December 2020 chitchat

[Sunshine 2]

Oh Virginia, how scary for you to fall. TG that there was no bone breakage.
We cancelled our local paper and only get it digital. Trust me, an iPad is very very easy to learn. You would love it.

DId I miss a beat somewhere ? Do your brother and SIL have COVID?

[Lazarus]

Virginia,
When I realize I am going to fall, at the moment I realize, it is tough to do anything but roll with it. Hard to do but helps sometimes to make the damage less severe. I fall a lot so am good at it! Hope you are not too sore from the fall.

Sunshine is right, tablets are very easy to use. I have never had a computer...only tablets. I can sit anywhere and use it. That is how I listen to books on audible which is great. This week at infusion the iPad is just wonderful. I can watch a movie through Amazon or listen to a book or read the newspapers!

I use my tablets with WiFi only...never have had any cable service for television or streaming or anything. So I have no monthly charges other than the sites I use like NYTimes and Washington Post and Amazon Prime. Worth thinking about...

[Howie]

I use a laptop, and it suites my needs just fine. The tablets I've seen are just too small for my poor MS vision. The biggest problem with laptops these days is finding one with Windows 8.1. I don't want Windows 10.

[Virginia]

Linda, I don't know how you take falling as well as you do. I had the laundry basket full of recycling in one hand and I couldn't have rolled down the steps, but anyway it just is so fast I can't think what to do other than try to grab for something if anything is near. A little sore in certain spots today, but otherwise alright. Please tell me what size your tablets are? Especially the biggest one you have.

Sunshine I need to know the size of your tablet also.

Youngest brother is going to pick up milk, bread, eggs and oranges for me today. He is also going to get a sandwich for COVID ridden SIL and brother. He spoke with them earlier and seemed to feel that both were doing better. I will call this afternoon. That brother will get better when his wife does. When she is sick he freaks out worse than anyone I have ever seen. I have wondered if part of it is because he is use to her taking care of him.

We don't even know for sure that he has had it because he has not been tested. Hopefully, when she goes back to get tested to make sure she is negative, he will get the antibody test. He has sounded very congested and has run a low grade fever that doesn't go away with Tylenol so I expect he does. Also, being in the car and house with her I expect it would have been hard for him not to get it.

I am trying to get funding for my Rebif. I got an e-mail that said Health Well had funds and I went on their site. I had to sign up and they said they would call me shortly. That was over an hour ago and I am still sitting here waiting.

[Howie]

Virginia, I hope you get a callback soon. Waiting is my pet peeve. I am always very punctual. I think it's my German ancestry.

[Earth Mother 2 Angels]

((((((Hugs to All)))))) ~

Virginia ~

It's good to hear that you aren't overly sore today. How kind of your youngest brother to help you and your brother and sister-in-law. I hope it is no contact and all of you are wearing masks.

Unfortunately, the odds are fairly great that your brother has COVID. He's so close to his wife all of the time, it would be unlikely that he'd get something else. Also, as you've described his symptoms, they seem to correspond to COVID symptoms. Prayers and healing energy for them that they continue to improve.

I hope you go the call about your Rebif with a positive response to help you.

I have an iPad, but John showed me how to use it, so I can't say that I'm an expert. I don't have WiFi, so I can't get a lot of things on my iPad.

What do you use now? A PC desktop computer? If so, perhaps you just need to get a new chair.

Sending healing prayers to you too ~

Love & Light,



Rose

*Virtual Hugs Are Germ-Free!

[Virginia]

Thanks for your reply Rose. I think I am going to get an iPad so I can sit in the living room when I want to.

I waited and waited for a call back from Health Well today. It didn't come so I went on their web site finally and got a notice that no one was there due to COVID. I filled out an application and when I got to a part about have you called your drug company to see if they would help you there were multiple answers and I didn't know which one to check, because if I check the one saying I had they might deny me based on the fact that they would think I could get help through the
drug company.

I picked up my phone and called MS Lifelines to see what they thought I should check. They are always very nice, but today I got a man who was just overly nice. When I told him what I was doing he insisted on staying on the line until I had filled out all of the application. Well, I have filled these applications out many numerous times over the past 20 years, but he insisted. They can be quite long by the time you give out all of your insurance, financial and other information. It took a long time, but the man with MS Lifelines wouldn't leave until I had completed it.

In the meantime my brother came with my groceries. He called to let me know he was on the way and I would need to get them off the porch. This was no contact delivery. When he couldn't get me he kept calling. Finally, there was a knock on the door and I told the man on the phone I needed to get some groceries in. My brother was already gone by the time I got to the door and opened it. My brother kept calling and I could tell he was getting frantic because he was calling sometime every 3 minutes and at least every 5 minutes I would get a beep from him. The man from MS Lifelines just ignored it and I said a couple of times I need to let my brother know I am alright. He said he would like me to finish the application with Health Well before hanging up, so I did.

I then called my brother immediately. He said he was getting ready to turn around and come back, but he didn't know how to get in and couldn't remember the lockbox number. I explained what was going on and he said what I was doing was important and I did the right thing. He said he didn't know what to do other than to crash the door in. I am glad that didn't happen.

This is a hard time of the year it seems. I was also trying to talk to the drug store that fills my other drugs to try and get all of them filled that I could while I am in the catastrophe range on my insurance. There is still one that they are supposed to get from another drug store, but I haven't heard back from them either.

I've already had over my allowance of chocolate for today. What I need is a gallon of ice cream. I don't have any.

Agate must have had one of her HUD check-ups today. If so, she is probably not having too good a day either.

[SuzE-Q]

Wow, Virginia, you are being very organized getting these forms and issues taken care of to take advantage of the time period! Glad you aren't too sore.

I got a new laptop and my first ever tablet at the same time a few years ago. I wasn't familiar with the new Windows program on the laptop and had no clue how to work a tablet. In hindsight, it was a mistake to buy both together.

I learned the tablet in the first afternoon, and, because it was so convenient, only became familiar with the bare basics of the laptop over the next few months.

I now use the tablet about 99% of the time and the laptop only when I absolutely have to, maybe turning it on once a month, at most. I still don't really know how to use it

That is how fond I am of the tablet. I need to get a new one now because I want a faster one with more space. I could have bought the cheapest laptop available for what I now need it for, it was not worth what I paid for it.

On the other hand, the tablet was worth every penny and so much more, probably because it was so easy to learn that I was never forced to learn the laptop beyond bare minimum. I was hooked on the tablet from Day 1.

[Lazarus]

Well, that's good info to know! Are you sure the food item prices aren't marked up? I will need to check that out, I thought they all must be.

Thanks!

I use Peapod (Stop and Shop) and have never seen price gouging. In fact, if they are out of something I ordered and they are substituting a similar item they charge me the lower price even if the substitute is more expensive. By the way, they only substitute if I give them permission.

The thing with delivery services is that although I pay the delivery charge I also leave a tip for the driver. I really do not know about this tip and would like to know about the driver’s salaries, whether tips are shared with in store workers who run around filling my order....etc.

[Sunshine 2]

Virginia,
You can also get a keyboard for the iPad. Mine is called Kensington. The iPad snaps into the keyboard so it becomes like a mini lap top. You can use it or not use it whoever you wish.For me its faster, because its like typing on a normal keyboard, rather than using the virtual keys that are on the bare iPad. Virtual keys like you see on a smart phone.
The keyboard has its own power source, and doesnt need to be charged up very often. It folds around the iPad, creating like a shell, added protection from dropping the iPad and damaging it.

Here is an example of one, although I am not sure if its the one I have:
Only registered and activated users can see links., Click Here To Register...

[agate]

I use Peapod (Stop and Shop) and have never seen price gouging. In fact, if they are out of something I ordered and they are substituting a similar item they charge me the lower price even if the substitute is more expensive. By the way, they only substitute if I give them permission.

The thing with delivery services is that although I pay the delivery charge I also leave a tip for the driver. I really do not know about this tip and would like to know about the driver’s salaries, whether tips are shared with in store workers who run around filling my order....etc.

At least some stores aren't supposed to be marking up their online products. I don't know what the law is but for years I ordered regularly from Safeway for groceries and anything else I needed that they happened to have. This was before Instacart expanded to include my area.

I realized that the prices I was paying were higher than in the store but getting to the store was just too much of a problem--so I was willing to pay for the convenience.

Then along came an e-mail about a lawsuit, Rodman v. Safeway:

Only registered and activated users can see links., Click Here To Register...

It took quite a while for this class action suit to be settled but over a year ago I received a substantial check.

Just the other day I received another e-mail telling me that I'm entitled to another substantial check based on the same lawsuit. It may be a year or more before I see it but I was really pleasantly surprised.

This may have happened because Safeway didn't disclose that they were marking up the prices. Other stores may get by with a price markup so long as they say somewhere that they're doing this--maybe hidden in the small print on their Website somewhere.

[Howie]

Wow Sunshine, that looks like my laptop. I could use it, but I see from the screenshot that it's running Windows 10. I have used 10, and I could get used to it.....if I HAD to!

[Virginia]

Suze-Q and Linda please tell me what kind of tablet to get. I looked on Amazon yesterday and just got confused. Sunshine, can you hold the keyboard in your lap along with the tablet?

Please, some help with this. I don't want to buy the wrong kind. They range all prices I found. I use windows 10 now and would love to have that.

[stillstANNding]

Virginia, I have an iPad 3 Air. It works on the same OS as an iPhone. Very easy. I use the built in keyboard. Like Suzy, I don’t use my computer anymore.

I chose to get one that is “cellular” so I can use it anywhere because we don’t have or want broadband. It added $20 (plus taxes and fees) to our Verizon bill each month. We have unlimited service from when “unlimited” actually meant that. Ask about the service fees as they can be substantial.

Pros - just about everything
Con- price

ANN

[Virginia]

I am so dumb! Ann, I thought the iPads worked like my Kindle. You just buy them and they work on Wi-fi which I have. I didn't know there were additional charges to pay. Since I have to pay internet charges for my computer I should have been thinking differently. I thought I could take it in my living room or where ever and it would work on the same wi-fi as my kindle does, or maybe the same internet charges that I already pay.

You mean I would have to pay like I do for my cell phone?