Fun time last night…Busy Sunday cooking, football and working out…

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Selfie…the two of us at The Pub last night in Lake Las Vegas.

A patron at The Pub spoke to us only when he wasn’t paying attention and bumped into me to apologize when we were looking for a table. We arrived at 5:15 pm, and the place was packed. If we’d arrived 30 minutes later, we wouldn’t have been able to get a table.

If we prefer to have a drink at this bar before dinner, we’ll have to arrive by 4:00 or 4:30 or come on a different day of the week, not Saturday night. Many TV screens broadcast football games, but no one seemed to pay attention. The loud voices made us chuckle. This certainly is a busy pub, aptly named. No doubt, we’ll go there again in the future.

This guy was standing in a little area with two bar stools, but they weren’t at the bar.

The drinks were priced for happy hour at $6 each. Tom had two beers, and I had two small glasses of Cabernet Sauvignon. Tom had a Reuben sandwich with fries included, and I had a grilled buffalo chicken salad with blue cheese dressing.

After ordering our drinks, we were content and engaged in lively chatter between us. It was nice to get out of the house and be in different surroundings, as much as we love the condo.

There was no room at the bar, so we selected a table. Minutes after our arrival, the place was packed.

We slept late this morning, and I didn’t start prepping tonight’s dinner until 10:00 am with a cup of coffee. It is a complicated recipe, and I spent almost two hours in the kitchen. I sat down to prepare today’s post only a short time ago and have yet to make my second cup of coffee.

Once I am done here, Tom can use my laptop to broadcast today’s football games. I’m only interested in the second game, with Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs, which is on until 3:30 pm. That gives me plenty of time to make the salad to go with dinner and work out in the fitness center. Now, as I write here, it’s only 1:00 pm.

This was my buffalo grilled chicken salad with blue cheese and dressing.

If I’d got up earlier, I’d have more time to get everything done by 3:30, but since we began traveling the world, we don’t feel compelled to get up at any particular time unless we have specific plans. Tom is always up before me, but I am always awake before him. I read the news on my phone in the mornings or reply to emails and texts from family, friends, and readers, never feeling any pressure to accomplish this.

We love the leisurely pace of our lives right now. So little is required besides the basic daily housekeeping and cooking tasks. I do most of it, except Tom takes care of the dishes and trash and helps with the weekly cleaning day, which we decided is Friday.

Tom’s Reuben sandwich with fries.

We’ll also do the cleaning when we get to Arizona on April 1st for about six weeks. But when we get to Minnesota, we’ll be in a hotel with a living room and kitchen, which will be cleaned for us. I love not having to clean! Of course, once we get to Marloth Park in mid-June, once again, we’ll have our dear Zef and Vusi, who clean daily when there is so much dust from the wildlife, stopping by.

That’s it for today, folks. Now, I need to relinquish my laptop for the football games since Tom’s computer won’t work with the HDMI, regardless of what we try to do to fix it. Soon, he needs a replacement laptop, and perhaps next time, we’ll buy him one with an HDMI outlet.

Our bill with the 18% tip was $70.79, about $20 less than we paid last Saturday at Luna Rossa, which was a better meal. I ordered two glasses of wine when the first glass was only about 3oz. I asked for a stemmed glass since I don’t care to drink wine in a water glass, and the waitperson brought me a champagne glass, which was fine.

Have a fantastic day, and be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, January 21, 2014

Wow! Bourke’s Luck Potholes in South Africa was our favorite. For more photos, please click here.

Feeling good…Enjoying life and each other…Are other patrons friendly in public venues in the US?…

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Dawn and Leon are dear friends and owners of Jabula. This photo was taken on the day of my 75th birthday when the four of us went out to lunch when my birthday party, which they also attended, was a few days later.

With our coughs almost completely gone., we’re both feeling great and grateful at the same time. We had an excellent night’s sleep, and after a few cups of coffee, we are ready to tackle the day.

Today, I won’t be chopping and dicing for dinner since we’re heading out to a restaurant in The Village, down the one flight of stairs to the lovely area. We were heading to The Pub at the bottom of the steps when we found their menu appealing to both of us. We’re hoping it’s good since their prices are reasonable, and we may decide to dine there more often than once a week.

Tomorrow, we’ll report what we’ve discovered with photos and comments about the environment and the food. It appears to be somewhat of a sports bar, which we don’t mind at all. Hopefully, it will be a friendly place where we can chat with a few other locals and visitors to the area. But, our expectations regarding socializing in a restaurant in the US are in check. In all the years we lived in Minnesota (Tom, all of his life), we seldom chatted with other patrons in any public venue.

An occasional “hello” in passing while walking was all we could ever expect. On occasion, someone would talk to me at the supermarket, but never at the health club or any other public environment. I will always remember the time I met a lovely woman at a CVS pharmacy, and we chatted for 30 minutes.

And yet, we can recall during our world travels when we conversed with other patrons, and there were few countries where this transpired. You may say, “Do we make an effort to converse with others?”

And yes, we do. We are both friendly and approachable when we say hello and smile at other patrons, encouraging conversation. But our friendly approach is often ignored when the person turns away. Of course, there are exceptions to this, but they are few and far between.

The number one most friendly environment we’ve experienced in our world travels has been on most cruises, with only three cruises we’ve found to be less so….the Mekong River cruise in 2016, the Antarctica cruise in 2018, and, again, most recently, on The Galapagos Islands cruise. In each case, the passenger count was low: 60 passengers, 160 passengers, and 14 passengers, respectively. (No offense intended for any of the few passengers on those three cruises with whom we may have interacted occasionally and thoroughly enjoyed).

Cruises with larger passenger counts seem the most friendly, perhaps mainly based on the numbers. However, we have had exceptional social experiences on cruises, making many friends with whom we remain close.

Then, of course, the most friendly of all has been at Jabula Lodge and Restaurant in Marloth Park. South Africa. I know we’ve mentioned this repeatedly, but there is nowhere like it in the world that we have seen during our over 11 years of travel or…even in our old lives. Is it any wonder that we are looking forward to our return?

The food, the ambiance, Dawn and Leon, the owners, and all of the locals whom we’ve come to know over the years we spent sitting at the most fun bar in the world. We often equate it to the same kind of bar many of us watched on the old TV show, Cheers, “Where everyone knows your name!”

So, we don’t expect the restaurant and pub where we’ll dine tonight to be anything like Jabula, but as we have in the past, we will thoroughly enjoy each other’s companionship, lively chatter, and hopefully good food.

Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, January 20, 2014:

Tom was thrilled once again to be back on the water since it was seven months since our last cruise. We were on the Blyde River on a tour of the Blyde River Canyon in South Africa. For more, please click here.

Thanks for all the positive comments about yesterday’s posts…Not much going on right now, but our readers remain…

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On January 19, 2021, we had a highly venomous boomslang snake with a frog in its mouth; visit us on the veranda, very close to us. It was good for us since he was preoccupied with the frog in his mouth. See the story and how we handled it in this post here.

We were flooded with many messages and comments about yesterday’s post, a topic we’ve covered in past posts. One reader wrote that we may have haters, but we don’t. We have some highly opinionated readers, but none that are hateful and toxic, aimed at us or our site. We appreciate that more than we can say.

Our biggest concern regarding our readers is that they become bored with our posts when we don’t have much going on, such as right now. Much to our delight, we don’t lose readers during our quiet times. It will be pretty quiet for us during the next few months. We won’t be traveling outside the US until June.

However, we will be making the first of the road trips beginning on April 1,  as follows:

  1. 4/1/2024 – Las Vegas, Nevada to Apache Junction, Arizona – 5 hr 19 min (336.3 mi) via US-93 S
  2. 5/15//2024 – Apache Junction, Arizona to Los Angeles, California – 6 hr 42 min (407.9 mi) via I-10 W
  3. 5/18/2024 – Los Angeles, California to Milwaukee, Wisconsin –  30 hr (2,057.1 mi) via I-80 E
  4. 5/20/2023 – Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Minneapolis, Minnesota – 4 hr 52 min (337.1 mi) via I-94 W

As you can see, three of the above road trips won’t require an overnight stay in a hotel, based on the short duration.

From there, on June 14, 2024, the average flight time from Minneapolis, Minnesota, to Nelspruit, to South Africa – is 30 hours and 10 minutes. The exact time will be determined by the length of layovers along the way. The flight covers a distance of 14,514.61 miles.

While traveling across the US on these road trips, we’ll stop to take photos and make every moment of our road trips enjoyable for both of us. We’re definitely looking forward to these four trips. Perhaps this will be a foray into what we may do in the future when health may limit our traveling the world as much as we’ve done in the past. We’ve often discussed traveling in the US at some point.

As our readers know. We came to the US for several months to get me signed up for Medicare Part B and a supplement. We needed to be here for Tom’s pulmonology appointment in Chicago on January 10. In the months to come, I’ll go to the Mayo Clinic to have more tests on my heart to determine if further treatment is crucial in the next year.

Of course, spending time with family is also a huge motivator in spending time in the US. During this trip, we’ll see more family than we have in the past in any single stay. We’ll have accomplished a lot by leaving in June and feel at ease returning to South Africa.

Today is cleaning day. This morning, I did laundry and my share of the cleaning, and now Tom is vacuuming and will wash the floors. We’ll dine in tonight, and tomorrow, on Saturday, we’ll head down the one flight of stairs to the Village to go out to dinner.

Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, January 19, 2014:

Tom volunteered to feed the vultures raw meat at Moholoholo Rehabilitation Centre in Hoedspruit, South Africa. He wore a leather sleeve on his right arm from fingertips to shoulder. As soon as our guide put the raw meat into his hand, several vultures flew at him to grab it, leaving two to fight over it. It’s exciting! For more photos, please click here.

Avoiding political views on our site…Not always easy…

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View from our front porch while we stayed in Falmouth, England, in August 2019.

We both agree that each individual has a right to their opinions, regardless of how controversial their preferred topics may be today. At one time, we could sit around a dinner table, sharing our views while others listened attentively. But no more.

Times have changed, and we are best to keep our controversial opinions to ourselves to avoid offending others and appearing to impose our views on those with conflicting views. Then again, there are situations in which we may find ourselves in the presence of others whom we know think as we do, creating an open forum to discuss our views. But, in today’s world, these situations are few. Instead, many of us keep our opinions to ourselves.

I often review the world news, searching for a topic for the day’s post, but I find most stories reflect a viewpoint that may be construed as political and contrary to the views of many of our readers. As a result, we avoid such articles and subsequent stories to maintain our stance of staying neutral in our posts over 11 years later.

It’s a challenge avoiding expressing our views when most topics in today’s world are considered to have a political bent of one source or another. Each time I sit down to prepare the day’s post, on many occasions, I start to write, only to find myself abruptly stopping and deleting everything I’ve written so far, feeling the topic is too controversial for our site.

Over the years, we’ve promised our readers we’d stay neutral and have strived to maintain that stance. When talking in a group about our site, we often say we avoid discussing politics, religion, and sex, three taboo topics in this type of venue.

In 2020, while India was in lockdown, varying views about COVID-19 and other topics became more glaring than ever. We were at a loss for content. After all, we had no exciting activities during that time. The highlight of our days consisted of my walking the corridors for exercise to the tune of 5 miles, 8 km each day, while Tom ran up and down the stairs to the parking garage.

During that time, I perused Facebook for longer periods than I’d ever done in the past. But, during that period, I found many Facebook posts that consisted of hateful opinions and vitriol. Sure, we were all confined and frustrated, but I couldn’t justify hatefulness regarding the views of others, especially those who disagreed with the opinions of many others.

It was during that time I was bursting at the seams to express my views on seeing hateful posts on Facebook, and I prepared one of our posts  on March 30, 2020, with the heading reading,

“Please “unfriend me” if…Social media during lockdown…”

(Click on the above heading to read that post).

I don’t promote adding more friends to my Facebook account. Overall, I preferred to keep the number of “friends” on my profile to a minimum to avoid it becoming overwhelming, keeping up with many people I didn’t know, their photos, and their birthdays. However, I have welcomed some of our readers who have invited me to become a friend.

Uploading that post during that problematic time brought me considerable relief to have expressed my views on this topic. As I’ve mentioned, we seldom run across any “haters” and prefer to keep it that way. Subsequently, we keep many of our views to ourselves.

Thank you to all of our readers for keeping our site kind, friendly, and considerate, with pleasant and meaningful comments and email messages. We promise to continue on the path of keeping our site neutral and unencumbered by contentious and controversial opinions.

Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, January 18, 2014:

We ducked our heads under Casper’s chin. Our faces hurt from smiling while we were with the two Elephants at the Elephant Sanctuary. After our experiences the prior day in Kruger National Park, learning more about these massive animals was timely. For more photos, please click here.

What’s preventing us from planning more world travels right now?…

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A go-away bird standing on the veranda railing. There are multiple matches for go-away birds, including the grey go-away bird and the white-bellied go-away bird. The grey go-away bird (Corythaixoides concolor) is a turaco family member and native to southern Africa. It’s also known as the grey lourie, or kwêvoël. The grey go-away bird is gray with a black beak and a pink gape. It’s a social bird that lives in groups of up to 30 birds. The grey go-away bird is named for its alarm call, “Kuh-wê!”, which sounds like “Go Away!”. It’s thought to alert other species to the presence of predators or other dangers, such as hunters. The grey go-away bird’s diet is mainly fruit (such as wild figs and berries), flowers, buds, leaves, termites, and snails

When we first decided to come to Nevada when my Afib medication was running out, we thought we’d come to Nevada to get the two prescriptions filled and for me to see a US cardiologist to run another echocardiogram to confirm the diagnosis I received from the cardiologist in Ecuador, revealing I have mitral valve and tricuspid valve regurgitation that needs surgery before too long.

Since this surgery would result in another open heart surgery, we took this diagnosis very seriously since I didn’t want to go through that again after my prior awful experience, requiring over a year to recover. We knew a second opinion and decision on insurance was vital for the future.

Now that I have applied for Medicare Part B (still waiting to hear if it has been processed) and a supplement, Part G has been approved, I had to decide where I’d like to have the echocardiogram and have a prognosis evaluated. After we arrived here, and after considerable thought and discussion, I decided to wait until we got to Arizona to go to the Mayo Clinic for a second opinion.

Once I have the confirmation that my Part B is in place and I receive the Medicare card with an account number, I will contact the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Arizona, and make the appointment for sometime in April or May before we then head to California to see my sister and then off to Minnesota to see our kids and grandkids.

Regardless of our results, we’ll still head to Marloth Park on June 15, 2024. If I need surgery, we’ll return to the US for the operation after we’re done in South Africa if I decide I am willing to have the surgery. I want to go to the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio, the top valve repair facility in the world.

Fortunately, since we can live anywhere based on our homeless lifestyle that we so choose, most likely, we’ll rent a holiday home in Cleveland and stay long enough for the surgery and recover enough to continue in our world travels.

If the Mayo Clinic evaluation determines I don’t need surgery since I have no symptoms in Arizona and Minnesota, we’ll begin with future world travel plans. Of course, we’re both hoping for this case. There’s no way I want Tom to go through what he did caring for me in 2019. It was an awful 24-hour-a-day scenario for many months. With my chosen Medicare plan, a rehab facility is an option for the first three to four weeks, the worst part of recovery.

Also, Cleveland Clinic’s recovery facility provides lots of physical therapy, a must after such surgery, which wasn’t available in South Africa then.

That’s a lot on my mind, but for now, I’ve chosen not to worry and to enjoy each day; I’m grateful for feeling so well. Now that we’ve both recovered from the virus with the cough (not Covid), nothing can stop me now. My new workout shoes arrived yesterday and fit perfectly.

I look forward to working out daily to increase my strength and stamina.

Now that I’ve lost 24 pounds, with only three pounds away from my goal, and am working out again, after only doing so intermittently over the past 11-plus years, I am building up enough strength to walk in most environments. My only concern is walking in Marloth Park with uneven dirt roads. I heard about a woman there who has a fitness center in her home, which can be used for a small fee. If I could use that, I would be able to maintain my new level of fitness.

In Arizona and Minnesota, both locations where we’ll stay have fitness centers. If I have access to a bike or treadmill and some weights, that’s all I’ll need to maintain the progress I am now building. Before we began traveling, I had worked out most of my life since I was 16, staying slim, healthy, and fit. It is time to return to that progress, and I am not letting my age or health conditions be a deterrent.

Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, January 17, 2014:

Wow! They kept coming until 30 to 40 elephants had crossed. They continued in a steady stream. What a sight! For more photos, please click here.

What???…No rental car???…How are we managing that?…

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Beautiful scenery on the Big Island, Hawaii, in January 2015.

When Tom returned from Chicago, Illinois, on January 10, he didn’t pick up another rental car. Instead, he took an Uber back to the condo in Lake Las Vegas. Before he left, we did some cost comparisons, considering traveling to Henderson for dinner with Richard, shopping, and any other trips we may need to make using Uber instead of renting a vehicle at the airport.

At an average total cost for 28 days of $800. The daily cost, including taxes and fees, plus fuel, is $29 per day. For the sake of ease, let’s say a rental car’s total daily cost is $30. The average round trip cost using Uber (including tax and tip) for anywhere we’d go is $60.

Most likely, with all the shops and restaurants down one flight of stairs from the corridor on our floor, it’s unlikely we’d go anywhere more than once a week, thus incurring a cost of $60 each time. Using Uber once a week for four weeks is $240 instead of the $800 rental fee, saving us $560 every four weeks.

With almost 12 weeks remaining since he dropped off the car on January 9, considering three four-week periods, we’ll save $1680 when we leave here on March 31, 2024. When we had a car for the first few weeks, it sat in the parking ramp, mostly unused.

Buying all of our groceries online from Smith’s Marketplace (using Instacart Boost shipping) and any other items we need online, and with the availability of the wonderful Season’s Market down those steps with a three-minute walk, we certainly don’t need a car for shopping.

Plus, the many restaurants within walking distance, one of which we’ll visit this weekend, located at the bottom of the steps, the only times we’ll need to go out is to join Richard and his significant other for dinner at another location. In those cases, if the restaurant is further away from his home, we’ll Uber to his home and ride with them. We don’t expect them to pick us up at this location; it’s about 20 minutes each way.

When we choose not to rent a car, we don’t do so, expecting others to “cart us around.” We always prefer to be as independent as possible, wherever we may be.

Yesterday, while working out in the fitness center down the corridor, I noticed my Sketchers shoes weren’t providing as much support as needed, as I’ve quickly increased my time on the treadmill. Once back at the condo, I ordered a brand of workout shoes from Amazon; I know from experience that they work for me. I ordered them using a no-cost feature they offer, allowing me to try them on and return them if they don’t work for me.

The shoes will work for me when I try them today when they arrive in a few hours. We are Amazon Prime members and get free overnight shipping. Between Smith’s and Amazon, we can receive anything we need. The only time we visited a pharmacy was when Tom needed a few medications when he went to Urgent Care with bronchitis. There’s an example of when we’d now use Uber, both for a visit to the clinic and then to Target Pharmacy for the prescriptions. We had a car at that time.

But still, if we’d used Uber for all of that, the most we’d have paid for the trip to the clinic, Target, and back to the condo would have been a total of $60 since they are only five miles from here, only the cost of two days of a rental car.

In any case, being frugal like this probably saves us thousands of dollars each year, allowing us to spend more on those things that mean more to us: nice hotels, holiday homes, and good food. Also, we can choose quality products and brand names when buying something, if preferred. At this point, we don’t feel trapped at all in this ideal location. If we change our minds, we can rent a car.

Last night, the low-carb enchiladas were excellent. I forgot to take a photo when we both were hungry and preoccupied with eating our lovely dinner. We’ll eat it again tonight and I wrapped the remainder for the freezer for two more nights. It’s always good to have pre-made meals in the freezer for those unexpected occasions when we prefer not to cook.

Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, January 16, 2014:

The Guineafowl parent gathered all their chicks together as we slowly drove by while in Kruger National Park. For more photos, please click here.

Football days are upon us…New recipe…easy or time consuming…

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This was a European roller we spotted in the bush described as follows: The European roller is a long-distance migrant, wintering in Africa south of the Sahara in two distinct regions, from Senegal east to Cameroon and from Ethiopia.

Gee… There are a lot of football games we can watch while Tom is streaming them from DAZN (formerly NFL Game Pass). Based on his subscription to this service, the commercials are gone if he waits three hours or more after the game ends. But, if we wait too long, we may see any particular results, and we both (Tom particularly) don’t like to know the final score ahead of time.

It’s nearly impossible to avoid seeing the results of games when there are many mentions of results all over the internet. Tom, who enjoys Facebook, can’t avoid seeing the results and comments from avid football fans. Coincidentally, the Super Bowl is being held in Las Vegas this year. No, we won’t buy the pricey tickets, especially since our favorite team, the Minnesota Vikings, won’t play. They haven’t played in the Super Bowl except as mentioned below:

“Minnesota Vikings is an American professional football team founded in 1961 and based in suburban Minneapolis, Minnesota, that plays in the National Football Conference (NFC) of the National Football League (NFL). The Vikings have appeared in four Super Bowls (1970, 1974, 1975, and 1977), losing each time.”

We both have other teams we like. I am a fan of the Kansas City Chiefs (Missouri) since I love watching Patrick Mahomes, and this year, Tom favors the Green Bay Packers (Wisconsin) and the Detroit Lions (Michigan). As for the other NFL  games, I seldom pay much attention. Instead, while he’s watching on my laptop with the HDMI cord plugged in, I play games on my phone or read news and other articles.

Once I upload the post each day, I seldom use my laptop other than when we’re researching future locations to travel. Thus, I don’t mind him using my laptop to stream the games to the TV. His laptop is a Chromebook with no HDMI outlet, and although we purchased an HDMI adapter a while ago, it isn’t working on his device. Thus, we use my Windows 11 laptop with a built-in HDMI port.

I had a late start on today’s post when I decided to make beef enchiladas for dinner for the next few nights. After considerable research online for keto tortillas, I found none that didn’t use wheat, starch, or bad oils. I checked through every keto tortilla on Amazon and at local markets. Nothing meets my criteria except the brand Egg Life. When we were in Florida many moons ago, I tried those, and they were awful, tasteless, and quickly fell apart.

Instead, this morning, I began making homemaker keto tortillas using this recipe I found online here. One wouldn’t want to tackle this recipe if they weren’t prepared to spend about an hour making a dozen of these in the kitchen. But the result is fantastic. Putting the ingredients together is easy; it’s rolling the 12 pieces of dough (I doubled the recipe and adjusted it to make 12 tortillas) and cooking them in a non-stick skillet for four minutes each (two minutes each side).

To my surprise, I enjoyed making these and will do so again. As for the enchilada recipe, I bought two large cans of enchilada sauce and cooked and drained three pounds of grass-fed ground beef. I added chopped onion, seasonings, and fresh garlic to the pan. Tom helped me cook and drain the meat, which needed to be broken into small pieces, not big chunks.

Once I am done here soon, I’ll go back into the kitchen and put the enchiladas together. I’ll add half of the sauce to the meat and add lots of shredded cheddar cheese, wrapping each tortilla in ¾ of the meat. Then, I’ll line the huge, lightly greased pans (using avocado oil) with the wrapped tortillas, adding more sauce, meat, and cheese. I’ll cook this for about 30 minutes at 350F until the top is bubbly and smells fantastic.

With this meal, we’ll have a big salad. It should be a delightful dinner. I used to make this dish with chicken or beef in our old lives, but I hadn’t made it in over 12 years, since before I changed my way of eating when I could use store-bought tortillas. It will be interesting to see if it tastes as good with the keto/low-carb homemade tortillas. I’ll take a photo tonight and let you know tomorrow.

If you can eat regular store-bought tortillas, this is a fantastic recipe for the family or entertaining. This recipe can easily be put together in 30 minutes without the lengthy process of making the tortillas.

Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, January 15, 2014:

No photos were posted today due to a poor WiFi signal while we were in the Blyde River Canyon in South Africa.

Correction in yesterday’s post about Medicare, Plan G for foreign travel…

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This restaurant, Luna Rossa, is about a one-minute walk once we get down one flight of stairs.

I made an error in yesterday’s comprehensive post about supplement Plan G, which I chose as an adjunct to Plan B enrollment. My insurance agent, Janet Mueller, at jmueller@teameip.com, noted the need to make a correction, which I’ve done on the post and noted today. See below for details:

  • Maximum annual $50,000, with $250 deductible, which pays 80%, on emergency medical services for foreign travel outside the US. Air and ground ambulance are covered. Here is a link with information on ambulance and air ambulance services for Plan G.

  • Tom sure loves bread.

Now that the Medicare information is posted and hopefully clear for those interested, we’re moving on to other topics, such as our first evening out to dinner last night in The Village, one flight down an outside stairway from the hallway on our floor.

We had a lovely time in the restaurant. We went to the Italian restaurant Luna Rossa, a one-minute walk once we got downstairs to the ground level. We’d thought of going to the Mexican restaurant but, at the last minute, decided against it when I’d planned to make beef enchiladas on Monday.

Tom’s delicious lasagne.

Only a few items on the Mexican restaurant’s menu appealed to Tom with some modifications. Most Mexican restaurants serve Spanish rice and refried beans with each entree, neither of which Tom will eat. Taking those two items away from a plate may leave little to eat. As a result, he only likes taco salad with beef, not chicken. Of course, he could ask for meat instead of chicken, but he doesn’t care to ask for special adjustments when he orders off a menu.

On the other hand, I’m always asking for special adjustments for my orders to ensure they are gluten-free, starch-free, and sugar-free. I always tell Tom, “We’re the customer paying the bill. It’s ok to ask for changes, especially if we’re willing to pay for upgrades that may increase the price.”

My mussels and clams in a tasty broth.

Oh well, we each do it our way. He’s a picky eater due to his taste buds, and I am picky only to ensure I don’t eat anything that isn’t suitable for my way of eating. If I didn’t eat this way, I pretty much like everything.

Once seated at Luna Rossa without reservation on a Saturday night, we felt at ease at the table for four with a crisp white tablecloth and lovely table setting. The service was fast and friendly, primarily by older Italian gentlemen with experience. More servers were in the restaurant than customers, but about half of the tables were occupied, which surprised us.

I can always find something to eat in Italian restaurants even when most of the dishes contain pasta, none of which I’ll order. Tom had the delicious lasagne, a good-sized portion, made to perfection. I ordered the mussels and clam in a delightful broth that I finished with a spoon. We each ordered one drink, a brandy and Sprite for Tom and a lovely Merlot for me.

The restaurant was surprisingly busy. We didn’t expect the eateries in The Village to be busy.

The wine glass was huge, and there couldn’t have been more than four ounces of wine in it, typical for somewhat fancier dining establishments. But the drinks and food were plenty for us. Tom enjoyed the basket of bread, which only came with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, neither of which he’d eat. He started eating the dry, unbuttered bread but didn’t ask for butter. When the waiter passed, we asked for butter, and Tom dug into the bread.

Our dinner bill was $98, including tax and tip. We could have easily had two nights’ dinners at Jabula for this amount, including drinks, tax, and tip. At these prices, we’ll only eat out once a week.

The short walk back to our place was refreshing in the cool air at only 40F. As I write here this morning, it’s only 46F, typical for the winter cool desert temps. I love this cool weather in Las Vegas, especially when it’s sweltering in the summer months.

I’m off to take the bedding to dry in the laundry room using the handy laundry app on my phone. As mentioned, we have a washer in our unit but no dryer. We dry everything else on the portable laundry rack we purchased at Amazon.

Today will be a football day. Last night, we watched an exciting game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Miami Dolphins. No spoilers here if you haven’t watched it.

Have a wonderful Sunday.

Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, January 14, 2014:

Baby warthog is sleeping in our yard, while mom and three other babies munched on vegetation. For more, please click here.

Part 2…Here it is…My Medicare Part B late enrollment, a supplement and possible drug plan…Important information for long term world travelers…

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This is what’s called a “Bottlebrush Plant.” Greyia flanaganii, commonly known as the Kei bottlebrush, is a species of plant in the Francoaceae family. Greyia flanaganii is one of the related species of the taxonomically isolated and endemic southern African family, the Greyiaceae. Greyia flanaganii is endemic to the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa.”

Four years ago today, we arrived in Marloth Park, South Africa, after 59 hours of travel from Mumbai, India, after ten months in lockdown in a hotel room near the Mumbai Airport. We were masked, gloved, wearing face shields, and flying tentatively, with Covid 19 still prevalent worldwide. We were so happy to finally be free.

Here’s what we wrote in a short post on January 13, 2021 from this link here:

“It’s after 7:15 pm on Wednesday, and we are exhausted. I’d hope to do a post tonight, but I don’t have the energy to put it together. We’ve already taken several amazing photos, and tomorrow morning, coffee in hand, we’ll look forward to sharing details about our new home and new life at Lovebird’s Nest in Marloth Park and some memorable wildlife photos from our garden. It’s heavenly.

Please check back tomorrow while we get back into our usual rhythm of posting daily,

Thanks for your patience, kind words, and encouragement. We are so grateful!”

It’s hard to believe it was four years ago when it seems like yesterday. We made a point of quarantining to protect our friends in the bush, and in no time, we could socialize with all the wonderful friends we’ve made in the bush over the years. It was an extraordinary time, although we continued to exercise caution to avoid contracting Covid-19.

It wasn’t until we left South Africa for a few cruises in 2022 that we were infected on a cruise, leaving us both with lingering, long-term COVID-19 symptoms. Tom coughed for months, and I had a sinus-related face and head pain for 18 months that only resolved a few months ago. Enough on that, but sharing this memory with all our readers was meaningful.

I will continue to share what we mentioned in yesterday’s post on the supplement plan I chose as an adjunct to enrolling in Part B Medica on January 2, 2024. I’ve yet to hear from the Railroad Retirement Board if my enrollment has been processed, but it should be in the next few weeks by February 1, when the supplement kicks in, and I will finally be insured.

Here is the link to yesterday’s Part 1, explaining in detail the penalty imposed upon me for late enrollment of Part B, for which I  opted out when I turned 65 in 2013 since there was no coverage outside the US. The supplement I’ve chosen covers me outside the US for a maximum of $50,000 annually for emergency medical treatment and services, not standard medical care such as doctor’s office visits and tests.

With doctor appointments under $50 in South Africa and tests even less, we will continue to see Doc Theo as needed while we’re in Marloth Park in five months.

My US Medicare insurance rep, Janet Meuller, mentioned in yesterday’s post, has been a fantastic resource of valuable information, answering many questions I threw at her over several phone conversations in the past several weeks. If you are in a position to consider supplements and drug plans, once again, you can reach her at jmueller@teameip.com. (Note: we are not involved in any compensation for recommending Janet. We only do so based on the quality of service I received, as we often do when encountering exceptional professionals). She can work with you on plans for any state in the US.

So here’s what we chose for me. (Tom wasn’t ready to sign up at this point).

There are several plans available from which to choose. I won’t list them all here since there are too many to list, which are based on your state of residence, your age, and other factors.

With Janet’s help, I chose Plan G with Aflac, priced at $157 a month (could change annually as any supplement can and most likely will) but enables me to implement the following.”

  • Maximum annual copay: $240. No other copays for any other Medicare-approved services.
  • After the $240 copay is met, there is 100% coverage for all Medicare-accepted services, doctor appointments, hospital stays, surgeries, tests, and more. Always check when making an appointment to see if the medical doctor or facility accepts Medicare and your plan, in my case, Plan G.
  • Maximum annual $50,000, with $250 deductible, which pays 80%, on emergency medical services for foreign travel outside the US. Air and ground ambulance is covered. Here is a link with information on ambulance and air ambulance services for Plan G.
  • No network constraints: I can choose any doctor or medical facility I’d prefer anywhere in the US, unlike many plans that restrict the patient to specific local networks, doctors, and facilities.
  • No doctor referrals are required for hospital care, and specialists
  • Chiropractic services are covered under these stipulations:” Medicare Plan. G covers chiropractic services, but only for medically necessary spinal manipulation, as Original Medicare covers. This means that additional chiropractic services or treatments, such as preventive visits or chiropractor-ordered tests, are not covered under Plan G.
  • No dental, vision, or drug coverage is included in Plan G. They must be purchased separately. We opted out of those coverages, which we can change during any open enrollment period. Penalties may be assessed due to late enrollment, as in our case.

Why didn’t we choose a dental, vision, and pharmacy plan? We have dental work done in South Africa, which is less than 20% of the cost in the US. We both had (and don’t have now) dental problems when our teeth were thoroughly examined before we left South Africa nine months ago. Also, we both see an optometrist in South Africa. Tom’s eyeglass prescription is current, as is my contact lens prescription. We will have exams again when we return in June.

As for a pharmacy plan, Janet reviewed all my medications with me. Based on plans available for a pharmacy plan, I am paying less than copays would be with a US plan. I continue to buy medicines from ProgressiveRX or many Canadian companies that ship drugs from countries where the manufacturing of worldwide generic medication is around 80%. See this article here for details. Also, I often get refills of my medications while in South Africa, with drugs costing less than copays would be on any of the available plans.

The costs I incur for my few medicines are less than buying drugs in the US with copays that I’d pay with a pharmacy plan. Please do your own research to decide what is best for you.

I can’t stress enough how most of these plans are based on your individual needs, not necessarily the same as mine. As world travelers, we needed to find what works best for our circumstances.

That’s it for today, folks. Hope you’re having a fantastic weekend. We are! We are heading down to the Village for dinner tonight at what appears to be an excellent Mexican restaurant. We will take photos and report back tomorrow.

Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, January 13, 2014:

Beautiful sunset over the Crocodile River. For more, please click here.

Part 1…Here it is…My Medicare Part B late enrollment, a supplement and possible drug plan…Important information for long term world travelers…

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An adorable lion cub is resting with the pride. We took this photo while very close.

In 2012, when we began our travels, we decided we wouldn’t sign up for Part B Medicare when we turned 65. In 2013, I turned 65 (I am 5 years older than Tom). Qualified Individuals over 65 years old receive Medicare Part A as follows:

“*Generally, you’re eligible for Part A if you are 65 or older, meet the citizenship and residency requirements, and get disability benefits from Social Security or the Railroad Retirement Board for at least 25 months.”

What does Part A cover?

“Part A (Hospital Insurance): Helps cover inpatient care in hospitals, skilled nursing facility care, hospice care, and home health care. Part B (Medical Insurance): Part A covers Inpatient surgeries, lab tests, and drugs related to the inpatient stay. Medicare Part A doesn’t cover doctors’ services even for Medicare-approved stays. There’s no cost for Part A for qualified individuals.

What does Part B cover, and what is the monthly premium deducted from Social Security, or in our case, Railroad Retirement?

Part B Medicare or other medical insurance may provide coverage for Medicare. Part B helps cover medically necessary services like doctors’ services and tests, outpatient care, home health services, durable medical equipment, and other medical services. Part B also covers some preventive services. Look at your Medicare card to find out if you have Part B. The government charges a monthly fee for Part B, which is now:

$174.70 in 2024 or higher, depending on your income. The amount can change each year. You’ll pay a monthly premium, even if you don’t get any Part B-covered services. “Higher income” is construed as follows:

If you file your taxes as “married, filing jointly,  and your MAGI, adjusted gross income exceeds $206,000, you’ll pay higher premiums for your Part B and Medicare prescription drug coverage. If you file your taxes using a different status and your MAG exceeds $103,000, you’ll pay higher premiums.

When we didn’t sign up for Part B Medicare since we were traveling outside the US and accepted the future penalty, and had no use for it, when Medicare doesn’t pay for care outside the US, the following penalty was assessed per year when I finally decided to send in my enrollment for Part B as follows on January 2, 2024:

“Medicare Part B has a 10% penalty on your monthly premium for each 12-month period you delay enrollment. This penalty is lifelong. In 2024, the penalty is based on a monthly premium of $174.70.”

As a result, after ten years without enrolling in Part B, my cost for Part B will be $349.40 monthly. Had I known in 2013, when I chose not` to sign up for Part B, that I’d have heart problems, I would have enrolled when I turned 65. It wasn’t until 2019 that my heart issues were discovered. At that point, we would be out of the US for years to come, and we decided to continue to wait until we returned to the US for extended periods.

Now that we’re spending more time in the US and with the discovery of future potential heart surgery, it was time for me to sign up. If I eventually need additional surgery after having tests in the US while we’re here, I will be covered.

Since Medicare Part A and Part B don’t cover everything, resulting in huge co-pays that can be life-changing and stressful, a “supplement” is necessary to cover the costs of potential co-pays, which could run into tens of thousands of dollars if not covered by Part A and Part B.

I looked online but became frustrated when I understood how supplements work. Every site I searched required me to fill out a form with my personal information to receive a call back to review the possibilities of a supplement. I started getting dozens of phone calls each day, and I didn’t want to return all those calls. However, in the process, I answered many of the calls and became more frustrated in the process.

I had run out of patience with agents whose primary goal was to sell me a plan that earned them the most commissions (the government pays).

During this period, I stumbled across a no-pressure, knowledgeable Medicare insurance agent, Janet Mueller, who gently walked me through the process, answering my seemingly endless stream of questions. I couldn’t have been more thrilled with her service and attention to detail. I’d highly recommend her services if you need help with a supplement and/or pharmacy plan. She can be reached at jmueller@teameip.com. Janet’s concern was only for those plans that would serve my needs with the best possible price and terms.

This post is getting long, so we will continue tomorrow with the plan Janet helped me decide is suitable for my circumstances. We’ll be back tomorrow with Part 2 regarding the supplement I chose and decisions regarding a prescription plan. See you then!

Be well.

Photo from ten years ago today, January 12, 2014:

Hundreds of grasshoppers in our garden traveled from one tree to another over hours. We spent the better part of a day filming and watching them. For videos and the unique story, please click here.