FWP

[waverly]

Feb 9, 2018 14:49:56 GMT -5 sandandsea said:

Booking vacations is hard and time consuming. We are doing two amazing trips this year and the planning is taking forever. I also have done no research into one destination so everything seems so up in the air now. So if you have any suggestions for Nice France for three days I’ll take them.

The other is Aulani in Hawaii and we’ve been to Oahu before so that seems easy now that it’s booked.

Never been to Nice. I've been to Aix en Provence. It's a cute town and then we went to the sunflower fields on a day trip. Not sure where the sunflower fields are in comparison to the city.

[akafred]

186momx, I would find out how much it would cost to pay OOP for the OBGYN visit and labs. I might keep the insurance and just not use it for the visit.

[2chatter]

sandandsea - I feel you. For the Caymans trip I feel like we are either going to end up skipping things or pay insane
Prices or end up with shady outfits because we didn’t plan. But I need free time to plan.

[186momx]

k3am, It is weird. He gets 2 visits at co-pay and then any other visits he has to meet the deductible before they will pay. Luckily he only goes once or so usually for a sinus infection. Out of the 3 of us he is the one sick the most.

akafred, I'm planning on calling my OB's office and seeing if they can help me out. Last year I believe my EOB came back to about $400 but I didn't have any labs. I'm guessing I'm not the only person this is affecting as this is the only private insurance company other than Medicaid that is available for our county.

[2chatter]

186momx - ours is like your DH’s but it’s only one appointment per year, free, well check only no labs.

I like it though because our deductible is only $1500 and I set up an FSA for $1500 so it should be painless this year. What is DH’s deductible?

[186momx]

2chatter, 3500 deductible

I have my HSA which switched from individual to family this year and I've maxed it out each year so I have a nice nest egg to cover the big expense. All the doctor visits and dentist I try to pay cash without getting into it so I have it for a big emergency.

Part of the reason I have an only is she was a 10K baby and that was to just meet the deductible, it emptied most of my HSA.

[2chatter]

186momx - that’s insane. I am so sorry you are trapped by the system like this. I paid cash for my first as I was uninsurable and it was a couple grand. To think with insurance it’s so much more (and I paid cash with second DD because by the time insurance kicked in they wouldn’t revert it) — than cash — is insane. At least it sounds like you can roll over your HSA? Small comfort....

[k3am]

I officially love our insurance. I know it doesn't help your situation, but... man, I love my insurance.

[sandandsea]

I have another one travel related. They won’t let me reserve seats for our return flight. I want to pay them more for preferred/plus/whatever seats and they won’t let me.

[2chatter]

sandandsea can I FFFC off your FWP? And I hope they let you book seats soon! That is the worst.

If I have a reserved seat and you don’t and your seat is behind mine (toward the back of the plane) and you want to switch to sit with your kids or BFF or whatever, my answer is no. And calling me a bitch isn’t going to change my mind. I vomit in the back of planes. I would have been willing to help people in these situations (locating someone to switch) but their rudeness always shocks me.

Your poor planning or unwillingness to pay is not my emergency.

[HeartofCheese]

This Barbie Princess/Popstar cartoon on Netflix is so much suckier than Jem.

[sandandsea]

Feb 9, 2018 17:06:49 GMT -5 2chatter said:

sandandsea can I FFFC off your FWP? And I hope they let you book seats soon! That is the worst.

If I have a reserved seat and you don’t and your seat is behind mine (toward the back of the plane) and you want to switch to sit with your kids or BFF or whatever, my answer is no. And calling me a bitch isn’t going to change my mind. I vomit in the back of planes. I would have been willing to help people in these situations (locating someone to switch) but their rudeness always shocks me.

Your poor planning or unwillingness to pay is not my emergency.

Yes. Although I hate it when southwest knows they are waiting for a connecting family and don’t save seats together for them. The flight won’t take off with a 2 year old not sitting by a parent so save everyone the hassle and reserve two seats. You know they’re coming.

[2chatter]

Yes!! Gate agents who ball drop make me insane. I mean, that really is their job.

[mommyatty]

I got halfway through Episode 2 of Stranger Things when my plane landed. I feel weird watching the rest while in my Uber on the way home.

And my Uber driver is listening to Too Good at Goodbye on repeat with like 2 other songs. And singing. And he’s not talented. It’s a very long ride home tonight.

[twinmomma]

Feb 9, 2018 12:48:16 GMT -5 twinmomma said:

I ordered a fancy calzone for lunch. We're going on 2 hours and they still haven't delivered it. Total FWP. But I'm getting hangry!

The saga of the calzone continues. DH ATE MY LEFTOVERS while I was out today! I'm so bitter. It was a special gluten free one. 

[supertrooper1]

I finished addressing the save the date postcards for my parents' anniversary party and I'm 2 stamps short. The line at our post office is always too long and they don't have a stamp machine. I may use regular stamps even though I did postcards to save money on postage.

[msn06]

186momx your insurance sounds like my parents. The only reason they haven't dropped theirs is because at one point some proposed health care reforms contained verbiage about maintaining continuous coverage to be eligible for parts of the reform.

[waverly]

Our ski trip was cancelled for the second time because the kids camp was booked. We called exactly when they said to call but no luck. I had to book us lessons at a local hill with a tow rope. At least it saves us from about a 14 hour drive round trip.

The first time we cancelled was because of our boiler problem in the house. I guess it's just not in the cards for us this year.

We have a credit so we are going to try next year and maybe fly up there? I dont know why DH won't just try to much smaller, but still nice ski resort that's only 2 hours away.

[freezorburn]

My FWP is that I have been wondering and researching, for not the first time, whether it's safe to continue cooking with 18-year-old Calphalon pots and pans. They have some scratches and pits ... from when XH used metal utensils on them. And actually cut things in them when they were hot. Which you are not supposed to do. These are the old style where it's the same material inside and out. And I can't help but notice that the new ones in the stores all have some kind of coating on the inside so that aluminum isn't directly touching the food.

I'm this close to pulling the trigger on a few stainless steel pieces that are on sale at W-S.

[waverly]

freezorburn, I love my stainless steel pans. I also have a ceramic one that hasn't chipped as well. And of course my cast iron. Basically anything but the traditional non stick coatings.

[2chatter]

freezorburn - I prefer the indestructible non stick from Williams Sonoma to the unlined - but both are great!

[sweetptater]

freezorburn, I only use cast iron and stainless steel. Both are non-stick if prepared correctly. The only thing I've ever had to soak and scrub was burnt on kettle corn.

I love my All-Clad pans. They're expensive, but you don't need a lot. I have one ss skillet, a 1.5 and 3 qt. ss sauce pan, and a stock pot. For cast iron I have 3 sizes skillets, a 5qt. dutch oven, and an enameled 9qt. dutch oven. That's more than I need and I cook a lot.

[judyblume14]

twinmomma, I am really, really mad at your husband.

[twinmomma]

Feb 12, 2018 12:33:34 GMT -5 judyblume14 said:

twinmomma , I am really, really mad at your husband.

I was irrationally mad when I found out. I'm glad I'm not alone in the rage. 

[rere]

Fwp- I have thrown out the Rockies, a cruise, and New York as vacation plans. The kids are non committal, and Dh rejected all three last night. I threw up my hands and said for them to figure it out or we are not going anywhere. So either no vacation or I will end up in Panama City for the eleventybillionth time.

[2chatter]

rere - what do they like? I’m ready to strangle DD here - we are planning her birthday trip and I ask “do you want to hike or kayak more?” And get “yes”.

All the state park cabins are rented so now I need her to decide - resort and drive to state park for the day Saturday or small town air bnb or ranch air bnb and state park for the day.

Or if she would pick ONE place then we could just choose a place to stay but this is HARD.

[phdmomma]

I accidentally cut myself on the marker ledge for the whiteboard today while I was teaching. Total FWP, but my wrist was bleeding all during class while I tried to teach.

[rere]

Feb 12, 2018 16:28:43 GMT -5 2chatter said:

rere - what do they like? I’m ready to strangle DD here - we are planning her birthday trip and I ask “do you want to hike or kayak more?” And get “yes”.

All the state park cabins are rented so now I need her to decide - resort and drive to state park for the day Saturday or small town air bnb or ranch air bnb and state park for the day.

Or if she would pick ONE place then we could just choose a place to stay but this is HARD.

They like Gatlinburg and Panama, where we practically have residency. I want to try something new. They would probably love it if they try it, but if they don’t, there will be hell to pay from them all Dh included.

[2chatter]

rere - Gulf Shores? Panama ish vibe - two story wood go kart track, SUP, zip lining course - but not the same place again?

Or...Cali is shaping up to be crazy fun for us...

[freezorburn]

waverly, 2chatter, sweetptater, thanks for the feedback!

I'm also a big fan of cast iron. I have a few different sizes of frying pans and dutch ovens, and a grill pan. Great, reliable stuff. I'm sure I'll have them for the rest of my life.

After I posted, I took all my Calphalon out of the cabinets and realized there are really only three, maybe four, pieces that i use with any frequency. I have three sizes of saucepan but I can probably get away with two. An "everyday pan" which is basically a huge frying pan with two u-shaped handles instead of one long one. I use it for sauteeing and braising a lot. There are a few other pieces that I never use or just need to be retired because of wear and tear. I can get rid of them and not replace them, and find better ways to use that space! Yay!

I've had All-Clad envy for a long time, and I've been wanting to go back to cooking with SS for a while. I just remember that my mom had Revere Ware which took a beating and lasted forever. So I feel like, knowing how I cook these days, this is a good investment. I took advantage of the clearance sale online and got replacements for the three pots I know I'll use frequently. I'm super-excited!