Swatted

 Swatting.

If you don't know what that is, it is when a scumbag (keeping this blog with a G rating) calls 911 and makes a false report on an innocent person.  The caller says there is a hostage situation or a murder or whatever to get the local police to dispatch a SWAT team.  And SWAT teams are understandably hyper. 

The victim is usually disoriented and 'upset' because they have no idea what is going on; most thinking they are being attacked by an intruder.  They respond aggressively.  Or a victim can be literally scared to death.

The combination can be - and has been - deadly. 

The world is getting mean. 

Late this winter – Valentine's Day to be exact – I had a visit from 2 deputies.  Two very tense deputies.  Long story made short, there had been made a 911 call stating I was being held hostage. 

Excuse me?? 

Yep, supposedly Himself was not letting me leave the house.  Because of privacy issues (!!!) they couldn't say who called.  BUT they told me 911 logs are public record and I REALLY needed to listen to the call. 

It took a bit (weeks) to actually get the recording copy (like finally contacting the head of the 911 department asking if I needed to go to the newspaper and my lawyer about being denied my rights). 

When I heard what was said by my COUSIN - A cousin I haven't really seen in 40 years - it sickened me.  

We were SWATTED. 

Said POS cousin said:

*I was being held hostage (yeah right)

*That Himself owes a LOT of guns (he does not)

*That Himself had threaten to basically kill the entire planet (he who will not kill a stink bug in our house!)

*That Himself was retired military (only true thing said)

*That Himself had "gone goofy" (????)

*That he (cousin) was getting this "3rd" hand (which would be 59 year old cousin's 'mommy' and a direct family member of mine). 

And the POS used his knowledge as a former cop both to say things in a way that would make it difficult to prove he is evil AND to try to get the old "cop brotherhood - I'm one of you" feelings going so he would be believed. 

Freaking EVIL. 

However, he sounded like such a complete moron on the call that dispatch sent two deputies instead.  Two intelligent, professional, and experienced deputies.  Thank you Jesus. 

I tried to press charges (it is a felony in many states) but there wasn't enough.  However my very PO-ed Sheriff has flagged us.  So that if I get anymore *garbage* from ANYONE of my "DNA" or their family/friends, I will be able to press Criminal Harassment" charges.

 And I will... 

It is hard enough to know your "family" doesn't care about you anymore. But it is a whole different level when you realize they initiated an action that could lead to your death.

I am a very different person than I was on 13 February...

 

Review: Ozeri frying pan

 The time finally came to get a new frying pan.  But I found out the finding of a nice pan was going to be a difficult task.  Home Goods had signs up apologizing for their poor selection.  Walmart had a poor selection with no apologies.  Other places had nice skillets that required taking out a mortgage.

So I went to Amazon.  

There I found a 12" pan with great ratings (5 out of 5 stars) for $29.00.  I took the leap.

That was 4 months ago.  We have used it nearly every day since then and it still pleases us.

Check it out by searching this description (sorry, the link attaches to my order instead of the product)...

12" Stone Earth Frying Pan by Ozeri, with 100% APEO & PFOA-Free Stone-Derived Non-Stick Coating from Germany

(I would have used my own photo, but it is in the sink to be washed after Thanksgiving dinner!)

The Nightmare Before Sixty-Five (Medicare)

 Back in September I said I was going to write a big post about enrolling in Medicare (which is handled by the social security administration).

 I am not.

 

Please go out an buy “Medicare for Dummies” shortly after you turn SIXTY-FOUR and start reading.  Prepare to become angry.

 The Medicare system is FUBAR.  And they add new FUBAR yearly. 

 Let me roll over a few points you need to know…

 ~ First, if you are late enrolling you WILL be penalized when you do enroll.  And every month for the rest of you life.  I am not kidding.

 ~ Next, you need to be enrolled BEFORE your birth  month for smooth-ish transfer from private health care insurance to supplemental.  A lot of healthcare insurance will suspend your coverage on the first day of your birth month if you don’t have you Medicare card info.  Once you get the card the supplemental will kick back in.

 ~ Regarding Medicare you have 3 choices:  Part A only (“hospital” insurance – covers hospital and nursing NOT doctors)  OR you can do part A & Part B (covers docs, tests, medical & surgical services, and more)  OR  Part C (aka Medicare Advantage which is private coverage)

 Be aware that private insurance is year to year and they can leave the program anytime- leaving you scrambling to find new coverage.

Also be aware that you might lose your entire health care team.  If your current doesn't except Medicare, you'll have to find someone new.  And that sucks.

 ~ Part D which is optional, covers prescription drugs.  I cannot believe this is legal.  Here is how it works.  You have to pick a private insurance out of multiple “plans” that each pay differently.  The plan goes yearly so the below stuff happens EVERY. SINGLE. YEAR.  Coverage is in “phases” over a year time.

 Phase 1:  You pay 100% of drug cost UNTIL you reach deductible limit (in 2020 that was $435).

Phase 2:  You have a co-pay set by the insurance company.  This happens until you hit your ‘limit’ of $4020 (in 2020).

Phase 3:  So cutely known as “the donut hole”.  The company doesn’t have to pay SQUAT!!!  But you still have to pay them.  You have to beg for discounts and government aid.  You don’t get out of this blackhole until you have spent (in 2020) $6350!!!!!!!!!!  This is where you hear of elders and the sick having to chose between their drugs (often rationing them) and their utility bills and/or food and/or gas for their car.

Phase 4:  (If you make it this far).  You pay 5% to a limit of $9038.

Wrap your head around that.

That is just a few bits of BS (and among the worst) you will encounter in you 64^th year of life.

 

Do not make the mistake of following the advice of family & friends.  Tho well meaning, every person’s situation is different.  Read “Medicare for dummies” for knowledge and deal with the Social Security office ONLY for what is really going to happen.  BTW, a phone call to the SS office is a LONG time on hold.  A speaker phone is a blessing.  My last hold time was 43 minutes.

 Good luck.

 

Brand New Bug

 In working on our goal of Zero Waste (we are soooo far from it) we do our own form of composting... we feed plant based "leftovers" to the wildlife.  Stuff like stems, peels, gone bad bits and so on.  

Himself puts it out in the evening and by morning it has disappeared.  We are used to seeing deer, racoon, possum, ground hog and other 'guests' strolling over to see what is at the buffet.

 Recently Himself came upon a new guest~

 

 He took our bug jar out to bring one back for me to ID. 

 

 I had never seen it before either. 

 

 A Google search revealed it was an American carrion beetle.   It lays its eggs in raw meat and fungi (maybe we had tossed out some mushroom bits).  So do flies.  As the fly eggs hatch into larvae, the beetles eat them.  So do the beetle larvae. 

 Pretty interesting!

Review: Hearing Protection by Decibel Defense

 With all the sawing and hammering we have been doing I realized we needed 2 things to protect our hearing.  First was to get a second set of safety ear muffs.  Second was to replace the ancient pair we did have.

 I ended up going with safety ear muff designed for shooting ranges.  Not that we need them for that but they offer the best protection.  I found just what I was looking for on Amazon  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01BEENYCQ?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1

 They have NRR (Noise Reduction Rating) of 37 dB (decibels).  There are all sorts of charts explain what a NRR 37 dB means.  Whatever!  It boils down to excellent protevtion.  That's good enough right there.

 Bonus points for comfort and a choice of colors.  (Since we have different colors I can tell when Himself madeoff with mine instead of finding his muffs!  Plus the bright colors make them easier to find.)  I recommend highly.

Arting Again

 I've had requests to share my creative projects again.  Thanks!  I've been so busy with "life" lately that I haven't been doing all that much.  But here is one from last month that I am pleased with.

As you look at it, don't think that it is a political statement for/against any particular party.  

It is not.

"In Distress"

Next month I'll have more to show.  I've taken a few classes that have opened up my creativity in a way I'm really enjoying.