August chitchat

[Virginia]

Oh my, we are all either falling apart or parts of our lives are.

Agate, it seems to me they could give you a little notice before coming in. Not very considerate. I really hope you get some groceries through Instacart. That would be a real worry. The times I have gotten them here it is usually within hours of ordering them, but it is true that they cost more. That is just one of the reasons I don't like ordering my groceries, the other is I don't always get what I want. It depends on who does the shopping. However, needing a rx that you might not can get is a big worry. Is this a grocery store that has a pharmacy in it?

Jingle, you seem to still be busy getting everything right at your place. Also, busy with appointments. Like you I do not have any dental insurance. This crown in the front of my mouth is now considered a jewel. I did alright today, but my brother came and took me. I hate it for him but I don't think I could have made it without him. I've got other things that need taking care of, but some of them I can't physically get to. The PCP I have been seeing I am still driving to on my own, but getting inside and up to his office is getting hard.

It really tires me out when I go for these appointments now. I think I better get in bed.

[agate]

Virginia, I almost dread going even to appointments that are routine just because of the problems getting there and back. Just waiting around can be tiring.

Yes, the supermarket has a pharmacy in it, and all my rx's are there so that the Store to Door people can pick them up for me. Very fortunately I probably won't need any refills for a week or so yet.

It would be nice if inspectors could be considerate and wait for us old folks to get to our doors to let them in but speed is the name of the game.

I know what you mean about having a jewel in your mouth in the form of a crown. That is the way my older bridge is. It involves 6 teeth and is 50 years old. I'm just hoping it will hold out a little longer because if I had to replace it, it would cost many thousands.

Tim, I hope you'll have an easy time of it tomorrow. As easy as possible.

[agate]

A question for people here--and we've probably gone over this before but I can't recall what was discussed:

Does anyone here get rx's by mail? Does that work well?

I believe there's PillPack, and I think Amazon has an arrangement. My insurance offers something called Optum. Those are the ones I looked into the past but never tried. Just wondering.

[jingle]

I don't have a choice. My insurance -Medicare and Tricare - fills my meds at Express Scripts which delivers by mail. I worry so much when it's hot weather and I know my mail is not delivered until 4 - 5:30 PM. My prescriptions have been in that heat all day then setting in a mail box until I can get there. I worry a lot. And in very cold weather I know I HAVE to get to my mail box before it freezes. My mail box is so far away I always drive.

[agate]

Too bad, jingle! I've been noticing that many apartment complexes (around here anyway) seem to locate the mailboxes pretty far away from the actual apartments, and that must mean that every resident has to walk--in all kinds of weather--quite a distance just to get the mail. Eek! I can't understand why buildings are ever designed that way. What were they thinking?

Maybe the idea is to make life easier for the mail carrier. I don't know. But it surely wouldn't make my life easier to live in a place like that.

I realize that people in rural areas often have mailboxes located on a road that may be a long distance from their houses and that it's been that way for ages. I just would have big problems with that arrangement.

[jingle]

Here it is a holiday weekend and I have no big plans. I am going to make myself a good dinner and try to get some work done. I wonder if I will ever get all my junk unpacked and put away. Put away where? Oh, it's difficult to be in such a smaller place. But I am very happy to be in a different location. I wonder if any of you have plans for a holiday. I hope you are well and comfortable.

[agate]

Thanks for the good wishes, jingle! No special holiday plans here. I don't envy you your move--it's always an ordeal. Just learning where things are in a new place can be a challenge--like where the light switches are on the walls or which way to turn a faucet handle, little routine things.

At some point late in my moving history, it dawned on me that when it came to the unpacking, I really didn't have to get it all done in a big hurry. Stuff could stay in boxes for quite a while if I didn't feel up to getting around to dealing with it. There turned out to be a lot to be said for doing the unpacking slowly and only when I felt up to it. I could take my time and give more thought to the whole job. Of course it would have been nice to wave a magic wand and the unpacking would be all done but I didn't have to pretend to be that magic wand.

I'm so glad you like your new location. Are you at home a lot? If you are, having a location you feel good about really matters.

[agate]

Before the month ends and this thread is history, here's an update on the situation with the MS message board I mentioned that is closing in about a month unless some miracle happens. Virginia, you suggested:

QUOTE=Virginia;n271603]... However, is it against protocol to just go on and say something like: I heard this board is no longer going to be here. We have a few people at BrainTalk and would love for you to join us. Then give the URL to get to us.[/QUOTE]

I've been posting occasionally over at that board, and just recently someone there announced a Facebook group being set up for those who would like to stay in contact from that closing board. I joined it but since I don't really "know" anyone there any more, I haven't said much. After I have seen how things develop, I'll follow your suggestion, Virginia, on that Facebook page. All the admin can do is delete it and maybe delete my membership too but that would be OK. At least the reminder would be there even if it's only for a short time.

I've put a link to this BrainTalk forum in my Profile at the board that is closing. We'll see if it stays there.

[Virginia]

Agate, thanks for trying on that board that is closing, to try and get us a few new people. I think if the people on the board that is shutting down realized just how few of us post on here they might be more likely to come here than Facebook. I know I much prefer this forum to Facebook. But you have tried and I guess that is all that can be done.

As to getting my medicine through the mail. I have two objections, personally. Not everyone would feel this way. First of all United Health Care and Optum have gone in together. They have found a way to make more money together. Of course the cost is passed on to the consumers. Since I pay a high premium for my insurance and do not use Medicare Advantage I have a really big problem dealing with this. I resent my premium going up, up, up as it has the past several years.

I am forced to get my Rebif through Optum. United Health Care wrote me a letter stating that if I didn't change to Optum they would no longer pay for that medication, so I wasn't given a choice. So far they haven't given me an ultimatum on my other medications so I have left them alone.

The second reason is exactly what Jingle stated. The weather can get very hot in the summer and very cold in the winter and it can be a real concern. Right after I had to change to Optum I didn't receive a shipment. I was on the phone trying to track it down. It is packed in ice and I knew it might melt. I called my brother that afternoon and he came and was going door to door in my neighborhood. He was afraid someone had it and would just toss it aside and think they would take care of it later, not realising it was medication and it was packed in ice. He finally went up to a front porch and found it sitting there. He didn't feel comfortable doing it. It was time for people to get home from work and he didn't know what problem he might run into. If he had not been available to come that day I would have had a real problem because I can't physically walk all these walkways here.

However, my other brother gets his through Express Scripts. When the weather is good his wife walks to their post office box. When the weather is bad one of them hop in the car and drive to get their medicine. One of them is normally home so they don't mind and it has worked out pretty well for them.

Jingle, I have no plans for the weekend. I seldom do. I cooked today so I don't have to do that again over the weekend. I like to make enough food to last about 3 days, if it is something I don't mind eating that much. I hope you enjoyed your home cooked meal.

I hope Tim is alright. He was facing quite an ordeal and I hope nothing went wrong.

Hope everyone stays well and safe.

[agate]

Virginia, I haven't given up on my attempts at advertising BrainTalk on that Facebook page they've started from the other board. I'm going to wait a little and get to know the situation there and then figure out how to say it. I'd like a better sense of the general atmosphere there than I have now. I'd like to do this in a way that won't create trouble, but the fact is that it will look like an attempt at luring their members away. However, we still have PMs, and those aren't so easy on Facebook. That other board that is closing made PMs impossible years ago. So we have something to offer that some people there might appreciate. Also, we've stood the test of time, as the saying goes.

Thanks for your comments on rx delivery. I've been tempted by Optum RX since United Health Care is promoting it in such a big way. There's one called Capsule that might work but it's almost too eager for customers, maybe?

They offer same-day delivery if they are OK with your ZIP code. I asked them how long they'd been in business, and they said they've been around since 2015. So they're not so very new.

The same-day delivery appeals to me. Sometimes I've been so miserable with an infection that I wanted the medicine as soon as I could get it.