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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Sept 21, 2023 21:44:49 GMT -5
Right? We could take dual classes in HS like Spanish for college credit but you were really limited in what you could take because the program had just launched. Only a handful of courses counted and it was really scattered/random. Then only so many schools took credits from IWCC at the time. A friend of mine was looking at UNO and found out only three of all the classes she took would transfer. It wasn't even worth the effort she'd put in. Now two years at IWCC are equivalent to the first two years at any Iowa college/university and the University of Nebraska. You are ensured to come in as a junior. Would have made my life SO MUCH EASIER. I told Gwen she's doing it no exceptions. It's an absolute no brainer she can get almost her first two years done free through TJ. That allows the money that has been set aside by my FIL to go further. I am also strongly pushing for her to go to either UNO/L or to a state institution. I am not AS opposed to her going out of state if she agrees to complete the first two years here. Her money won't go as far but it's still not nearly as expensive as if she went all four years out of state. She'd have to figure out how to make up the difference with loans/scholarships though. I put my foot down with DH that we will help if/where we can but I am not taking out any loans. He'll be 55 when she graduates HS. We need to focus on our own retirement at that point and I am not going into it with student loan debt. I said I'd rather she have a few student loans than face having to pay for our nursing home care. We put on our own oxygen masks first. I went to an expensive private school for next to nothing. No loans. expensive schools have more money to give away. My niece #1 got a buttload of money at the private college she wen5 to. Had she gone 3 years, she’d have had enough money. Despite having the credits, she stayed all 4 years so wound up needing a loan for only one year. Not only that, the private college had fabulous connections in helping her get a job when she graduated.
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Sept 21, 2023 21:41:15 GMT -5
She is a great advocate for her dad. She took it all the way to the head of the hospital system and asked how did this happen. Nobody on the floor would talk to her because they screwed up. Some of the damage may have been lessened if the right side had started being treated when he first went to the ER. They have promised her some financial compensation to make her go away. She is still negotiating and wants to see how her dad does in rehab. He would need rehab for his left side, but it will probably be a longer stay. He can't call her without the help of someone because he can't hold the phone. That’s why our ODS (Dr) and DD (nurse) tell us to go to large teaching hospitals as they feel there’s more oversight and most recent procedures Just so very sad that her dad had this happen to him It very much depends on where you are at. You would not believe the nightmare I was in at the largest medical center in the state. I really felt if I stayed there, that they’d kill me. I checked out against medical advice.
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Sept 21, 2023 15:05:17 GMT -5
Why do I spend so much of my precious life arguing with Flat Earthers? Probably the same reason I will stop what I'm doing to argue with bigots. You tried. I get it, you hope that something sinks in.
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Sept 21, 2023 10:53:27 GMT -5
Surgery went really well. I'd say text book case. Rolled me in to the OR at 9:59, I woke up in recovery at 12:27, and dh was driving me home at 2:20. The only really bad part was getting super car sick on the drive home. Thankfully the hospital is only a 15 minute drive. My parents took care of the kiddos all day. We were home, but they took the kids to their house after school, fed them and took them and picked them from d&d so dh could just focus on me. And dh has been great like I knew he would be. I'm going to stick with the good pain meds today then wean down, but I feel good. I'm slow and tired. Standing up and sitting down are the most difficult. Some of it is just the shock at expecting my body to respond a certain way and it giving me the finger instead. Going to try a walk outside today. I can't wait till I can get in the pool. You feel good right now because most surgeons flood the area with a local anesthetic. It’s going to be another 24-48 hours and you might get slammed with pain. It is harder to get pain under control then. It takes more drugs and way more time. I know this one well. I never started weaning off pain meds until I started sleeping through a dose. At least for me, this was the cue that I could last longer with less.
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Sept 21, 2023 10:48:34 GMT -5
Because they are not federal loans, they’re private, I think. But like I said, I’d like to see this in writing. Then I don't get it. Why would they just tell her she only has to pay back 65% of the outstanding amount? Is she in default and they're thinking something is better than nothing? I don’t know. No, she is not in default (see paying $400/mo when she didn’t need to pay anything). That’s why I told my sister she needs to get this in writing.
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Sept 21, 2023 10:08:20 GMT -5
I am pissed that my ex BIL got the advantage of her on his taxes, but as a result she now has to deal with the most expensive way of paying for her education. I never liked my sister’s ex. The list of shitty things he did to her while they were married just reinforced my gut feeling leading up to their wedding. What he’s done since is just further validation. I think they kind of screwed up when doing financial aid because it's not based on who claims them on their taxes, it's whose house they live in the most nights of the year is the parent that fills out the FAFSA (or it WAS like that. Starting with the form opening in December, it's the parent that provides the most financial support...they still haven't defined how they're going to determine that).
My ex and I swapped claiming DS on taxes every other year per the divorce decree, but I always did the FAFSA because I was the custodial parent.
Yeah, they screwed up. She was living with my sister when not in school, but her dad’s income was what dictated the help she received for tuition.
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Sept 21, 2023 9:46:48 GMT -5
My niece (the one that had a full year of college credit before starting) is trying to consolidate her student loans. She was hosed during college because even though she lived with my sister (a lower earner at the time), her father claimed her on his taxes so she got little support until her last year. Then, I guess my sister got to claim her and she got more support. Anyway, she graduated from the University of MN with just over $52k in student loans. She has managed to pay off over $4000 in the last year or so and she went to try to consolidate them. She got an offer that’s very interesting. They told her that if she pays $869/mo for the next 3 years, she will be paid in full. Right now, she’s paying $400/mo on her own. So she’d be paying $31k in loan payments to pay off $48k in loans. I suggested she get this in writing. Here’s my conundrum. My sister offered her an additional $200/mo and told her to ask her dad for the other $269. Apparently, he turned her down. I want to offer to pay, but it pisses me off that her dad could pay, but won’t. (We aren’t even gonna go into the spousal support mess my sister’s dealing with now). Then, while I can afford to help her, I cannot do this for all, for parity. Any suggestions? I would actually ask your Niece what she would prefer - You helping monthly, or giving her a set amount of say 5-7K at the end so she is just done? Can she keep up the $669 payments with her mom putting in the other $200 per month? Can your sister keep up with the payments too? If you help monthly for three years that's almost 9.7K PS your ExBIL is just a crappy person. I am pissed that my ex BIL got the advantage of her on his taxes, but as a result she now has to deal with the most expensive way of paying for her education. I never liked my sister’s ex. The list of shitty things he did to her while they were married just reinforced my gut feeling leading up to their wedding. What he’s done since is just further validation. If I do this, I will pay the loan directly.
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Sept 21, 2023 9:42:31 GMT -5
My niece (the one that had a full year of college credit before starting) is trying to consolidate her student loans. She was hosed during college because even though she lived with my sister (a lower earner at the time), her father claimed her on his taxes so she got little support until her last year. Then, I guess my sister got to claim her and she got more support. Anyway, she graduated from the University of MN with just over $52k in student loans. She has managed to pay off over $4000 in the last year or so and she went to try to consolidate them. She got an offer that’s very interesting. They told her that if she pays $869/mo for the next 3 years, she will be paid in full. Right now, she’s paying $400/mo on her own. So she’d be paying $31k in loan payments to pay off $48k in loans. I suggested she get this in writing. Here’s my conundrum. My sister offered her an additional $200/mo and told her to ask her dad for the other $269. Apparently, he turned her down. I want to offer to pay, but it pisses me off that her dad could pay, but won’t. (We aren’t even gonna go into the spousal support mess my sister’s dealing with now). Then, while I can afford to help her, I cannot do this for all, for parity. Any suggestions? Why would they do this? Unless it's a new federal forgiveness program of some sort it makes no sense. I'd definitely want further info and a written guarantee. Because they are not federal loans, they’re private, I think. But like I said, I’d like to see this in writing.
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Sept 21, 2023 9:40:13 GMT -5
Wow, scgal . I just have no words right now. No nice ones, anyway. I mean, how fucking DARE you, trying to justify George Floyd's *murder*! "I dated black men, I encouraged my daughters to date whomever they want color or nationality. I have an Indian grandchild whom I love dearly. I can honestly day i'm color blind when I see people. I think people need to stop using the race card every time they hear something they don't like" This right here is a steaming pile of bullshit! You are indeed racist. I'm racist too. Not intentionally, but, unfortunately being white means there are times that what I say or do is racist despite my best intentions. Are there times people pull out the race card simply when something doesn't go their way? Of course. But Derek Chauvin's actions were 100% violent and unnecessary. No ifs, ands or buts. Then to tell andi to stop playing victim because she notices that some people - probably a lot of people, even - will purposefully avoid her because of the color of her skin is just... wow. Or that people can't be racist because she has a job? Newsflash - that doesn't mean that her employer can't still be racist. You are just so ridiculously clueless that I'm flabbergasted. I didn't justify his murder and Chauvin got what he deserved. What I'm saying is white, black, brown I don't care people need to understand when a police officer ask you to do something you do it, once you resist you are risking your own life. Personally I'm ok as long as there is camera footage to back up the officer story that once someone resist arrest the officer is allowed to use deadly force. If there is no camera footage the officer can face the same fate. And when they do not resist? I have watched this in action, and unless you have seen a white officer come at a POC who has done nothing wrong but get lost, don’t feed me the BS that it doesn’t happen. I hav3 watched it with my own eyes. I have also watched that same officer do a 180° change when he suddenly realized that there were 2 adult white women in the car watching him. There is absolutely NO DOUBT in my mind that things would have been much worse for my friend without witnesses. My POC friend told me that this happens all.the.time to him, especially if he is driving at night. Thinking back about this, I always picked him up when we went someplace with a group at night. He did live near me, but it was safer for him being a passenger in my car and me dropping him off at midnight than him driving himself. It should not be like this, ever. But it is. This was back in the mid 1990s. Overt racism has never gone away, but it’s just been more obscured. Unfortunately, our previous President made it ok to be openly racist, everywhere.
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Sept 21, 2023 9:21:32 GMT -5
2 of my nieces graduated with HS with nearly a years worth of college credit. Unfortunately, neither of them managed to parlay that into only going for 3 years because they weren’t sure what they wanted to do. Since your daughter knows, I think that that’s a huge step ahead of them. Another thing you might want to look at is seeing if there is a second major she can easily tack on. This way, it might give her other opportunities alongside of teaching. She wants to learn sign language. Which I think is amazing, and a good plan B for when she gets burned out from teaching. She wants to get her masters in special ed.
When I took her to see Dear Evan Hansen a few months ago, they had a person sign the whole show. We both noticed and commented. I know it's niche. I don't think that's so bad.
That’s a great idea. Did you say she did well in Spanish too? Does she have an affinity for languages? That might be another direction which allows her an alternative career as well.
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Sept 21, 2023 9:19:41 GMT -5
My niece (the one that had a full year of college credit before starting) is trying to consolidate her student loans. She was hosed during college because even though she lived with my sister (a lower earner at the time), her father claimed her on his taxes so she got little support until her last year. Then, I guess my sister got to claim her and she got more support.
Anyway, she graduated from the University of MN with just over $52k in student loans. She has managed to pay off over $4000 in the last year or so and she went to try to consolidate them. She got an offer that’s very interesting. They told her that if she pays $869/mo for the next 3 years, she will be paid in full. Right now, she’s paying $400/mo on her own. So she’d be paying $31k in loan payments to pay off $48k in loans. I suggested she get this in writing.
Here’s my conundrum. My sister offered her an additional $200/mo and told her to ask her dad for the other $269. Apparently, he turned her down. I want to offer to pay, but it pisses me off that her dad could pay, but won’t. (We aren’t even gonna go into the spousal support mess my sister’s dealing with now). Then, while I can afford to help her, I cannot do this for all, for parity.
Any suggestions?
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Sept 21, 2023 9:03:22 GMT -5
Everyone is asleep, but me. Why can’t I sleep? I got a whopping 3 hours of sleep last night. Today’s going to be ugly as I never nap during the day.
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Sept 21, 2023 9:01:15 GMT -5
how is that a thing? dual enrollment means that your college courses count for credit toward both. Actually our 2 year tech college has programs where kids graduate HS with an additional credential, or get close to it. I learned last night that the district will pay for HS kids to take up to 18 credits worth of college classes. We also have like 2 different programs. Dual credit (where HS teachers teach the content) and dual enrollment (where kids go off campus and take classes offered by the tech college and the flagship). There's a lot of options.
It's tricky. DD1 isn't doing any activities this year, so far, other than scouts. I don't know if that's going to be enough for her for college. We have to talk about that. She did get a job..but I think she needs to be doing something else. I don't want to push her because she's taking mad hard classes, and the classes aren't enough.
Our education program is also top in the nation, and it would be good for her to take a class to see if she likes it. I also think she'd like taking a college class. What we need to do soon, is to start looking at what courses she'll need for her college degree and see what we might be able to take advantage of while she's in HS. If anyone told me that we need to look at college graduation requirements 3 weeks into my kid starting sophmore year, I'd look at them like they have three heads.
And, DD is taking AP classes. And she's ahead in Spanish, maybe math. So. It's going to take some time to figure this all out.
2 of my nieces graduated with HS with nearly a years worth of college credit. Unfortunately, neither of them managed to parlay that into only going for 3 years because they weren’t sure what they wanted to do. Since your daughter knows, I think that that’s a huge step ahead of them. Another thing you might want to look at is seeing if there is a second major she can easily tack on. This way, it might give her other opportunities alongside of teaching.
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Sept 21, 2023 3:23:27 GMT -5
Everyone is asleep, but me. Why can’t I sleep?
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Sept 19, 2023 18:21:11 GMT -5
So now I’m the owner of a LOT of onions.
A neighbor came by with a 50 lb bag of onions that should have gone to TJ but she wound up getting the overflow. So she was driving around, unloading onions from the back of her Prius. I took maybe 10 lbs or so? I think I’m going to caramelize them and freeze them back to make French Onion soup later.
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Sept 19, 2023 18:18:07 GMT -5
Now with more life experience a pension and retirement at 55 sounds pretty awesome! I am just going to address one aspect of your comment and then shut up. Collecting a pension at 55 would be pretty awesome, but few people can afford to do it. Tier 1 teachers here can retire after 25 years, but no one can live off 50% of their salary. Insurance (too young for Medicare) takes a large chunk of it, and you are too young to collect Social Security. You can't tap most retirement money without penalty. So you find yourself still working, but not at the salary you had. You are basically entry-level material although some go teach at private schools, etc. But only the best of the best pay decently around here. Most pay in the 30s for five or six preps. And no insurance or retirement. A lot of my friends decide it isn't worth it, particularly as the 50s are the years when most of their kids are in college. They stay where they are, earning a better retirement. I suspect that is true of garbage collectors, too. Still, it is a nice option to have. The corollary to many of these physical jobs under a pension (like the garbage man) is that many MUST take the pension because their bodies have broken down. Doing the job at 22 isn’t the same thing as at 50. So you might have a sweet pension, but it’s at the expense of your body. A friend of mine got out of research to teach science in the NY school system. They were in such tremendous need of science teachers that they hired her without the rest of the teaching credentials she needed. In her case, her kids were in school and she wanted to keep busy. I want to say she was around 40 when she gave research a heave ho. In reality, she would have had a 35+ mile one way commute to get a job in research, her DH was a very high earner, there was no need for her to work…..not even for benefits. I think she lasted about 10 years. She liked the students, but hated the parents and administration. The administration would never back up the teachers. I think she was pretty good at the job too, as she had a very high percentage of her students passing the Regents exams.
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Sept 19, 2023 13:12:42 GMT -5
I just finished renewing my NEXUS card. The backlog is such that they still are extending current cards approaching an expiration date. Mine expires July of next year, and you can renew a year in advance.
Also have our hotels booked for Bergen and London. I need to sit down and see if it is really feasible for TD to do a dive trip, and a quick excursion to Angkor Wat for the following trip. We need visas for both Cambodia and Vietnam, and the timing of getting them might not provide enough time to take a week or so and dive. I really don’t think I would want to be a travel agent full time. The logistics would drive me nuts! I can control what I can control, but the government (visas) throwing a monkey wrench into a trip would give me terminal heartburn!
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Sept 18, 2023 16:04:40 GMT -5
So to clarify those of us on YM will send guns, money and a lawyer no questions asked? Asking for a friend. We will also provide freezer space or undeveloped land to help hide a body.
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Sept 18, 2023 16:03:45 GMT -5
I just got back from the grocery store and putting together Ree Drummond’s pasta bake. It’s kind of like lasagna, only for pasta and not near the mess to compose. This recipe also got rid of about 2/3 the pasta sauce I made earlier. It’s all set to go into the oven. My hips need a break, then the next step is to get some delicates into the wash and so see if those heirloom tomatoes are ripe enough to pick to have with dinner tonight.
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Sept 18, 2023 11:33:51 GMT -5
I need to frog the hat I was making. I’m kinda pissed at myself about it, but there are just too many dropped stitches that I thought I had saved. Stupid cable needles, I knew that they wouldn't work, but used them anyway.
TD started back at work today, and he had to hit the snooze 3 times before he could get out of bed. He doesn’t need to work, but the offer was too good to pass up. I guess he joins the long list of repeatedly retired SLAP members who do this. This is his first, I think the record has been 5 retirements by one member in the group.
It is really an interesting dynamic. Locally there are a bunch of refineries a stone throw away. As a result, there are a lot of engineering consulting firms. Everything is horribly incestuous in that they call get farmed out to various refineries/consulting firms and I think that they have all worked for or with the same people and each other at any one time. I do think it’s funny that these companies want and need to pay upwards of $150+/hour for experienced engineers, that they can’t find or hire some for a fraction of the cost, so they call them in and make these incredible offers. Every single one of these guys is pushing 70+, TD is one of the youngest at 65.
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Sept 18, 2023 11:16:30 GMT -5
I put "Contagion" on for background noise. It is freaky how much of that movie came true. Yep. I watched it not that long ago and thought the same thing.
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Sept 18, 2023 11:14:13 GMT -5
Loan was approved we can proceed with the furnace repair. We would have regardless but this way we don't have to drain our cash reserves in one shot. I only have to use a little bit to get us through the end of the year. Then debt starts to drop off and I can cash flow the payment. I think repairing the stove is the better bet. DH keeps insisting on new but we are already dropping $5k on a furnace which is a NEED if we don't want to die in our sleep. A new stove is nice but not a need. I don't care that my stove doesn't look great I just want it to work. I'll look up the model parts when I get home. Just because DH is not mechanically inclined doesn't mean I can't teach myself or have my dad help. If I really want to I can clean it to be almost brand new looking and probably should at some point. Doing it this way maybe I can save up for one of those awesome dual stoves Gwen and I have been drooling over. I however DO NOT need a $5k oven with port/starboard attachments, Wifi and whatever else it had. Good grief I just want to cook on it not take into outer space! Our stove is about 26 years old now. Pieces have been replaced on it, and will continue to be replaced until they are no longer available. While we were gone, it croaked so my sister ordered and installed the lower element. While we were on the cruise, I took a couple of cooking classes and got a chance to try out induction cook tops. Until then, I was all about getting rid of our stove and going gas. After the first class, I’m firmly in the induction camp now.
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Sept 17, 2023 14:44:36 GMT -5
Yeah, Queen Elizabeth was 96 when she died. King Charles is 74. Both had/have the ability to step down to a younger generation, but did not. This is like the pot calling the kettle black. I made that comment because both Biden and Trump, who are the ones most under discussion, are elder statesmen. That's just a fact. Why? I presumed its because you like it that way. So be it. The Monarch is on the throne until they die.... and If they get old, they get old. However, they aren't running the country. The elected representative do that and Rishi Sunak is 42. Monarchs HAVE stepped down for their younger counterparts in other countries. So it is not as if there is not precedence for it to happen. It just seems to me that if you want to make comments like this, then perhaps you need to look in your own backyard first. FWIW….no, we do not particularly like our older statesman. However, I CAN appreciate the experience that they bring to the table. Say what you want about Biden, he does know how to talk to both sides and knows how to negotiate. That takes experience, and experience comes with time…..and age.
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Sept 17, 2023 11:06:34 GMT -5
Just sat down with a cup of coffee and my ipad. Dogs walked and fed, my sister off to church. Today’s gonna be an eggs Benedict sort of day, I’ll start it when I finish my coffee.
Harriet needs some lap time when 8 get up, so she makes herself comfortable on me. I think Sheldon is jealous, so he gets up on me too. In the meantime, I can’t move. I guess it’s a good thing I don’t need to!
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Sept 16, 2023 17:56:40 GMT -5
On our way back from lunch with MIL. We sat at The Flying Beaver watching sea planes take off and land awhile as we got a good table out on the porch. Hope fully dim sum next time.
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Sept 16, 2023 11:51:20 GMT -5
Some appointments next week. DD in for a filling at 9AM Monday. Than a meeting at the house with her caseworker. That's all the doc appointments for us. Dear old hubs is going to fix the hookup on my mower, he said for the life of him he can't find where it hooks in. He is taking the deck off to check it. He has a motor lift so not a lot of lifting for him. He is heading to town today, he wants to get the RSV shot, flu, and new covid if he can. I don't know if he needs pneumonia again or not. He said he wants to get all that before this other starts. So he is moving ahead with it all. He gets a hug almost everytime he walks by. Yes, I know a bit excessive, but I have always been a big hugger anyway. I like to hub my big tall son and when I leave the house kiss him on the top of his head. I noticed I've been getting hubs back. And my DIL will come up and hug me at times. She is wanting us to move up now. But I told her its going to take awhile, she said yeah, probably 2 years, sigh. I think we can shrink that down. I looked up about medicaid in Washington state last night. It's called Apple Care, the requirements sound the same as Indiana. It did caution to get it in place before moving to make sure you qualify. It sid it can take up to 80 days to get it. I went through the form to see if you qualify but didn't send it. They have waiver lists like here but I doubt she can get on it, it said they likely have waiting lists. She has a really great waiver here that is open ended on cost. No more are being given out so a big loss, when we might need it. But they also have people you can work with and I will do that when we are ready so we can coordinate it. You cannot be on medicaid in 2 states at once. Like they said don't drop it till you have it in the other one for sure. Next I need to check on our supplements, medicare itself of course, is universal in the US. But supplements vary from state to state, I have an excellent one and hubs has one the next step down so his is very good too. I don't know yet, with hubs issues what we should do. DD is allowed to leave the state 180 days a years but not pushing it that close, I think that could get iffy. I can prove it by saving plane tickets in her file. So those are the only real concerns. Once we do relocate we will have to redo our wills too. We will have to see what the results of the tests on the 13th of October, wish they could have done it before than, waiting is the worst part.I am so thankful that we both went ahead and bought a place up there. I wonder if hubs had an idea about it then. We have always been able to coordinate and work through things easily. I'm also thinking if he doesn't feel like moving stuff to get a Pod or two to pack furniture in. And I can hire the guys at the furniture store to move things or pack them in a trailer. They are allowed to hire out for people here. Call and ask to be put on a cancellation list.
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Sept 15, 2023 17:12:55 GMT -5
We just got back from Costco with the back of my car full. I need to run up there later to fill up with gas since the lines were going out the entrance. We are going to to meet TD’s mom tomorrow, and can’t do it on 1/4 a tank. The gas bar will likely be uglier tomorrow morning.
Going to make a pot of pasta sauce this afternoon, but since we stopped at 5 Guys for lunch, the idea of more food is blech.
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Sept 15, 2023 16:57:43 GMT -5
We went to the best hospital system here. It's considered a good one. DD and I go there for most major things we deal with. They are using a robotic method to do the surgery. They want to give him 2 weeks to decide but he already has. We are comfortable with them. We are ok, Hubs and I are very practical people and consider it just part of life. I'm just happy he is going to do something. Also son has more trouble up there getting into docs than here. And I'm not sure our insurance would work up there either.The other issue is noone to care for DD if we went to Indi. I'm not planning on dumping things on son and DIL. They will have enough one day. Unless you are in an advantage program, it should work nationwide. However, if you move to WA, you’ll have to change plans so something local to where you are. 100 miles north of Seattle, our choices are less than Seattle. I know you get more options in Snohomish county southward, but no idea what it is like in the counties south of King.
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Sept 15, 2023 11:44:03 GMT -5
Good morning, Off Topic and off the wall invisipeeps of Y Ma'am, keeping my laptop engrossing. I hope your Friday bears good news and good health for you and yours. Several people have asked if Lee is going to impact me. And it will, but not in a dangerous way. We'll have high winds and some driven rain, possibly with some tree damage and some areas may have electrical outages, but over all it should be a lesser tropical storm. The storm surge will not hurt us, as we are on the south side and the surge and storm are coming from the north. I may get out there and take some pictures of the surf in the aftermath.Also, I love someone named Lee, so this storm makes me smile whenever it gets mentioned. I truly hope you are feeling better now, Pink Cashmere and TheOtherMe . Since DD is now going to be moving on the 1st we have work to do, organizing this move across the lawn. I'll hire some muscle. The weather yesterday was brilliant. I got this shot of a fishing boat, Maria, coming in as the sun sets. yes, the forecaster just now said that Lee will pass MA as a Category 1 hurricane, and that the worst surges will hit Cape Cod Bay (north of the Cape, for those not from around here) and north of the islands. I'm far enough inland from that side that I should be okay, too. but I'm going to load up the shed with things that could become airborne in strong winds. it's already cooler and breezier this morning than yesterday, and it feels like something is coming. also - I'm not sure who exactly, but a car with The Weather Channel logo on it has been spotted down in Chatham. We were in Nova Scotia in June and saw the results of the hurricane that last hit them last Sept. The destruction was incredible, and this was 9 months after. There were still houses with roofs gone. I don’t think they are ready for a second direct hit.
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Sept 14, 2023 15:33:29 GMT -5
Do “kids today” spend more on discretionary things, or do they just spend it on different discretionary things? I have never seen any data that suggests people in their 20’s are spending a larger percentage of their income frivolously. I know the whole “Starbucks and avocado toast” trope, but I spent thousands on stereo equipment, tapes and CDs, video tapes and DVDs, long distance phone bills - I think I paid about the same for my first TV as I did for the last one I bought. My kids have their computers and their phones, and a few shared subscriptions, and they cover all of that. But all of this feels unsubstantiated. Can anyone point to research that tracks this stuff and prove that young people are actually more irresponsible with money today than in the 90’s or 80’s or whatever? All I know is what I see what my nieces spend money on. The oldest ones is 6 years out from college. The oldest spends $200+/month at the hair salon. The middle one has probably spent upwards of $5000 on tattoos. The youngest has a $400/mo DoorDash habit. All of them have gotten on a plane and spent spring break someplace south. All of them have acrylic nails. Last night, TD and I went out for dinner for our anniversary and dropped about $150. This is not a weekly, or even monthly occurrence for us, but it is for my nieces. 6 years out of college, I did not have that kind of expendable income. In reality, neither do my nieces. Both of the older nieces have nearly $100k in student loans. The 2 youngest ones are still on their mom’s insurance, and she still pays for their prescriptions (the oldest has aged out). All of them still are under their mom’s cell phone plan. The middle one still has transport paid by dad, as does youngest (who is 22). When I left home and started out, mom occasionally bought me groceries. If they visited, they took me out to dinner. I certainly did not have expensive salon visits, or fake nails……or pedicures. I would not have considered asking them to pay for prescriptions. When I went out to eat, I wasn’t going to expensive restaurants (except when parents visited, which was twice the 5 years I lived in Boston). My electronics were a stereo I was given when I was 17 for my birthday, and a TV that I was given for my birthday the year I graduated from college. I did not spend thousands on records or CDs. I think I got a VCR. for Christmas after the prices of them dropped. I don’t remember buying tapes, I rented them.
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