It is not supposed to make sense

Kitchen with fire (but no cat)

We had our first real snow today and it was very cold indeed. We have the fire in the kitchen set at 70° and Monika does not stray very far from it.

I am immersing myself in the phantasmagorical American health care system - which is like walking through glue while being lost in a maze.

I have a prescription for Migraine medicine and in Vienna I could get as much as I needed at a minimal cost. Here I can get only 9 tablets per month on my health insurance – but can buy more if I have a prescription.

So I usually buy an additional 8 tablets per month from the CVS pharmacy I use for my other prescriptions. This has cost me from $38 to $128 – I think it depends on the phase of the moon.

But in the NYT on the weekend I saw an article about a website called Goodrx. If you type in your medication and zip code you can find out which pharmacies in your area have the cheapest medication.

I discovered that there is another CVS pharmacy – not far from me – which will sell me my tablets at a cheaper price than I can get them from my regular CVS pharmacy.

But there are other places – such as Kroger – where I can get them even cheaper.

And then there are places like Wal-Mart and Kroger where you can get certain types of medicine REALLY cheaply – but of course none of these are the ones I use.

I told my doctor that this makes no sense to me and he said that it makes no sense to him either - but that we had to go with the flow.

I read another story that said that the cost to a hospital for a stainless steel replacement hip joint is $350 – and the hospital charges the patient up to $17,000 – depending on the hospital – there is no standard price.

The system here is that the hospital sends the health insurance company a stupendously outrageous bill – and then they negotiate a settlement – screwing the ass off the customer for the co-payment.

It is no wonder the health system is completely shagged.

We will have a spittoon ready

Soon - on occasions - it will be too cold and icy for me to walk around our neighborhood so yesterday I decided to crank my exercise bike into life. 

But naturally I cannot find the power cord  - and this could be anywhere. So Amazon to the rescue and a new one will be here on Tuesday.

Whether or not it will be the right one is another matter because of course they don’t make the same models here as they do in Europe.

Cate has decided that she will have ‘Christmas drinks’ for her staff and their partners at our house. This will mean that the house will be full of hordes of people looking for food and drink.

This will be a nervous breakdown inducing occasion for me but Cate has roped in Gwenyth who will arrive just in time to do it with me.

She will no doubt make Lamingtons and Pavlovas – and maybe even some Anzac biscuits – so that we can give the guests a little taste of Australia. We will probably also make them try vegemite but will have a spittoon ready.

And apparently I can get cricket here in the USA if I subscribe to the cable channel. I am about to investigate this but may wait until after the next Ashes series so that I don’t get too depressed when England wallop Australia.

I just can't wait

Autumn colors today

OK so Merisi helped me find my Picasa album. It was stolen by Google+ and hidden away. I can now access my photos but I can’t attach Picasa to my blog.

I have to work out another way to attach a photo album to my blog – and I am sure someone will tell me how.

Tomorrow I have to start planning our trip down south after we spend Thanksgiving in Vienna VA with Cate’s brother and his wife. We really like going there because they have two indoor cats and lots of squirrels. They used to have Chipmunks but the next door cat ate them.

I haven’t seen a Chipmunk in Indianapolis – why is this?

We have only a week and are thinking that we would really like to visit Charleston and Savannah – then drive back to Indianapolis through the Great Smoky Mountains. We will not go to Nashville and the Grand Ole Opry because we are saving this for a later trip.

If anyone knows some places we really should see we would appreciate suggestions.

Today the blind people came to install the last of the blinds we ordered in June. They very nearly got finished until they discovered that one of them had been sewn incorrectly. But the sewing lady was with blind installer’s wife and she promised that it will be completed next week.

I will miss seeing into the next door neighbor’s lounge room and staring at their basketball hoop. 

Next week Cate is going to Chicago on business and I am going to spend the weekend with her. This will be my first visit to Chicago – and I will be driving there in her Audi – which I rarely get to drive.  Can't wait.