Thursday, May 7, 2015

Sitting by the Lake

I am happy to report that I am writing this while sitting on the porch looking out over the lake. It is perfect. This is why we love living here. It is supposed to get up to 80 degrees here today. I have no idea how long the perfect weather will last, but we will certainly enjoy it while we have it. Here is a photo taken last night before dinner.



I have been feeling very good during this cycle. Not as sleepy as last cycle and I don't seem to get winded as easily. Meanwhile the numbers are still holding steady - and possibly dropping a little bit and I am happy with that. Apparently the drugs are doing their thing.

And speaking of drugs, do you know that I have a "drug habit" that many junkies would be quite proud of. It is running into 6 figures per year and I am not counting decimal points. I did not realize just how much this was costing until I got a notice yesterday from my insurance company telling me that I could save money. It had me laughing so hard I couldn't talk for about 5 minutes. Let me explain.

The paper started by saying there was "Good news! This quick guide shows you how to save $8.98 on your prescriptions." Now that is exciting, right? Then I opened it and found that my out of pocket for prescriptions last year was $3,500 (my max which I reached on Jan 17) and that my insurance company had spent $97,992.65. And these guys were telling me that I could save $8.93. Why, that is almost a hundredth of a percent. Who could pass up an offer like that. And to make matters worse, I don't think it would save me anything since I am already way over my maximum out or pocket. That is why I was laughing.

By the way, that is only  for drugs that I take orally and does not cover hospital expenses. Don't buy stock in my insurance company. Oh - wait. I go on Medicare next month. I guess we all sort of do have stock in that company. Actually, my insurance agent tells me that my annual insurance premiums plus out of pocket expenses will actually be higher under Medicare, but fortunately nothing that we can't deal with.

But at least the drugs seem to be helping.

So we are back in NH and weather is good and I am feeling good. I finally got all the maple
sugaring stuff rinsed in bleach water and put away. That took several days. What a pain, but I am all ready for next year.


Next week, during my "break", I will be heading down to Westwood to get together with two fraternity brothers who will be visiting for a couple of days. I will then come back for Meredith Yard
Sale day (May 16). Barbara has a bunch of stuff she wants to get rid of. I prefer to spend the day shopping for deals. It should be noted that most of the stuff that Barbara (and I) want to get rid of is stuff that I purchased at previous yard sales. This is when it is really handy to drive a pick-up truck.