Drug Coverage, More Boots and Painting

When we were working, we shopped a lot at Nordstrom.  We had embraced the idea of "investment dressing" and we bought fewer but better clothes.  With the advent of casual Fridays, which became casual every day, I started wearing jeans and flannel shirts.  That was partially because of a vent over my head than blew cold air on my feet; it was so cold it made my shins hurt.  Gradually telecommuting became a thing as the company shed real estate, and I worked in pajamas in a bedroom converted to an office.  There was no Zoom then so dressing from the waist up was not required.  Once we retired we shifted to Target and Columbia Sportswear.  Shorts and tee shirts baby!

Now that we're in the north in the winter, shopping has shifted once again.  Are you familiar with Carhartt?  Their demographic is people who work outside.  They have a store in downtown Spokane.  They should carry more stuff for women, but what they do have is well made and reasonably priced.  I got a hat with a pom-pom on top, it keeps my ears warm.  Jim is wearing my polar fleece beanie which is too small for me.  We got good gloves.  Shoes are still an issue.  It can get really cold here, -20F (-28.9C).  It's not often, and not for long, but when it does, insulated boots are a must.  Jim got these at REI, which is also in downtown Spokane.  We're members so we got 20% off on the boots, and the socks were 25% off.  I have never owned wool socks in my life, this will be interesting.

I have two pairs of similar boots coming from LL Bean, I think they're coming via pony express given how long they will take to arrive.

Shopping was Thursday.  We went early, got home early and it started snowing just as we arrived.  This time it was real snow, not graupel.

This was Friday morning, the streets were already melting.

Turkeys across the street. 

Today we looked at the drug plans again, and found a couple of errors in the spreadsheet.  I used to be a master, a savant even, with the spreadsheet, but those days are over.  Plus, I'm using free software which pretty much sucks; Microsoft wants $99 a year to lease software and I'm just not going to do it.  Anyway, an interesting fact is this.  It would cost less money to fill all of Jim's prescriptions using GoodRX.com than using either Humana or Aetna's Plan D programs.  Less by a noticeable number.  You must sign up for Plan D coverage, or face increased rates later, so we may go with the plan with the lowest premium and just not use it.  That also gets us out from under paying the Plan D deductible.  The downside to this scheme is that I still have no idea how GoodRX makes money and I always wonder if they will vanish at some point.

OK, here is data from the internet. "GoodRx makes money by selling its technology and ads, as well as through referral fees and a subscription service (its main website and app, with comparative pricing and discounts are free, though). It says it has helped 100 MILLION Americans save more than $10 billion on prescription drugs."  There is slightly more to read in a Forbes article.  So, perhaps they are a viable alternative.

Jim spent some time in the closet today.  He was not bad, he was prepping for painting.  There was a wire rack shelving/shoe rack on that wall.  The little white things held each shelf.  Look behind Jim on the floor, there is an Elfa three drawer unit which could not extend the drawers if the shelving was there.  Each little white thing had to have its screw removed.

Then, each little white thing, turned out to be a hook for the rack and a wall anchor.  Those were removed by pulling them out with pliers.

Then all the holes were filled with spackle.  We're using the kind that comes out of the tube pink and turns white when it dries.  Love that!

While Jim was working in the closet, I boiled turkey entrails with celery and onions.  We're gearing up for our annual salute to the American Day of Gluttony.  I am making stuffing, which we are allowed to eat for two days, and then it all must go out.  We are powerless over stuffing.  There was also the backing up of laptop files.  This year we bought a frozen deboned rolled up turkey breast.  That should be interesting.  Usually we do a chicken.