Good morning. It's cloudy and 34.
Thanks for the words of encouragement, I appreciate it. I spent yesterday working on the "newsed" truck. I discovered the previous owner must have worked for Penn Central back in the day. While it is in good shape overall, it seems to be a rolling monument to deferred maintenance. It is a 2006 model, with 128,000 miles on it. I replaced the original fuel filter, original transmission filter, rear axle pinion seal and original differential fluid, original coolant, original brake fluid accessory drive belt on the engine, and have an appointment to get a new set of tires for it. Luckily, the only thing super expensive is the tires. $560. I'll put that on my tire credit card, and pay it off over the next few months. I was going to put it off until closer to Summer, but when I was driving in the rain last week, it hydroplaned, and if I hadn't kept my cool, we would probably have went in the ditch. After the dealer replaced the original spark plugs and original coil packs right after we got it, the gas mileage increased dramatically. Still not "good", but better. It was getting 12, which is what my larger, heavier F250 was getting. The F250 weighed over a ton more... Now, it's getting 14.5 consistently. EPA says it should get 18. I'll be happy with 16.
After that, I took my wife to Walgreens, and paid for another round of injectible diabetes medicine for her. Our co-pay was $259.20 for 4 shots. I guess I shouldn't complain, retail price for it was around $1200. I also stopped in, and got my migraine medicine. That was better, my co-pay was $10 for 6 pills. Retail price on them is $159 per pill. Since I am only allowed 6 per month, I have to make a decision about paying retail when I run out, or staying home unpaid from work. It's cheaper to stay home than to buy a pill so I can go to work.
In other financial news, I finally got a check from our renter's insurance for the first round of stuff. They wanted me to buy all the replacements first, then they would cut me a check. They relented somewhat when I asked them if I could borrow a few thousand to do that. We broke the claim up into two parts. The direct loss, and the replacement. After I buy the replacement stuff, and submit receipts, they'll cut a second check for the replacement value. The adjuster choked on his coffee when he saw how much a replacement computer for me would cost. We agreed on $1000 to replace it, since it's an older model, and not the current version. I've had it since we moved here in 2010, when I paid $1500 for it, used. It was a Mac Pro, with everything you could get at the time. It was way overkill for almost anything I did, but it did come in handy when I was working on the club's website.
Hopefully, the rest of my week goes smoothly. We're closed for Good Friday, so I can finish prepping our travel trailer for one of the two outings planned for this year. We're taking it to a rally in South Carolina, where I am slated to give several free seminars on maintenance and upgrades. The second outing is when we take the trailer back to the factory where it was made for an annual rally, where again I am performing several seminars. At least I am getting partial compensation for that one, we don't have to pay any rally fees, saving around $600. All we have to pay for is food and fuel. And toll$...
Thanks for the words of encouragement, I appreciate it. I spent yesterday working on the "newsed" truck. I discovered the previous owner must have worked for Penn Central back in the day. While it is in good shape overall, it seems to be a rolling monument to deferred maintenance. It is a 2006 model, with 128,000 miles on it. I replaced the original fuel filter, original transmission filter, rear axle pinion seal and original differential fluid, original coolant, original brake fluid accessory drive belt on the engine, and have an appointment to get a new set of tires for it. Luckily, the only thing super expensive is the tires. $560. I'll put that on my tire credit card, and pay it off over the next few months. I was going to put it off until closer to Summer, but when I was driving in the rain last week, it hydroplaned, and if I hadn't kept my cool, we would probably have went in the ditch. After the dealer replaced the original spark plugs and original coil packs right after we got it, the gas mileage increased dramatically. Still not "good", but better. It was getting 12, which is what my larger, heavier F250 was getting. The F250 weighed over a ton more... Now, it's getting 14.5 consistently. EPA says it should get 18. I'll be happy with 16.
After that, I took my wife to Walgreens, and paid for another round of injectible diabetes medicine for her. Our co-pay was $259.20 for 4 shots. I guess I shouldn't complain, retail price for it was around $1200. I also stopped in, and got my migraine medicine. That was better, my co-pay was $10 for 6 pills. Retail price on them is $159 per pill. Since I am only allowed 6 per month, I have to make a decision about paying retail when I run out, or staying home unpaid from work. It's cheaper to stay home than to buy a pill so I can go to work.
In other financial news, I finally got a check from our renter's insurance for the first round of stuff. They wanted me to buy all the replacements first, then they would cut me a check. They relented somewhat when I asked them if I could borrow a few thousand to do that. We broke the claim up into two parts. The direct loss, and the replacement. After I buy the replacement stuff, and submit receipts, they'll cut a second check for the replacement value. The adjuster choked on his coffee when he saw how much a replacement computer for me would cost. We agreed on $1000 to replace it, since it's an older model, and not the current version. I've had it since we moved here in 2010, when I paid $1500 for it, used. It was a Mac Pro, with everything you could get at the time. It was way overkill for almost anything I did, but it did come in handy when I was working on the club's website.
Hopefully, the rest of my week goes smoothly. We're closed for Good Friday, so I can finish prepping our travel trailer for one of the two outings planned for this year. We're taking it to a rally in South Carolina, where I am slated to give several free seminars on maintenance and upgrades. The second outing is when we take the trailer back to the factory where it was made for an annual rally, where again I am performing several seminars. At least I am getting partial compensation for that one, we don't have to pay any rally fees, saving around $600. All we have to pay for is food and fuel. And toll$...
Last edited by a moderator:
