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Mona of the Manor is an enjoyable new book by Armistead Maupin in the Tales of the City series. Although this one takes place in a manor house in England, it has several of the original San Francisco characters including Anna Madrigal & Michael. My library has a "Librarian's Favorites"...

Did you factor in the age discount to calculate the final AARP/UHC price? I started out with MoO and they raised my Plan G rate by double digits when I turned 66. I passed underwriting and switched to AARP/UHC. MoO continued to jack up their rate significantly each year after I got out. My...

"Foreigner", yes, but we didn't clog up I-97. We were staying with friends in Bend and took back roads into totality and watched the glorious spectacle from near the base of the Cascades a bit west of I-97. We had no problem at all with traffic after the eclipse, but we weren't leaving Bend...

You couldn't be more wrong. As one eclipse watcher told me the day before the 2017 total eclipse (we saw totality in central Oregon), "The difference between a total eclipse and a near-total eclipse, is like the difference between death and a near-death experience."

Maryland also has a birthday rule now. A birthday rule for Medicare Supplement policies went into effect in Maryland on July 1, 2023. The following has a good explanation for how it works...

The difference between AARP/UHC Plan G and Plan N in my area is $26/month. After handling my elderly parents bills, doctor's appointments, ER trips, and hospitalizations for years, I don't want to add any additional work for myself or anyone who might be stuck handling my own affairs in the...

If you click on that link, it's set to display the "Canadian Ensemble" weather prediction. If you then click on "American Ensemble" near the top of the page, the prediction looks far worse. At this moment, 5:45pm CDT, the Canadian prediction is based on data as recent as 7am CDT today, whereas...

I don't think that's correct. In most states, each supplemental plan is priced in age bands. Even AARP/UHC effectively has age bands due to their discounts that decrease with age. Therefore anyone switching plans due to Guaranteed Issue will be paying the same rate as others of their age...

Nobody has explained why those people who qualify to enroll under Guarantee Issue would be more expensive to insure than those who are already in a Plan G pool. The circumstances which result in someone having Guarantee Issue eligibility have nothing to do with their individual health. In the...

I Am Pilgrim is an absorbing thriller by Terry Hayes. It came out about 10 years ago, but I hadn't heard of it until recently. Given that the main character & narrator is American and much of the story concerns US intelligence, it's a bit surprising that the author is British. Be warned that...

I chose Plan G for the same reason as Ian S. I don't want to mess with co-payments. I do have a bit of a concern about "excess payment" because I was handling my mom's healthcare bills for many years and she did have a significant excess payment charge from an orthopedic surgeon. I question...

I found that restaurants in Spain (and Argentina) typically don't open until 8pm or 8:30pm. They're open for lunch in Spain at least from 1pm-4pm. I altered my eating schedule, too. I sometimes bought something in a bakery in late morning, and then ate a late lunch, typically starting at...

I was in southern Spain in February, plus a couple of days in northern Morocco and a day in Gibraltar. Southern Spain has comfortable temperatures in the winter. My daily high temperature ranged from 66 (19 C) to 74 (23 C). A couple of days had some rain, but it was mostly sunny. I visited...

My cardiologist ordered my Calcium CT Scan last year, and Medicare + Medigap paid for it.

That was my post in this thread 2 years ago. I'm still speaking weekly with the same FIRE'd man in Paris, and with the same young man in Costa Rica. I have now met both of them in person. 18 months ago I met my French/English language partner while I was in Paris and spent a lovely day with...

I spoke with a long-time employee in the appraisals office several years ago. He told me that the appraisals are done entirely via software. They receive records of any construction permits so they know if rooms or amenties have been added. He also said that the software wasn't designed to...

Thanks for the ideas, but as I previously wrote, "I am fortunate that I can afford my property tax." That doesn't mean I'm happy about its enormous increase nearly 4 times the rate of inflation. In most jurisdictions, when property values go up, the tax rate tends to go down. Not where I...

In 2023: 1. New car. Early last year, a kid with a learner's permit driving an SUV crashed into my parked car. My insurance company deemed my car totaled. My car was more than 11 years old but had just 29,000 miles. Unbeknownst to the kid or his mother, both of them were uninsured. The...

It's extremely arrogant of you to presume what my "mindset" is, simply for responding to the OP and explaining the bizarre circumstances of my current tax situation. I am very happy I purchased my home when I did. I know that in most respects I am fortunate to own my home free and clear, and...

I bought my small depression-era house in the 1980s. Home prices started to explode in the DC area shortly after I purchased it. For the past 30 years, every small old house sold in my neighborhood has been razed and replaced with a McMansion. A lot of beautiful large old houses nearby get...

The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach, is a wonderful novel. It was published in 2012 but I had never read it. It's set in a fictitious college town in Wisconsin. A gifted college baseball shortstop makes an uncharacteristic error which affects the lives of 4 other people. Most of the novel is...

Since I haven't yet paid for the TaxAct software, I may abandon it and try TurboTax Business. The prices are similar. FWIW, I used TurboTax individual tax return software for years. I switched to H&R Block software last year and preferred it. However, H&R Block business software has lousy...

I'm the successor trustee for my mom's revocable trust. She died last year and I'm working on the 1041 trust tax return. I've done my parents' regular tax returns for many years using software. But there don't seem to be many software options for individuals preparing 1041 returns. I've been...

I only saw one person wearing shorts, a tourist walking in flip-flops in Tangier. He stuck out like a sore thumb. I had warm but not excessively hot temperatures. I brought 2 pairs of lightweight convertable pants and I didn't zip off the bottoms until I was back in Spain. Many years ago...

I was in northern Morocco less than 2 weeks ago, but only for 48 hours. So I only have limited information. I was mainly visiting Andalucia independently, but it's quick and easy to take ferries between southern Spain and northern Morocco. I spent one night in Tangier, and one night in...