What and Where

Saturday we moved our bedroom stuff from the finished basement to the double bedroom that was occupied by my late father-in-law.  With the furniture comes 2 carry guns.  The Boss keeps her Bersa 380 somewhere, and my 3 inch Kimber 45 is next to the bed when it's not on me.  In the basement we were next to my armory with access to several long guns if needed.  Now trying to decide what and where to stash one in our new bedroom. 12 gauge auto, 20 gauge pump, AR 15, SKS, or maybe the 30 caliber carbine.

Now that there's extra room in the basement, a pool table is on the menu.  From the 5th grade until my early 20s I had access to a pool table in the basement.  It's about time I had another one.

SS Update Again

Got my Medicare card in the mail today. Part A only.  Couldn't get part B to go through on-line.  Hopefully we can get it all straightened out in person at the appointment in a few weeks.

SS/Medicare Update

The Boss called a different office and actually talked to a lady that was helpful.  Instead of the last of April, we have an appointment for the end of March.  Might be able to retire late May or early June.  Have to wait and see.

Got a letter the other day defining my SS payments.  The first will be direct deposited in the middle of March.  At least that went through OK.

Getting SS & Medicare Sucks

I plan on retiring some time in May.  The Boss turns 65 and becomes eligible for Medicare the first of May.  A couple of weeks ago I got on line and signed up for Social Security.  It took about 1/2 hour to fill in information that should be readily available in the federal government data base.

Last week I got on line again to sign up for Medicare, unsuccessfully.  Part way through the process I was stopped.  The message said there was a conflict of information.  It would not tell me anything specific.  I called a 800 number to ask what was going on.  There was a long wait so I elected the call back option.  I got back to my desk early so as not to miss the call that never came.

I tried calling again, but elected the wait on hold option.  I again had to leave my desk but got back plenty early for the estimated wait time.  I found the line was dead.

After trying twice to get more information, and knowing the Boss also needed to sign up for both, I asked her to call the local SS office for an appointment to meet someone in person.  She was told that the first available was in April.  That sucks.  No way we can get Medicare coverage in May for my planned retirement.

Hope we can see someone at a different SS office sooner.

Shingles Revisited

All the shingle blisters have dried up and the scabs washed away.  I look mostly normal though I still experience quite a bit of pain mostly around my eye.  I also have the sensation of something crawling under my skin from my eye brow up to my temple. And the fatigue is still hanging around.

Great Sign

Yesterday we went to watch our 6 grade grandson play basketball.  Since we were going into a no guns zone I left the 3 inch 45 1911 at home and carried my little 9mm.  And so once again I broke the law. 

When entering the school I noticed a sign on the door that said something like "the faculty is armed and any attempt to harm the students will be met with deadly force".  I really liked that sign, true or not.

Behind the Curtain

 A couple weeks before the shingles hit me, we had a couple of guys rebuild the main bathroom in the house.  They stripped it to the studs and did a complete rebuild to the Boss's specifications.  Everything is complete except the entrance door.  The first pre-hung door was paintable quality, but not adequate for staining so a different one was ordered.  That one arrived but it was the wrong one.  It will be a couple of weeks before the next one arrives.  Until then we'll have a curtain hanging over the doorway.