Doctors, Doors, and Cats: An Expensive Weekend
Well, tonight the cathartic calm writing brings will help soothe my nerves. This was a busy weekend for expensive things.
We finally got the hospital bill for David's March appendix removal surgery. It was $850. The hospital claims to have billed us already, but they probably sent us electronic bills-- which I don't do. In fact, we opted out of them at the hospital. $75 of the charges I attempted to pay at date of service, but their machines were down. So I said "bill me later"... and then we never got a bill. Eesh. Insurance only "saved" us $1500. These days, not having insurance seems to be about the same out-of-pocket as having health insurance. I guess that's how things work when the government is in charge of health-care. Affordable my ass... 10 years ago, out of pocket cost would've been $150. That was far more affordable than $850. What a fucking joke. I mean, healthcare was one of the reasons for getting a job that had that as a benefit... I digress...
So, the door... the window pane broke a year ago, but the glass stayed in the window. Jordan taped the damn thing together so it'd weather until we could replace the door. Despite my "nagging" this winter-- when the weather is cooler-- my husband waited and waited. (I think we had Covid again, which makes us lethargic-- because I also had a lack of energy this spring.) So... when my daughter got upset because her brother was teasing her, and she struck her fist out-- she punched through the pre-broken glass. Yes, she nicked her wrist a little. But mostly, she was sad because we were disappointed with her.
Jordan was able to call my father-in-law (FIL) and get my in-laws to come up to Phoenix to help replace the door completely. We'd already picked out the replacement door after the initial window-break. So we just had to buy it. The new door is metal and insulated. The window is easily replaceable as a single unit (that costs as much as the door)! Jordan and Steve, my FIL, had the door hung plum and true... but the damn thing wouldn't close. So they had to mess it up to get it to fit.
FIL: Your floors aren't level.
Me: I know. When we replace them, I'm going to get it leveled...
FIL: Your walls aren't plumb.
Me: Yep. It's an old house.
Anyway, the door is very nice-- it'd better be nice for around $500. Now I need to make a sheer curtain for the damn thing. *sigh*
Lastly, one of our cats has been acting funny for a while now-- not being able to jump onto her perch atop our dresser. She was nearly 13 years old-- so around 88 in kitty years. Her organs were failing and her lungs filling with fluid-- Nicodemus had to be euthanized because of similar issues. Sophie-- we also called her "floof" for her long, floofy calico fur-- was such a sweet kitty. We inherited her from a co-worker who was unable to take care of her anymore. My other cats started beating on her... and we noticed she was getting noticeably thinner. I just thought it was my other cats hating on her.
WE took Sophie to my mom's house, where she got royal treatment for 4 days-- no other cats picking on her and all the loves. Today, my mom took her to the vet. And... then, this evening, we went as a family to have her put down. It was very sad. She was such a sweet kitty. Moriah was especially sad-- this was her first experience with death... and, of all the cats, she was closest to Sophie because Sophie loved the attention Moriah gave her-- she even slept on Moriah's bed! We all cried. My mom paid the vet, but I'll reimburse her for the vet bills. They gave her the senior discount... Heh. But it was around $640 for the vet trip.
I'm gonna miss that cat. A lot.
We finally got the hospital bill for David's March appendix removal surgery. It was $850. The hospital claims to have billed us already, but they probably sent us electronic bills-- which I don't do. In fact, we opted out of them at the hospital. $75 of the charges I attempted to pay at date of service, but their machines were down. So I said "bill me later"... and then we never got a bill. Eesh. Insurance only "saved" us $1500. These days, not having insurance seems to be about the same out-of-pocket as having health insurance. I guess that's how things work when the government is in charge of health-care. Affordable my ass... 10 years ago, out of pocket cost would've been $150. That was far more affordable than $850. What a fucking joke. I mean, healthcare was one of the reasons for getting a job that had that as a benefit... I digress...
So, the door... the window pane broke a year ago, but the glass stayed in the window. Jordan taped the damn thing together so it'd weather until we could replace the door. Despite my "nagging" this winter-- when the weather is cooler-- my husband waited and waited. (I think we had Covid again, which makes us lethargic-- because I also had a lack of energy this spring.) So... when my daughter got upset because her brother was teasing her, and she struck her fist out-- she punched through the pre-broken glass. Yes, she nicked her wrist a little. But mostly, she was sad because we were disappointed with her.
Jordan was able to call my father-in-law (FIL) and get my in-laws to come up to Phoenix to help replace the door completely. We'd already picked out the replacement door after the initial window-break. So we just had to buy it. The new door is metal and insulated. The window is easily replaceable as a single unit (that costs as much as the door)! Jordan and Steve, my FIL, had the door hung plum and true... but the damn thing wouldn't close. So they had to mess it up to get it to fit.
FIL: Your floors aren't level.
Me: I know. When we replace them, I'm going to get it leveled...
FIL: Your walls aren't plumb.
Me: Yep. It's an old house.
Anyway, the door is very nice-- it'd better be nice for around $500. Now I need to make a sheer curtain for the damn thing. *sigh*
Lastly, one of our cats has been acting funny for a while now-- not being able to jump onto her perch atop our dresser. She was nearly 13 years old-- so around 88 in kitty years. Her organs were failing and her lungs filling with fluid-- Nicodemus had to be euthanized because of similar issues. Sophie-- we also called her "floof" for her long, floofy calico fur-- was such a sweet kitty. We inherited her from a co-worker who was unable to take care of her anymore. My other cats started beating on her... and we noticed she was getting noticeably thinner. I just thought it was my other cats hating on her.
WE took Sophie to my mom's house, where she got royal treatment for 4 days-- no other cats picking on her and all the loves. Today, my mom took her to the vet. And... then, this evening, we went as a family to have her put down. It was very sad. She was such a sweet kitty. Moriah was especially sad-- this was her first experience with death... and, of all the cats, she was closest to Sophie because Sophie loved the attention Moriah gave her-- she even slept on Moriah's bed! We all cried. My mom paid the vet, but I'll reimburse her for the vet bills. They gave her the senior discount... Heh. But it was around $640 for the vet trip.
I'm gonna miss that cat. A lot.