To-Do List.....August 2023

Here's what got done(or didn't)in August......

* Pay Bills  DONE  Always paid in full on time or a little early.

* Go to 2 in-person DR appointments  DONE  Went to see the Orthopedic surgeon and the Interventional Pain Dr.   Neither of which was very helpful.  The orthopedist keeps putting up roadblocks to surgery and the interventional pain guy is a joke.  He won't put me on anything for pain other than a weak muscle relaxer and half the dose of the prescription NSAID the ortho had me on while I was having PT for my back.  Really?  I might as well take an Aleve!  I don't get why they make you sign something promising not to sell your drugs, drug test you and count how many pills you have left at each appt. when they won't even prescribe anything that helps with the pain.  He tried to put me on half the dose of the anti-inflammatory med the ortho had me on.  Walmart called and said a month of pills would cost $1,996.86!  I was taking twice the dosage and it was costing me ZERO OOP.  WTF?  Then he tried to get a pre-authorization and my insurance company denied it.  Eventually he kept me on the dosage the Ortho was prescribing.  Insanity.....
When I get back from Ohio and surgery the interventional pain guy wants me to have an MRI of my back(Oh joy!  Another MRI)before he'll do anything that will help me.

I also went to a third doctor, a dermatologist, to treat my HS.  She was totally underwhelming and I have no confidence that she actually "treats" HS.  She never even examined me!  She certainly is not a specialist in it.  This office is more interested in giving Botox injections, removing moles and selling overpriced skin care products in their waiting room.
So I have set up an appointment with a "real" dermatologist connected with the U of Mississippi(there are no HS specialist in LA)for early next year.

Ok, this screed is over for now. '-)

*  Go to 9 PT appointments  DONE  I finished up the Physical Therapy for my lower back pain.  I'll be going back there for PT on my knee after the joint replacement in October.

*  Schedule TeleMedicine Appointment with Another Dr.  DONE  I had my Teledoc appt. later that same day I saw the local Orthopedic surgeon who kept gaslighting me.  Ohio Doc green lighted me for a TKA and put me on his schedule for surgery.  I feel much better in the hands of this surgeon than the local Ortho guy for numerous reasons.

*  Submit all Paperwork to Surgeon  DONE  I got all the paperwork submitted(so far)through the 3rd party Healthcare Organization for the surgery.  This month I have a few blood workups and an EKG locally and then need to have it faxed to Ohio and then the paperwork will all be done.

*  Clean and Organize Stuff in House  PASS  Still figuring out how to organize the pantry and where to put some other stuff.  I went through all my mom's jewelry and tchotchkes I inherited in August.  I am in the midst of distributing some of it to kids and putting some things aside for my granddaughter when she is an adult.(It will be put in trust until then as I have no relationship with my son.)

I have also started and am adding to a "Goodwill" pile to donate.  That's mostly clothes that are now too big for me and some odds and ends.

*  Buy Stuff for House  DONE  The only thing(other than Hubs buying odds and ends to fix shit)we bought was a kitchen counter top.  Still waiting for the handyman to work installing it and the new sink in the kitchen into his schedule.  In the meantime, the 10 ft. section of counter top is living on the floor of my sewing room.  Which is fine as I can't sew in my present state.

*  Schedule MRI  DONE  That was not fun. ;-)  Now to have my Neurologist let me know what it says.....3 weeks and waiting. grrr

*  Clean out Inserts/Coupon Envie  DONE  I think I'll take this one off my To-Do List because as my shopping habits have changed(and we no longer to coupon inserts in the paper here)there isn't much to this.

*  Edit More Photos  DONE  Grinding out more editing of photos so I can post about old trips.

*  Post about Old Trips  DONE  Currently in August I posted about our trip out West from 2017.  I posted 7 installments of that saga in August and I'm only about halfway through that month long trip.

*  Work on Genealogy  DONE  I am always working on honing and adding to the genealogy trees.  This is something I do when I have free time in between PT and Dr. visits and tests.

*  Purchase a/c Unit for Bedroom  FAIL  We didn't end up needing one so it's falling off the list for now.

*  Send letter for DRCHC CEO+ cc to 2 More State Medical Entities  DONE  Heard back from all the Medical Entities, sent a Complaint to the Federal Government about a HIIPA violation but decided, beyond that, not to pursue this clusterf**k any further.  Stick a fork in me, I am done with their mismanaged clinic and am moving on.

*  Move Video files to new computer  FAIL  This didn't happen in August.  I am still slogging through files on my computer and getting them in better order and/or deleting stuff I no longer need or duplicates.

*  Celebrate Anniversary  DONE  We celebrated 41 years married by going out to dinner at a pretentious/overpriced restaurant.  Not great but I didn't let it put a harsh on our day.

*  Wash Dogs  DONE  The puppies got bathed outside in their little kiddie pool.  They smelled so much better but they need another bath as I am writing this. lol

What did you get accomplished in August?  Let us all know....

Sluggy

March Goals Results

* Start Crochet Project
DONE!
Just barely though.
I did the first row, aka the chain.  Here it is.....lolz

* Get College Boy/Return College Boy
DONE!
I didn't actually have to return him as Hubs did that part of it.

* Clean House
FAIL
We did a little cleaning before company came for Easter(cobwebs, floors downstairs)but the house still needs some deep Spring cleaning.
Have I mentioned lately how much I despite cleaning??

* Use Exercise Bike 25 Days
DONE!
I have turned using the exercise bike into a habit at this point.  There were a few days earlier in the month where I didn't get on it.  I started slow, trying to do half a mile was a struggle!  I am an old woman who is out of shape after all.  Now I am up to having biked 22 miles for March and am up to almost 1.5 miles per day by the end of the month.

* Use Hand Weights 12 days
FAIL
While I have made the bike riding a habit I only did the hand weight exercises 3 or 4 times(see?  I didn't even keep track.)
I need to put more of an effort into getting this one done every other day.

* Pay the Bills 
DONE!
Everything was paid either on time or early and in full.

* Go the Dentist
DONE!
Had a cleaning and 2 fillings done and the bill just arrived so that will be paid this week.  I am good for another 6 months on this chore.

* Have eye surgery consult
DONE!
What a long drawn out day.  But it's over, now we just have the actual cataract surgery to go at the end of April.  I'd love to get this done sooner however.

* Make vacation plans
IN PROGRESS
We have the stay in LA booked we just have to plan the route both there and home.  We may take a bit more time getting there and stopping along the way to do things(still to be determined).
Anybody out there located between PA and LA want to get together for a meal or something mid to late May?  Email me.

The APRIL To-Do List is now posted on the blog.

How did you do on your March goals?

Sluggy


 

The Good, The Bad & The Mundane

First for the Mundane......

I finally sat down to pay some July bills this morning.
I can't believe we are already on the backside of the month!

Everything is paid up and I still have money leftover from the 1st paycheck this month.
Go me!! ;-)

I figure about $750 more in spending until the end of July here...between prescription refills, the couple of regular bills not received yet, gas fill ups for Hubs and a bit of miscellaneous/cash spending.
We have another paycheck before the month ends so unless something really expensive pops up before August, I should have a healthy chunk of change to put into my Savings Challenge goal.
Go me again! lol

I'm going to enjoy having spare money this month because next month the semi-annual car insurance premium is due.
*sad face*

On the Good News side of things.....

 

Firstborn got a job!!!!!!
A real, fulltime job that pays a decent amount.

It's not a teaching position but having an education degree helped him get it......that and having worked every summer for the last 6 years w/special needs campers too.
It's something he's comfortable doing and is a great fit for his skill set until he lands that teaching position he hopes to one day find.

Plus he and the girlfriend got approved for the apartment in Pittsburgh they wanted.
So they are making plans for the "big move" to P'burgh next month.
And since Firstborn got a decent job, even though we had to cosign their lease, they will be able to afford to pay the rent, the utilities, gas, food and student loans.  His expensive craft beer habit will have to be put aside for awhile though....

On the Not-So-great News.......

Why on earth do they make swimming pools out of metal that rusts?
Seriously.
If you are fabricating something to HOLD MANY GALLONS OF WATER, why would you NOT use stainless steel or heavily treat said metal sheeting with rustproofing?
Oh yeah.....because they don't want your pool to last more than 5 years so they get to sell you another one, and at a higher price because that will go up over 5 years like your blood pressure will when you find out you need to basically replace your pool.

Hubs has had a pool liner leak he has been trying to find all season.  We have taken the liner partly off to patch this and that numerous times.
But the water level keeps dropping and it's not all due to evaporation.
Something was up and it wasn't the pool water.

And Hubs keeps refilling the pool and my water meter keeps spinning like a crazed hippie hyped up on meth at a Grateful Dead concert.
Kaching!
Those regular bills that haven't arrived yet this month.
Yah.....the water bill is one of them and this will not be pretty when it does get here.

As for the pool--
Hubs has stopped refilling it and it's about bone dry now and the source of the problem has finally been found.  The bottom where it meets the side of the wall of the pool is where the leak is.
And it isn't just a leak, it's dry rotted such that if you took your finger and poked the liner it would puncture and then you could run your finger along the bottom and open up a gash the size of a Volvo.
Ok, so that's a real weird metaphor/simile(never could remember the difference between those two!)but it's fairly accurate because most everything about my life is strange/bizarre/funny.

The verdict is we need a new pool liner.
Plus the skin/metal walls of our pool are rusted and rusted through in a couple of spots.
So putting in a new pool liner is just asking for it to be torn by jagged metal panels.
I'm not sure what we are going to do about all this.

Basically, we need to replace most every piece on this pool.
And while I do enjoy having it for the 2 months a year we get to really use it, I don't know if it's worth replacing at this point.

* We just have one kid left at home and he never uses the pool.
* And it's a big expense between the cost of the pool parts itself, all the water needed to fill and top it off each year, the electricity to run the pump all season and then all those pool chemicals....oy!.....the chemicals that cost an arm and a leg.
* Plus we will be moving in a few years, so why bother putting up a new pool?  I hear it can make selling your house more difficult if you have either an in-ground or above-ground pool.

I sure wish we had a community pool like in our old neighborhood.  If you wanted to use the pool you paid a yearly fee which was quite reasonable.

I am thinking maybe to go the hot tub route instead.
Granted it isn't cool and refreshing in the Summer and you can't swim in it......but it can be used almost year round here if located in the right spot because it's heated.
And relaxing in a spa with a glass of an adult beverage is almost as good as a refreshing dip in a pool when it's 90 degrees outside.

What do y'all thing?
Replace the pool, get a hot tub instead or just do without for the time being?

Sluggy