09:47 – I see the underclass scum in Charlotte spent the evening rioting, looting, and burning. They even shut down a segment of I-85. No cops dead, but a bunch hurt. As usual, the cops were allowed only tear gas to fight these scum. Whatever happened to 12-gauge buckshot? They call a short-barrel 12-gauge shotgun a “riot gun” for a reason. Anyone can tell the difference between a peaceful protest and a riot. In the former, groups of people are marching around holding signs and shouting slogans. In the latter, groups of people are throwing bricks or shooting at cops, destroying police cars, breaking windows, looting, and starting fires. The former is Constitutionally-protected Free Speech, and should be not just tolerated but encouraged. The latter is a bunch of violent felons destroying property, looting, and endangering innocent civilians, and should be dealt with using lethal force. And what if the former turns into the latter? If you’re a peaceful protester, get the hell away from that riot, as quickly as possible. As Larry Niven famously advised: “Don’t throw shit at an armed man. Don’t stand next to someone who’s throwing shit at an armed man.”
What I’d like to see the next time there’s such a riot–any time there’s such a riot–is for the cops to cut loose with their riot guns and keep shooting until all of the rioters are dead or have fled. A hundred dead scum bags, or a thousand, would serve as a wakeup call for these scum bags, pour le découragement des autres. And it would be, as they say, No Great Loss.
Barbara is due back sometime tomorrow. Colin and I can’t wait. The gasoline situation is starting to resolve itself, although there are likely to be shortages in North Carolina and other affected states for at least the rest of this month and probably into the first part of October. There’s a Beroth Oil tanker truck in the parking lot of the 4 Brothers/Liberty across the road right now, although they still have the pumps blocked off. There’s also a lot more traffic out on US-21 and on our road than there’s been for the last few days. Things appear to be gradually getting back to normal, but I hope people remember this event and take it as a warning of the same or worse to come.
I’m spending today making up chemicals, printing labels, and so on for more forensic kits. We have a pending bulk order for those from a large school district, and we’re down to fewer than a dozen in stock. Tomorrow and Friday will be occupied by building more.
I put in a small order with WalMart.com on Monday, including 32 standard-size cans of chili beans, two one-gallon jugs of pancake syrup, ten pounds of yellow corn meal, a 5.5-ounce jar of cumin, and one 22-ounce test jar each of Prego alfredo sauce and Prego roasted garlic alfredo sauce.
Email from Jen this morning, with a telling observation. With riots, bombings, and shootings continuously in the news lately, Jen says she’s changed her former practice. It used to be that when she heard news of such an event she’d go down to the basement and do an inventory of their preps to decide what they needed to add. Now, she says, this stuff happens so often that there’s no point to doing that because she’d be down there every day counting stuff that she’d just counted.
I know the gasoline situation is only a small event, but already Lori is reminding me of Harry the mailman from Lucifer’s Hammer.
Yes, Lori is a really neat person. This is the first time I’ve ever had the full name, cell phone number, email address, and street address of our USPS carrier. Her farm is six miles and 10 or 15 minutes from our house.
This morning, I had a kit to pick up, along with a first-class padded envelope that had a tube in it. I checked the USPS website to determine postage for a 2-ounce envelope. Under “letter”, the only qualifier that applied was “contains a rigid object”, so I checked that box. It told me that first-class postage was $0.89, so I put two regular stamps on the envelope. Then I got to thinking that perhaps I should check the “large envelope” options. The envelope is only a 6X9, but I wasn’t sure what constituted “large”. The only qualifier that applied was “more than 1/4″ variation in thickness”, so I checked that option. That apparently made it a first-class package, with postage of something like $2.68. Hmmm.
So I asked Lori if it’d go for two stamps. She said it might but she’d check it when she got back to the post office and if it needed the extra postage she’d put it on herself and I could catch up with her later.
I’ve always thought that USPS does an extremely good job at a reasonable price, so I won’t hear anything bad anyone says about them. They have a much higher rate of successful deliveries than UPS or FedEx, they’re cheaper, usually faster, and they almost never damage packages, which FedEx and particularly UPS do routinely.
I had a couple of Priority Mail packages not make it into the system around Christmas time. They were dropped off at mailing centers and not the actual post office. The other packages that shipped the same day did make it into the system and were delivered. This happened more than once.
The inspectors were useless for helping with the issue. “It’s not in the system, we can’t track it” was all they would say. I said, “the package with xxxx tracking was picked up by the same carrier from the same location and it made it, maybe you could talk to the carrier, or look in his truck?” “It’s not in the system, we can’t track it.”
Since then, I usually drop off at the PO or at UPS if I’ve got UPS outgoing too. I prefer dropping at UPS just to avoid the felony when driving into the USPO parking lot….
nick
(The breakeven on cost for items that are not automatically better as flat rate is about 4 pounds between UPS and USPS. Under 4, USPS, over, UPS. The only exception is light but bulky items that trigger ‘dimensional weight’ surcharges on UPS. Then the sweet spot for Priority Mail can extend up to about 8-10 pounds.)
Depends on what you’re shipping. For our kits, we depend on the 173.4 small-quantity exemption, which defines quantities less than 30 mL or 30 g of most hazardous chemicals as non-hazardous. UPS and FedEx do not recognize that exemption, so shipping kits via anyone other than USPS would cost us much, much more.
According to the Fire Marshal who did our NBC/terror segment of our CERT training, UPS is the largest shipper of hazmat in the nation, and that pretty much every single truck is a hazmat fire waiting to happen.
Speaking of boxes:
The youngest victims of an economic disaster: Babies are left in cardboard boxes at cash-strapped hospital in Venezuela as the country spirals into financial abyss
Heartbreaking pictures were taken by medical staff at a hospital in the northwest of the country
The president of the Venezuelan Medical Federation (FMV), said hospitals have just five percent of the medical equipment that they need
Experts believe the shortage of medicine is around 80 per cent
Citizens in Venezuela have had to endure triple-figure inflation
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3800058/The-youngest-victims-economic-disaster-Babies-left-cardboard-boxes-cash-strapped-hospital-Venezuela-country-spirals-financial-abyss.html
The venezualan medical shortages are a good reason to stock up on all kinds of medical preps. There have been other articles about it, and the absence of clean syringes, drugs, sutures, even bandages and dressings.
It takes a LOT of supplies to do wound care. They are cheap and readily available at the moment (although some take a bit of effort.)
This goes to the argument that you should stock higher level medical supplies than you are trained to use. Taking your own syringe with you might save your life.
Aside- in the ’80s one of my friends was working and traveling thru the Soviet Union for a couple of months. All the crew was issued a small kit of medical supplies, most notably a sterile syringe, to be used in case of accident. At the time, reuse of contaminated instruments and supplies was widespread. It could easily be again.
nick
Well Venezuela brought it on themselves but just as an aside, where are all the other socialist countries giving aid?
They’re all out of everything, too.
The other socialist countries ran out of other peoples’ money.
Haters.
You need to realize that pure socialism still hasn’t been tried; all the previous and current efforts have been imperfect, mainly because of fascist and rightist sabotage, and as the great V.I. Lenin used to say, it takes a few broken eggs to make an omelet. We need to keep trying, to keep marching, whatever it takes, until we get it right.
Вперед, товарищи!
The other night, I was boiling some water in a pot with the lid on it. It came to a boil faster than I expected, and by the time I got to it the lid was jiggling around and water was splashing out onto the stovetop.
I thought then how much that reminded me of the social situation in this country. We’re nearing a boil, and it may blow that lid clean off.
Joss Whedon made another Libturdian Super Pac video with most of his “stars” in it. Don Cheadle comes right out and calls tRump a racist hater. He’s going to blow up the world with our nuclear weapons, etc. Why would someone add that amount of hate and call themselves the party of inclusion, love, etc.? If tRump wins, there will be a massive meltdown of Libturdian heads. It will be glorious to watch.
I admire Whedon for his TV shows and videos, most of which have a strongly libertarian flavor. I’m not sure why he’s personally progressive. It just doesn’t jibe with his work.
I need to get to work on meatspace stuff. So far, our prepping group consists of Barbara, Colin, and me, all of whom are, to a greater or lesser extent, on board with it. Then there’s Frances and Al, whom I’ve told are welcome here if the SHTF, but neither of them are preppers. My brother and his wife would be welcome if they could get here from the RTP area, but we’re estranged and haven’t spoken since my mom’s death.
Then there’s Lori, who is definitely an LMI. I need to talk to her about it. She may have family/friends who are also LMIs. Her daughter just started college, about a 5 hour drive from here. I know her brother has the adjoining farm, and assume that he shares her concerns at least to some extent. My “group”, such as it is, needs more bodies.
I told Lori some time ago that she was welcome here if the SHTF, and she’s told me the same thing. I haven’t been out to her place yet, but I should make that a higher priority. She’s quite a ways from her nearest neighbor, but it may be that in a real emergency we’d want to relocate to her place, if for no other reason than she has a year-round spring for a water supply.
What I don’t get, is why not promote your candidate’s virtues instead of all the hate against tRump. I guess even Whedon thinks Clinton is a douche. I’ll still watch his shows instead of moving to France like half his “stars” say they will do if raycist, misogynist, war criminal, xenophobe tRump wins.
If france will take them….
n
” Taking your own syringe with you might save your life.”
Amazon has a lot of syringes (with and without needles) for reasonable prices, IF you don’t jump on the first ones that come up in a search.
Due to my cat/kitten/geriatric cat work I keep a large supple of syringes and IV setups. I also get “hydration” IV bags through my Veterinarian. So I “stock” not just for the felines but an far larger backup supply for SHTF times.
Well, today is the big 66 for me. So yesterday I celebrated by getting a Prevnar 13 (pneumococcal conjugate vaccine) vaccination at Costco (my insurance covered 100% of the $186 cost). Next year I’ll get the pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine. If you have a real doctor that you have been with for many years, and trust (but verify) he/she/it may recommend reversing the order.
I will start my Medicare Part B in October, as well as Supplement F and a dental plan. I’ll start drawing SS in 2017.
Why I am doing this is a long story that started about 4-months ago when my wife broke her shoulder at work (BTW she is not back to her real job). Dealing with L&I has been anything but pleasant. And FMLA is a joke and really does not provide a safety net. We have talked to 3 lawyers and while we have a case the hospital is essentially broke so any judgement we would get would be on toilet paper. So one of the lawyers is helping us keep her pay and benefits as long as possible. So she is stuffing envelopes and monitoring hand washing for her nearly $60/hr plus health and pension for 25 hours/week.
What I want all of you to understand is that WRT Social inSecurity and MedinoCare you never know when life is going to FUBAR your best laid plans. You need to educate yourself well before you reach 65 and then keep reevaluating at least every 3-months.
Parachute, check; backup chute, check,; backup backup chute, check; life preserver, check.
@OFD: “Вперед, товарищи!
What it really means, sorry, you’ll have to read the cc:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BzLJB_azII
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forward,_Comrades
Only 600 more years, DadCooks, and you’ll have lots of people after you.
And while they’re at it, they could talk about the invisible pink unicorn who pisses cruelty-free coffee squeezed from virtuous beans.
That’s it exactly, of course. Coffin Illary has no virtues. She has no accomplishments. Not positive accomplishments, at any rate. “Helped bring ISIS into being” would not help her with the majority of the American electorate.
Coffin Illary
I like this mod!
No, your group does not need more bodies. Your group needs more brains. Not that there is anything wrong with your brain. You have a good grasp of prepping and I wish I had half the prepping knowledge that you do.
You don’t know everything. Lori’s skills compliment yours. While I have no doubt you know first aid better than I do, an EMT would be an asset to your group. In the comments there is a vibrant, healthy discussion of how to prepare. I think that is a good thing. Having such a discussion in meatspace would be even better. I hope it doesn’t sound PC, but the student is not the only one who learns from an effective teacher-student relationship.
“No, your group does not need more bodies. Your group needs more brains.”
That last goes without saying for just about any group. But I was speaking literally. I need more bodies. Even discounting skills/knowledge, we don’t have enough warm bodies to secure the place and get all the work done that we’ll need to get done. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: the minimum workable size for a group is at least a dozen adults (and I include those who aren’t defined as “adults” nowadays, such as young teenage kids).
Not everyone has to be on board or LMIs. I can think of another dozen people I’d take in if PCTS, which is why I place so much emphasis on storing lots and lots of bulk LTS food. Anyone’s group is going to end up taking in a lot more people than they originally thought. Those may be family, friends, or even just acquaintances who have skills that are needed. For me, the decider will always be, “Can I trust this person not to shoot me in the back?”. And most or all of them will have next to no food or other supplies.
Right now, we could feed a dozen people for maybe three to four months. That’s not enough. But Barbara would freak out if I started ordering in wheat berries and beans by literally the ton, so I do what I can incrementally.
Oh, yeah, when I said that I’d calculated that we’d need five gallons of gasoline a month to supply minimal water needs, I was talking about for a dozen people, and not counting rainwater capture. I plan everything for a dozen or more people, because if we don’t end up with that many if the SHTF, we’re a sitting duck anyway.
And I’ll re-emphasize that the major consideration has to be trustworthiness. I’d take someone I trust over any super-prepper that I didn’t know, even if he showed up with a tractor-trailer load of food and gear.
“What it really means, sorry, you’ll have to read the cc…”
Russians and Chicoms ripping off “Animal Farm.” Bastids. Is it satire? Praise? Meanwhile the Russians are laughing at us; we’re about to relive their whole 70-year history of Red Socialism, apparently. Or some hybrid of that and corporate fascism; either way, it won’t be such a great deal for us Dirt People.
“But I was speaking literally. I need more bodies. Even discounting skills/knowledge, we don’t have enough warm bodies to secure the place and get all the work done that we’ll need to get done.”
That’s just it; when you have a house, land, gardens, maybe a farm, you need more bodies than just you and the missus from that Grant Wood painting. Which is why traditionally farmers had big broods of kids, up here often ten or twelve. Just considering defensive needs, you’d optimally need two four-person teams ready to go in and around your little AO alternating with support people back at the main crib. It can be done with two two-person teams but you’re stretching it thin then and it will mean 12- and 16-hour shifts. Think of the rural situations in South Africa and the former Rhodesia.
This does not even address the tasks associated with farming, cleaning, cooking, maintenance, repairs, commo, intel, etc.
In our situation here we are primarily concerned with protecting ourselves and our relatively compact house and property in a small village that is part of a larger rural town, connected by roads to a “city” of about 7,000. There is no way we can grow all our own food here and even commo is a problem inside a brick house and with other apparent interference from the lake itself and the big pile of scrap metal a few blocks away.
Meatspace is indeed crucial, and we also need to step up our involvement with our neighbors close by and further away in the town and city.
Military Times poll of troops.
“Meatspace is indeed crucial, and we also need to step up our involvement with our neighbors close by and further away in the town and city.”
Bingo. And everyone’s situation is different. The key is to play to your strengths and do what you can to minimize weaknesses.
@MrAtoz
That poll has roughly 1/6 supporting Clinton and 5/12 each to Trump and Johnson. I’m guessing that those 1/6 are the ones that shouldn’t be voting at all and should never have been accepted in the military. Diversity hires, so to speak.
Clinton and Trump, hmmm. Maybe there could be a new meme for the 2016 election:
“Clump! May the biggest piece float to the top.”
Ran into an American tourist today, who told me he is convince that Trump would declare martial law within 2 months of being elected. It’s really amazing: each side is completely convinced that the other is evil incarnate. Personally, I’m convinced that most politicians are evil sociopaths, but that’s just me…
“About 60 percent opposed Trump’s handling of criticism from the Gold Star parents of a Muslim American soldier killed in Iraq.”
Bet they didn’t know he was a shill, who has been taking clinton coin for years.
n
The news media is doing its job! If they don’t get Illary elected, who will?
I’m surprised at the % of officers for Clinton. A complete 180 from my days. Perhaps they see it as the only way to Flag Officer. Perfumed Princes and such.
Preps this week:
Added a bunch of bump keys to my picking hobby.
Bought the largest crowbar and bolt cutter that Home Depot had (a smaller crow, too)
Received my iTarget I backed on Indiegogo (hopefully it will project Cankles face to shoot at)
I’ve never “bumped” before, lol, I’d try the house front door, but would probably get a mag emptied in me. The cops would find PCP around my corpse to cover their ass.
I’ve been using the Sam’s Club Scan N Go app at the local store lately. If your order is under $750, you scan your items as you go, pay through the app, and it pops up a barcode to show at the exit. Saves me a lot of time at the checkout.
We need to make another Sam’s Club run to pick up stuff that Costco doesn’t carry. We dropped our SC membership a year or so ago, but Frances and Al belong to both SC and Costco, so we can go to SC as their guests.
Jen’s and Brittany’s families both live hundreds and hundreds of miles away from us, so it’s very unlikely to happen, but if either showed up at our door, we’d take them in even though I’ve never met any of them. And I’m sure they’d take us in as well, if it came to that.
I always find it depressing to read about preppers who are determined that they’ll never share any of their stuff with anyone whatsoever because that reduces their survival time. I always want to ask them if they’ve ever even considered that friends or acquaintances who show up at their door, even prepless, bring real advantages to the table as well as the more obvious drawback of more mouths to feed. The best answer, in my opinion, is to stock way more bulk LTS food than you think you’ll need even in the worst case. It’s cheap now, and having it gives you flexibility that may be priceless.
Most officers are products of our left wing university’s ROTC program. I speak from personal experience that conservatives are blatantly discriminated against in our higher education system. I got feed up after a year and left the school to enlist in the USAF, giving up a Navy ROTC scholarship. I just was not able to stomach the bullshit from the professors. That was over thirty years ago. I can’t imagine how bad it is today on campuses.
While most officers “deprogram” once the leave the university and get into the real world, it can take a while and few never become normal.
Dad Cooks : RE Medicare & SSI
I am in somewhat the same boat. Will hit 65 early next year and I know NOTHING about Medicare and all the alphabet parts. I honestly never expected to live past 50 and was surprised to find I’ve survived another decade. I did have 3 almost life ending events last year. I had a bit of lettuce stuck in my throat like a one way flapper valve. Air could go out but the green valve would flap shut whenever I tried to breathe in. I was getting concerned that I would embarrass my wife and die in public at the Dixie Cafe when a final violent exhale dislodged it. The next month I was riding my Hog from Oklahoma to Mississippi alone when I picked up a nail that flattened the rear. So I pulled over, 20 miles from nowhere, and called my son back in OKC to bring a trailer. While I was waiting, the 101f in the shade (but no shade) heat did me in. I woke up with my son pouring water over me trying to revive me. Worst heat stroke I ever had. Took a couple of days to recover. So I took the wife for a nice vacation in the fall, Amtrak from Chicago to San Francisco then a leisurely drive up to Seattle for a week before flying home. As an amateur photographer I wanted to get a shot of the GG bridge at night from the Marin headlands. Went walking in the dark with Nikon and tripod looking for the best vantage. I was focused too much on my viewfinder and not where I was standing. Took a header off a 15 ft drop and snapped my right arm at the shoulder. The doctor said if I had hit at a slightly different angle it would have been my neck that snapped. So maybe the universe is trying to tell me something. Anyway … I am now getting calls almost daily “Congratulations on our upcoming birthday, we want to discuss your Medicare options”. I finally answered one and started to answer the lady’s questions … when she asked about my present health coverage I said I have excellent insurance from my employer and am also covered by my tribe. When I said that it was as if I had insulted her … “We DON’T deal with tribal members” she said as she hung up So I guess I had better start investigating what my options are come next year … getting old sucks.
“PHMSA conditionally allows Colonial Pipeline to restart Line No. 1”
http://www.ogj.com/articles/2016/09/phmsa-conditionally-allows-colonial-pipeline-to-restart-line-no-1.html
“The US Pipeline and Hazardous Safety Administration gave Colonial Pipeline Co. conditional permission to restart Line No. 1, which was shut down after an estimated 6,000-8,000 bbl of gasoline leaked from it near Shelby, Ala., on Sept. 9.”
“The conditional approval, which James Urisko, southern region director for PHMSA’s Office of Public Safety, issued on Sept. 20, approved construction and operation of a bypass around the affected area as a temporary measure to restore service while Colonial removes the failed segment and develops a comprehensive restart plan that the US Department of Transportation agency ordered earlier (OGJ Online, Sept. 19, 2016).”
“Following construction and positioning of the 500-ft bypass of pipeline around the leak site on Sept. 20, the oil products pipeline operator performed a successful hydrostatic test to confirm its structural integrity and completed the connection or “tie-in” of the bypass segment to the main line this morning, Colonial Pipeline said on Sept. 21.”
@Harold, are you a Veteran? If so do look at the USAA (https://www.usaa.com). I would have gone with them but in WA State their Supplemental Insurer does not include my long-time doctor.
Do not answer any phone calls, junk mail, or door-knockers WRT Medicare and/or SS planning. They are all on commission and not looking out for you. You can consider any that are associated with AARP, USAA, NRA, or AAA. There are some “Johnny-come-lately” senior and gun associations that purport to have insurance, SS, and Medicare deals but they do not have the numbers of members or years to have good and/or reputable deals.
Your “tribe” situation may have some interesting “interface” problems.
@DadCooks – not a veteran I am with the NRA and AMAC, will look at what they offer. I have been told to talk with my HR rep to see what my options are come next year. Will do that. I need to visit Okmulgee and discuss retirement medical options with my tribal leaders. I have been using their clinics for dental and non-operative issues quite successfully. As a member of a tribal nation I am immune from the ACA tax / fee.
Looking at the pix from last night’s rioting, I’m struck by a couple of things.
That is some shiny new riot gear. Wonder who paid for that?
Not much point in hiding your face if you have a distinctive hair style or giant tattoo on your visible chest.
That’s a lotta cops. Wonder who’s mindin’ the store?
nick
“I just was not able to stomach the bullshit from the professors. That was over thirty years ago. I can’t imagine how bad it is today on campuses.”
I can report from both the period of 1989-1993 and the contemporary accounts of my four nieces: it was, and is, really fucking bad. I can count on one hand, possibly both hands, the number of decent and reputable colleges in the U.S. that are doing what they’re supposed to be doing. The rest are hopeless and should be shut down as de facto Bolshevik indoctrination camps that cost a fortune to attend, mainly so most children can party their asses off while being brainwashed.
As a grad student/TA, I also could not stomach the commie bullshit from the faculty and most fellow grad students/TA’s, mostly women. It was like walking on eggshells every day on those campuses; picture a large, older, WHITEY, cis-hetero, married, Christian male war veteran and ex-cop in the graduate English and medieval studies programs. WTF was I thinking??? I know: I loved/love English literature so much that I dreamt, like a complete idiot, that others might love it, too, and I could both learn and teach it to like-minded souls. This is known, like the Molly Hatchet song, as a recipe for disaster. Then, and way more so now.
@Mr. Harold; “…getting old sucks.”
Indeed it does, but listen, homes, you gotta be more careful, is what it sounds like. Don’t be be-bopping around the Marin headlands in the dark with a pile of gear; I’ve been around there long ago and it can be tricky. I should listen to myself on this, too; it is SO freaking easy to have a minor fall or accident and really eff yourself when ya get older. We don’t bounce right back up like rubber babies and toddlers do, or high skool kids anymore.
As for insurance stuff, I have a combination of VA, USAA and NRA going on right now; wife has nothing and can’t re-enroll in ObolaCARE/HealthConnect up here until January. Luckily for us, her recent med checkup/physical showed her to be in pretty good shape but sooner or later she’ll need cataract surgery, probably.
Belated Happy Birthday to Mr. DadCooks, and many, many more, sir!
_The Modern Survival Manual: Surviving the Economic Collapse_ by Fernando “Ferfal” Aguirre
https://www.amazon.com/dp/9870563457/
The book is just as the title says, a modern survival manual for an economic collapse. Actually, sounds more like it was a sudden economic apocalypse. Four presidents for Argentina in the first week of 2001. I wonder if they all even showed up for the job ?
One of the sayings that my son came away with in the The US Marine Corps was “don’t get any on you”. This whole book is about that. The key to surviving is to be prepared and making it through all of the crazy stuff such as carjackings, robberies, food shortages, fuel shortages, etc. They will happen to you, you have just got to survive them.
My rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Amazon rating: 4.6 out of 5 stars (362 reviews)
“That’s a lotta cops. Wonder who’s mindin’ the store?”
Nobody. Even if they called in every swinging dick and copchick they’ve got; skeleton force at the store, if that. Food for thought in terms of later possible SHTF events, i.e., distraction potential.
I have been told that you need to have your Medicare options decided three months before you turn 65 years of age. One of my friends did not and had a colonoscopy right before he turned 65, thinking that his Bechtel insurance would pay for it. They did not, having put him on Medicare status already. He had several polyps removed so the procedure transitioned from a test to a surgery. He ended up paying out of pocket for most of the procedure, around $2,500.
@lynn: “I have been told that you need to have your Medicare options decided three months before you turn 65 years of age.”
You have 3 month before and 3 months after you turn 65 when you MUST signup for Medicare Part A. IF you are covered by another insurance plan you are not required to sign up for Part B or any of the other “Parts”, including Supplemental and Advantage until other conditions occur. See below *
Your insurance company cannot arbitrarily “put you on Medicare” or “assume you are because only the “enrollee” can do that. In any case the insurance company must give you 30-days notice before changing your benefits. The catch with the 30-days is that the clock starts when the insurance company decides they are going to change their plan. It is not uncommon to get a change letter dated 3-weeks ago that gives you 1-week to react.
Sounds like your friends was dropped by his insurance which does not sound right. His insurance should still have been in force and any Medicare would have been secondary.
* There is a caution/gotcha regarding Part B and the rest. If you do not qualify for what is known as a “Special Enrollment Period” you will pay a penalty forever. So go to the Medicare site and get educated. Here is one place to start: https://www.medicare.gov/sign-up-change-plans/get-parts-a-and-b/when-how-to-sign-up-for-part-a-and-part-b.html
The Medicare system is complicated and constantly changing. You have to start educating yourself at least 6-months before you turn 65 and then keep re-educating yourself to keep up with the changes. Because the system is so FUBAR it makes seniors easy prey for flim-flam “advisors” to extract large amounts of cash from seniors and provide poor to bad to incorrect advice. You are really on your own.
BOHICA
“…Because the system is so FUBAR…”
As was/is the intent. Same deal with the VA disability stuff; make it as complicated and FUBAR as possible for vets, esp. older guys, so it’s a marathon race to figure it all out before you croak or you can get it carried over to your spouse. And it all takes YEARS to get configured properly, and yes, same deal again, you gotta stay educated and keep up with all the changes and bullshit they throw out. I’ve been fortunate up here because it’s a small state and the practitioners and staff are From Around Here so they’re my neighbors in the greater AO.
Even so, at our last group meeting, one of our peer support specialists, another former door gunner from I Corps, and with LONG years of experience dealing with the VA, estimates that it takes five years, on average, for a guy to get his disability claim and payment decision squared away. He said he’s seen some guys get it in a matter of months; for others it took ten, fifteen years! So he figures five is the average; I’m only on my second year of filing for this stuff. Three more years I’ll be 66, if I last that long, and will have had to deal with Medicare, too, unless they decide my disability is above 50%, in which case my care will be through the VA exclusively, the default. My own guess is that they MIGHT give me 30% and then I’ll have to appeal and fight for more which will take more years. And we all figure they’re waiting us out until we croak anyway. The pressure is on them to take care of the kids coming back NOW. And all most of us old farts want is to see that our wives are taken care of after we’re gone.
his Bechtel insurance would pay for it. They did not, having put him on Medicare status already
He should have protested with the insurance company. What you get automatically is part A which is hospital. Part B is optional as long as you have private health insurance or group insurance.
I applied for Part A a couple months before I turned 65, Skipped Part B as that costs money. Stayed on the group health insurance. Had a major doctor bill and my group health insurance rejected the claim. I called the insurance company and informed them that I was still covered by their plan and had not Part B. Thus they were responsible for the bill. They agreed and paid the claim.
A couple of months before I retired I then filed with the SS for Part B which is doctors and I think prescriptions.
VA, estimates that it takes five years, on average, for a guy to get his disability claim
Took me five months from date of first claim. Had to go to Nashville for an exam. The service injury was well documented. VA had to get the records or it might have taken less time.
And we all figure they’re waiting us out until we croak anyway
Coffin Illary gonna fix dat foo. Just hang in there, it’s all part of the Libturdian Utopia. All Vets are gonna get a ticket on the Apple Spaceship to Elysium. You can also have employment from the 10 million jobs Cankle is going to create out of thin air. ObolaCare will be replaced by CanklesCare. Don’t forget that free college education.* All Vets are approved for free PhD’s. If the degree is in English Literature, they will also pay you $100,000/yr for up to 25 years to get your Phd. Utopia!!!
*MrAtoz, Mr. OFD and Mr. SteveF explicitly prevented from this. Jail time is in our future.
Cankles apparently spent $33 million last month on ads against tRump. Yet, he’s up more than ever. Could this be the harbinger of death for Coffin?
MrAtoz, Mr. OFD and Mr. SteveF explicitly prevented from this
Woohoo, I qualify. I am voting* for Cankles.
*Hopefully on a jury as guilty and life in prison (which may only be weeks).
Fortunately, I’m a lefty, so they won’t be coming for me.
There may be a light at the end of the tunnel. It starts today, best birthday present ever.
http://www.conventionofstates.com/cossim
http://www.conventionofstates.com/citizens_for_self_governance_to_host_simulated_convention_of_states#_=_
his Bechtel insurance would pay for it. They did not, having put him on Medicare status already
He should have protested with the insurance company. What you get automatically is part A which is hospital. Part B is optional as long as you have private health insurance or group insurance.
If I remember right (he is 71 now and just retired from Bechtel this year), he forgot to check with either insurance before he scheduled the test. So he was not pre-approved by anyone for anything. It has been six years since we discussed this and I could have this ALL wrong. He may have eventually gotten reimbursed by somebody but I sure remember him being very unhappy.
@Ray Thompson: “A couple of months before I retired I then filed with the SS for Part B which is doctors and I think prescriptions.”
Prescriptions fall under Part D which was broken out of Part B a years ago (established 2003 and went into effect 2006), just to ensure things were not simple. Part D is another minefield and if you are not careful you will loose choice of pharmacy and have a very limited drug formulary (basically aspirin and tums, just joking, but close).
So he was not pre-approved by anyone for anything
Therein lies the problem. For anything beyond an emergency or simple doctor visit you have have to get approval. Some approvals may take a couple of months while the insurance company waits for you to die or give up.
Prescriptions fall under Part D which was broken out of Part B a years ago
Thanks for the correction. I have supplemental insurance which is supposed to cover prescriptions. I have yet to use it.
I am also covered by the VA although the last time I used them the VA billed my insurance company which paid nothing and I had to pay the VA. My understanding is that VA visits and medicines are supposed to be covered. Having group coverage may have messed that up entirely. I have no idea how it works with medicare. Another minefield I am sure with me getting the short end of the stick with the reward trimming cankles bikini line.
Yeah, you need a Part B and Part D supplement unless you have some Part C plan. Cankles is promoting a Part E where all Vets get it in the shorts. How dare they go fight for their country then whine about losing a limb or something.
The power went out in Puerto Rico. 1.5 million without. First the financial collapse, now infrastructure. What’s next, the island gonna sink due to Climate Ejaculation?
“MrAtoz, Mr. OFD and Mr. SteveF explicitly prevented from this…”
“Woohoo, I qualify. I am voting* for Cankles.”
Mr. Ray beat me to it; I was gonna say, hey, Mr. Ray gots to be prevented, too. Also any other vets lurking out there, you know who you are, you buggers. You get squat.
“How dare they go fight for their country then whine about losing a limb or something.”
That’s right; they SIGNED UP. They VOLUNTEERED. No room to bitch. Just let that be a lesson to all you young whippersnappers out there: STOP SIGNING UP. If I could see that happen I’d die happy. Assuming we’re gonna keep doing the global empire thing and running endless clusterfuck wars overseas against peeps who are our enemies this year and our best buds twenty years from now.
Which reminds me: I put forth the argument that A: Killary is a bloodthirsty bitch from Hell who will get us into more wars, possibly even a world war, possibly going nookular, and is a thief, liar and war criminal already. Whereas Cheeto-Head hasn’t had the chance to get us into any wars and so far as I know, hasn’t gotten anybody killed, unlike her, where there’s a long trail of bodies.
The response I get: “Well he MIGHT blow up the world.” And “He’s LIKELY to blow up the world.”
I ask where this intel came from and get crickets.
But of course it comes from the MSM and the Killary campaign itself. Why not just believe it all completely?
Another minefield I am sure with me getting the short end of the stick with the reward trimming cankles bikini line.
At least you have a riding mower, Mr. Ray. Will it cut through crisp, dry, rusted CankleWire?
The response I get: “Well he MIGHT blow up the world.” And “He’s LIKELY to blow up the world.”
Plus, VAGINA!!!
“The power went out in Puerto Rico. 1.5 million without.”
Excellent! Now we just have to cut off Alaska and Hawaii. Also the Pacific Trust Territories.
Oh, and while we’re at it: Mordor, Manhattan and Hollyweird.
Oh go ahead; dump southern New England, New Jersey and Floriduh, too. And southern Kalifornia.
A whole lot of bullshit would cease right then and there. Maybe we’ll keep Alaska.
“Plus, VAGINA!!!”
On what evidence, pray tell?
Mom is now in a nursing home. She has TriCare for Life. She went in on a two week thing with mediwhatever because she spent a few nights in a hospital. Gall stones. Then she got PT for a few weeks. Then TriCare kicked in some how… from the statements TriCare has sent, it looks like someone is making more in a month than the old lady makes a year.
I get mail from mediwhatever. Her prescription plan is about to change. Again. Hello, she’s in a NURSING HOME. You are expecting cogent reasoning from her?
I just give it all to the folks at the nursing home. And remind them that whatever, she has TriCare. For Life. She put up with dad just for this.
They get all of her monthly income less $60.
It’s all going to work out. Hopefully not with a telephone pole up my ass. But, ya never know….
Mr. Ray. Will it cut through crisp, dry, rusted CankleWire?
Sure. If I use the carbide tipped blades, sharpen them to a razor finish, disable the speed governor and crank up the revs, take it slow, don’t cut too much at once, and disable the mulching option. Of course I will be wearing eye protection (eye patch over both eyes), hearing protection, breathing mask, maybe even a full hazmat suit (or OFD’s pajamas).
Ray,
A hazmat suit is designed to protect the wearer against hazrdous materials, NOT a suit that’s already contaminated with them.
The classic mistake of attempting a logical rebuttal of an emotionally-driven decision. Compounded by the high likelihood of Clinton voters being unable to make rational, data-driven decisions. Despite Dem voters’ loudly proclaimed higher academic achievement. (Never mind what their degrees are in or how many years it took to acquire them.)
OFD wears pyjamas? Doesn’t sleep au natural?
(You’re welcome, everyone who now has that horrifying image in his head as nighttime approaches.)
In OZ as a Vietnam Vet I got whats called a Gold Card at 65 and this covers everything I may need till I snuff it, I worked till 65 and got the card sent without applying straight away. Normally you don’t qualify till 70 however working 5 years past early retirement got the card early, troops with service injuries don’t have it nearly this easy with lots of hoop jumping to get conditions recognized.I turned 70 last week and feel OK so far
Doesn’t sleep au natural?
I knew there was a reason I wanted to share a cell.
I choose not to answer any questions regarding my sleeping attire or lack thereof on the grounds that such information may tend to incriminate me.
“In OZ as a Vietnam Vet…”
I take it you are an Aussie ‘Nam vet?? Glad you made it back OK.
I once lived off-base in the northeast provinces of Thailand in a compound that had previously been the accommodations of Australian forces. “Kahn Kahmp AustraleeAH” and I’m still not clear on whether this had been during World War II or the ‘Nam war.
I saw wonderful volunteers and employees at the VA.
They spelled out what was needed, set up the disability (for WW2 vet in question) and it all went well. A ‘Nam / Desert-whatever vet also helped, as a friend; in fact he had recommended the various paperwork which was done before the volunteer at the VA started with his list of what to do.
VA doctors were, of course, variable. One doc was a wizard of skills and kindness.
The widow is still getting monthly money.
Big Foot doesn’t wear jammies, foo!
not really clear what the point of the flash bangs is. No one seems to be really concerned about them.
n
Uh, flash bangs where? Charlotte? Your ‘hood?
They seem to work well at crash entries to buildings; how are they being used?
[snip] he forgot to check with either insurance before he scheduled the test. So he was not pre-approved by anyone for anything. [snip]
Before I go to a new doctor or for a new procedure, I always check was the policy actually says. Nowadays, I carry the PDF version of my policy on a thumb drive; on a couple of occasions the actual paper copy has greatly reduced my time spent arguing.
“…on a couple of occasions the actual paper copy has greatly reduced my time spent arguing.”
Gee, you’re no fun for them to torment.
“”“ …on a couple of occasions the actual paper copy has greatly reduced my time spent arguing.” “”
Want to bet that they don’t claim that a digital copy is not altered and edited?
At least they are probably too stupid to realize that you could print out an altered document on paper, too…
Speaking of documents…
Anybody want details of how to deal with Social Security Disability (for example)?
Quick summary: Fill out the forms, completely and accurately. Nice big font is probably crucial… Handwriting is never appropriate. There’s an app for all that. And find an English Major to help.
Drop the bucks for a complete copy of medical records and make sure you have them sent (by the medical facility) to the right address, all that… Helps if you have a particularly credible medical facility involved. Helps if you have a particularly credible medical problem.
SS Disability should never be denied on the first try… but what do I know?
Anyway, it’s pretty definitely illegal for me to take more than $6000 to do this for anybody, so…
The Wall Street Journal reports that the Colonial Pipeline was restarted last night. Given that it takes 10 to 14 days for gasoline to flow from the break to the north end of the pipeline, NYC is probably just about to get hit with a 10 to 14 day shortage of gasoline.
And millions of people will not understand why the gasoline supply is low in New York City gasoline supplies drop a day or two after the pipeline restarted. Hopefully the gasoline being shipped in the distillate line will be enough to make a difference and I am wrong.
@ofd, yep, Charlotte. They were just tossing flash bangs into the street.
And the talking heads seemed surprised when rioters tossed tear gas smoke back at the cops. Guess they never saw a riot.
n
Fuel moves through those pipelines at about a walking pace, so however long it’d take you walking around the clock to get from Alabama to NYC is how long it’ll take the gasoline in Colonial One to make it that far.
Nothing at all about Charlotte in the Oz MSM I’ve seen.
All the healthcare tales of woe are a bit scary. It just works here.
Come on DH! Fess up what you and Killary wear to bed. We’re all (especialy SteveF) dying to know. I suppose you have to wash the sheets several times a night… 🙂
Fuel moves through those pipelines at about a walking pace, so however long it’d take you walking around the clock to get from Alabama to NYC is how long it’ll take the gasoline in Colonial One to make it that far.
Design velocity is 8 ft/sec. Actual velocity is usually below that, sometimes way below.