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Post by edindetroit on Jul 18, 2024 16:01:21 GMT -5
I don't remember you asking before but YES, I do toast the bagel before adding the meat and cheese. Untoasted bagels are disgusting to me. |
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Post by sneakers (Metro Houston) on Jul 18, 2024 22:40:48 GMT -5
Sneakers--My Amazon order is a digital thermometer, Le Creuset Foil cutter, litter bags for the cat,a very short extension to put in bathroom plus hotel rooms, and a book. The book and thermometer is to be delivered by Amazon and the rest by UPS. Jimmy Kimmel will be gone until September and there will be guest host. But with the GOP convention running late, pushing the 10PM news to 10:30 I haven't stayed up. The CBS news had a story about a restaurant with 50 health code violations and still opened. A few weeks ago they explained the Starr and Willacy counties have no heath department to inspect restaurants so eat at your own risk.
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Post by sneakers (Metro Houston) on Jul 18, 2024 23:02:14 GMT -5
Hello, Sneakers. No Peak Alert Day today. High should only reach 73. It was actually a touch chilly when I walked around the neighborhood this morning. I've been reading about the automatic ball and strike caller that might be used at the MLB level in 2026. It said the strike zone is automatically set at 53.5% of the batter's height (top of zone), and 27% of batter's height (bottom of zone). Also the pitch is measured at 8.5 inches from the front and back of the plate, and it is accurate to 1/100 of an inch. I have mixed feelings about it, but that's probably because I'm an old guy. It's back to watching the Yankees tonight. I didn't watch any of the RNC Convention. Figure anything said by either side is just noise from now until November. But it sure is LOUD noise this time around.
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Post by sneakers (Metro Houston) on Jul 19, 2024 0:37:32 GMT -5
Last night, I got ready to eat supper. But the only thing left in the Crock-Pot were about six chunks of potato and one of celery. So, I ate a couple of HEB strawberry frozen fruit bars with the stew. Put the bowl on the floor so Chalupa could lick it clean.
Took my bedtime pills, got to bed a bit after midnight. Slept until about 5:30 AM, then I got up. Had to put on a fresh diaper.
Watched the ABC 13 Thursday morning news, drifted in and out of awareness.
At nine o'clock, I switched to CNBC. While I was watching, one of my housemates walked in with three slices of French toast with syrup. I ate it, so I had lunch close to three o'clock in the afternoon.
Watched the usual local news and "Jeopardy!" between eleven o'clock to one o'clock in the afternoon. Switched back to CNBC. Markets were lower today, but my portfolio was up 0.14% today.
When I went to take my low dose aspirin, I took the last tablet in the bottle. I looked and found I had no more on hand. Ordered it from Amazon but they can't deliver it until August. In the evening, I checked on the HEB Website. Found it was nearly two cents a tablet cheaper from HEB. So, I cancelled the Amazon order and will order it with my next HEB order.
Snail mail came. Four mailpieces. A DirecTV ad that rapidly hit the shredder. An offer for a loan at 66% APR that rapidly hit the shredder. A survey from Medicare asking me what I thought of my home health agency. And a letter from Medicare authorizing the home health agency to see me. Looked at Friday's Informed Delivery. Only a postcard ad from Valvoline Instant Oil Change. It will likely hit the shredder.
At two o'clock, I called for a couple of doctor appointments. My psychiatrist will be having a telemedicine session with me Monday afternoon. My primary care physician is on vacation until August but I have an appointment with another doctor in his group practice the morning of July 30th. The pdoc appointment will likely say to keep on doing what we're doing because I'm euthymic.
After the appointment calls, I had a late lunch. An eight-ounce can of Dole pineapple chunks in pineapple juice and two sandwiches. Each sandwich had two slices of HEB Super Duper Butter Bread, two slices of Bar S classic bologna, and two slices of HEB Swiss cheese.
Between 3:00 PM and 6:30 PM, I watched the KPRC Channel 2 afternoon news. After the news was over, I turned off the TV and turned on SiriusXM Yacht Rock Radio.
About eight o'clock, I placed four phone calls to the family. Nobody answered their phones. Not even Cousin Martha.
Had a large single size Stouffer's Meat Lovers' Lasagna and a can of Dole pineapple chunks for supper along with my suppertime pills.
Just before 9:00 PM, I turned off SiriusXM and turned on CW 39 for the nine o'clock news.
At 10:00 PM, I turned on KHOU Channel 11 to a speech from Donald Trump. Missed part of it because I needed a comfort stop. Had on a diaper but I consider it for the dribbles, nothing to deliberately mess in. After the convention, I saw the KHOU late local news.
Switched to ABC 13 and "Jimmy Kimmel Live" after that.
Got hungry so I ate a can of Libby's peach slices and a bowl of HEB Fruit and Frosted Rings cereal. The Libby's peach slices had a lot more juice than you get from the HEB canned peach slices.
Just took the bedtime pills so I will either go to bed or fall asleep in the task chair and stay there until morning.
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soutxed
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Post by soutxed on Jul 19, 2024 8:05:01 GMT -5
Sneakers--Watched the Trump speech off and on. Tried to watch a couple of the intro speeches, but wife came home from a Rosary for a friend of hers and had to tell me all about it. She was pretty moved. Hope your doctor appoints go well. Saw a story about how CenterPoint Energy cuts a lot of corners and is not really prepared for a storm. Restaurants here have been closed by the health departments often. Many are small one owner businesses. Also, about half the Mexican restaurants hire illegals, but none have been shut down by the Border Patrol.
Lorando--The thermometer is not what I wanted. It has a wire that goes out a window. Last one of those I had the wire broke at the window point. Plus, I want to hang it on an interior wall. Found out Amazon changed the way to return items. Use to be I would take it to UPS store, they scanned a barcode off the phone and give me a receipt. Now I have to pack it back in the box, print a return label and a notice there is a battery inside. Then mail it. Probably have to pay postage. MLB released the 2025 schedule already. NBA and NHL haven't released their 24-25 schedules. Not sure what the hurry is. Astros don't play Yankees until late in the season.
Ed--I agree, untoasted bagels are not good.
Waited for Amazon delivery. Part of it was their truck and part was UPS.
Didn't sleep well last night, actually the last week. Seems my mind is on our son and the fact the Medical examiner still hasn't released the results. Don't know what to do. Funeral director said don't call the ME office. Let her do it. Saw on the local news that the local ME could find the cause of the death of a former politician. I wish the CC examiner would just say that. better than leave us hanging. The lack of sleep is giving me low scores on my C-Pac. Also, i get tired more easily. Wife wants to go hear a band in Weslaco, but when we go, after they finish, we stay and talk until late hours.
Hearing that airlines are grounded, and many 9-1-1 systems are shut down. Maybe we have too much reliance on computers.
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Post by lorando (NW PA) on Jul 19, 2024 10:11:57 GMT -5
Good Morning, soutxed. I have to throw in my 2ยข about the "to toast or not to toast" bagels. Real bagels that are boiled, and then baked seem fine without toasting IMHO, but since there are no real bagels in the area, I'll make it unanimous for toasting. Now for the type of bagel and topping - make mine an everything or salt bagel with cream cheese please.
Sorry you're losing sleep about the coroner's ruling. Something gnawing at you like that can't be good for your health. Hopefully the wait won't be too much longer.
I wonder how Uncle is doing. I don't know where he was headed in Ontario, but the Toronto area has had some significant flooding lately.
Morning, Sneakers. That CrowdStrike global outage sure makes us all look vulnerable, even if it wasn't malicious (this time). My local bank's site is down, and today is checking statement day, so I'd like to get it balanced ASAP. I wish I wasn't so rigid when it comes to routines and schedules, but that's just the way I'm wired.
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Post by sneakers (Metro Houston) on Jul 19, 2024 11:59:18 GMT -5
Hope your doctor appoints go well. Restaurants here have been closed by the health departments often. Many are small one owner businesses. Also, about half the Mexican restaurants hire illegals, but none have been shut down by the Border Patrol. |
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Post by sneakers (Metro Houston) on Jul 19, 2024 13:22:02 GMT -5
Morning, Sneakers. That CrowdStrike global outage sure makes us all look vulnerable, even if it wasn't malicious (this time). My local bank's site is down, and today is checking statement day, so I'd like to get it balanced ASAP. I wish I wasn't so rigid when it comes to routines and schedules, but that's just the way I'm wired.
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Post by edindetroit on Jul 19, 2024 15:12:46 GMT -5
I thought all of your stocks were just a few shares.
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Post by sneakers (Metro Houston) on Jul 19, 2024 16:03:17 GMT -5
I thought all of your stocks were just a few shares.
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Post by patty7841 on Jul 19, 2024 21:09:40 GMT -5
Soutxed: I hope the ME gets her/his act together. It is awful how the cause of death has not been released. I thought that within 2 weeks of dying, it would be known.
You don't want to be loosing sleep over something that you cannot control. Hopefully it will known sooner rather than later.
Cooler temps here too. Getting humid again next week.
Sneakers: I know that you have original Medicare and Medigap. Is is affordable? I am thinking of getting rid of Medicare Advantage as I am paying a lot of money on co-pays. I went to an office the other day which had a sign posted on the wall as I walked in the door. I had never been there and did not have any health information forms filled out. The sign stated, "Your copay is due at the time of signing in to your appointment. If the office needs to bill you, we charge a $15.00 fee. I would be paying $60 then, if I could not pay at the time I walked in the door. I gave the women at the desk my name to sign in. She stated, you need to pay $45.00 for your copay now. I did not even fill out the health forms yet. I cannot do this every time I have an appointment. I have an MRI next week and the estimated copay is $146. I don't pay estimates. I am not going to be totally broke with medical bills.
lorando: You stated it was cooler when you walked around your neighborhood. Do you still take long walks?
Have to be so careful now. I carry pepper spray. I could not order it online at Amazon. They cannot deliver anything for self defense to taxachusetts.
Have a good weekend Everyone!!!
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Post by edindetroit on Jul 19, 2024 21:13:51 GMT -5
Work day today. The boss asked if I could fill in since so many were on vacation and I agreed for 2 Fridays from 7am to noon so it was up and at 'em at 5:35am.
Got to work about 6:25am and there was a guy that kept checking the handles on an SUV that I didn't trust so I moved my car to the front lot. Went to the break room and made a mug of tea in and ate a bowl of bran flakes I brought from home. Clocked in at 6:54am and headed to the lab.
Logged in to the lab PC and performed the morning calibrations and got things ready to go. Locked the lab PC and went to the packing station and logged in to that PC but it didn't bring my desktop over from the lab PC meaning I have to log in to everything again. Not a big deal but annoying. Packed yesterday's samples and then the bottles from freezer #1.
That finished I had to wait awhile before I can pack freezer #2. You have to wait 12 hours after the last bottle is placed in the freezer to make sure they are completely frozen. There were new bottles showing up in the lab so I moved back there and saw that I was logged out of that PC. Hmm...I log back in and get an error that it can't reach the server. Try the other lab station and same thing. Call my boss to let him know that I can't use either PC in the lab and he says that there is a Microsoft outage and he couldn't log in either. We decided I should us the packing PC to scan each bottle. It was a pain in the butt going back there, entering my password to unlock it, scan the bottle, check which bottle is next, lock the PC and head back to the lab. Lather rinse repeat. It was really slow and bottles were piling up and at one point I had 9 bottles sitting there waiting. I made a do not touch sign to put on the keyboard so no one would log me out which would really have sucked.
When I got most of them done Satinda came into the lab and was able to log into station 2. I turned the lab over to her and went to the back and finished packing freezer #2. Went back to the lab and still couldn't get logged in so Satinda stayed logged in to the PC but logged out of the software so I could use it and stay in the lab. Around 11:15am I was finally able to log in to station one. A bit frustrating but at least I wasn't stuck in an airport far from home like many were and still are.
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Post by sneakers (Metro Houston) on Jul 19, 2024 23:16:39 GMT -5
Sneakers: I know that you have original Medicare and Medigap. Is is affordable? I am thinking of getting rid of Medicare Advantage as I am paying a lot of money on co-pays. I went to an office the other day which had a sign posted on the wall as I walked in the door. I had never been there and did not have any health information forms filled out. The sign stated, "Your copay is due at the time of signing in to your appointment. If the office needs to bill you, we charge a $15.00 fee. I would be paying $60 then, if I could not pay at the time I walked in the door. I gave the women at the desk my name to sign in. She stated, you need to pay $45.00 for your copay now. I did not even fill out the health form yet. I cannot do this every time I have an appointment. I have an MRI next week and the estimated copay is $146. I don't pay estimates. I am not going to be totally broke with medical bills.
Part D - $47.10/month
Plan G Medigap - $236.97/month (at attained age 69)
I don't know if that's "affordable" for you but it takes about 10% of my monthly gross income. My single largest expense is $1133.23/month (about half my Boeing pension) on a debt management plan. Messed up one month and paid too much on another account and could only pay $833.23 that month. HEB Signature VISA pulls the money out of your account instantly and there is no good way to reverse it. I tried and failed.
Medical billings through July 15: $1,036,267.80
Amount I paid: $280.61 (mostly my Part B deductible)
I call it my "million-dollar foot." Skin grafts are fiendishly expensive!
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Post by sneakers (Metro Houston) on Jul 20, 2024 0:35:40 GMT -5
Stayed up last night to one o'clock in the morning. Slept until eight o'clock in the morning. Switched Alexa to do FOX News Headlines 24x7 on SiriusXM and listened to 8:30 AM.
Got up and went in the business room. Did the old trash bag switcheroo. Michelle took the bag and got the boys to take it out.
Watched FOX 26 morning news in progress. Krista the home health nurse showed up at nine o'clock. My systolic blood pressure (the higher number) was 102 and I hadn't yet had any of my blood pressure medicine. She rebandaged my left big toe.
After the morning news was over, I switched to CNBC. Watched it to eleven o'clock, then went through the 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM local newscast time.
Lunch today was an eight-ounce can of pineapple chunks and two sandwiches. Both sandwiches had two slices of HEB Super Duper Butter Bread, Oscar Mayer cotto salami, and HEB Colby Jack cheese.
Needed to make an HEB run. AJ got me in the Tundra about 2:30 PM and he drove to HEB in Webster. I'm not supposed to drive because I had a seizure in December at Ignite and besides AJ thinks I'm a terrible driver. To which I would say "Who has had the most accidents in the past ten years?" My driving scares the bejesus out of Isaiah.
Went to HEB in person today (Friday 7/19) between about 2:45 PM and 3:15 PM. Scootered around the store to get ten items for $32.29, namely:
Two 89-ounce bottles of Gold Peak Zero Sugar tea (all they had under the less expensive Red Diamond store shelf was sweet tea and I drink sugar-free tea because I don't need empty calories)
Two eight-ounce cans of Dole pineapple tidbits in pineapple juice
Two eight-ounce cans of Dole pineapple chunks in pineapple juice
A gallon of HEB 2% milk
Two 36-count bottles of what used to be called "baby aspirin" but it's now old folks aspirin, most of which still call it baby aspirin because after all when they were toddlers parents actually gave baby aspirin to them. But now you have to look in the adult pain reliever section. HEB store brand, 81 mg, chewable, cherry flavored. Nearly two cents a tablet less than Amazon, who could not deliver it until August. Not going to buy any more Amazon Basics baby aspirin.
A Stouffer's large family size baked ziti frozen entree (all frozen food was 10% off regular price today so it was only $12.15)
Headed out of the store on the scooter going towards the Tundra. AJ parked much closer to the store than he usually does. I parked the scooter and hobbled to the Tundra holding onto the rear ends of vehicles to stabilize me. AJ then said he should have let him park the scooter.
Only significant money I have until Tuesday night about nine o'clock is $41.44 in my main checking account. Then, I should get my Social Security Retirement payment for July. I think after I have a payment clear my secondary checking account will have about $13 in it.
I need a haircut and beard trim. My last one was late October at Ignite. AJ also needs a haircut. We may go do it Wednesday when I have money.
Got home about 3:45 PM. Joined the KPRC Channel 2 news in progress until 6:30 PM.
For supper, I had an eight-ounce can of pineapple in pineapple juice and some of the Baked Ziti. I am not one to usually call food too bland but the meat sauce on the ziti was quite bland. I would have preferred it to be like Stouffer's Lasagna. We ate all the Baked Ziti between the five of us.
Listened to SiriusXM Yacht Rock Radio until about 8:50 PM, then I switched on the TV to the Astros-Mariners pregame. Astros shut out the Mariners 3-0, leaving them atop first place in their division.
Got the bottle of Gold Peak tea. It is considerably sweeter than Red Diamond tea. Almost too sweet. And it was nearly impossible to open the bottle.
Two items that I expected Amazon to deliver Friday were AWOL. I will get my box of diapers later today (it is now early Saturday morning) and the Alexa Smart Plug Monday by UPS.
Informed Delivery for Saturday shows three pieces of junk mail for me. I probably will not insist that anyone go out and get it but if Michelle hears the LLV she will.
Was hearing thunder and seeing lightning earlier in the evening but not now.
Took my ranolazine (the new medication they added after I got out of the hospital) and the bedtime pills. Then, if I don't go to bed, I'll fall asleep in the task chair and stay there until morning.
Nothing on the agenda for today. I can always sort through the stuff on my desk. At least I have it so the ThinkPad AC adapter is no longer covered, producing the smell of warm paper which drives AJ bonkers.
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Post by edindetroit on Jul 20, 2024 8:44:51 GMT -5
Part B - $174.70/month
Part D - $47.10/month
Plan G Medigap - $236.97/month (at attained age 69)
I don't know if that's "affordable" for you but it takes about 10% of my monthly gross income. My single largest expense is $1133.23/month (about half my Boeing pension) on a debt management plan. Messed up one month and paid too much on another account and could only pay $833.23 that month. HEB Signature VISA pulls the money out of your account instantly and there is no good way to reverse it. I tried and failed.
Medical billings through July 15: $1,036,267.80
Amount I paid: $280.61 (mostly my Part B deductible)
I call it my "million-dollar foot." Skin grafts are fiendishly expensive!
Two items that I expected Amazon to deliver Friday were AWOL. I will get my box of diapers later today (it is now early Saturday morning) and the Alexa Smart Plug Monday by UPS. |
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