Ace Wisdom

Thanksgiving approaches.  It is a time for family to gather, share stories and dine on scrumptious dishes.  I’ve been told, because of my recent medical condition, that I won’t see “old fashion stuffing” and there will be limited desserts.  Really?

I have been trying to understand medical insurance options available to any U.S. citizen over the age of 65.  Age 65 triggers Medicare elgibility.  The problem is that most doctors and hospitals dislike Medicare because it does not pay well.  Ask Grasshopper No.1!  Her eye vision company will not accept Medicare payments because “they lose money”.

So, I have Medicare A&B (Hospital & Doctors), which nobody in healthcare wants.  Then I have a Supplement insurance complementing the Medicare that nobody wants.  None of the insurance covers drugs, so we have a Medicare Rx insurance to cover drugs, except when drug costs exceed $3000 (approximate).  I pay monthly for Medicare.  I pay quarterly for Supplement insurance.  Drug insurance costs money.  Bear in mind that eye glasses, dentists and hearing issues are not covered.

You get the idea.  Insurance costs for elderly are expensive and limited in coverage.  I would like to change to cheaper alternatives, but with all the uncertainty surrounding Obamacare, it would be a risky venture.  So, I will not change anything this year.  Besides,  this year I have incurred major medical expenses and changing our medical programs could cause major confusion.

And so it goes.  As you plan your retirements, medical expectations could play a major role.  Costs of medical insurance are only going to increase.

It is a good thing that I didn’t do my “rant” on Long Care Disability insurance with all it’s special rules and complications.

My wish for you this Thanksgiving is that you share it with family and friends and that it is safe.  It is a time to reflect on all our blessings.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Gobble, Gobble!

Love, Dad

I was never a deer hunter so I guess I don’t understand the tradition.  600,000-700,000 hunters head north to kill deer.  What draws those guys (women are getting more involved) to the north woods?

I remember brother Jack would go north for 3-4 days.  He didn’t own a gun.  What the hell do you do for all that time?  I heard words like “beer, steak and poker”.  I’m sure local bars were frequented.

Hurley was a town in the west part of the State that had a reputation for “ladies of the night”.  During deer hunting season it was one of the busiest towns in the State. What the hell?

Then there was the Chicago mafia.  The mafia loved deer hunting season.  The mafia would invite their questionable friends into the woods and somehow they never returned or there was an unexplained hunting accident.

I vividly remember having a December business meeting with business associates in the early 90’s.  They were avid hunters and had taken pictures of their exploits during deer hunting season.  Apparently their are places where they have nude dancing in the woods.  A word of caution here.  With Facebook being available, I would be careful if I were a hunter.  Their exploits might end up on Youtube(?).

All these North Woods exploits are in the interest of keeping the primal need to hunt alive.  With high powered rifles, insulated garments and sophisticated “location finders”, the deer don’t have a chance.  What did the native Americans do 500 years ago?

I have at least one Grandson headed north this weekend.  I think it is his second hunt.  Maybe he will tell me the real story about our northern tradition.

The hunt starts out  this year with 15 degree weather and wind gusts to 30 mile per hour.  Somehow sitting warm in front of HDTV with a bowl of popcorn sounds really good.  Call me a wimp.

Having  joked about the deer hunt, I still hope that my Grandson gets his first deer.  I understand it makes your heart race.  Certainly a life long memory!

Love,

Dad

 

 

 

Tomorrow is my 3 month review with my cardiologist.  It is interesting that I have not talked to the surgeon that did the open heart operation nor the associate cardiologist since the August surgery.  Every meeting has been with a nurse practicioner or an skilled associate.  Hopefully tomorrow I get to talk “to the man”.

Hearing aids are coming for me.  No more whispering behind my back!

Cataract surgery on my left eye is in my future.  Jesus!

Dental work has been postphoned by the cardiolgist for at least 90 days.  I think the risk of profuse bleeding or possibly contracting an infection is too high.  After my 3 month review, I probably can pursue tooth repair.

If you notice, my body and “senses” are under total repair.  I am going to have to raise cash to pay for everything.  My 1.7% Social Security increase should cover everything.

Now some reflections on the positive side……..

Your Mom has been walking more with me on my daily exercise routine.

Grasshopper No.3 has started his own walking routine.  With me!

I have lost 20 pounds.

I am eating healthier.

I now watch the Packers lose on big screen HD television.

I remember when I was 20 years old.  I had a body with a “six pack” abdomen.  I could play 36 holes of golf with no problem.  My pant waist was 32″.  I didn’t have to take after noon naps.  I could drink beer without gaining weight.  Ah, those were the days.

Life is a journey.  Things change!

Love,

Dad

 

 

 

This morning I had my scheduled appointment with an audiologist.  Your Mom went along to keep me honest.  After 2 hours of testing and propaganda about earing aids, I was operating on “information overload”.  I guess the bottom line is that computer chips in a hearing aid are the best technology and the costs are enough to get me another heart operation.  Costco or Walmart here I come.  I think I’ve made my decision.  I will forego the hearing aids.  You are going to have to enunciate your words better and project your speech.  It is you that is causing my hearing problem.

Paul Harvey, the news broadcaster, would always proclaim “it is not one world”.  His meaning was that one part of the world enjoys things like abundant food and another part of the world starves to death.  There are rich people and there are poor people.  Indeed it is “not one world”.  Newly married Prince William and his bride Kate in England have moved into an apartment in London.  I figure that William has come down to the level of “commoner” by starting life in an apartment.  I happen to find out his family has moved into Kensington Palace.  It is a 20 room apartment!  That does not exactly compare with the apartments I have been used to.  His bride Kate bought a $50,000 item to decorate the apartment.  Paul Harvey was right.  It is “not one world”.

This last note is on luxury cruises.   Cruises have gotten a bad rap lately with engines breaking down at sea, outbreaks of nasty diseases, and even ships sinking.  Last week a cruise ship returned to a Florida port after 7 days at sea.  The thousands of passengers disembarked and headed for the parking lot.  A disgruntled parking lot attendant had taken every car key and threw it on a pile.  When passengers arrived at the parking lot, the search for “their key” began.  Some hired locksmiths.  Some had their car towed to a garage.  I assume some passengers found their keys.  Don’t ever ask me to go on a cruise!

This weekend will be the last gasp of “warm” weather.

Love,

Dad

 

 

 

I raked leaves this morning.  Hopefully for the last time this year!

The Amazon “thing” works pretty good.  You want something.  You bring up Amazon on the computer.  You select the item you want and 2-3 days later it is in your mailbox.  Painless!  Do you have to pay for the stuff?

This week we get to see Flashdance at the PAC here in Appleton.  I remember the movie which came out in the early 80’s.  I think at the end the girl gets the dancing audition she dreamed about all her life.  A play at the PAC is not football but sometimes you have to take one for the team.

Friday I get a hearing test.  It scares me.  I am not afraid of the actual test or even the results.  I am afraid of “huckster” sales tactics.  Hearing aids are a subject I know little about and “hearing aid sales people” have a reputation right up there with lawyers, real-estate sales people, and auto sales.  The thought of having an electronic device shoved up my ear is unsettling.  The hidden device is shoved so far up that nobody can see it.  Or I can get a device that attaches to the ear but on the outside.  Or I can get gadgets that are hidden inside eyeglass stems.  Choices, choices, choics.   I think I should pay about $200 for a hearing aid.  I’ve heard stories of $3000-$6000 each.  The cost part really scares me.  There is also the maintenance and batteries.  Lots and lots of batteries.  I am doing all this because friends and family have been making jokes like “he can’t hear”.  But I can.  Huh?

This time of year I think of my mother.  Her husband (my Dad) died on Nov.10 which obviously shook her world.  One year later on Nov.13 her mother died.  So in the space of about one year, two loved ones died.  It kind of explains her tough demeanor.  She was on her own with four kids!

Last night, Nov.11  was 15 degrees.  Really?

Love,

Dad

The Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center in New York was erected today.  Christmas already?  Really?

Your Mom has been walking with me at the Mall.  She had other committments today so I walked alone.  One of my Mall buddies asked me where the “Training Director” was today?

The world was all “a-Twitter” yesterday.  For those of you with the “fastest fingers in the west, midwest, and east”, you could have bought Twitter’s stock for the first time yesterday.  The stock was issued to the public.  It began yesterday trading at $26/share.  It ended the day at $44/share.  You could have made 73% in one day.  What is interesting is that the company has never made a profit.  In fact, in the last three months it lost $68 million.  The world is betting that you fast fingered consumers will stay hooked on the 140 character (or less) drill.  The world is also betting on overwhelming you guys with advertising.  Google has advertising.  Facebook increasingly has advertising.  Now, Twitter will have lots and lots of advertising.

The current ruling party in Washington has apologized for misleading the public about “if you want your existing health insurance, you can keep you health insurance”.  Obviously you can’t.  Hey but what the hell, there was an apology!

When you buy a new TV you don’t reduce the number of remote controls that you have.  Same number.  Better result.

Badgers play BYU at home tomorrow.  The temperature should be in the low 50’s at game time .  Good football weather.  We have family members attending.

Don’t try to tweet me!  My life is already “a-twitter” without being tethered to a cell phone.

Love,

Dad 

 

 

Grandson Mitchell’s varsity football team lost Friday night in the second round of the State Championship playoffs 27-24.  It was a great “run”.  Congrats Mitchell.

I see that Minneapolis is expecting 3-6 inches of snow tonight.  Really?  I’ve got to find out if the doctor will let me run our snowblower.  If not, your Mom is going to have to learn how to operate it!  I’ll take pictures.

Also tonight, Grasshopper No.5 in Minneapolis is supposed to pick up a shiny, brand new SUV.  She said something about a “good deal”.  Why am I driving crummy old used cars?

I am not exactly a financial genius but when the Green Bay Packers see their star quarterback fall on a heap during the first quarter of last night’s Bear game, that is called a financial setback.  When you pay your franchise player $20 million per year and he breaks a collar bone, that is not good.  I am not a betting man, but if I were Matt Flynn (the quarterback they let go last year), I would pack my bags for Green Bay.

This week the earth moved.  Your Mom suggested that maybe we should look for a new HD televison for the basement.  That is like telling “Tim the Toolman” that you want a new addition on your house.  Bigger!  Better!  Using tools with more power!  Ho,ho,ho!  So we spent several hours yesterday looking for this HD beauty.  The old TV set is 21 years old.  Where were Grasshopper No.1, No.2, No.3, No.4 or No.5 when you need them?  They are all self proclaimed experts.  I’m sure they would have helped us make the right decision.  Believe it or not we found a HDTV ourselves.  We did not buy the 3-D feature because we couldn’t afford 8 sets of 3-D glasses.  Besides the last couple we knew that bought 3-D had to wait 6 months to get delivery of their glasses.  Now we can watch Packers franchise players fall on a heap in high definition.

Daylight saving time has brought darkness in early afternoon.  I think that causes depression.

Stay warm.

Love,

Dad