Mich

For everyone at Xisto!!!

Wow. That is a whole lot of snow for that part of the world.

Sounds like it is all working out for you, though. Good idea to have a housesitter coming in this next trip.

Hope the Plumber shows up soon.

Enjoy Lost Wages. LOL

We have had over 192 inches (16 feet) of snow this winter and it isn't over yet. The worst of it is that it came in November and stayed. We haven't had a thaw to get rid of any of it, so it is still around although somewhat packed down from the rain we have had. There just doesn't seem to be an end to it. Plumber is AWOL. Don't have any idea what happened to him. We will go to LV Sunday anyway.

Gosh, that sucks! Your homecoming was even worse than ours! Our furnace malfunctioned while we were away this year too. The fan wouldn't kick on and force the warm air threw the duct work. Of course, it was kicking on and burning up all that expensive propane. The house was freezing cold when we got home, but nothing had actually frozen up like your plumbing. We had to suffer threw a few cold days because we couldn't exactly figure out what was wrong with the furnace, and although we had some wood, it was all big stuff that needed to be split to fit into the wood stove, and the very first time Hubby yanked the rope on the wood splitter it pulled out. We had to beat a few chunks apart with a splitting maul, but that is work for a youngster, not old fat people. We finally got the furnace working again, and at least had a little relief, that is until we ran out of propane. And at it's current price there's no way I'm buying more, it's now over $5 a gallon. The weather man is not helping the situation. I keep thinking we will be able to tough it out, and then along he comes with a forecast of more ice and cold weather. It looks like this coming weekend is going to be a real pain, ice and sleet and freezing rain and all that jazz. And here I was planning a trip to Texas! Think I should probably sit this one out and wait for better days.

Sheepdog,

Well, we still haven't found the plumber. Called a friend of his, who said he would check on him and get back to us if he found out anything. He never got back to us, so I guess he didn't find out anything. We had similar trouble previously with the fan in our furnace. Same thing happened; the heat traveled up through the vents without the fan running.

I do hope your weather forcast is wrong as we are heading out to Las Vegas on Sunday. Will be going through Missouri on the way probably cutting across from St.Louis on 44 down toward Tulsa.

Just returned home to Michigan after a 5 week stay in Florida. We live in the northwest portion of the lower peninsula. Arrived home to find that the furnace had blown a fuse while we were away and the house was freezing. I'm talking it had been in the low -11 to 10 degrees while we were away. The kitchen and bathroom pipes were frozen and the toilet bowl had a large ice cube in it. Managed to get the bathroom pipes thawed using my hairdryer. Got the kitchen pipes thawed out using our space heater but the kitchen sink fixture was a victim and let go when we turned on the water.. As to the toilet; we had to revert to using hot water from the bathroom sink to melt it. Finally got that done only to find that the refridgerator had bit the dust as well.

Called the plumber to fix the kitchen sink and went to Lowe's to get a new refridgerator. Something happened to the new fixture when the plumber put in in and it also leaked. He took it with him to get a replacement and we haven't heard from him since. We have been without water in the kitchen for a week and we can't seem to locate the plumber. He doesn't answer his phone and the plumbing and heating place hasn't seen him. Hope nothing serious has happened to him.

The refridgerator arrived in due time, so that is taken care of. We have to leave for Las Vegas this Sunday, Mar 1, as money is spent and reservations are made for Nascar week. Maybe we will have to leave the sink fixture undone while we are away. Winters are so wonderful here in the midwest. We have an eight foot high wall of snow in front of our house and a funnel into the driveway; can't see to back out and cannot see across the street. It is like living in a snow fortress.

Our house is the little one on the left behind the snow bank.

The ice on the ground is so dangerous, we are afraid of slipping and falling. BUT, we are alive and well and that is what matters most. WE WILL SURVIVE!!!!

Be good while we are away. We are leaving a housesitter this time.

I will, Jim. My daughter is doing as well as can be expected with this being her first holiday season without her husband. We and his family are keeping her as busy as possible.

And as an aside to the Topic, Mich, I am sorry to hear of your loss. Kindly forward my condolences to the rest of the family.

I will, Jim, and thanks for the thought. Our daughter is doing as well as can be expected with this being her first holiday season without her husband. We and his family are keeping her as busy as possible.

Thanks, Shree, for taking time to read my vent. Your comment, as strong as it is, is appreciated.

There are federal flight regulations for just about everything, so I wonder why there aren't federal flight regulations for the distance between seats and the amount of leg room. With cars, some parts of the world require a permit for modifications to the vehicle but they don't usually bother about the seats - you can toss out the original-equipment-of-the-manufacturer seats and put in ones with a thinner backrest to allow for more space for the rear occupants. Or, better yet, get rid of the rear seats and use the space to place a water dispenser, and space for additional luggage.

And I certainly wish they did have a standard to seat leg-room distances. The 29 year-old with us is 6'4" and built like a lumberjack. He was really uncomfortable.

People who can afford to pay the higher bills and want to have a luxurious stay, which seems more like a hotel at some point than a hospital, at the in-patient wards of the hospital would choose the better private hospitals whereas those who cannot afford the bills would choose government-run hospitals, which people would prefer to avoid staying at as much as they can. At times, there are private hospitals that attempt to fill in the gap between the two, though these tend to be clinics rather than hospitals.

You have to realize that this man had no choice as he was taken to the nearest hospital when 911 was called. Since the first hospital was a "critical care" Spectrum Hospital he was transfered to the Spectrum Hospital that would better serve his condition.

UPDATE: A $30,000 credit was taken from the original bill. I guess my daughter's phone calls stirred up a hornet's nest as now the hospital staff is having a big meeting to find out how everything came down the way it did. The only thing that doesn't seem to be on the adgenda is why such an exorbitant price for the medication. But then, all we care about at this point is the credit.

I still find it beyond imagination that a hospital can charge whatever they like for things. I understand the "services" they render in connection with medication distribution, but really now, does the markup need to pay the nurses salary for the whole day? The padding of bills with all these unwarranted charges has to be governed by some body of government; wether it be at the state or federal level.

As some of you may know, our son-in-law recently passed away after a stay in two Spectrum Hospitals. He had no medical or hospital insurance. He was on special injection, copaxone, to slow down the progress of his Multiple Sclerosis which cost him $198 for a 30 day supply. The copaxone medication was taken to the hospitals with him so he could receive the injections while hospitalized.

Upon his death our daughter received a bill from the Spectrum Memorial Hospital in Ludington, Michigan. She requested an itemized statement from the Ludington hospital and it showed a charge for the copaxone medication of something like $138 per injection; as if the hospital had supplied the copaxone themselves. She called the hospital and they told her that it would be subtracted from the bill; sorry for the error.

Then she received a bill from the Spectrum Butterworth Hospital in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It totaled over $50,000. She called them and asked for an itemized statement of the charges. The itemized bill showed a three time charge of $10,000 for the copaxone; as if the hospital had supplied the copaxone themselves. That is an erroneous charge of $30,000 to cover three injections for which he had already paid and supplied for himself at $6.60 an injection. She called this hospital and was told that they would have to "discuss" it with the billing department and it might take up to two weeks to hear the results. Discussion, what discussion? The hospital was supplied with the copaxone and their billing for it at $10,000 a shot is ABSOLUTELY OUTRAGEOUS!!

Think about it. This represents over half of the bill. If he had insurance, if would have been billed to the insurance company immediately and probably paid by now. How can these hospitals get away with all this 'erroneous' billing for unfounded charges? THIS IS WHAT IS WRONG WITH OUR HOSITAL CARE SYSTEM!!! They seem to go unchecked with all the fees they are charging. I mean, come on now, $30,000 for injections that only cost $19.80.

well hope you had a lovely trip.

WE DID

THANK YOU EVERYBODY FOR YOUR CONCERN AND SUPPORT!

So sad, prayers are being sent their way. What a terrible thing to have to go threw.

Thank you for the prayers. He passed away early Friday morning the 20th.

sounds like a day at the zoo not a road trip lol.

a road trip is hours or even days in a car with kids screaming and fighting in the back

but serious sounds like a neat time wish I was there.

Sorry, there were no children on this trip. 4 adults, 3 of whom are senior citizens and one 29 year old. If you ever get a chance to go to Alaska, go!

Wow, sound like a really neat trip! Did you get to meet Sara Palin?

That would of been a real highlight for the trip, at least to me! I enjoyed watching that TV show they had on for awhile, Sara Paline's Alaska. It had several different episodes that highlighted many of the recreational activites and work in Alaska, it was a very interesting TV show, and showed a lot of what I'm sure you saw in the beautiful scenery of the great state.

No, we didn't get to meet Sara. Yes, the scenery was beautiful.

Our son-in-law, who has multiple sclerosis, suffered a serious stroke on Monday, 9 Sept 2013, He didn't die and we were all pulling for him. As fate would have it he suffered so much damage from the stroke coupled with his already damaged brain from MS, he will not recover. Per his wishes, his life support was discontinued and he was taken home. Relieved of all the tubes, he will spend his last days in the comfort of his own home. Our daughter is doing as well as can be expected, but our hearts break for her. She is only 47 years of age, so young to be a widow. Please send prayers for them both.

Made a trip to Alaska recently. We flew from Columbus, OH to Pheonix, AZ then onto Anchorage and took a bus up to Denali National Park. Spent 1 day on the 92 mile road trip to the "End of the Road" at Denali. What an interesting tour. Saw grizzlys, caribou,dall sheep, moose and seveal species of birds. We then took the Wilderness Express out of Denali to back to Anchorage, nice scenery on the way. We stayed at a bed and breakfast in Anchorage; Highland Glen Lodge. It was the most glorious housing possible. The breakfasts were absolutely out of this world. Can't brag enough on them. Cliff and Sheila, our hosts, were so accommodating, they even gave us transportation to the car rental. Also helped us decide where we wanted to go to see the sights.

Rented a car and went down to Seward along the arm of one of the inlets. Saw lots of glaciers along the way. After the night back in Anchorage we went back down to Portage Glacier and toured the glacier via boat. It was amazing. Wish we could have spent more time in Alaska.

The flight home was rather uncomfortable as we flew from Anchorage to Chicago, IL in a cramped plane. We were very disappointed in the position of the seats as my knees almost touched the seat ahead of me and I am only 5ft 2in.

All in all, we enjoyed ourselves.

Hey everybody, the foot took its time healing. Spent most of the summer knitting while the foot got better. What a hot summer we had here in Michigan. Miserable to have to stay indoors with foot elevated.

On to better times. Foot all healed and I am off to Hawaii. We will travel out to San Francisco, California, USA, by Amtrak train; no more plane travel. Then we cruise over to Hawaii, visit Hilo, Kauai, Maui, and Honolulu and then off to Ensenada, Mexico. The cruise ship will then travel up the west coast back to San Francisco. After a short stay in San Francisco area, we return home by Amtrak aboard the California Zephyr to Chicago, Illinois, USA, and catch the local back to Holland, Michigan, USA. We will be celebrating Thanksgiving, my husband's birthday, and our 25th anniversary aboard ship. See everybody when we get back in December.

I was recently at the Desert Springs Hospital in Las Vegas for treatment on a Saturday night. It took 8 hours to diagnose a broken bone in my foot. They were 3 nurses short on staff, they said. Anyway, if you got charged so much for your stay, I dread seeing my bill. Although, I do have insurance and I hope all things are covered.

I do know when you owe a hospital you are not charged interest. Any payment you can afford they have to accept as long as you make it every month. I am sorry to hear of your health status, seizures are very serious. My broken foot will heal in time, how lucky for me. Good luck!

Welcome back Karlo from Mich in Michigan USA. I have been here since Jan 2006. Things have changed a lot since then, so I guess you really got a surprise coming back last Sunday. Seems like there are not as many participating in the forums as there used to be. I, for one, have not been a steady participant. Life seems to get in the way.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you as well. Look forward to seeing more of your posts.