Thursday, April 21, 2011

Know About Your Medicare Plan Options

You know, I really can't complain too loudly, because this isn't my problem per say, but my sister-in-law is on medicaid and just got a whopping $7,000 bill from a nursing home where she was for almost a year for therapy. Okay, $7 grand from a year long stay isn't all that bad, and obviously medicaid picked up a large chunk, but it was supposed to pick it all up. The thing was, she didn't turn over her social security checks during her stay. If she had, they said, they would have picked up the entire bill 100%.

Here's the problem. She still had her home to pay for, and bills to keep it semi-running even when she wasn't there. If she'd given up her check, she would have lost her apartment (actually trailer, but you have to pay rent none-the-less). It would have been a no-brainer if she were going into the nursing home for life, but not for rehab. Where would all her stuff have gone? A storage unit big enough to hold even a trailer's worth of furniture and clothes and personal stuff runs over $200 a month, maybe more actually. And then there's moving, and where would she go when they released her? They expected her to go right home, and in her condition (lots of diabetic complications including double amputation, heart condition and recovery from quad by-pass, etc) it's not like she can run around and find someplace to live fast.

Two things are important, whether you are pre-retirement and on medicaid or ready for retirement income, pay attention to the Medicare plan you are getting, and see what supplements you need to avoid problems like this. they're no fun to have sneak up on you, that's for sure. Knowing what all of the ins and outs are will also help you make the best choices when the time comes, so you are prepared to do what you have to do in the event you are going to come into some bills as a result of long-term illness.

Is Gary Busey Crazy, or Foxy?

Okay, so which is it? Is Gary Busey really a nutjob, does his former brain injury cause him to short circuit? Or is he really a mastermind at espionage as John Rich suggested. Personally I can see it either way. I said a while back that I gained a lot of respect for Busey after finding out about his brain injury when he gave his donation to his charity on Celebrity Apprentice, and that still holds true, but I am still left to wonder, after watching the last two weeks, if that scatter-brained, fly off on a tanget thing is really just a sort of twisted wiring, short circuit, or if he can really turn it on and turn it off. I can see why his team mates had become so frustrated, too. It doesn't even matter why it happens, it is really tough to deal with that and get something accomplished. A lot of the time, that craziness just gets in the way. I think in the Celebrity Apprentice world, as well in the actual real world, that kind of thing just can't be dealt with easily, and go unnoticed. However, luckily for Gary, he doesn't live the corporate life, or in the real world for that matter, and where he does 'exist' in Hollywood, he fits in just fine. See, there's a place for everyone... even those with a few screws loose--Hollywood.

Saturday, April 09, 2011

Supplements that Work

Bob has taken testosterone supplements for years, and swears by them for keeping him younger looking than the average over 50 year old. In fact, all through the years he has always looked younger than his chronological age. However, even he'd tell you that there are good supplements, and bad ones. You have to do a little research and even experimenting to find testosterone supplements that work. Once you find one, then you can stick with it, and enjoy the extra energy, and qualities that they provide.

Refilling, and Relaxing

This has been a great year so far with freelancing. I've been busy everyday, and last month, only took two days off. I plan on taking at least one day a week off this month. I just need to learn how to do that more often. It's a little harder when you work from home to take those days off since work and home get a little mixed up. If you don't do it though, you get burned out quickly, especially when times are good. The fear that stops it is you know that the busy times can easily stall, and leave you with nothing so there's the tendency to rake in as much as you can when you can. That's fine, and even smart at some times, but when the 'run' of good work goes on long enough, you can't just keep burning on full fuel.