Thanks, RCG.

Dave- it is incredibly confusing (Medicare).  I'm an employment lawyer and I couldn't figure it out.  It depends on your employer's plan whether or not you get kicked off for Medicare once you are eligible.  I did NOT have to stop using my company plan.  When you turn 65 you are automatically eligible for Part A- all that covers is hospitalization.  Make sure you get enrolled, but if you still have corporate coverage, that's all you need to do until you lose your corporate coverage in retirement etc.    The mistake I almost made was that when I retired at 69 I continued my coverage through COBRA, but it turns out COBRA is not considered "credible insurance" by Medicare and you only have 8 months or something like that to get on the rest of Medicare (Part B (medical)) etc and start paying them.  If you miss that deadline there is a penalty.  I used a consultant (you don't pay them- they get their kickback from the supplemental plans) and he was terrific.  He had the goods on the best drug plans (they look at your prescriptions to figure it out) etc.     So- in your case you have to get an answer from HR as to whether you can continue your company coverage and if you can, don't worry about it for now except for signing up for Part A, which you have to do.

4.3 miles this morning and I have a lot going on today, so off I go!

Steve- great pictures, as always.

Karen, nice 4+ miles this morning.

I forgot to mention some details of my run this morning!  It wasn't until I was halfway down John Rolfe Road when I remembered there was a 24 hours run (1.8 miles per loop!) in the swamp. Started Saturday at 0800 and finished at 0800 this morning.

Anyway. It was weird seeing people on the trail I usually have to myself in the predawn hours.  The first person I saw was on the side of the trail and I thought they were puking.  I said, "Are you okay? I usually don't see folks out here during my run"  They replied, "It's a 24 hours event. I'm just stretching."  To which I repeated, "So you are okay?" And they said, "Yes"

I shuffled along and eventually saw another person walking and I greeted them. And I kept going and I came upon another person walking. And she said as I passed, "I think this is going to be my last lap"  I asked her if she was going to be okay and she said yes. I hope she was.

I waddled on and left the proper loop and went into the farmers field. The mackerel sky filtered the moonlight. The screech owls and hoot owls cheered me along my route.

As I exited the Powhatan watershed trail and back into my neighborhood, my hip was griping about the effort it exerted thus far. Home was over a mile away!

I chugged along and thought I might start to slow down a bit when I heard bats in the trees near the road.  My friend told me of folks complaining about bats flying into their heads in our neighborhood.

Instead of slowing down, I picked up the pace and made it home sans bat encounter.

So with the moon and the Halloween inflatables and lights and owls and bats, I had a thoroughly exhilarating outing this morning

Good morning ladies. All of the guys must be off doing "stuff."   Thanks for the start and nice recap RCG. I'm glad the bats stayed out of your way on your run today!

Sounds like a busy day Karen.

Nice Peloton ride this morning Deez!

3.2 run/walk miles this morning, 34 degrees, overcast, windy and feeling too much like winter, way too early. I finished with 20 minutes of stretching.

There's a great story in the NYT today about a gentleman who carves pumpkins for big bucks. The pics of some of his creations were really cool! Who knew that you were supposed to carve your hole in the back of the pumpkin to get the "guts" out, instead of the top or bottom. He takes the tough outer orange skin off and carves the soft, fleshy stuff. I'm not sure I'd have the patience, though if someone was willing to pay me $700 to do one, I might take my time!

Have a great Sunday everyone.

Beautiful sunrise photo!  And how fun re the chalk markings.

Deez - I don't know much about Medicare (yet), but I do know there is a penalty for not signing for some portion before you turn 65.  You have to have everything in place.  If you have something like Area 1 Agency on Aging or a Senior Resource Center, contact them and see if they can refer you to a consultant.  A few years back, a consultant talked at one of our local continuing ed programs and my boss used her to help him and his wife get their paperwork in place and he said it was really helpful.  I'll be contacting her the closer The Hub gets to turning 65 (he'll be 63 in January).

My buddy, Teonna, is struggling at Javelina. Karen said she's slowed to a 29:30 finish. I guess, per her coach, she's been heavily relying on Spring Energy Gels and Tailwind and had a loop of stomach issues, causing diarrhea and nausea.  I had wondered about that when we were at WS and talking and she told me she wasn't eating much real food on her training runs.  Fingers crossed she can push on this last loop and get it done.

I need to get my butt in gear, eat some breakfast, get some housework done, and after it dries mow the lawn.  The Hub is working since it's supposed to rain later this week, so I can't sit on my butt all day.

MTA: Teonna doesn't know it yet, but she won the Butt Award!!!! 

Thanks for the Medicare answers. I'll continue to look into it. I am pretty sure there is a certain number of months before and after you turn 65 to make your decision. I also have to consider my current HSA coverage which I would have to drop if I signed up for Medicare. And technically I would have to drop it 6 months before signing up for Medicare. Not sure what happens if I don't. Maybe I have to pay taxes on anything I put into it...beats me.

Today is a much needed rest day.

I joke about how boring watching an ultra is, but I have watched quite a bit of the Javelina Jundred. I believe the winner set a course record. He had a drone following his final miles but I went to bed when he was still 7 miles out so I didn't see it. He was flying by the folks he was lapping. It actually looks like a fun thing to do, but I can't run that far. And running in the desert when it is sunny and mid-80s doesn't sound like anything I could do.

This morning, in addition to the Javelina, YouTube had live coverage of the Frankfurt and Dublin Marathons. Frankfurt has a really cool looking indoor finish. Runners come into an arena on red carpet, with colored lights and people cheering.  Coverage of Frankfurt only lasted until the first German woman finished, but Dublin kept the camera running at the finish for a long time so you could watch lots of folks finish.

It looked like it was raining at both of those races.

Dave, just chiming in here since you know you and I are only a couple weeks apart in age.

I have a similar circumstance in that I don't need the coverage yet as I can stay on Lee's.  But you still have to sign up for Part a to avoid the penalty.

The most difficulty I had was finding how to sign up for Medicare without signing up for Social Security.   My local SSA office sent me a link via email.  The sign up is then all done on line.  It took 5 weeks as it starts at a federal office, then is sent out to your local office.  At that point they can do a personal phone call interview before stamping it approved and sending it back to the main office.  From there it was another 2 weeks for the card to arrive.

You can track it on your SSA portal, but really, they emailed me every 5 days or so letting me know where my application was in the system.

Of course, your results may vary.

Just dog walking again today but I met an old high school friend totally by accident.  She is in town visiting her dad and always travels with her dog.  Whenever she's in town we seem to find each other on the same route with our dogs.  Which reminds me, Robert Earl is a great looking pup.  He is so lucky to have found you KSA, thanks for the pictures!

 

Speaking of Medicare, my SO just found out that, in addition to all kinds of freebies, including a gym membership and $75 of OTC pharmacy supplies every quarter, his plan will reimburse $1200 worth of exercise-related stuff, including ski lift tickets. Good incentive to get a season pass to a mountain near our place in NH. He's pretty happy about it.

 

Just to clarify, this is a Medicare Advantage plan, not traditional Medicare.

Fun Fact: there are no Medicare Advantage plans in the state of Alaska. The retirees on the state retiree plan call in to the monthly "town hall" meeting frequently ask about these benefits and why they can't have them. Well... because you live in Alaska!