Scrapbook Saturday

We had our AYM meeting last week. Several of the members are a little behind, so they are not all represented.

This is my April layout--Easter through the years:

Nancy--she's big in to sports.

Nancy--February happenings.

Susan--I type her journaling so that's not on the page yet.

Susan--Mardi Gras.

Friday Funnies

Okay, this one took me a minute. Then I thought it was hilarious!!

Ten Things Thursday

How about some beautiful porches?

I love everything about this porch. All that white--swoon! But I'm not fool enough to believe it. This would require way too much work keeping it looking pristine and, well, white!

This one is more realistic. Even dirty, it will still look like this.

This one looks like it's in another country. It must be a popular color as you can see other balconies in the background.

Ooops! This isn't exactly a porch, but a really sweet "nook." It's a pretty little spot. The only thing missing is the book!

Oh, my! This is so pretty leading to the garage. I wonder what the house looks like? Actually, it looks like the garage contains a full house too.

I do love the neat and formal look of this, but I would definitely want some colorful flowers.

Now this is a welcoming front door.

This looks like the exact same door, but the sidelights (windows) are different. I wonder if this is some sort of entry that juts out from the house with a little porch on both sides--or maybe it's a duplex. Still pretty.

This is a sweet little porch--love the pink.

Pretty in pink. I have to admit, I love a throw on a front porch, but again, not practical. It does make it look so homey. 

Then there's this.

Our front porch. I love the swing--it's 25 years old this year. My brothers and sisters gave it to us as a housewarming gift. Would you believe that the cushion is also 25 years old? The best part--it has been outside in the weather ALL 25 years! We just pressure wash it in the spring and it's good to go for the season. 

This is the other side of the porch--the side that doesn't get used. At all.

I love the blue beadboard ceiling--the blue really does keep the birds from building nests in the corners. A few times we've had nests in the wall planters. 

I've been tempted to get a couple of rugs, but then decide against it. Just one more thing to clean.  I'm tired of cleaning.

What I Buy Wednesday

About 6 weeks ago, our garage door broke. It was old--40 years. I called a company out to repair it. That was $1500. Then, this is where "he" got us, "If you agree to purchase new garage doors within 30 days, we'll apply this to the cost of the new doors."

Okay, we knew we needed new doors. They have been painted so many times, they were definitely in need of replacement. We had actually looked at replacing them about 10 years ago, but didn't due to the cost. You can see the one on the right is a little different. That one is a custom door, so it wasn't just a cut and dried replacement. 

Anyway, we didn't even let the guy leave. He got his "supervisor" on the phone. I think he was probably the salesman. Anyway, one thing led to another, he gave us a quote. I got him to assure me that our little repair guy would get some sort of bonus--which Butch said they probably do anyway--part of the job--get the customer to buy new doors. Then, Butch asked for a ridiculous discount if we decided right then and there rather than waiting. The supervisor agreed! Done!!  

I guess it was about three weeks later they came out and voila'--new doors!

We are very pleased! Plus, they will never need painting. Butch had the idea to add the handles and hinges to add a little interest. When picking out the doors--I had no idea there were so many choices--I knew I did not want windows. We have two windows in the garage, so it's not dark. Those windows have wood blinds on them. I just didn't windows that I would have to clean all the time because I know myself. It would drive me crazy to pull up and see dirty windows!

This is one of those expensive--what I call--"unfun" purchases. You might need it, but it's not fun to buy. We've seemed to have a lot of these lately. The pool---oh, don't get me started...!

What was your most recent "unfun" purchase?

Travel Tuesday

I don't know if I've mentioned that we're leaving for Paris this Friday. Sandy, Greg, Stephanie, Nicky, Mindy and Justin are going with us. Butch has planned the itinerary and we are doing so much. 

Here's a peek at our schedule:

May 31st Saturday

Check in to hotel

Hop on Hop off bus

Happy Hour—Bramble

7:30 Margaux

Walk Pont d’lena Bridge

June 1st Sunday

La Flanerie or Odettes

Notre Dame—Mass

Koff Burger Montemarte

Walking tour Montemarte

Hotel to rest

Walk around Latin Quarter

Cafe drinks

Dinner (TBD)

June 2nd Monday

9:30 Eiffel Tower

11:00 Opera House

Starbucks Opera

Galeries Lafayette

Champs Elysees

3:30 Arch de Triomphe

Hotel to rest

Happy Hour Harry’s NY or Bar Hemingway

Dinner—Roger la Grenouille

June 3rd Tuesday

Disney Paris

June 4th Wednesday

Cemetery visit Jim Morrison’s grave

Lunch Midi Cafe crepes

7:00 Le Train Bleu

June 5th Thursday

Open all day

June 6th Friday

9:00 Visit Saints Chapelle

6:00 Dinner Moulin de la Galette

9:00 Moulin Rouge 

Butch is a master planner. Just take a look at his packing spreadsheet!

This works for him. As for me, I'm a list person. 

International Check List

Travel documents

Airline ticket/boarding pass 

Passport

Money

Medication 

Kindle

Phone

iPad

Computer

Chargers

Converter plugs

Umbrella

Sunglasses 

Pashminas

“Jacket in a packet” (rain jacket)

Snacks

Pants

Tops

Lounging outfit

2 tennis shoes

1 dress shoe

Footies

Nightgowns

Slippers

Underwear

Bras

Jewelry

Makeup

Ditty bag

Blow brush

Quick and easy. Works for me and my packing cubes (love those things).

Me on Monday & a Mystery

I am a victim of Medicare Fraud. Yes, you read that right. I have been the victim of Medicare fraud. 

Here’s the story:

When I received my most recent Medicare statement, I was looking at it--which I don't often do. Actually, I never really thought about it. I usually just file it away. Anyway, I happened to be looking at it and an outrageous charge caught my eye. 

It's a charge of $2,580---two THOUSAND five hundred and eighty dollars---for a dressing!! A dressing!! How is that possible? Then I looked closer. The doctor is in Florida with Sunshine Senior Solutions. Obviously something to do with old people. Location: Delray Beach, FL. I have NEVER been there or anywhere close to there. 

Then, I noticed that this charge has been recurring for 7 months. Every month! Now I knew that just wasn't right. I didn't have any statements before that because I clean out my files in January and toss the previous year's paperwork. So, I really have no idea how long this has been going on.

That's when I decided to call the fraud line. Here's how that went.

I was on hold for 9 minutes. I gave all the information about the “dressing” that I was charged for starting in August of 2024. I went through everything with this agent. The agent asked me about the charges for catheters over this same period. Catheters? That wasn’t even on my statement. I asked why I didn't have that information. She didn't know--that it would probably be on the next statement. So there were additional charges that were not included on my summary report. Now this makes me think that Medicare has no idea what’s going on! 

Finally she said that she needed to transfer me to another department to help me with the billing aspect. I told her that I have not paid anything. Then she said it was to protect me if I should ever need these dressings or catheters. Apparently since the fraud was discovered, that would make me ineligible for these items--should I need them in the future. Okay, fine. I don't really understand that, but fine. Moving on.

So I get another person who asks me questions and goes through everything all over again. I asked if she could see how far back it went. She couldn't. What? Were they not looking at my account! She did question my legitimate charge of $8,760 a month for my Xolair. All of a sudden, I got this sinking feeling that I might be messing myself up for that charge. Would they now take a closer look and think there's something amiss with this one? Yes, it's a lot. A. Lot. But, I have no control over that I and need this infusion every 5 weeks. 

Then, she proceeds to tell me what's going to happen. She said she had to read a paper to me. That seemed a little weird, but I said "okay!" There was so much information being thrown at me--I simply could not absorb it all. I asked her if she could just email it to me. She said it was just written on a paper to be read. What? Am I really talking to the fraud department? It seems so amateurish and lame. So, I asked her to read it again and I would take notes. 

Here are my notes in a nutshell:

A Unified Program Integrity Contractor would have one of these three companies contact me to set up an appointment to come to the house to interview me:

    Qlerent

    Covent Bridge

    Safeguard Services Unified

After the interview, I might have to appear in court to testify. 

The call lasted—44.31 minutes.

My first thought is why do they have to come in person to interview me? The whole thing sounds strange. I have so many questions like:

How did that doctor in FL get my Medicare info?

How does one get "picked" to be scammed?

Wouldn't Medicare question a recurring charge coming out of FL when I clearly live in TN?

It kind of sounds like Medicare has no idea what is going on. That make two of us! It's a mystery for sure.

PS And it's been over a week and I haven't heard anything. I guess they are in no hurry to shut down a charge of nearly $2600 a month! I did explain to the person I talked to that I have my phone set for any calls not in my contacts go straight to voicemail. They would need to leave me a message to call them back. We'll see. I let you know if anything comes of it.

    

Something for Sunday

I think this is some sort of a joke. But there's truth here--and that's not funny.

Scrapbook Saturday

I don't know if I've ever mentioned that Butch does the journaling on our trips. He started doing that many years ago. Well, now he's taken it a step further. He is adding pictures to the journal. In fact, he has started going back to his previous journals and added pictures. 

Not only does he add the pictures to his journal, he has been going back to each photo and adding comments to the meta-data section on each one. Now that's obsessive! And everyone thinks I'm the crazy one!!

And that's not all! Since I discovered that he has a feature in iPhoto on his Mac, he's been going back and editing every photo in his library! His Mac is newer than mine, so all he has to do is tap edit and with AI, his computer decides what things need fixing or deleting. With the touch of a button, it's done! I can certainly remove things from pictures, but I literally erase them. It's not nearly as perfect as his. Rather than completely removing something, my computer will smudge or blur it. It's definitely better than nothing. Still, I'm jealous of the capability of his newer computer.

Anyway, that leads me to the point of this post. Butch, without realizing it--has become clear that he is a SCRAPBOOKER!!! Words and pictures is the essence of scrapbooking!!

I sure hope this doesn't mean he expects to be invited on our scrapbook retreats!! 

Friday Frustration

So today, I'm posting on behalf of my sister, Jeanne. I feel her frustration!

Last week, there were all kinds of storms and tornadoes in St. Louis. Jeanne had finished all of her gradening chores--getting everything ready for the Memorial Day party she's having tomorrow. Having just done this myself, I knew how much work was involved. 

She was all ready, flowers planted, patio cleaned, everything looking good. Then this happened.

That's a lot of hail and tender plant destruction. Once the hail melted she was left with this:

She had to wait until the rain dried up before they could get it all cleaned up. She said that many of her flowers were destroyed and blooms lost. Ugh!

I feel her pain. It takes so much work to keep everything looking good. And, her garden is beautiful. It's so frustrating! 

On a happier note, Mitchell was here yesterday. I hired him to pressure wash our patio and pool deck. It's a lot. I certainly wasn't going to be involved doing it and I didn't want Butch to wreck his back. It's a job for a youngster!

It took just about all day--he had to take 2 breaks to log in to two one hour lectures for school. And, it was like Grand Central around here. The pool people were here and our lawn people were here. There was so much going on all at the same time--and the noise of all the different equipment--pressure washer, leaf blower, pool vacuum--it was sooo much!

Anyway, it's all done and I am so happy.

Everything looks so fresh and clean--at least for a little while!

My brother told me I should get rid of the pond. But, I love it. I've always liked a water feature. Once it's cleaned out for the season, it's fairly easy to maintain. We had 6 fish survive the winter. We'll add more soon. 

Now I just have to hope that the girl next door that I'm hiring to keep everything watered when we're gone the week after next--does a good job. I'm counting on it. I'll really be frustrated if she doesn't! 

P.S. So we were having happy hour yesterday. All of a sudden Butch said, "There's a snake!" Sure enough, it went in to the pool shed or behind the pond. I don't like snakes so I'm kinda' freaking out. We'll see. He said that due to the cleaning, we've probably disrupted its regular place.