather up all receipts for expenses and fax to the company that processes the FSA stuff.  And hope that there aren't any problems that they will then use to deny paying out on.  

I wish I could have made it to our new family physician's office to discuss my migraines, but that's not until next Friday, which is November something, so probably won't have any coverage then.  Romeo wants me to keep the appointment, but if the out of pocket costs are over $100, I'm not going to do it.  I can't even imagine how much the Rx would be for the shots/nasal spray I was hoping to get.  I also have an appointment for my pap smear & gyn exam, but that's just going to have to wait until such time as I have insurance again.  Romeo is old enough to qualify for Medicare, but I'm not.  So, depending on what goes on, I might have to go to the "market place" and look for a plan.  Problem is, I have had breast cancer, and to get that covered, I'd probably have to pay a fortune, or agree to do without cancer coverage so I could actually afford to have coverage.  Seems pretty sucky.

Well, I feel all stressed out just writing about it.  Gonna go meditate or something.

Love, 365

October 25, 2015

Let's study the plague ~ just for fun....

Map of the spread of the plague, Google.

I have always been fascinated by the plague, it's spread, and the economic changes in the aftermath of a devastating wave of death.  David Herlihy's book "The Black Death" explores this subject in terrifying detail, and even compares it to the AIDS epidemic, although I'm a bit surprised he did not mention Ebola or Lassa fever.   If you are morbidly interested as well, you might want to check it out from the library, although I purchased a copy for a pittance (less than $5) from Amazon.

In other, less terrifying news, I was saddened (but not surprised) that my anthropology professor announced that he intends to retire at the end of next year.  I really don't have a fixed age for him, but I do know that he is less than 80, but by how much I've no idea.  He is truly a dedicated educator.   His wife is termially ill with stage 4 cancer, and has been going through chemo every 2 (or 3?) months, and he mentioned that she is one of the longest survivors of this particular form of treatment.  They want some time to do some traveling and other things "before something happens".  Which I find very interesting, since many of the people I know ~ that are near my age ~ worked only until they figured they could retire, apparently because they disliked what they were doing.  This man loves what he does.  I plan to take classes with him as long as I can.  I think he feels a bit out of the loop with his contemporaries, thinking that his ideas are passé, but as a fan, I must say I think his ideas are refreshing and down to earth, logical.  

Me Mum, who recently had a partitial hip replacement, had to go back for more surgery, as her incision became infected and opened up (all the way to the bone, shudder).  So, now we are waiting to see how well the healing progresses.  If all goes well, she'll be discharged for further physical therapy in a week to 10 days.  ****I love her, she is quite unique, but like so many of her generation, excersize is not a high priority.  Her situation would not exist if she had stuck to a routine of some sort.....such as the original excersize, walking.  She had lost so much of her strength, the fall was catostrophic.  

Well, that is all for now....enjoy your week!
Love, 365


October 17, 2015

**Just let it go......**

(see the full cartoon here)

Road rage strikes again.

This week, I decided to take a different path home, hoping to shave a bit of time off of my commute.  So, instead of going right, I went left, as I have done other times, but usually only if I need to stop at Target, or some other retail establishment.  

Instead of going my merry way (la la de da), I had unintentionally become part of a huge backup.  I didn't really know what was going on, but had no choice but to move with it.  

Traffic was moving very slowly.  It's boring, right?  So, what do we do when we are bored?  We check e-mail, or texts, or something like that.  I was doing the same....and when I looked up, I noticed that a woman in a Hyundai mini van had nudged her left bumper between me and the car in front of me.  Seriously, there was probably only a foot between us, and now this woman's bumper.  

She is forcing her way in.  She didn't have on a turn signal, or indicated in any way that she was hoping to move into my lane.  For me to move forward, I would have to hit her vehicle.  My only choice was to let her in.  I have seen this happen before in a traffic jam, and it never fails to make me incredulous at the brazen audacity of idiots.  Of course, I laid on my horn.  She turned towards me and gestured she wanted to move forward ~ duh.  Then, when she had managed to pull in front of me she waved ~ I assume a "thank you!".  I resisted the urge to flip her the bird, since she had kids in her vehicle.  

I found this little article on driving etiquette......

Should you ever insist on the right of way?

The driver should never assume that other drivers will start or complete any maneuver and should never insist on the right of way nor attempt to force their way into traffic. Drivers should try to anticipate other driver’s actions as well as yielding whenever needed or required by law. Giving up the right of way to other drivers also helps to avoid crashes, as does gaining eye contact with all operators of motor vehicles that come directly into conflict with you. Drivers should attempt to be both courteous and conscientious toward other drivers.
If she had put on her turn signal and waited, I would have let her in....but I wasn't given that opportunity. 
I was totally enraged, and trying desperately to "let it go".  I did manage a lively little dialogue, that fortunately, she didn't have to hear.  
Worst of all, I had to listen to Romeo (who's inability in the past to "let it go" is legendary) lecture me on "letting it go".  
From here on out, I'm turning right.
Love, 365


October 11, 2015

Of Balloons & Resubmittion Fees, wha????

Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta 2015 

We did manage to go to the balloon fiesta last Saturday!  Got up at 4am, and arrived at the park and ride around 4:45....to discover that since the last time we attended, the park and ride has become very popular!  Instead of city busses, they are now using school buses to haul us out to the balloon field.  Seriously, there were easily 400+ people out there.  
Of course, this was the first day of the fiesta, and I knew it would be crowded, and to their credit, it was well organized.  We arrived in well ahead of the mass assention at 6am.  The only negative I experienced was burning my tongue on the coffee!  









It was really fun.....and it wiped us out for the rest of the day!  I swear, we can home and napped for a couple of hours.  

******************************
On the BYU course.....the day after I submitted my quiz, I received an e-mail letting me know that I might be able to take it again ~ for a fee.  Interesting, huh?  I suppose this is how they keep the tuition fee low for the course, by offering you opportunities to retake the quiz by paying for the privilege.  I don't know what the cost is, because I am not able to retake the above mentioned quiz.  Higher learning ~ so much of it is all about the money.  Sigh.

Love, 365

October 9, 2015

I must be a survival master.......

Just chilling........

Just finished taking my lesson 1 quiz.....made a 75.  

Considering I spent an hour reviewing the material (which was considerable) and hurriedly read an intro chapter for answers, I didn't feel too bad about it.  

The bad news: I need to take another quiz on Monday.

More bad news: I still need to work on re-writing my research paper.  And although I think of it often, I really haven't written anything new.  Oops.

I suppose it's a good thing that I see "bad news" to be defined as: Lets see if I can ace it.  Or, at least make a good show of it.  

I suppose that in many ways, I can be a risk taker.  Well, except for tight ropes, sky diving, roller blades (oh, god, I remember that phase, which was very short lived), snow boarding (which was fun until I got going too fast and nearly broke my neck), etc, etc.  

My anthropology professor is supposed to e-mail me on class dates, and I'm sort of excited about the fact that he seems to have forgotten all about me.  Tee hee.  I know it won't last, but I will wait until I hear from him.  Apparently they have company from out of town/state that are here for the balloon fiesta.

Speaking of which, I do have some awsome photos to show you, which I will do soon.  Plate rather full at the moment.

Love, 365

October 6, 2015

OMG, OMG, OMG............

I can't believe that I.......(Google images)

Crap!  

If you've ever read my blog, you might recall how excited I was to discover that I could take a class online with BYU to satisfy my history requirements.  I may not have mentioned that I would have a year to complete the class.  

Well.

I haven't been online for the class in a little over a month.  Life just happens, ya know?  I was working on my other class, and trying to handle all of the emotional ups and downs of my Mom's physical issues (it's a really long story that I don't want to go into right now).  I just so happened to check online to refresh what I need to do and discovered that there are some timelines I need to meet, and I've missed the first one.   THE FIRST ONE.  To say that I'm freaking out is a major understatement.

I truly thought that I would have a year, and I could just mosey (?) along and do the class on my own time.  I really believed that there wasn't any time frame.  

OMG.....I couldn't have been more wrong.  I had a quiz I was to complete.....ON SEPT. 9th!  OH SHIT!!!!!!!

I will do it (& the quiz that is due for the second section) this weekend.  One will be on time, one will be late.  Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit.

In this instance, assume makes an ass out of me and me.  

Love, 365

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