Tag: Medicare Advantage

Occasionally, I’ll do a day in the life. I picked April 23 because it was SO all over the place emotionally.

Even when I woke up a few hours after going to bed, it felt weird. I looked at the clock radio, and it was flashing. This meant the power went off, but came on about half an hour ago.

That tracks with the email I got at 12:28 a.m, but did not see until morning. “Dear National Grid Customer,

We detected power outages near [address]. There are currently 1713 other customers also associated with this outage. We are investigating and will provide updates around progress when we get more information. If you are without power, please let us know by reporting it on our website.”

Well, I didn’t get more info, but didn’t need any.

So in the morning, we had to do what we usually do when the clocks change twice a year. The computer clocks are correct, as is the battery-powered analog clock in the kitchen. I have to change the clocks on the stove and microwave.

But much to my surprise, I didn’t have to change the plugged-in “8-inch large clock with day and date for the elderly.” We had purchased it for my MIL for Christmas in 2024, but she didn’t like it. Conversely, I LOVE this thing. Knowing the day, and especially the date, has been a lift ever since I retired.

A certain ‘tude

I was listening to the boom box in my office, but something sounded off. I thought the machine was squealing. No, it was the sound of a bird chirping outside my window! I didn’t see it, but it made me happy.

Eventually, I’m about to take the bus downtown. I wait a few seconds to see if anyone is getting off. I got on, scanned my card, and this dude was just standing there waiting for me to get off the bus so he could get off. What? Someone said, “Next time, you should just USE that cane” that I was carrying. The implication was clear. That seemed extreme.

Then I walked to the next bus. As I walked past a shop, I saw a guy trying to hustle a merchant. The storekeeper said to the other guy, “Let me do you a favor. Get out of my face in the next ten seconds, and I won’t have to give you a lecture.” A “lecture” clearly suggested a thrashing.

What weird energy.

A little more conversation

I get to my doctor’s office early, so I text my daughter to ask if I can call her. (That’s the current protocol, right?)  I share that her grandma had been in the hospital briefly, but is now rehabilitating.

She told me that a couple of women at UMass in Amherst were assaulted recently, the latter killed. She found it understandably unsettling, as she goes to that campus periodically, including that day. As it turns out, the woman killed was the wife of the alleged assailant.

I go into the doctor’s office. To get reimbursed for the payment that’s due, I need an itemized statement from the office, which isn’t generated automatically.  I suggest printing the bill (which I probably have SOMEWHERE at home), and that does the trick. The receptionist suggests I could do her job, and this becomes her running joke when I later make a new appointment. 

Meanwhile, a couple of patients are in the waiting room, railing about Medicare Advantage. I am very interested in the topic, since it will soon involve choices my wife will have to make. One said to “go online,” which I always consider a non-answer. (Still, read this and watch John Oliver.)

The other guy thought it was too limiting and was relieved to get out of his plan, only because his provider had discontinued MA and wanted to put him in a PPO. My doc later said that the MAs are mining patient data and overcharging the government.   

The medical aide, who was wearing a New England Patriots sweatshirt but who was otherwise very nice, engaged in some NFL banter with me. She: “You had five years (for the Bills to win the Super Bowl).” Me “Go, Seahawks! “(who beat the Pats in the last Super Bowl.) And “18-1”  (Pats were undefeated when they lost the SB to the Giants in the 2007/08 season.) Fun stuff!

Old friend

I got on the bus back to downtown when I saw an old friend. We used to ride the bus together when we both worked in Corporate (frickin’) Woods. She recently retired from her job in insurance; she got a very part-time job at the office of one of her doctors. I don’t think we have seen each other since COVID, which we will rectify. 

I went home, took out the trash, and had a quick dinner.

sigh

Taking the 114 bus, I walked north on Willett Street. These two women and their two children were walking south. They must have passed me. A young (20ish?) woman was across the street, in Washington Park, walking in the same direction but slightly behind them, screaming a xenophobic, profanity-laden litany. I stopped and watched her for about four minutes. If she had wanted to get closer to them, she could have. They all got to the corner, turned left, and were out of my sight. I still wonder if I had interceded, if it would have helped or harmed the situation.

I went to choir, and afterward got a ride home.

It was a very rollercoaster kind of day.