Morning gals! It is heating up here already this morning. Jack left for work about 6:05 AM and it was over 80 degrees. He's funny! Until the ole calendar turned over into August, he didn't think our vacation was close but now he does! Actually it is 3 weeks from Thurs so it is getting here. I am so looking forward to seeing my sister. I really do miss her a lot as we used to do everything together when we lived in the same town and worked for the same law firm. It will be fun to be with them for a couple days.

Jean: No, Jack bought a book called SoDoKu for dummies and it has puzzles in it. Sort of a cross between cross-sums and a logic problem. It is 9 boxes of 9 cubes each all in one box. You have some #'s placed already, but you have to get each row down and each row across to have # 1-9 in it and it can only be used once in each row. So, each box of 9 has 1-9 in it and each row etc etc and it can only fit one way. Gives me a headache just thinking about it. Logic problems drive me nuts because I lose my train of thought. I am better at trivia and crosswords, stuff with vocabulary. He loves them and worked for 3 days on one puzzle to get it right. UGH! Give me a book!

I did an hour in the pool today and it was pretty tough. I guess I don't have much steam this morning. I want to get upstairs and clean it today so I hope if I just rest for an hour I will be back up to snuff. I am having problems with allergies again now that it is heating up again so I didn't sleep very well last night. Guess I will just sit and read a book. I just finished an auto-biography of Phyllis Diller. I think she is sad. She is a staunch atheist and I think it is sad that people don't believe in God, Heaven, **** and the like. I guess when they meet their maker, it will change their minds, but too late. She had a couple horrible marriages that is for sure. She had like 6 children, one mentally disabled and lived most of her life in an institution. I guess her first husband's family all were crazy as bed bugs. The things she says they do and her husband too are awful.

We are supposed to get together with dd and sil probably next week for his birthday, which is the 16th (the day Elvis died so it will be absolutely NUTS here that weekend) I think T's soccer starts then too. So much to do so little time, though I just can't make it to Graceland this year to idolize a dead singer....Yeah right, I have never even been in Graceland and besides the 4 years we have lived here, have lived here twice before. Let the guy rest in peace. Personally, from all I have read or heard about him, I think he would have been a little embarrassed by people treating him like he is God or something. We usually have about 40,000 people here on the day he died and it will be worse this year because it falls on a weekend. They have a 24 hour vigil where people file past his grave! EUWWW! I think that is just plain nuts! The hotels and restaurants will be packed so you definitely want to stay home!

Well, this is not getting the ole chores done! Have a good day ladies

Faye

Good morning girls! Have to make an adjustment to my post from yesterday. Dim bulb Faye as she is more commonly known told you the 16th was a Sat and it is a Tues. Guess I just have my head in those vacation clouds! I like Elvis very much and listen to his music, but I draw the line at wanting to see his tacky home or lay on his grave and ball my eyes out like some of these crazy women do! We get tons of people twice a year here for the big E. His birthday in January and his death day in August. Sooner or later people need to realize Elvis really HAS left the building!

Jean: Credit card companies are ALL scammers one way or another. They can do all sorts of things without you even knowing it and it is LEGAL! I closed a Capital One account after they refused to double my credit after a 6 month good pay period (the only reason we took the stupid thing in the first place) and I had it in writing. They said my bill was late one month and that nullified the deal. I sent them cancelled checks of those 6 months showing they went through the bank BEFORE my due date. They said that didn't matter it was when the checks were credited to my account and there was a month I was late. I said, didn't that make it someone in their company responsible and not me? Well, I got mumbo jumbo until I got fed up told them in no uncertain and probably not very lady like terms what they could do with their CC. They don't WANT to let you talk to higher ups. It is a disgusting way to do business but most companies are like that no matter what you are doing. Look at the fiasco with Walmart and that treadmill and I am not sure they won't be calling back in a couple months! I have them now though! I have hard copies of e-mails they sent me with the information on when they received the merchandise back and everything. We firmly stick with only one credit card to keep ourselves out of hock so to speak and with a very very low credit limit for the same reason. I figure I can do EVERYTHING with my bankcard (which are bank issues as a credit card and not debit card) except rent a car so who needs a bunch of money sitting around on a credit card not giving us anything back. If I need emergency funds, that is what my savings is for so Phooey on credit card companies. Glad you stood up to them!

Well, I hear Jack in the shower so it is time to get the day started. have a good one ladies.

Faye

Good morning gals! It is nice right now but supposed to get hot again today. I have been checking the 10 day forcast in Vegas everyday to see where we are temps out there. Looks like we will be low 100's still while we are out there. Glad we decided to rent a car!

Jean: I take it today is your day for your "oscopy" Good luck with it! I am sure everything will do great!

I finally finished the upstairs yesterday but was totally wiped out. I asked my dr about it and he says it is normal for me to get this way sometimes and for periods of time. YCK! Sure is crummy getting old! I just have to roll with the flow. Thanks goodness I am not working or I would probably be falling asleep at my computer. I don't have heart problems, anemia or iron deficiency (guess that is same thing) so dr says it is menopause.

Well the big T got registered for school yesterday so he is officially a kindergartener! She called me and asked me about joining the PTA and I thought she was joking at first but they are having a membership drive so I joined. I didn't even belong or go to PTA meetings when I had kids at home. Ours were political with everyone from the rich president to the teachers and principal having an agende of their own so I said no way.

I am going to haunt the library today as I finished all my books. Well that is not exactly true, as two of them were just plain weird and I refused to read them. Dust jackets weren't very forthcoming on them.

Gloria, when you peek in next, do you guys have Tricare for Life by any chance with Medicare part b? We get a mag called Shift Colors, which is for Navy retired, and I read an article that they passed legislation where we won't have to pay the premiums for part B. If you have this, is it true? That would be cool. I think they are about $2400 a year for both of us, huh? Right now we pay about $500 a year for Tricare Prime and we really like it, but when we are retirement age we have to switch to Tricare for Life, which I think is ridiculous but that's the law of the land so to speak.

I guess I better go and clean out the litter box and get a shower. I pooped myself out at the pool today!

Faye

Faye: We can highly recommend you use the TRICARE FOR LIFE. If you are on Medicare part B and pay for that then you will find TRICARE FOR LIFE very benificial. We have been on it since our HMO stopped providing service in our area. Now if the service you use is covered by Medicare then Tricare will pay for anything not paid by Medicare.....deductible, the 20% that would be your payment. Since we have been using it we have paid nothing for any medical services. Actually when you reach the appropriate age you are automatically enrolled in TRICARE FOR LIFE. Check with the Tricare office at the base. They should be able to give you all the particulars and answer any questions you may have. When and if you transfer to Tricare don't forget to drop any old health insurance as you don't need both coverages. Again, the Tricare office will give you all kinds of advise. See them soon so you can be covered as soon as you are eligible. Let me know how this works out for you.

Jean: Happy to hear you survived your 'oscopy....the prep is worse than the test. Hope the results are all OK.

Gloria.....just back from the Commissary and have gotten all purchased put away...not it's time for me.

Morning ladies! Hope you are all well!

Jean: Glad you made it through the procedure all fine an dandy and even got toast and juice! bet you were starving! As far as ID goes, here is the deal. You have to carry current military retired ID to do anything including insurance. They have a system called DEERS that every military active duty or retired and all their dependents have to be in to get any health coverage at all whether with insurance or at a base. Your mom's ID covers more than just her health insurance. As long as she is in the deer system she is covered by some type of military insurance. They have pretty much done away with Champus and use Tricare everywhere now, but even Tricare has different levels. You can do Tricare standard, which EVERYONE falls into and it costs nothing and is basically the old Champus where you have a deductible of I think $300 per family per year and they cover 75% of allowable costs. Tricare prime, you pay a premium and it works just like an HMO. In fact, it is cheaper and better than any health insurance we have ever had. Tricare for life is for SS age and you must drop prime and take this. It is non premium and basically like Gloria says, covers what Medicare Part B doesn't.

Gloria: Thanks for the info. We only have 10 years until Jack retires and on SS so we are trying to get all our little ducks in a row with his city pension, his and my SS and our medical. We are definitely in Tricare for Life as we love Tricare Prime and we can continue with their drug coverage, which is cheaper than any I have seen. We only have Tricare Prime right now and it is our only health insurance. I think since we signed on we have probably only paid a couple hundred $$ total for any care we have received and that includes the co-pay, 2 hospital visits and ongoing cardiac care for Jack. We were on Cigna before that with the city and paid about $2400 a year and the co-pay was $20 I think and drugs were $15 at least per drug and now our premium is $540 and our co-pay is $12 and our drugs are $9 brand and $3 generic. We would never change and never have any other insurance. I know in other parts of the country it doesn't work so well, like CA for instance but it works great here. I was just wondering about the Medicare Part B for lack of better words, premium. Whether or not you are paying that because according to the article people using Tricare for Life don't have to pay the monthly premium cost of Medicare anymore.

We leave 3 weeks from today and it definitely can't come soon enough. Jack told me this morning he has to stop thinking about vacation or he will go nuts! He will be off work including weekends for 12 days so I am sure he is looking forward to it. Especially since they worked yesterday and will today in the blower building and the temps in hot weather can get up to 140 degrees! I feel guilty sitting in the cool house reading a book!

We have this really nice patio set with 4 chairs with nice thick pads and a big glass table and umbrella. I bought it three years ago for like $99 at a grocery store right before we bought the condo. It was such a steal and much nicer than a lot of sets I have seen. Since than, the former neighbor's cousin threw a lit cigarette over the fence and it burned a hole in my chair pad and I saw yesterday either a squirrel or bird tore up one of the chairs. It has holes in it and is shredded where the seam is and the stuffing is coming out! I am not sure I can even fix it. We haven't used the set this year at all because it has been so incredibly hot all summer, too hot to sit outside and we don't sit out at night because of mosquitos and we have a lot of west nile this year I guess. So, I don't know when this happened. Anyway, I am pretty mad about it and would like to strangle me an animal!

It is time to go to the pool. You ladies have a great day!

Faye

Good morning gals! Hope your day is starting out nicely. It is humid and sticky here this morning with a chance of rain I think.

Jean:Your dh would have to be retired military or active duty to use Tricare. It is one of the few "benefits" we still have left to us. So many of the bases have closed or scaled down that retirees can't get free medical care at clinics anymore and a lot of places you can't get free meds. I might be able to, but it is too much of a hassle to do as you only get 30 days at a time and it is 30 miles out there one way. I get 90 days for a 30 day co-pay so I can't complain. Jack's Plavix med is about $350 a month if you paid full price for it and we get 90 days for $9. He takes 4 meds and the total is $36 per 90 days but retail we would spend about $1000 a month. My 2 are $12 for 90 days as one of them is generic.

I have decided to really crack down these last 3 weeks with my food and such and try and get a few lbs off before leaving. I have gotten really sloppy again and I need to behave myself.

Not much going on in this part of the world. Our current thing is a fight over 3 parks with "confederate" names. One is confederate park, one is Tom Lee park and the other one is some general named Forest. The black community here want them all changed. SIGH, one of the parks is named after a BLACK man who was some hero during the civil war. It is so ridiculous and our chicken mayor first put out a press release that he wasn't commenting, but because Al Sharpton is coming to town to make trouble, he has decided he wants to GIVE THE PARKS AWAY! The one to the redevelopement corp downtown and one to UT medical and I haven't heard about the 3rd. The city commission is all up in arms about it again. We have to have THE most ridiculous run government in the whole country. I swear, Al-Qaida could come to Memphis and the mayor would hand the city over to them if it would benefit him. Oh and remember the 6 congressmen indicted over the bribery stuff a couple months back, well the poopoo has hit the fan, because the one non-government person indicted just plead guilty and he was charged with taking funds in an FBI sting for 2 of the congressmen. The two that are from Memphis have both resigned their congressional posts one having only had it a WEEK after a special election where the previous person was ousted for illegal stuff then HE turns up on this list too! On top of that, last month we had a shooting every 32 hours here is that awful or what? We had 23 murders in July! We are beginning to sound like a war zone. Anyone want to move to Memphis?????

Gotta go girls. Have a great day!

Faye

A short note to say that we went to the shore for lunch today. It was DH's 76th birthday. The weather was warm at the shore but as we headed back the thermometer on the car dash read 102. UGH!!!!! I had the Crazy Shrimp Ceasar salad and DH had the Lobster, Corn Rissotto....had the meat of a whole lobster. Looked good but mine was enough for me.

Faye... good luck on the food program before you take off for Vegas!

Jean...Good luck at the Dr's and with getting back into the swing of school.

Gloria in....going to turn on the AC so I will need to get off the Computer....they are not compatible. LOL

Morning ladies! Looks like I just snuck in under the 14th post! It is again hot and sticky this AM and we didn't get any of that rain. They are predicting rain for the next several days so we shall see.

Jean: I feel like we live in the land of the lost sometimes. We lived here in 1973, then again in 1984-1989 and it wasn't as bad as it is now, though our mayor was school superintendent and since our school budget woes go back that far, guess who stunk at that job too???? The man is THE biggest egomaniac I have ever seen and the people get up in arms but keep voting him back in! See, unfortunately, color is all that matters in this city. It takes precedence over what the person is like, qualifications or anything. For example, we have a city commissioner who was canned by the commission a few years ago and SENT TO PRISON! He committed some kind of felony and he was voted back to the board and he doesn't seem to have cleaned up his act much this time around either. (his running mate was of another ethnic group) That is only one example, there are several including the idiots who have been indicted in this state scandal. It is sad really, that people are not proud enough of their city to vote for people who are honest harding working folks desiring to do a good job. Ahh well, I will just keep going to the polls and pulling the levers! It is all I can do.

Gloria: Sounds like you had a nice time even though the heat is oppressive. We have not gone out to eat in a while mainly because of vacation monies, but also because Jack gets home from work and is just wrung out. The poor man was in a lot of pain last night from a job they are working on. It is a three man job, but one of them was off because he hurt his back exercising so Jack and this other guy had to make due. It was down in the blower building (the 140 degree one) and they were down there all day. He didn't even eat his lunch because he was too hot. He hurt his hand, bruised his chest and legs and had leg spasms from standing on a ladder all day. Wasn't much I could do to make him comfortable except have him shower, give him some aspirin and tell him to nap on the couch for awhile. I remember in the good ole days, someone Jack's age would already be retired with a pension instead of having to work 40 hours a week, but that is the way life is today.

We played poker last night just for something different to do and I got my tushy whipped. He was being ornery! I started out pretty good, but then kept getting lousy hands and never could recover. It was fun though. We rarely turn on the tv anymore because it is all reality shows or reruns. I did watch The Cut about the Tommy Hilfiger reality show but it is kind of stupid. I watched some of Crossing Jordan, but fell asleep so turned it off and went to bed.

Hope everyone has a great weekend! Do something exciting!

Faye