Volume 16 - Day 324/42, 2024 - Tuesday

Well, the saga of Medicare Advantage Plans vs Medicare Supplemental Plans is ongoing, but I think I am making some progress. You just have to find the right people. One of my colleagues gave me the name of a person that spent 75 minutes with me, over the phone, coming up with the plan(s) that will work for me/ A couple places never even called me back after I spent time filling out their on-line questionnaires and/or answering all their questions. And, if this all works out, my anticipated premiums (not current premiums) for the supplemental plan will be in the area of $155.78 per month as opposed to $666.20 per month that I was quoted yesterday. I'm just waiting on one answer from my doctor and then I will get the application process started. If you are on the verge of signing up for Medicare, start with the Supplemental Plan, not the Advantage Plan. Take my word for it. And...bonus, this agent has the same birthday as my friend Mike in Del Rey Beach. Not the same year (Mike is REALLY OLD), but the same date, December 12th. It was a good day for a walk, and we solved a few of the worlds problems, and then Rick, Richard and I went to enjoy the ROMEO breakfast. Tuesday is Total Stranger Tuesday, too, and the photo accompanying this entry is todays victim, with Richard photo bombing in the background. Tomorrow, I have an appointment to get the little white car serviced, and that should not take too long, and then I will be back in to the office. I am a lucky man, yes I am!

Volume 16 - Day 323/43, 2024 - Monday

Well, overnight we got 0.09" of rain in the gauge. Through the day, we got another 0.55", and that is it until (maybe) Thanksgiving Day. On my way in to the office, the temperature dropped 12 degrees, from 72 degrees to 60 degrees. It got back up to almost (almost, not quite) 80 degrees this afternoon, and the forecast is 81 degrees tomorrow. There was no walk this morning, the only time we don't walk is if there is lightning or rain, so we called it a rain day. The office was kind of quiet this morning, and I am still wrapped up trying to change my Medicare Advantage plan to a Supplemental plan. It is just a time consuming process. I was expecting a call from one company this afternoon at 2:30, but it never happened. Customer service at its' finest, I guess. Tomorrow I expect there will be a good walk, and then the ROMEOs will have a nice breakfast. The cold front this morning did not really do anything, but there is another cold front coming on early Wednesday morning, and the low temperature during walk time is forecast for 39 degrees with 26 mile per hour winds. Crazy weather. Has everyone started their Thanksgiving plans? I intend to make NO PLANS, and I have declined a few invitations. I probably will get myself a turkey dinner (do they make them for two?) from HEB and sit around like a lump for most of the day. That sounds perfect to me.

Volume 16 - Day 322/44, 2024 - Sunday

I've got a package of baby carrots in the refrigerator that I bought about a week ago, am I supposed to throw them away? They're HEB Organic, and the expiration date is November 3rd. Maybe I bought them longer than a week ago. I don't pay much attention to expiration dates, but the news is talking about E.Coli. problems with baby carrots. Not sure what to do...I'll keep them a while longer and see if I can figure it out. It was a nice morning for a walk, and after the walk, I closed the windows in the Curious House. Not because of the heat, but because of the humidity. We have had just a little bit of rain today, but are expecting more overnight and into tomorrow morning. I was not in any particularly hurry to do anything today, so that is what I did...just about nothing. There were a couple naps, and I did make a trip to HEB where I spent almost $100, which is the most I have spent on groceries in a long time. I should be good for a couple week, with the exception of milk and baby carrots. See the opening sentences of this journal entry. There was actually some news on this evening, and now a 90 minute version of 60 minutes. Is it just me or does that not make sense? We keep waiting for the temperatures to cool down, but so far that hasn't happened. The coolest day this week will be a forecast high of 69 degrees, with 80 degrees on this side of it, and 78 degrees on the other side of it. The photo accompanying this entry is of the sunrise this morning, very nice.

Volume 16 - Day 321/45. 2024 - Saturday

It was another chilly morning, and I wore sweat pants and a jacket for our walk. The moon was still great big, and the steam rising off the creek (really it's the south branch of the San Gabriel River) was really pretty. It was a really lovely day, the temperature made it up into the high 70s, and there was not a cloud in the sky. The estate sales were kind of lack luster, I did spend $11 (I think) and I also think that everybody spent something and brought home something. There were two estate sales, and on our way to one we saw a garage sale that looked interesting, and we back tracked to that, and I bought something that I don't know what it is for $3. I may include a photo of it tomorrow, at first I thought it was a Mahjong set, but now I think it might have something to do with Chinese or Japanese calligraphy. Whatever it is, it is really interesting, and the box it is in is really interesting, too. After that, I went down for a nap, and at 1 o'clock, Jimmie, Linda and I went to HEB for some sort of food tasting event ahead of the Holidays. We got tickets stamped to win a door prize, and then we were off to find some lunch somewhere. We went to Dahlia's in Liberty Hill, but they were in between shifts of brunch and lunch and would not seat anyone for about 30 minutes, so we went to Hell or High Water (also in Liberty Hill), and had a good lunch. When we got home, it was back down for an extended nap, and after I finish this journal entry, I may go back down for another nap. I think that is really what weekends are for, so I plan to take full advantage. 

Volume 16 - Day 320/46, 2024 - Friday

It was chilly this morning, and I wore sweat pants for our walk, with a fleece jacket. It warmed up nicely during the day, to about the middle 70s. Tomorrow we will be back up to the 80s, and it will not be a sweat pants morning...close to 60 when we walk. I got in to the office and did what I needed to do, and headed off to a meeting at the Austin Board that started at 11:30. I had actually forgotten about the meeting until I got up this morning and looked at my calendar. After the meeting, I had a couple errands to run on the way home, and had a nice afternoon. I did make a few phone calls to clients, and then took a quick nap. In the late afternoon, I had another quick meeting, but we met out on the back patio, and that was great. The girls were not at all happy about that, and they are still on Daylight Saving Time as far as their dinner is concerned, and the Piglet is VERY vocal about it. After I fed them and had more of the left overs from my Wednesday night dinner, I went down to Linda and Jimmie's to watch another episode of Only Murders in the Building, and then we played a couple games of Rummikub. Tomorrow there are two estate sales, and then there is something going on at HEB that I am going to with Linda and Jimmie. Then, hopefully, naptime. If yo uhaven't already, you need to go outside and look up, it is a glorious full moon.

Volume 16 - Day 319/47, 2024 - Thursday

It was chilly for our walk this morning, and tomorrow morning, I think I will be in sweat pants for the first time in a long time. I LOVE sweat pants. Then we get back up into the 80s by the weekend (I think), but next Thursday there is a chance of a a light frost in the Hill Country. I don't think it will be that chilly here at the Curious House. I got in to the office about 9:30 this morning, and I left at about 12:45. There was a meeting going on in my office, and I did not need to be a part of it, so I took off and bought a new Apple Watch. This watch is supposed to be even better for old people than the other two Apple Watches I already have. The down side to this is, I have to wear the watch while I am sleeping. I am looking forward to seeing how well I am sleeping, how much rem sleep I have, and all kinds of other things. I am not crazy about sleeping with a watch on, though. In case Helen is reading this entry, the full moon in tomorrow, but I will send you reminder, just in case you are not reading this journal entry. Boring traffic congestion photo accompanying this entry, but it is the best I could do. Sorry.

Volume 16 - Day 318/48, 2024 - Wednesday

Hopefully, there will be a cool (haha) front coming through this evening or maybe tomorrow. It will only lower our daily temperatures about 10 degrees, but we will be closer to our normal temperatures, which are the 70s. I was up early again this morning, and got a few things done around the house before heading off for a walk with Dick and Paul. There are too many problems facing the universe right now, so we did not have time to solve all the problems. There is always tomorrow. I did not go in to Austin today, and did some work from home. I had a 1 o'clock appointment at the house, so that was convenient. At about four o'clock this afternoon, I headed in to Austin to attend a Major Investor event for TREPAC, and I got home about 8:30. I am going to get this journal entry done, and then call it a night. It was good to see many good friends and colleagues tonight, some that I have not seen for a couple years. The photo accompanying this entry is me, Melinda, Eileen and Jennifer. I would like it very much if tomorrow were Friday, but it will be Thursday, and that is getting close to Friday. Tomorrow night is our HOA annual meeting, so that will be (I expect) kind of chaotic. I am famous for signing up to speak, but when called on, have very little to say. You just never know if someone is going to piss you off, so better to be prepared.