Pentagenarians & Beyond: W/B 7/21

Valerie, when I researched the medicare plans it was mind boggling. We will have to set up my husband pretty soon. His next birthday in Feb will be Medicare. I am not sure what we are going to do with him. He seems to think he does not need additional stuff because he "is not going to the doctor" I am not looking forward to this. Also he is not getting social security so I am sure we will be figuring in paying medicare. Odd, I used to think Medicare was free. Not. They take it out of my social security check. That and my prescription plan. I bought the Mutual of Omaha plan G which has me only paying for the 183 dollar part B deductible. The rest is picked up by Mutual of Omaha. So, that is all I have had to pay other than my co pays for prescriptions which I only have one of and that is Silver Script. I did get a letter saying Medicare is not allowing the plan G or something. I get to keep it, but my husband will not be able to get it. He could go plan F which would cover the 183.00 but payment wise you are paying more that what that deductible amount is. That was what I explained to State Farm when I checked out their supplement costs. The lady agreed with me when I she checked on it. I did not use them though as they were more per month cost wise. I was bombarded with those agent that help. I ignored them and researched till I was ready to scream LOL I figured somewhere they were getting money for what I could do myself.
 
I did not do a workout today. I didn’t feel like getting up earlier to do it before I had to leave home for an appointment.

Deb, you are doing great with getting at least 10,000 steps daily.

Diane Sue, nice job with Cardio Quick Fix. Did you recently get that one? I remember you saying that it was one of KCM’s that you didn’t have. I feel like my Medicare premiums are high. I pay a slight surcharge in addition to the premium due to the amount of retirement income. My coverage is part of my retirement benefits, but I still have to be enrolled in Medicare. It’s the same for my husband with his military retiree health plan.

Valerie, you are right about how insurance varies by state. It’s smart to work with someone to help find the best plans.

Hello to Judy and Lori.
 
we did a road ride this morning, only 15 miles. appt right after lunch. I'd like to do a weight workout later anyway.
I should have paid more attention when we set up my medicare progam, plus options may have changed in the last 6-7 years. appt in 2 weeks. I want freedom to go where I want to go, plus my primary moved about 2 yrs ago and now its a miserable drive rather than 20 min away. Im happy with my specialists but medical people move and retire a lot more often than they used to. people used to set up a practice and stay there, but with more "corporate medicine", they can move around easily and many do just that. one clinic I saw 4 different dermatologists in 4 years. I want more consistency than that so I switched to a different group.
 
Carolyn, yes, I just purchased Cardio Quick Fix. It was the first time I have done it. I am glad that I purchased it. My husbands retirement had a plan that I could have used, but it was a lot more expense. We sat through their talk to retirement officers after I had already signed up with Mutual of Omaha. I was not sorry that I did it the way I did. I find it discouraging though, we still end up paying quite a bit. But, with insurance still going up it is better than what it could be. Mutual of Omaha has increased twice since I started it.

Valerie, I can go to whatever physician I want to with what I have. Right now I am happy with my provider so like you I hope they stay. As far as dermatologists we use our daughter so there is no problem there. My husband has an appointment with her Friday early before she sees her first patient. I don't like long drives to see the doctor. It takes me about 25 minutes to get to my Arthritis Dr, but I am only going once every 6 months right now. I time my appointments around heavy traffic times, so usually go around 9 am or so.
 
Today I did Raw Boxing and Drills wearing my 8# vest, 29 minutes, heart rate 142 average, 179 max, 2,575 steps, met 7.1, 188 calories. Next I did Raw Lower Body Pyramid, 40 minutes, heart rate average 113, max 163, met 5.9, 211 calories, 892 steps. I stuck with mostly Kelly's weights this time. Usually I go up to 25# for some of the moves, but my shoulders and forearms were not going there. I finished off with Barre Amped Stretch and Strengthen lower body and upper body adding some rolling at the end, 38 minutes, met 2.0, 70 calories, heart rate 80 avg., 108 max, 14 steps. Total time was 1 hour and 47 minutes, 469 calories, 3,481 steps. I really took advantage of some free time this morning. I have a Smart Beat Screening Tuesday and the Arthritis Doc on Thursday, grandson Wed all next week, and of course have to do chores so I took a bit more time for myself today. I plan on mowing after bit. I had to order a weed eater that won't be here till tomorrow though. 90's here today. I am still dragging after those shots and lack of sleep. I coughed all night with the allergies and my shoulders and arms both hurt. The shoulders were fine after I got to moving around, but just holding weights constantly was a bit rough.
Raw Lower Body Pyramid 12,15,20# dbs (1 DB for the plie squats) 3 rounds per exercise timed so you move slower as you go heavier.
Squats 12#,15#,20# DBS 3 rounds
lunges 12#,15#,20# dbs 3 rounds
plie squats 12# 15# 20# db 3 rounds
deadlifts 12#,15#,20# dbs 3 rounds
reverse lunges 12#, 15# 20# dbs ( dropped to 10#,12#,15# dbs on the 3rd round as my forearms were not liking it) Kelly suggests that she points the top of the dumbbell down to take some of the pressure off the forearms. I did this, but still felt it, but probably because this has turned out to be a sensitive area lately.
 
when I first signed up for this medicare program, my doc was close by, plus she was happy to refer me to people I'd seen before. after a few years she was offered a position closer to where she lives and she took it. same group, different location. I decided to stick with her for at least a while, but the drive is getting worse. it might take 45 min to get there but it might take 90 min. only a few hours mid day is likely to be a decent drive. so I've started to consider who I'd go to if this continues to worsen. they are a big group with many satellite offices, and some of the specialists are fine. still, I think more flexibility will be better for the future, especially if I needed to see someone in MT. so will decide after medicare info meeting.
diane sue, you DH should at least establish a primary care person who's seen him and whose name he can
put on his records. nobody thinks they need anybody until suddenly they do, and it may be hard to get in to be seen on short notice if you have not selected someone ahead of time. Good luck with that chore!
 
Valerie, my husband has always gone to the clinic I go to when he had to have a physical for a job or something. I got him in to get a flu shot the last two years. That is it. The original doctor for our clinic retired. His daughter is still there and one of the PA's that I new from the former office took over the office. I had been seeing her myself. Most of them know my daughter, so it would not be a problem. My husband also could go to my daughter's best friends husband who is at a lot of the birthday get togethers and sport events etc that my grandson and granddaughter are in. My daughter said I could get in there if needed, but that would be uncomfortable for me. My husband on the other hand would not have a problem with it.
 
Good morning,

No workout yesterday, had an early morning semi-private agility lesson with Kylee. I counted that as my workout. :) I got a notice yesterday that I am being called for Grand Jury Duty....ugh!! I wouldn't mind regular jury duty, but this is not nice....2 or 3 days a week for 4 weeks. :(. Nice way to spend a month of your summer.

Diane Sue, nice job on KCM Cardio Quick Fix.....lots of you here have that workout....what kind of cardio does she do? sounds like what happens to me most times....try to nap, end up reading the whole time. WE are not collecting Social Security yet either, so we pay for Medicare parts A&B quarterly. Once we are on SS they will deduct if from our SS payments.

Valerie, we have Encompass 65 ( through Independent Health...not sure if they are in other parts of the country). We pay $65 a month for the IH part of it, and $400 a quarter for the Medicare parts A&B. With the IH part, we also pay $50 for specialists, but all Primary visits are free. We like IH since almost all DR's accept it here. Don't need referrals for specialists either. I am like you, hate anywhere with high humidity. Loved when we went to Arizona for work meetings.

Hi to Carolyn, Judy & Lori,

Take care,
 
Hi Everyone,

I'm sorry I haven't posted much this week. It was kind of stressful at work. Wednesday I went to talk to the HR person at HD and told her I didn't think I was a good fit for the electrical position and that I wanted to go back to garden. It just isn't working out. I feel like I work in a different store compared to when I was in garden. Most of the customers are very difficult/demanding and they want an electrician, not a sales associate. I have been yelled at and verbally abused by these customers more in the last 3 days than I was the entire 4 months I was in garden. Why on earth they put me in that department with zero training, no job shadowing and working alone my first week I don't know but I will quit if that is the only job there for me. It's not worth the stress and I'm not going to become an electrical expert on my own for $11.50 an hour. Personally I think they should have had me working with the full time electrical associate for 2 weeks before they threw me into that. They didn't even let me do the computer training for electrical because it was so busy they told me I had to be on the floor instead. Sorry to vent, but this week has almost pushed me over the edge. Chris told me to just quit but I want to stay so hopefully I can get out of that department.

Monday I did Ramped Up Upper Body and a 30 minute Peloton ride, Tuesday I did CTX Leaner Legs and Yin Yoga, Wednesday and yesterday I did 30 minute Peloton rides before work and I think I will do the same today. I am loving the Peloton bike!

I have to get going this morning but I will try to post more tonight.

Have a great day!

Judy
 
So sorry Judy.... don’t let them stick you in plumbing either. Those are the two areas that I think you need a lot of real world experience before you can help customers. People can get into real trouble with well meant but wrong advice especially with electrical. Hope you can go back to garden. I know the questions we have are usually pretty tough. We don’t expect an electrician but close. Hope they find you another spot.

Deb.... bummer! Both DH and I got called in the last few years. I got dismissed so only 3 days before going home. It was a superior court medical malpractice thing so not surprised I was not picked. Is this a sure thing or could you luck out and not get chosen? for the superior court they called at least twice as many people as they ended up keeping. Does the grand jury work the same way? My experience was a lot of sitting around waiting and reading to pass time.


We had ONE sales meeting in AZ and it was nice! But the bigwigs wanted to play golf and it was too cold for them.
I started collecting SS at 62 but DH has not and waited til 65. My medicare payment is deducted from there. I want to be sure we do this right if I end up changing the deduction amount.
I did stacked upper body and core yesterday. Today the HVAC people are back to sort out whatever they did wrong.
 
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Thank you Valerie,
I agree, plumbing would not be good either. The funny thing is that I told the electrical manager that I didn't have an electrical background and that I was concerned I wasn't qualified and he said it wasn't required at all and that most of the job was restocking parts and helping people find light bulbs.. right, lol! They have had issues keeping people in electrical, so that should have been a red flag for me but I wanted to stay after my temp period and that's what they offered.
 
oh this is so funny.. I was thinking lamps and light bulbs would be OK, but it's right next to all the circuits, plugs, wires, and even lightbulbs aren't so straightforward anymore. I can muddle thru finding what I need, but a whole different level if people are asking you questions about things you've never seen. I was just in Lowes 2 days ago getting parts for an old toilet, and had 2 guys doing the work for me. interestingly I had picked the right item because it looked most like the old part, but its way better to have someone who has done plumbing before. Neither plumbing nor electrical are strong for me. we have done so many home projects I know who to look for and who to avoid at Lowes.
 
This morning’s workout was Hard Strikes. That was 46 minutes and 321 calories burned. My average heart rate was 128 and maximum heart rate was 158.

Deb, I’m sorry that you were called for grand jury duty. That does take up a lot of time. KCM’s Cardio Quick Fix is regular floor cardio, Kelly style. Workout One is all low impact. Workout Two is a bit more intense and has some higher impact, but it’s easy to keep it low. As always, she has a modifier showing the easier moves. I like to do both workouts when I have enough time.

Judy, I’m so sorry that you have had such a terrible work week. I hope that you can be transferred back to the garden center. It’s good that you have been able to get in some workouts and Peloton rides.

Hello to Diane Sue, Valerie, and Lori.
 
This morning's workout was Cathe Lite Cardio Party, 41 minutes, heart rate average 139, max 170, 3,672 steps, met 8.0, 283 calories. I then did Lite Stretch #2, 11 minutes, 31 calories and Les Mills Flow, 22 minutes, 61 calories. Total time was 74 minutes, 375 calories, 3,816 steps. I called Walgreens and they have the Shingrix vaccine so I am going to take care of that Monday morning. I guess it won't make a difference on my Smart Beat screening Tuesday afternoon. Feeling somewhat better today. Just tired.

Deb, I am sorry about the jury duty. That is a lot of days to have serve. I keep hoping I get to 70 before they try sending that out to me again. Cardio Quick Fix has two cardio workouts that are floor cardio. Workout 1 is low impact and workout 2 kicks up the intensity. The abs/glutes and hip bonus was different as it worked the abs and lower body at the same time in a lot of the moves. There are quite a few premixes with the workouts too. It was enjoyable and won't be a dread factor type of workout. I liked the music. Nothing was really complicated.

Judy, I am sorry you have had such a bad experience at work. You are right, they should have given you some sort of training to prepare you for the department. Why people would expect you to have an electrician's knowledge is beyond me. I thought the employees were mainly there to help find what the customer was looking for. Valerie is right about the plumbing as well. The thing is, parts are not generally named by the brand you are looking for. I had went with numbers for repair parts for our Delta Faucet, I got help and took home what looked to be the same part, but it did not work. Although I think that was my son's fault as he put the rubber thing and spring in wrong. I read up on how to do it. I finally contacted Delta and gave the exact faucet model and paid too much for the same part to be sent , but I wanted to be sure I got the right thing. Need to do the kitchen faucet, but am not anxious for the job and getting the part there.

Valerie, those old toilets can be a pain trying to fix. I hate trying to get in tight spaces to work on those parts. My husband and I did the last one together since I am smaller and could get underneath to hold the bolt while he turned from inside the tank. We had to replace the rubber things and put a new seal between the toilet and the tank. I got the seal from Amazon.

Carolyn, nice work with Hard Strikes. I have been getting some pretty high heart rate readings lately, but Fit Bit does not give that many calories. I never can understand why it works like it does. It seems inconsistent. I keep thinking maybe I should get a new one.
 
Today's workout was Kelly Coffey Step Boxing 2 both combined, 49 minutes, 338 calories, met 8.3, heart ratee average 146, max 176, 4,474 steps, More work to go do today. I would like to hit the store, but I may have to wait.
 
Today I did LiTE Metabolic Blast + Six Pack Abs 2. My time was 52 minutes with 275 calories burned. Average heart rate was 119 and maximum heart rate was 160.

Diane Sue, great job with Step Boxing 2. I made a quick trip to Sprouts and The Fresh Market this morning. Sprouts has their 25% off vitamins going and I needed to pick up a few items.

Hello to Deb, Valerie, Judy, and Lori. Have a wonderful day.
 
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