This, That and The Other Thing

 Weekdays are busy and sometimes stressful, weekends are a time to relax. Saturday October 12th we decided to drive to Baraboo, because Baraboo is so close to the other places we visit, and we have been to the zoo, but we just never actually went to Baraboo.

A Renaissance Faire was just ending and people in costume were walking everywhere. Fun!

Downtown has a square with shops all around

It is so charming!! We didn't want to leave. I only took a few pictures, but we drove around and walked around quite a bit, talked to some people, and stopped in for coffee.

Hubby: "Would you move here if I could get a job?" 

Me: "I'll pack tomorrow!" (tears)

Let me backtrack a minute. We actually went to Devil's Lake State Park first. The Driftless Area of Wisconsin is a place of wonder and beauty, and this state park is admired by many, judging by the number of filled parking lots. We found parking the second time we drove around the lake. We saw visitors from other states and from around the world. 

You Are Here map

Walking along the North Beach path leading to a trail

Tumbled Rock Trail follows the western shoreline

The path is cement and asphalt, which winds among giant boulders

Remember the big purplish rock from the Dells post? We found the Motherload!!!!

Not sure how well they show up in my pictures, but the majority of these boulders have a purple tint

One of the giant boulders. Maybe you can tell that it is slightly purple/pink. This is Baraboo Quartzite!

A very enjoyable path

Here you can see the color of the Quartzite in contrast to the grey-green lichens

We entered a forested area. Here I was wishing I had brought my walking stick as the path was quite variable and challenging

We walked over a mile and then turned back. It was difficult to get pictures as the path was narrow and I was stepping aside to let others pass and not wanting to misstep into a cavass among the boulders 

We returned to the truck and drove to the South Beach as a thunderstorm rolled in. I took this picture of a beautiful tree in the parking lot before we left.

The first thing hubby said when we got home was, "There are no rocks here." We both feel magnetically drawn to the Driftless Area.

Before I sign off...an update on my son-in-law. He is doing well, but found out that he is type 2 diabetic. His A1C of 17 is quite high. His doctor put him on a ketogenic diet. He can eat all the meat and cheese he wants. This way of eating to reverse illness is becoming mainstream!

The Dells - October 6

 I'm a little late posting, but we had a blast down by the river at the Dells. We kept seeing purple-pink rocks on the path down and this time hubby picked one up. We discovered it is Baraboo Quartzite! This rock is 1.6 billion years old! We picked up some other rocks as well. Here are some pictures:

We park at the river access for canoes

The long, steep, rocky, precarious path down. Look at the purple rocks! Hubby brought one home

The beach

Famous Dells cliffs

Interesting rocks

Me next to a boulder

A Dells boat adventure

Lots of shrooms

The rocks we gathered. The big one on the left is one of the pink/purple ones from the path. We learned it's called Baraboo Quartzite and they use it along the roadsides and in the pavement around the Dells, thus the pinkish roads!

Some of the small rocks I picked up.

We had a lot of fun!

Response from My Insurance

 "Thank you for reaching out. We certainly understand your concerns and frustrations. There was a redesign done of the pharmacy side of things made by Medicare that we had to accommodate for. I’m sorry you are dissatisfied with our plan offerings in 2025. I will document your dissatisfaction with our 2025 benefit offerings. Our product manager does review feedback/complaints to take into

consideration when reviewing benefits for upcoming years. These are our Medicare approved benefits for 2025, we encourage you to compare plans and choose a plan that best fits your needs. This is your time to look at other plan options available, consider premiums, copays, network and make a choice that best fits your needs for the upcoming year."

So, I will repeat, the Inflation Reduction Act has broken Medicare. This so-called redesign that Medicare stuck us with will make my medication MORE EXPENSIVE. 

 

I'm Trying

 It's not usual for me to post twice in a day. I'm trying to stay positive. At least we took a nice walk on Sunday. We went to Lapham Peak State Park. It was sunny, a little warm but not humid, the breeze was lovely and the pines and wild flowers smelled heavenly. We just stood there and took deep breaths. Here are some pictures, starting with the patio.

Sheltered from the wind. I think they will be ok for awhile. I will bring in the oxalis, or part of it, and the geranium, which was my daughter's.

I really like the small-leaved creeping coleus. I might try a cutting.

I think this looks like a painting. The woods at Lapham Peak

This and the two below are the pines at Lapham Peak.

Again My Question is, What The H*ll Did They Do to Medicare?

 I downloaded my drug summary from Walmart. I added the costs for Oct. Nov. and Dec. 2024. Total $1212.33. That's my total out of pocket for 2024.

Now, for 2025 I will have a $325 upfront drug co-pay and medication will cost more so my total cost for the year will be $1706.48, that's almost $500 MORE. What the hay is going on? All this talk of no more donut hole and drug cost being capped at $2000 per year and oh woopie insulin is only $35 a month. Well, fine. But I have never had insulin or drug costs more than $2000 per year. Why do I have to pay $500 MORE? I looked at "Extra Help". Income limit for a family of 2 is $30,660. That in itself is a joke. I would already need to be on Section 8 and Medicaid for us to have an income that low. The best I can do is use their new plan that doesn't save you a feakin dime but lets you spread their outrageous costs throughout the year. Lower drug costs my ass.

I am so sick and tired of being kicked down and down and down by this economy. 

WHAT????????

 What in the freakin hell have they done with Medicare? My medications have doubled in price. No more $47 per month till the donut hole. Now just outlandishly high prices and only 3 plans to choose from. I'm just freaked out right now. More research going on.....will report back later but right now this sucks.

Tomorrow

 Tomorrow the long-awaited Medicare plans for 2025 come out. I will be reviewing closely. Unless I am missing something, it looks like my medication is going to cost more, at least through Quartz. I sincerely hope I can stay with Quartz because any doctors I need to see and all the Aurora clinics and hospitals are on the plan, and coverage extends through several counties.

Random Updates

My son-in-law is in the hospital now for outpatient surgery for that kidney stone. He was on antibiotics for 2 weeks to recover from the infection and swelling that happened when his kidney backed up. They put a stent in place to allow his kidney to drain around the 9 MM stone. My daughter is at the hospital now.  Updates later.

Yesterday I pulled all the bins and boxes out of the big closet so I can go through them. All that's left in there are a few clothes hanging and a bunch of books on the shelf. I was a little sore yesterday and hubby said I'm doing too much. I told him, "No, somebody needs to do it and you're doing the garage." My back was sore yesterday but today I feel fine, just discouraged.

The job situation is dismal. Apparently most companies like to wait until after the elections to hire, maybe even until after the holidays. It's a sad state in this country that companies want to jump ship and move operations to Mexico or other countries. They are just running from paying their fair share in taxes. I watched a clip yesterday of the traitor former orange in chief talking to John Deere. He told them if they move their operations to Mexico he will put $400 tariffs on everything they produce and they won't sell any of it here in the US. So John Deere said, if he gets elected they will keep their plants open here in the US, but if Harris is elected they are leaving. They announced earlier this year their intent to close 3 plants here in the US and open them in Mexico. What does that say about our country? Where are all those jobs and the booming economy we keep hearing about? 

Government, Hospitality and Healthcare/Education. Well, there you go. Manufacturing is loosing. 

My son-in-law is prepped and waiting now, time 10:35 am.

Back to politics. Hubby and I are voting for Democracy and for protecting the Constitution and for protecting Kosovo and Europe from the onslaught of dictatorship from Russia. But I reluctantly understand why people choose orange because they view him as stronger on the economy, as in keeping jobs here in the US and not watching them flee our tax system. It's complicated. I can't pretend I can understand it all or even debate or explain it. It is what it is. 

Right now I don't know how we will move forward in this mess. All I can do is continue to pack, so if hubby gets hired for a good job, we can move. Or maybe a good job will happen locally, and we can stay. But I need to be prepared. At least my spring cleaning will be done. Our lease is up the end of April, then our rent will go up AGAIN. Our rent was $995 in 2019. It might have been the same when we moved here in April 2018. It's now $1115, and I'm sure it will increase again in June. So, $120 in 6 years may not seem like a lot, but everything else has risen horribly. Insurance, Internet, FOOD.....need I continue, and his job is getting cut by SEVEN dollars per hour. That's $1120 less per month, like a whole rent payment. 

We keep dumbing our budget down. And it's not just us. My son-in-law is an engineer, he and my daughter (who also works) are paying for the house they built. He's putting one kid through college and the other starts next year. He is the hospital and his out of pocket max is $8000. My daughter said he hasn't had any overtime in years.

My daughter said they took him into surgery at 10:55 am

11:32 am, he's done. They had to break up the stone, it was too big to pull out. One hour in recovery and she gets to see him.

I'm happy my son-in-law's surgery went well and he can recover and not be in pain all the time. 

Here are some pictures, the first two are from today. I was going to bring more plants in but it's just too beautiful out. The other three pictures are Sandhill Cranes. They stop in to eat birdseed I put out for them.

Budget

 I went over our budget with a fine tooth comb. We can do this for the time being, if we don't do anything or buy anything and stick to simple food. Will only need an extra $200 or so out of savings by the end of the year, which would be cheaper than breaking our lease and moving. In January one bill goes away and one will lower by $100. Maybe by spring some jobs will turn up before our rent goes up again in June.

I Don't Know What Will Happen

 Hubby applied for a job in Oshkosh. I wasn't keen on moving but the pay was good and there seemed to be a few decent apartments at a far better rate than here in Hartford. We decided to drive up on Saturday the 14th, to get an idea of how long it took to get there and find the location of the company. We also drove up on Tuesday the 17th for his interview, which he felt went very well.

The drive was one hour plus a few minutes. The city was ok. I felt it was a but dumpy, sort of like visiting Hammond, but the air was fresh. We stopped by Lake Winnebago. I don't have anything good to say about the lake. It is green, full of floating something like algae. It gets blue alga blooms which are toxic. In the spring it gets lake flies, by the millions. I took some pictures of a very old and sad lighthouse. 

Asylum Point Lighthouse

Lake Winnebago

We drove downtown and stopped in for coffee. On Tuesday we stopped at the same place for coffee and we visited the river front to watch the Dragon Boat Races. 

Coffee

Dragon Boat Races

Long boats with dragon heads. It's very Asian. There were Asian singers on stage.

In spite of how we felt about the area, we felt we could grow into it. People are very friendly. Architecture is interesting. Rent is reasonable. The job sounded great, good pay, lots of overtime, and CLIMATE CONTROLLED!!! I have been packing. 

Yesterday we got the news. The dreaded rejection email.

We have no idea what went wrong. I have searched job forums and some say it is very difficult to get a job in a new area if you don't live there already. Suggestion....bunk with friends or family for awhile. Well, we don't have anyone.

Back to searching. Jobs are very stale right now, unless they are highly specialized. Some crappy jobs are always there....foundry jobs....the doorstep of hellfire. Hubby's job is already hot in summer. It is not possible to climate control lasers because they are cutting steel. He has searched the places we would like to relocate to, like Sheboygan or Wausau. Nothing. Nobody pays enough. What about where we are now? Nobody pays enough, not like he was getting at Helgesen before the takeover and pay cuts. What about a cheaper apartment? There are no cheaper apartments in Hartford, only more expensive ones, unless you choose one of the dumps in the seedy part of town. 

Hubby's job informed him that he will keep the premium pay for one more month. I suppose sometime in October his pay will drop by $560 per bi-weekly check. That is our entire rent payment, and we will loose the ability to pay it. We MUST move, and we must do it before December because the lease stipulates one cannot move during December through March.

I don't know what to do. I search while he is at work. I'm trying not to think about how much we have lost, how distant the American Dream is, how my "retirement years" have turned into no hope years.

That's enough writing for today. I need to get back to searching and packing. 

Monday Update

 My son-in-law is home from the hospital. The weather is nice, hazy but not humid. We need rain. The job outlook still sucks.

That's Not Right

 That's not right when a company from another state who doesn't know the employees comes in and buys the company your hubby works for and then eliminates his shift so he looses his shift premium. Everyone is upset and looking to leave and they are sad because they are all friends and now have to go find other jobs.

September

 Fall is already bobbing its head up and down like an apple lost in a bucket of water. One week we have fall, complete with blankets at night and flannels in the morning, the next week we might be back to summer, for awhile. I am loving the weather! 

The Sandhill Cranes have been flying into the fields quite often, possibly gathering to migrate. I was lucky to be outside with phone in hand so I could grab a picture of a fly-by.

We have had a couple red sunrises. Here is one

 

Some of my succulents have become large, like this Fred Ives. Wonder where I will put him when I bring him inside....?

And last picture for today, here are some of my cold-hardy outdoor succulents.

In other news, I just found out my son-in-law is in the hospital with an infected kidney stone.