Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Snow Problem

Glock Nerds service department closed early on Monday due to the heaviest snow we've had in several years, so they didn't finish my car repairs until Tuesday morning. An additional day's rental fee goes to Innerpride, and I forgot to take my grandson's car seat out of the back. I'll have to go back down to pick it up on Thursday since I'll be heading out of town for another doctor's appointment on Wednesday. Also, Glock Nerds charged me for a new wiper motor and the wipers still don't work correctly. Before they "fixed" them, they worked correctly as long as they were turned on, but when turned off they stuck straight up instead of folding down. Now they work correctly when turned on full speed and fold down when turned off...but if you put them on time delay they pause in the middle of the windshield, right at eye level. I have a new appointment next Monday to fix them again, they promised to get me in and out the same day. We'll see about that.

As I said, I have another doctor's appointment tomorrow. I've been hearing rumors of more snow on the way, so I may have to cancel it. Crossing my fingers that it won't be bad, but it's just a routine check, so there's no urgent reason to keep the appointment if driving conditions are less than optimum. I'm still feeling good, no new side effects to report and my blood pressure and pulse have been pretty stable. I did experience a slight dizzy spell about a week ago, but I believe it was due to low glucose levels. A small can of fruit juice seemed to fix the problem. The wound on my chest from the infected gland is still healing slowly, mostly due to my diabetes and maybe the blood thinners I'm on. I'm guessing another month or two before it's healed.

My wife has been suffering from a major sinus cold for several days and has gone into hibernation. I'm surprised that I haven't caught it yet. I've had a runny nose for almost a week, but otherwise I'm feeling fine. Makes me wonder if maybe the cancer medication I'm on might be part of the reason.

Update - Saturday Morning: After they fixed the wheel bearings, etc., they of course had to realign the wheels. I'm now feeling a noticeable shimmy when driving over 45 mph. I called Glock Nerds yesterday and had them add "check wheel alignment" to my Monday visit. I'm now hoping they can still get me in and out the same day. I certainly don't want to visit Innerpride for another rental. Being without reliable transportation is a major inconvenience.

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Car Trouble

I made a trip into town this afternoon to pick up groceries and a couple of prescription refills. I don't expect to do any more driving for about 32 hours. I'm crossing my fingers and hoping that my car doesn't look like the picture at the left on Thursday.

I noticed my car making a rhythmic scraping sound a couple of weeks ago when I went up to see Dr. Whoosh's CNP. I called the auto service shop for an appointment the next day but they couldn't it get in until this coming Thursday morning.

Even though I'm retired, I still have to get out and about. Taking my granddaughter to school, doctor appointments, picking up groceries, etc. I've been very nervous about getting out and driving with it making this noise. It's getting louder and has started making a secondary clicking sound. Both sounds come and go, but are getting more and more persistent. The sounds speed up and slow down depending on how fast I'm going, so I'm suspecting something like a wheel bearing may be fixing to die. I'm just praying that it holds together for the trip to the garage. The drive is only about 15 miles or so and I've put a couple of hundred miles on it since I noticed the sound...so if it holds together for a few more miles I'll be very happy.

Since it's the only working vehicle I have at the moment, I'm also worrying about how I'm going to get around if they have to keep it in the shop for more than a day. I'll probably need to borrow a vehicle from a friend or get a rental if that happens.

Healthwise, I'm feeling good. The wound from where I had the infected gland drained is still healing but not giving me any trouble. I just heard that the father of an old friend has been diagnosed with kidney cancer similar to mine. Praying for him and his family, I hope that things go as well for him as they have for me so far.

Update: It's friday afternoon and I just finished talking to the mechanic. The diagnosis is that the car needs new wheel bearings on both sides in front, brake pads, rotors, and alignment. I had also asked them to fix a leaky coolant hose and fix the wiper blades that stick up like a pair of goal posts. Par for the course, the repairs are going to be about $150 more than what is left in my savings account. I guess this is that "rainy day"  I was saving for...

Wednesday, February 04, 2015

Something's Not Right

So I applied for disability late last year and the Social Security folks agreed that I had been disabled for over two years. In fact, they even backdated my Medicare coverage four months. I was notified in December, but they decided that I qualified in August. Four months.

My health coverage insurance for many years has been through deductions from my retirement income through the State Employees Retirement System [SERS]. Up until that time, the cost of the insurance was staggering, over $800 per month more than my actual retirement benefits. The excess was billed directly to me...and paid in full without fail every month.

SERS offers different insurance carriers for non-Medicare and Medicare. When I notified them about my eligibility for Medicare, they switched my coverage from one to the other resulting in a substantial savings. So much savings that my retirement benefits now cover the entire cost and I even get a small check every month as well.

I'm happy about that.

For several months during that period I was suffering with some extreme back pain and was seeing my chiropractor for regular adjustments. I was contacted by the chiropractor a couple of weeks ago and informed that the original health carrier had requested a refund of the payments they had made on my account for the four month period that I was covered under Medicare. I explained the situation and advised him to bill the new carrier.  Oops! The new carrier says I wasn't covered until December. So there was a four month period of no health coverage. I was advised to have the chiropractor bill Medicare directly. I haven't heard what Medicare had to say about it yet. I was also going through the kidney surgery about that time... I haven't heard anything about that either and it makes me a little nervous.

So since I wasn't covered from August through November,  I wonder when I'm going to get a refund of the $5094.20 that I paid the original insurance carrier for coverage during that period. Something's not right with this picture....