What did you do today? 2017 version

[daylatedollarshort]

Hit a little milestone today... they threw a really nice party for me today at work. I am officially retired!

Congratulations! I hope you enjoy your retirement.

 

[Ronstar]

Hit a little milestone today... they threw a really nice party for me today at work. I am officially retired!

Congrats,Rdub! Now every day will be a party!

 

[splitwdw]

Sat around letting the varicella zoster virus eat away half my face...

Never had this myself, I do understand that it's painful but how long does the condition last? Does it keep spreading? Hope you're feeling better soon.

 

[Nemo2]

Never had this myself, I do understand that it's painful but how long does the condition last? Does it keep spreading? Hope you're feeling better soon.

Can't speak for REWahoo , but I now have facial scars that I presume will be around for a short while after I'm not.

 

[splitwdw]

Can't speak for REWahoo , but I now have facial scars that I presume will be around for a short while after I'm not.

Nemo2, Thanks, didn't know you could have scarring. Does scarring always occur or does it depend on the severity?

 

[REWahoo]

Never had this myself, I do understand that it's painful but how long does the condition last? Does it keep spreading?

How long does it last? I don't know but I've read from three to six weeks - although one source said if it appears on the face it could be months.

Does is keep spreading? My experience says yes - although it does stay in the same area. My eye, forehead and scalp weren't involved when I saw my Dr. on Thursday, now they are. I'm heading out in a few minutes to get it checked out.

Get vaccinated!

 

[braumeister]

Fortunately, mine was just on my back. Lasted at least three weeks as I remember (at least 15 years ago). Never came back -- just the one episode so I may have been lucky.

 

[Nemo2]

Nemo2, Thanks, didn't know you could have scarring. Does scarring always occur or does it depend on the severity?

This, I don't know, but I figure at my age the scarring I have will outlive me....just a couple more 'marks of character' from my perspective, although I imagine women might view it differently.

(I presume one can easily find ads for all sorts of 'miracle creams' online, that may or may not work, to eliminate them, but I'd be sceptical.)

 

[Bestwifeever]

How long does it last? I don't know but I've read from three to six weeks - although one source said if it appears on the face it could be months.

Does is keep spreading? My experience says yes - although it does stay in the same area. My eye, forehead and scalp weren't involved when I saw my Dr. on Thursday, now they are. I'm heading out in a few minutes to get it checked out.

Get vaccinated!

Hope you feel better! Is "you might get shingles" going on the " reasons not to move to Texas" list?

 

[splitwdw]

Nemo2, Can you get shingles at any age? I'm in my 40's.
I have to laugh at the skin care ages where they advertise "reduce scars and wrinkles", the only thing that does that is dermabrasion or plastic surgery.
Hope all goes well with Rewahoo's appointment today. Anything with the eyes isn't a good thing. Retinius pigmentosa runs in our family and several in my generation are going blind.

 

[Nemo2]

Nemo2, Can you get shingles at any age? I'm in my 40's.

From what (little) I've read you can get shingles at any age, but it's more prevalent in people over 50. If I could 'do it over' I'd get the shot before getting shingles rather than vice versa, as I did.

 

[Gumby]

The Centers for Disease Control recommends vaccination at 60 years old.

https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd/shingles/

 

[Nemo2]

The Centers for Disease Control recommends vaccination at 60 years old.

https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd/shingles/

That would have given me a 14 year leeway, and saved a lot of irritation.

 

[MichaelB]

The CC I use for autopay expired, so I activated the replacement, and yesterday sat down to update all the autopay accounts. The difference among businesses regarding how they deal with this is impressive. The card number doesn't change - same number, new expiration date. A few make it quite easy - just change the date. Others treat it as an entirely new card. A few require me to dis-enroll from autopay and re-enroll with the new card. Making payment difficult is not a business strategy I understand.

I still need to update three by phone next monday, their online account systems are not robust enough to handle such a transaction. And then there is one company that sub-contracts it's online payment to Western Union. I would expect a business that deal with money to be more robust. In their case, they simply will not accept the old card with a new expiration date. They will only take a new card, and require 2 months to enable it. In the meantime, they'll take my payment monthly, for the nominal charge of $2.95.

 

[REWahoo]

If I could 'do it over' I'd get the shot before getting shingles rather than vice versa, as I did.

We need to form a do-over club...

Back from spending the morning visiting three separate MD's.

The good news: other than what appears to be a minor bacterial infection, no evidence of eye problems. Set up a follow-up ophthalmologist appointment early next week to be sure nothing develops.

The bad news: I learned an entirely new (to me) medical term - Ramsay Hunt syndrome, something I apparently have. That's why my face is "drooping" on the affected side, which I thought was simply the distortion caused by swelling. And that's why I was awakened at 2 am this morning with a nasty ear ache.

None of the other RH symptoms so far other. More prescriptions, cautioned to return if I began having hearing problems or difficulty closing my eye.

Did I mention get the damn vaccine?

Note: Even though the CDC recommends 60 or older for the vaccine, it is approved for those 50 or older. Knowing what I now know, the earlier the better.

 

[braumeister]

The difference among businesses regarding how they deal with this is impressive.

Too true.
But I got a pleasant surprise last week. An Amex card popped up some fraudulent transactions in Europe while I was home, so I got it canceled and replaced with a new one. While on the phone with the fraud department, they told me not to worry about any prearranged charges to places I had already set up. "We'll honor those even though they use the old card number." Pretty good and unexpected customer service, I thought.

 

[W2R]

The bad news: I learned an entirely new (to me) medical term - Ramsay Hunt syndrome, something I apparently have. That's why my face is "drooping" on the affected side, which I thought was simply the distortion caused by swelling. And that's why I was awakened at 2 am this morning with a nasty ear ache.

None of the other RH symptoms so far other. More prescriptions, cautioned to return if I began having hearing problems or difficulty closing my eye.

Wow! "When it rains, it pours". As if shingles wasn't bad enough without complications. I'm glad you can still hear and close your eye. Let's hope the new prescriptions, plus the Valtrex, will make the shingles back off soon.

The CC I use for autopay expired, so I activated the replacement, and yesterday sat down to update all the autopay accounts. The difference among businesses regarding how they deal with this is impressive. The card number doesn't change - same number, new expiration date. A few make it quite easy - just change the date. Others treat it as an entirely new card. A few require me to dis-enroll from autopay and re-enroll with the new card. Making payment difficult is not a business strategy I understand.

I still need to update three by phone next monday, their online account systems are not robust enough to handle such a transaction. And then there is one company that sub-contracts it's online payment to Western Union. I would expect a business that deal with money to be more robust. In their case, they simply will not accept the old card with a new expiration date. They will only take a new card, and require 2 months to enable it. In the meantime, they'll take my payment monthly, for the nominal charge of $2.95.

MichaelB, I had the same problem with my only autopay on my credit card which is my gym fee. The expiration date changed. I had to go in and get off autopay, then re-start it with the same number but new expiration date. What a pain! At least there was someone there to lead me by the hand through the process.

All my other bills are paid automatically by direct deduction from my checking account, so they do not require this sort of periodic runaround. The gym didn't list direct deduction as an option.

 

[Nemo2]

We need to form a do-over club...

Will there be a secret handshake?

The good news: other than what appears to be a minor bacterial infection, no evidence of eye problems. Set up a follow-up ophthalmologist appointment early next week to be sure nothing develops.

Definitely keep monitoring because shingles can be a sneaky ******

The bad news: I learned an entirely new (to me) medical term - Ramsay Hunt syndrome, something I apparently have. That's why my face is "drooping" on the affected side, which I thought was simply the distortion caused by swelling. And that's why I was awakened at 2 am this morning with a nasty ear ache.

None of the other RH symptoms so far other. More prescriptions, cautioned to return if I began having hearing problems or difficulty closing my eye.

When reading your link I thought of Bell's Palsy, (which a young...at the time....guy on our Saudi project woke up with one morning...half his face was droopy......went back to normal after a relatively short period of time), and it appears the herpes virus is the connection between the two.

Did I mention get the damn vaccine?

Note: Even though the CDC recommends 60 or older for the vaccine, it is approved for those 50 or older. Knowing what I now know, the earlier the better.

Ain't hindsight grand? Overall it's one of my main attributes!

 

[MichaelB]

The bad news: I learned an entirely new (to me) medical term - Ramsay Hunt syndrome, something I apparently have. That's why my face is "drooping" on the affected side, which I thought was simply the distortion caused by swelling. And that's why I was awakened at 2 am this morning with a nasty ear ache.

Effin'-A, man. That sounds nasty. Every time I wish you well it gets worse, so this time I'll just post a smiley.

 

[oldphd]

We need to form a do-over club...

Note: Even though the CDC recommends 60 or older for the vaccine, it is approved for those 50 or older. Knowing what I now know, the earlier the better.

I got the vaccine at about 54-55 (too many diet sodas to remember exactly!).

Going in, I was aware that my insurance wouldn't cover me unless I was 60. However, one thing that surprised me, I didn't get the "in network" price. Since it wasn't insurance covered I had to pay full price. Worked out to be $300 full price vs. about $225 or so in network. I knew because DW had it shortly before me (which was what prompted me to get it, reading stories like REWahoo). Thought I would get the in network rate.

 

[Ronstar]

Can't speak for REWahoo , but I now have facial scars that I presume will be around for a short while after I'm not.

DW had scarring around the eyebrow after a bout of shingles. She later had a series of 8 fraxel laser treatments to minimize the scarring, yet it did not clear it 100%.

 

[Dreamer]

Flew a young mother and her 4 year old son home to Santa Barbara after his treatment at UCLA. Low clouds the entire flight until we got to Santa Barbara Airport which was clear. Boy slept the whole way, in fact I had to wake him to get him out of the plane.

I think that it is wonderful that you do this. Thank you.

 

[street]

I have a cabin in the breaks and started work on the addition to the cabin. I also went turkey hunting and I got my gobbler. Was a great day and you I treasure my time even more after retiring.

 

[Fedup]

It rained hard last night in California. Still dripping here. I'm glad I did lots of gardening work yesterday, including planted a fruit tree in my sister's yard. Now I have to be inside, hopefully not all day. But today is a good day to finish painting another trellis for the melons. I still don't have a single watermelon seedling emerging yet. But I had my first vine ripe tomato yesterday.

 

[Sue J]

Added up my spending for April, which is something I look forward to doing every month. I know, that's kind of odd but for me it is fun and I feel like I can share that here since many forum members seem to like doing this sort of thing too. My projected spending for the year is down a little from what it was a month ago, so I am happy about that. I always make sure that what my spreadsheet says I spent, agrees with the balance left in my wallet, bank account, and credit card so that's part of the fun.

Seems like yesterday's thunderstorms are gone, and we have blue skies out there today.

I do this every month, too. I like to "wrap up the month" by completing the spending spreadsheet and totaling up the income minus expenses. Any cash we didn't spend gets added to the pile from previous months. I like to print out the month's info for a folder I keep. DH is supposed to take a glance at it but is only mildly interested. He'll look and nod politely but I know I do this just for me. It's ok, I enjoy knowing that one of us is on top of things.

Another date I like is the 20th of the month when PenFed posts the interest for the CDs. It's not a huge amount and half of it is taxable (the other half is in Roth IRA) but I like knowing that it happens every month.

Yeah, small things in life feel good.