An Obamacare Loophole For Early Retirees?

This entry was written on April 21, 2013, way before Obamacare took effect. Here is an update concerning my situation dated July 26, 2014: http://aboutlifeandrunning.blogspot.com/2014/07/qualifying-for-medi-cal-due-to-obamacare.html .

I didn’t expect to write about anything today, especially not about politics. But this is not about politics but rather about retirement. After I finished reading about buying health insurance with Obamacare, I just had to share a surprising discovery that could affect me and perhaps you. The main I concern I’ve had about retiring early (if I could), was getting affordable health insurance. I was already dreading the thought of having to work until I reach 65 when I would be eligible for Medicare, or stop working earlier and move to the Philippines. Of course you can always buy coverage from private insurance companies, but they are very expensive and if you have a pre-existing condition, your premiums could be higher or you could be denied coverage. So I decided to do some research on how Obamacare would affect the cost of health insurance coverage for early retirees, who won’t be eligible for Medicare until age 65, and found some interesting things about the Affordable Healthcare Act of 2010.

First I went to this website: coveredca.com to check out how Obamacare would work in California. I read through pages of information but they didn’t clearly indicate how early retirees would qualify. The main criteria they had was income. Where would early retirees get their income and how is that calculated? The website didn’t clearly say. So I asked Mr. Google this question: “Do early retirees qualify for medicaid?” A whole bunch of financial and news websites came up explaining a glitch or loophole in Obamacare. Here are a couple of examples: http://www.forbes.com/sites/financialfinesse/2012/07/03/surprising-ways-the-new-health-care-plan-can-speed-up-your-financial-independence-day/ and http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/21/obama-health-care-law-medicaid-middle-class_n_881412.html.

Basically, what is says is that early retirees can qualify for subsidized health insurance starting in 2014 or if you fall under a certain income level, then you qualify for Medicaid and don’t have to pay for health insurance. Interesting! If this is the case, then I hope the law isn’t overturned by the powers that be in Washington, D.C.

So hypothetically, if I am able to pay off my mortgage, then I won’t be requiring too much monthly income to cover my day to day expenses and utility bills. Let’s just say I only need $1,000 a month to survive ( I can actually subsist on less). That’s what I have to withdraw from my savings and would make my income $12000 a year which would qualify me for Medi-Cal (California’s Medicaid). So if anybody ever reads this and is familiar with the subject, please correct me if I’m wrong. Based on the California program, I will not have to start paying for health insurance until my income goes over 15,850. If I understand what I read correctly and I actually have to buy subsidized insurance, that would give me a Silver Level coverage. Until the open enrollment starts later this year, I won’t know how much the Gold or Platinum Level coverage would cost, which is the highest tier of coverage available. That means more out of pocket to pay for the insurance monthly, but lesser to pay when you get treatment.

Then I realized, I was actually wrong about withdrawing from my savings as income. Regular banks savings actually don’t qualify as income because they had already been taxed beforehand. Now if I start withdrawing from my regular IRA or 401K at age 59 ½ , that would actually be considered taxable income. So while withdrawing from savings until it runs dry, my taxable income would actually be zero. Right? I don't have enough savings to last until I turn 59 ½ though :( .

If that Obamacare loophole is for real, then it’s almost too good to be true. Will the law be amended to fix this loophole? Because it is to my advantage, then I hope not. You mean to say I could possibly afford to retire in the U.S. and not have to do it in the Philippines?!

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Questions and Concerns at Pacific Hospital

Good lord, what have the owners and administrators of Pacific Hospital done now? As you may know, that is my place of work. Two weeks ago, the FBI and other federal authorities descended upon the place and inspected computer files. The local newspaper reported that the hospital was being investigated for fraud. This usually means insurance fraud and that doesn't bode well because in past years, hospitals have been closed for that reason. Is Pacific Hospital financially stable enough to absorb the penalties that may be imposed upon it? I'm surmising that this is the least that the government can do. The worst of course is to order the hospital to cease operations. So the question of many is how is this situation going to affect the people who work there, especially the nursing staff. This uncertainty is giving us a lot of angst. Will we be joining the unemployment rolls in the next few days? It was bad enough that 4 other hospitals unrelated to Pacific Hospital had to close the previous week for fraudulent activities. Those 4 had sizable psychiatric units so if PHLB closes, there would be a glut of psych workers out of a job and a dwindling number of psych units in LA County. No psych units equals no jobs for psych workers. And where would all those psych patients go?

When things like these happen, rumors fly and one of them is that the hospital had applied for bankruptcy a few days later. Was it a Chapter 7 or Chapter 11 bankruptcy? Nobody knew. I later found out this wasn't true but due to a knee jerk reaction, I believed it was initially. But nobody else other than the person who texted me knew about it and it became apparent the next day that the rumor was unsubstantiated. When I heard who the source was, I should have doubted it already, because I knew that this person was unreliable. Where he got it from initially, I don’t know. For me, bad information is worst than no information.

A few days after the raid, the president of the hospital had an open forum where she told the employees that she still doesn’t know what the Feds were looking for. In an article in the Wall Street Journal three years ago, it was mentioned that the owner of Pacific Hospital had gone into some kind of spinal surgery business arrangement with somewhat of a shady character who had previously been incarcerated for fraud in his dealings with another hospital for the same type of business. So I brought this up at the open forum and asked if the FBI may be checking up on the hospital’s spine surgery operations. As the president mentioned beforehand, she did not know. The owner’s and shady character’s names were mentioned, so I followed up and asked if those two names were on the list of people the Feds were looking for. The president told me that she was not at liberty to answer my question but she admired my boldness for asking it, after which she mentioned that she was the daughter of the hospital owner. I was appalled because I would not have asked my follow up question had I known she was related to the owner! After all I have more discretion than that. I was anxious enough on asking my first question that I could feel my blood pressure rise and the additional embarrassment didn’t help any.

So where do we go from here? The president told us to continue taking care of our patients because the hospital is not closing down. It was one of the stipulations in the subpoena that the hospital will continue operating. Of course, questions persist. If worse comes to worst, what will happen to us? What will happen to our accrued vacation time? Will it be paid out or will we lose it forever? I'm concerned about this because I consider this my emergency money. How about health insurance. Do we qualify for COBRA? If we lose our jobs, do we qualify for unemployment benefits? Will there even be severance pay available? I’m also a contributor in the 401K plan but this should not be affected because the funds deducted from our paychecks are forwarded to a separate investment company. And my biggest fear is that I don’t have any other marketable skills anymore. I've been working in psych since 1981 and it's the only job I know. Even though I’d like to retire, it’s too soon and I don’t feel that I’ve saved enough. For now, we can only hope for the best in spite of the uncertainties. One of those hopes would be for my paycheck to clear tomorrow. WILL IT???
Disclaimer: 

The views and opinions expressed here are not necessarily those of Pacific Hospital of Long Beach, its agents, or affiliates.
OTHER POSTS ABOUT PHLB: http://aboutlifeandrunning.blogspot.com/2013/09/questions-and-concerns-at-pacific.html
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Surviving The Loss of Running Muscle Memory

Well here I go again trying something I had not done since last December. I would like to say that I have given up running altogether because of my ankle tendon problems and myopathy stricken thighs due to Atorvastatin, but I broke that non-running habit again last Thursday. Any semblance of running nowadays may be worth writing about because of the glaring absence of it in my exercise logs. So this is what happened last Thursday: I jogged to the bank and back home. Not like what I did a couple of weeks before when I jogged 1 minute and walked 1 minute, but one continuous, non-stop jog other than stopping to withdraw money from the ATM and for stop lights. One might call it a slow jog but jogging already implies slow, so perhaps it was more like shuffling my feet forward and backward. Nevertheless I thought it was faster than my fastest walking pace. So how did it feel? Hmm, very, very different. It felt like I had never ran before because the muscle memory that I had  from decades of running had developed Alzheimer’s disease. The unfamiliar strides I took were the shortest I had ever taken, which was probably helpful because I landed less heavily. What was surprising to me was that I was anticipating for the myopathy to act up, but it never did, so I just kept on plugging along.

Another surprise awaited me on the way home. I ran into Katherine with her dog who also happened to be running to and from her bank. The muscle memory might be gone but at least I remember my neighbor Katherine whom I trained with for years. I may have mentioned her before in one or two of my posts and I'd like to lay to claim that I contributed to her marathon PR in L.A. (correctly or otherwise), because of the workouts we did together especially the ones on the track in Long Beach City College. For two people who supposedly don’t run anymore, it was funny to have met on the street while running to and from different banks. We separated ways after exchanging a few pleasantries.

A couple of blocks from home, I had to do a double take in a strip mall because I noticed that the video store I used to rent DVD’s from had closed down, no doubt due to lack of customers who have probably since switched to Netflix, Red Box, or at worst, illegal downloading. I was sad to see it go. I was there so frequently in recent years that the managers knew my membership number by heart. Another thing that tells you is that I haven’t exercised outdoors much so it was the first time I noticed the video store was gone. A few more minutes later, I was back home from the unexpected 42 minute jaunt through the neighborhood with not much or any permanent damage done to both muscles or tendons.

A couple of days later, I logged another run, but this time it was on the treadmill, which lasted 50 minutes. It almost felt like my running muscles were slowly regaining their memory.  I'm so glad the Press Telegram fixed their Android app (there was a problem with it for a couple of weeks) and it made for better reading while running on the machine.  Okay, this can't be right. What's this showing up in my workout log? Two runs for the week? Highly unusual nowadays. My body has learned to live without running but after a couple of these recent experiences, I'm feeling the craving again. It's like a damn drug! Is that normal?

From that running high came the downer two days later – the tragedy of Boston Marathon 2013. WHY???!!!

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Workout Notes - Spring 2013

       

          About three times a week, I do abdominal workouts usually consisting of sit ups, crunches, twists , or sit ups with a 15 pound weight which I hold against my chest. All of those without anchoring my ankles to anything. Occasionally, I also do leg lifts. With the weighted sit ups, I could normally do 30 to 32 reps. Then I discovered another variation of the weighted sit ups a couple of weeks ago. That time, I held the 15 pound weight against the back of my head then tried to raise my upper body off the mat. I managed half a crunch and a huge grunt, but no sit up. Wow, that was way harder than I thought! I couldn't help but laugh at myself when that happened. I then tried a 10 pound weight with similar results. Down to 5 pounds I went, and was finally able to lift my torso from the ground and managed to do it 16 times. Remember, this was without anchoring my ankles to anything so by the 14th repetition, I couldn't keep my feet on the floor due to the forced reps. I could feel my stomach muscles burning. So that was  surprising sit ups discovery - lesser weight but more resistance and lesser repetitions required. I think I may add that to my routine.
          One Saturday morning, I planned on driving to the bank to get some money from the ATM machine. It was not cold outside so I decided to do a 1 minute jog with 1 minute walk to the bank and back. Just to remind you, I haven't done a run in months because of the myopathy problems I have been having while taking generic Lipitor for my high cholesterol. When I was still running fairly well, that round trip would have taken about 25 to 26 minutes. That Saturday, it took 35. Well, my legs generally felt slightly but pleasantly sore after doing that jog/walk. Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS), the pleasant soreness I had is however totally different from statin myopathy which feels more like a cutting pain. This time it affected my right thigh muscle as opposed to the left side a few months ago. To add to that, this run didn't even hit the pleasure areas of my brain and left me dissatisfied. Maybe the reason is because I don't do it as often as I want or can anymore. What was good though was that the afterburn of that brief workout kept my weight down the next day even after eaten a lot of red velvet cookies with white chocolate chunks.
          A couple of weeks after that 1 minute jog/1 minute walk workout, I went to have an oil change for my car and instead of waiting around while the mechanic did it, I walk/jogged around the area. I didn't keep track of how long the jogging and walking parts were but did it by feel. That way, I was jogging more than I was walking and the whole workout lasted 45 minutes.
          I did a rowing machine workout one morning while watching a Japanese documentary film called Jiro Dreams of Sushi. Since the wind resistance machine makes a lot of noise, it helped that the movie had subtitles. You would think that after watching that movie, I would be craving for sushi. Well, I did not.
          And finally, my workouts before and after my colonoscopy. On the day of the procedure, I felt so weak from the clear liquid diet and the trips to the bathroom so I had no choice but take it easy on my 30 minute workout on the recumbent bike. My discharge instructions after the colonoscopy said no vigorous workouts for 24 hours after the procedure. So it was more of the same the next day on the recumbent bike. Two days later, I did a somewhat vigorous uphill walking workout on the treadmill for 45 minutes then a full body weight training workout using rubber tubing. Don't even say I don't follow doctor's orders.
          So there it is folks - dreary descriptions of what it takes to stay in shape: a little bit of this and that which even included some running.

Colonoscopy - Second Edition. What?!!! it's that time again already???

       

Either this is my colon or my semi-colon or THE BLOB

          I never got the chance to write about the first edition since I wasn't blogging yet five years ago, but time does fly when you're not eagerly anticipating another visit to the gastroenterologist knowing what's going to come up next. In this case, a tube that comes up from under and inside your body. But we do what we must because of our family history. Oh, the horrors of getting old: high blood pressure from my father, colon cancer from my mother, and anxiety from who knows where.
          It's has been five years since I had the first de-virginization of my rear end and since then, my mother had died of colon cancer. So it is a necessity for me to have this procedure done every five years instead of the usual ten years. Shall I call this de-virginization part 2 even though that's not technically possible? Call it what you may but it still involves inserting an endoscope up where the sun don't shine and in my mind it feels like I'm going to be violated. Perhaps that's why it's called an ENDoscope. And to think that they blow air inside your intestines and shine a light where I previously said "the sun don't shine", so the doctor can see what he is doing. Good thing I'm unconscious through all that, thanks to Michael Jackson's sleeping drug of choice - Propofol.
          Shall we backtrack a little bit though? Because it's not just a matter of going directly to being violated, you have to prepare for it first. It's the so-called dreaded PREP. For all of you who have gone through this, you already know what it's like: a clear liquid diet the day before the colonoscopy (Wait, did you say clear liquid diet? Does white wine or vodka count?), drinking a liter of an electrolyte concoction in the evening, in my case it was something called MoviPrep,  which after you finish, you are primed for BLAST OFF! The purgative literally blasts off whatever you have hiding in the nooks and crannies of your chitterlings and sends it down the drain in several installments. You might as well keep your pants and undies off for the duration to save time between toilet visits so you don't accidentally soil yourself. Because just when you think you had ejected everything, another spasm makes you sprint faster than a leopard in the savanna, back to the crapper. Then after you exhaust yourself with all the sprinting, you try to get some sleep before the alarm wakes you up at 4:30 in the morning so you can repeat the electrolyte drinking process and subsequent bathroom dashes all over again. To paraphrase Dave Barry: it's as if you are ejecting whatever you might have eaten tomorrow. Never in the annals of mankind has anyone used so much toilet paper as I have in such a short period of time.

MoviPrep Blast Off Drink

          Now for the boring and mundane stuff. It was time to go to the surgery center. Five years ago, I had my colonoscopy at Lakewood Regional Medical Center which was three miles from home, but this time, due to the dictates of the insurance company, I had to travel more than 15 miles to Los Alamitos to a building called the Reagan Street Surgery Center, which is located on, um... Reagan Street, just a stone's throw away from Los Alamitos Medical Center. Last time, my Auntie Beth who used to live in Long Beach, drove me to and from the hospital, but she has since moved to the Temecula area. So I had to find someone to drive me, or take a cab. With a taxi, it would have cost more than $80 round trip with tips. I called the insurance company, my gastroenterologist, the surgery center, and my internist to find out if they had some kind of free or affordable shuttle service for patients. Alas, they had none. My last resort would have been to call my Uncle and Aunt from Cerritos and ask if they could drive me. But since they are now in their 70's, I hesitated. Instead I posted my dilemma on FACEBOOK (hey, that's what social networking is all about, isn't it?), offering $40 to take me to and from the surgery center, using my stick shift car or theirs, and they didn't have to wait while my procedure was being done. Then I can call them whenever I was ready to go home. I didn't expect very much from it, but within minutes, my cousin Jeanette, who works in L.A. but lives in Thousand Oaks, offered to adjust her work schedule and drive me. I was hoping for someone closer to Long Beach who would not be inconvenienced too much, so I declined her generous offer. A couple of hours later, a friend from my running club (AREC), sent me a Facebook email message offering to drive me. Since Nancy is a real estate agent, she said she could also adjust her schedule. After exchanging a few messages, I took her up on her offer, with the promise of buying her and her husband Johan, a good bottle of wine. Believe me, I don't know good wine from bad, and Nancy used to sell wine before she went to real estate, so I had to ask another friend of hers - Bennett, who works at the Wine Country in the city of Signal Hill, what he thought Nancy would like. After a few suggestions at the store, I picked out a French red. I don't know if it's good, but I hope Nancy and Johan will enjoy it. Nancy, thanks so much again for driving me. You are a Godsend :)
          So after verifying my address and destination, Nancy picked me up and dropped me off at the surgery center. I signed in, signed a few consent forms and was sent to the GI lab in a few minutes. I was asked to change into a gown, then this Filipina nurse who also happened to have graduated from my alma mater (University of the Philippines), and whose husband is from Zamboanga City, inserted an IV in my right arm and hooked me up to a blood pressure machine. Well, it seemed like taking my blood pressure medication and an anxiety pill earlier(which were the only solids I was allowed to take) kept my blood pressure within normal limits. Thank goodness for that because my BP usually goes sky high when I'm anxious. Then another nurse and the anesthesiologist introduced themselves, and in short time, my bed was wheeled into the surgery area. Dr. Weiss asked me if I was ready and I responded - " well, I'm here", and he said - "so am I". I guess we were both ready. I was asked to turn on my left side, then the anesthesiologist placed an oxygen mask on my face and told me to breath deeply. All I can remember was taking two or three breathes, and then my name being called to wake me up. And just like that, the violation, I mean the examination was over. Over and done with for another five years. I asked Dr. Weiss if a video of the procedure was available, but he said the computers they had didn't have enough storage. I also asked him about withdrawal time or how long he takes to slowly withdraw the endoscope while examining the length of the colon (the slower, the better). He said that time was a good criteria for doctors who were new at doing colonoscopies. Having done more than 30,000 of them, he said he already knows what exactly to look for. My preliminary results indicated: no polyps, no cancer. Yipee! As a consolation prize, they gave me a photocopy of the pictures they took of my colon and some apple juice. Then they called Nancy to pick me up. She actually had to go upstairs to where I was and sign my discharge instructions so the staff was certain that I wasn't driving myself. After Nancy dropped me off at home, my wobbly legs managed to take me back to my condo without falling or passing out.

Preliminary Results

          I had been without solid food for almost 40 hours by then. Why so long? Well, starting at 12:01 a.m. on Wednesday, I was on clear liquid diet until the evening, then nothing to eat or drink at all after that except the second dose of MoviPrep on Thursday morning. Then the procedure was done at 1:30 p.m. and I was back home at 4 p.m. and that was when I had some noodle soup. So if the Propofol hasn't clouded my brain so much, that adds up to 40 hours of no solid food. Right? Right?!
          I followed the discharge instructions as closely as possible, namely: no driving, no alcohol (darn it!), and no vigorous exercise for 24 hours after the procedure. The next day, I got a follow up call from Jean, the Filipino nurse, to find out how I was doing and I said everything went well and that I already mailed the feedback form that came with my discharge instructions. Of course, I checked Excellent in all categories. My question is - was that colonoscopy procedure really done on me? Because my butt doesn't even hurt and I don't even feel violated!
          For a more humorous account about colonoscopies, I present Dave Barry's version:   http://www.miamiherald.com/2009/02/11/v-fullstory/427603/dave-barry-a-journey-into-my-colon.html

A High Fade That Made Me Feel Like Fading From Society

The Plan Was For The Situation To Be Like This

About 10 months ago, I wrote this blogpost: New Barber = Too Short Haircut . It was bad then and little did I think it could get any worse. Almost a year later, I was hoping that I had found a permanent replacement to the barber I've had for years who finally retired. The search goes on...

          First, do you know a good lawyer who specializes in tonsorial litigation? Because I need one and let me tell you why. I haven't had a haircut since December 2012. The barber I found then did me well by shearing the sides of my head short enough to last three months. At the hint of the first mild heat wave this winter season, I called to get an appointment with that female barber. A voicemail was left unanswered so I walked to the barbershop to find it shuttered and out of business. If all their customers were like me and only got a haircut every three months,  then I guess that wouldn't be enough to keep them in business. I then made an appointment with an alternate barbershop but then not a single barber showed up at the time they were supposed to open. I called them later to suggest that they should change their posted opening time to later if nobody can show up on time (and believe me, I waited for 45 minutes). As expected, they hanged up on me. Oops, I guess they just lost a customer.

          By that time, I really wanted my hair shorn badly and searched for another barber nearby. I found one and after working out, I went to the shop and waited a few minutes for him to finish two guys ahead of me. It just so happened that his two sons were running around the shop because he had to babysit them while his wife was at the DMV. When it was my turn, I pointed to one of the pictures on the wall to show what kind of haircut I wanted. The barber asked me if I was ex military because I wanted the sides cut really short. To their parlance, it was a number 1 blade or less. I also asked him to trim about an inch off the top to keep it slightly long. So he proceeded to shave shave here, and a trim trim there, and cut cut everywhere cut cut. In the meantime, he was trying his best to rein in the kids. When he finally turned me around towards the mirror I didn't recognize myself. I was looking at a middle aged man with a buzz cut, looking like a Marine in basic training but 30 years or so too late to qualify. It was the shortest haircut I've ever had since the crew cut in high school which was at my mother's insistence then.

          I felt like asking Phillip (that was the barber's name) if he was mad at me. But we just met! Later, I even had the notion of asking for his barber's license. But in reality, I was just laughing in my head at my own expense for the way I looked. Good thing I'm not trying to be attractive to anyone and that it will grow out in about a year..or two.

Instead It Turned Out Like This!!!

Postscript: I haven't used hair mousse or gel since the mid to  late 80's and I had to buy one just so I can lay my hair flat and somewhat manageable. Otherwise, it would be like having bedhead full time. Maybe the barber was too distracted with his children running around that he unintentionally cut more than intended. I shall give him the benefit of the doubt for now.

I guess it's not so bad from this angle, but I'm biased.

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My Walking Workout Variations Because I Cannot Run

          What's up with this blog about life and running when I don't even write about running anymore? Yep, running has been nil in recent months, what with the myopathy caused by statins and the never healing PTTD. No matter, I'm still able to do some walking workouts after all even though those are more boring than running. With these walking workouts I try to simulate the intensity of running. It comes close but never quite the same of course. The closest walking workout I have to the feeling of running is a treadmill hill walk where the incline is set at 10% with the speed at 3.5 mph and no holding on the siderails of the machine. The next one consists of the same incline, slowly increasing the pace from 3.5 to 4.0 mph while holding on the siderails. I do both treadmill workouts for 45 minutes to an hour. Despite the cartoon above, I have not fallen off the treadmill...yet.
          As far as outdoor walking on mostly flat surface, I do a brisk walk of about 14 minutes to 14:30 per mile lasting for an hour and half or more. Such was the case when I had to drop off some papers at my work's Human Resources Department about three weeks ago. That walk lasted for an hour and 50 minutes. For variety, I sometimes carry a backpack loaded with a 15 pound barbell plate. I did that most recently last week when I walked to and from Walmart Pharmacy for an hour and a half to pick up my blood pressure medication. It was warm enough to wear shorts but I discovered that since I haven't been wearing my running shorts lately, the elastic (garter in the Philippines) in the waist had gotten dry and crunchy. The shorts had become loose and if not for the drawstring, they would just have dropped to my feet. The pace is slightly slower when I carry a weighted backpack that of course. I'm looking to increasing the weight next time but in a way that the plates don't bounce around the backpack which hurts my back. Adjustable weight vests would be preferable but those things are darn expensive and there have been instances that the police have been called because they look like bullet proof vests or body armor.

Terribly boring descriptions, aren't they? Well, whatever works to keep my fitness outside of running. Hmmm, now I'm wondering how it would feel to walk with weights uphill on a treadmill...maybe I should start setting up the webcam. (cue background music: Alicia Keys singing "I keep on falling...")

Going Low Tech With The Cellphone

From this...

to this.

          Well no, not really. When I bought my first Android cell phone two years ago (I know, I know, I'm late in the smart phone game), I was very underwhelmed with its battery life. This after getting used to phones which lasted for days before requiring a recharge. I was using Virgin Mobile prepaid service then but since moved to AT&T last year after returning from the Philippines, because I was already using an unlocked phone there. Since AT&T runs on the GSM network, I couldn't use my Virgin Mobile CDMA phone. The battery of the new Android phone I got wasn't any better, so last week I downgraded to a non-smart phone. After all, I didn't have a data plan and wasn't using the internet on the Android phone anyway. I use the tablet for that.

          I managed to get a very good deal on the Blackberry style phone which was on sale for $29.99 at Radio Shack. The original price on the AT&T website was 39.99. A few days after it went on sale at the brick and mortar store, AT&T matched the price. I went to Radio Shack to pick one up and was pleasantly suprised when the cashier rang up my purchase and told me it was $19.99 (plus tax). Apparently, when AT&T matched the store price, the store included a $10.00 rebate to their already sale price. For me, that's like hitting a home run or a hole in one as far as bargain shopping goes!

          First, if there is anything I can complain about regarding this phone, it is that it's locked. But since I had already used a similar unlocked phone while I was in the Philippines, I was already familiar with its functions so it was not a steep learning curve. All I had to do was move the SIM card from the Android phone then set everything up to my taste and that was all there was to it. The new phone has one function that I didn't expect though. Normally, when you turn the power off with any cell phone, the alarm clock doesn't go off. With this one, it does, much to my consternation the first night I used the phone. I was already drifting off to sleep when the alarm went off at 11:30 p.m.! Well, I had set the alarm to go off at that time and at midnight because that was the time I usually clock out and in for lunch at work. I had to turn on the phone and turn off the alarms that first night. Now I have to remind myself to turn them on during the nights that I work and turn them off on the nights I don't.

          So what other reasons did I buy the phone aside from the longer battery life? It has the usual mp3 player, camera, and camcorder or course, but it also had a built in FM radio and flashlight function. When I am doing my what used to be runs which are now walks outdoors, I like listening to the radio, so I usually have my cell phone plus a separate HD radio with me. With the new phone, I can now eliminate a device. The FM radio had a surprisingly good reception when I went out for an hour and half walk one morning. Almost as good as the HD radio. The flashlight, I can use at work when I check on patients in their dark rooms. So by and large, I like my downgraded phone a lot even without a touch screen. It's a lot of phone for less than 20 bucks and it's the cheapest cell phone I've ever bought!

My dumbed down phone

Meatless Friday?

Disclosure: this is not what I cooked but it looks similar.

          Well, what about trying for a meatless Friday? I am Catholic after all. I've had an occasional meatless day I'm sure, but I don't keep track of it and it doesn't necessarily happen on Fridays during Lent. However there was a stretch of three days last week when I went meatless, though unintentionally, which I think was taking semi-vegetarianism too far.
          The first day, I had baked tilapia with brown rice for lunch and meatless noodles for dinner. There happened to be a sale on tofu and imitation crab meat last week so I bought some. I already had frozen mixed vegetables, brown rice, barley and soy sauce at home. The plan was to make some kind of stir fry concoction with them. After microwaving the frozen vegetables and draining it, I mixed them together with the pre-cooked barley and rice mix, and extra firm tofu in a pan with a tablespoon of olive oil and two tablespoons of soy sauce. After stirring the mix and getting it hot, I added the imitation crab meat. I added that last because they tend to fall apart if you handle it too vigorously. Voila! Semi-moist stir fried vegetarian rice. I don't think I even needed the oil.
          Well, how did my concoction turn out? As you can tell, I am not a cook. Actually I don't really cook. It was one of those trials and errors and eat the error if it becomes that. I don't know what I'm supposed to be doing in a kitchen. Despite two tablespoons of soy sauce, my grand experiment tasted slightly bland, but with the addition of a little garlic salt and Sriracha sauce, it tasted much better. So on the second day which happened to be a Friday, that is what I had for lunch, then more noodles for dinner. I had satisfied my Lenten obligation for that week.
          On the third consecutive meatless day, I liked what I "cooked" the previous day so much that I made some more. This time, I nixed the olive oil and added some sliced green peppers. Again with the garlic salt and Sriracha sauce, it turned out pretty well. No, I didn't have noodles for dinner again but opted for a frozen bean burrito with some chips and Tapatio hot sauce.      
          Thus ended my three day stretch of meatlessness. I had some leftover stir fry and managed two more meatless meals in the ensuing days. Does this mean that might try to become a vegetarian some day? Probably not, but the experiment made me realize that I don't have to eat meat everyday to feel satiety and it will most likely help with my battle against cholesterol. It was nice not having to eat an error (see above reference to trial and error cooking).

Public comments below, private comments: E-mail Me!

Weight, Cholesterol, and Processed Foods

          When I went back to Zamboanga in late August last year, I expected myself to gain weight because I was sure I was going to indulge in a lot of foods that I haven't had in decades, plus I didn't have a weighing scale available to monitor my weight. I did indulge (especially satti) but apparently much less so than I anticipated. Instead, when I got back to Long Beach two weeks later, I had lost close to three pounds. Together with taking 40 milligrams of generic Lipitor daily, my cholesterol level also dropped dramatically. However within a month of returning to the U.S. my cholesterol level jumped about 35 points. Is that coincidental or does that have anything to say about eating fresh foods as opposed to mostly processed foods in the U.S. despite the reduction of trans fats from a lot of them? Then two months ago, I had to stop taking the Lipitor due to lingering muscle pain in all my limbs. When I had my cholesterol level checked, it was back to what it was before I started taking the statin. So I resumed taking a lower dose in hopes that the pain won't be as intense as before and that my body would adjust to it. It has been three weeks and although the pain came back within a week of restarting Atorvastatin, so far it's not as bad as it was before and it seems like I am able to maintain the intensity of my workouts.
          In the meantime, I'm trying my best to improve my diet. I've begun to refuse foods that my co-workers have been offering, especially a couple of them who usually give me fried fast foods. I also started bringing my own sandwiches to work - turkey sandwich with mustard and sriracha sauce, which I eat instead of the leftover patient snacks of ham and cheese sandwiches. But if the leftovers are turkey sandwiches, then I still eat them. Usually, when I get home from work in the morning, I have a slice of cheese and a small glass of wine to unwind. I put the kibosh on the cheese and started having a banana instead. Another change I made is instead of having ice cream, I am now opting for sherbet, which although high in sugar, it's at least dairy and fat free.

          How will these minor changes affect my cholesterol level? I won't know until the doctor orders another test. In the meantime, I have to schedule my next colonoscopy because it has been 5 years since the last one. But that's another topic for another day.

Note: half of this post was typed on a tiny Bluetooth keyboard using index fingers. Too small to touch type.

ESRD and The Younger Brother I Admire

          Now that my brother Larry has decided to make his condition public via a new blog he started (ikidney.blogspot.com), I feel that I am free to disclose it as well, though with a heavy heart.
          It was with much surprise last month when my sister in law informed me that my brother was in the hospital. After all, last time I saw him, he didn't exhibit anything that would show he was sick. Yet there he was, confined at the National Kidney Institute in the Philippines. I've always tried to avoid asking him about his health because I assumed that if there was something wrong with him, he would take care of it with the help of my sister in law. It was already bad enough that people who haven't seen him in awhile always mentioned his weight so I didn't want to be impolite and add to what my brother was already aware of. With his weight and our family history, I already suspected that he might have high blood pressure and diabetes, but I was confident that he was at least keeping those under control. So when I was informed that his kidney function was down to 5% and he needed a blood transfusion plus regular kidney dialysis for the duration, it was shocking news to say the least. The first questions in my mind were what was the rate of survival and is he still able to produce urine. Next question was what other alternatives he had other than hemodialysis.
          While my sister in law Ninette gave me updates via email and MagicJack calls, I really didn't grasp the severity of the problem until Larry started writing about it. I have a tendency to be stoic which most times comes off as being cold, detached, and unfeeling, so my initial response is to get the facts and try to digest them objectively even though it involves loved ones. That was the same way I responded to my mother's illness. But when I read it from Larry's own perspective, the cold reality started to hit hard. Life has thrown another curve at our family. As his doctor has told him in no uncertain terms, it's dialysis or death.
          I may be older than Larry by five years but I admire him because of what he has accomplished despite inauspicious beginnings. With my parents, he survived the 1974 conflagration of Jolo. But like me, he had troubles adjusting to life in college in Manila while away from our parents, however he was able to surmount that. After that initial bump in the road, everything seemed to have worked well from college in Western Mindanao State University, Masters in the University of the Philippines, working in Zamboanga, then Xavier High School in Metro Manila in the last decade or so, most recently as a New Technology teacher. He was also able to do some extensive traveling with Ninette which is something I've never been able to do due to financial constraints. I also admire him because he inherited the public relations skills of my father and the compassion of my mother. This is not to discount my admiration for my sister-in-law who has a Ph.D. in Mathematics.
          Since I moved to the U.S. in 1980, my brother and I were in touch infrequently and because of our age difference, I was already gone from home when he was just 10 years old, so the normal close bonding between siblings didn't really materialize, which is regretful now. It was only during last year's visit to Zamboanga in the last days of our mother that we achieved that connection in the short time we were together. There, I learned how to appreciate him more for being someone you can confidently rely on. Mama had the perfect idea when she said it was one of her last wishes.
          Now, Larry is facing this challenging new journey in dealing with end stage renal disease. The cold hard fact is that with dialysis, the usual life span is 4 to 5 years, so the better option is to find a kidney donor. With the abundance of her love for my brother, Ninette has offered one of her kidneys. This is something that is being explored at the moment and we can only hope and pray that it plays out and works out well for both of them. So with strength and determination, Larry and Ninette are forging ahead together.
          Hey, here's a message to you Bro: I love you and you've got to outlive me because after all you are the sole beneficiary of my assets now that Mama is gone, so you better get well despite the odds, okay? I'm not sure if that's a proper message to send but that's just my irreverence talking again as a defense mechanism.

Achieving Dual Citizenship (U.S. and Philippines)

       
          Last year, I started checking out the possibility of obtaining dual citizenship from the Philippines because to buy property there (if ever that becomes financially feasible for me), you have to be a citizen. I read all the requirements and earlier this year, started gathering all the necessary documents, i.e. old Philippine passport, original Philippine birth certificate, U.S. passport, U.S. citizenship certificate, copies of the papers mentioned, and three passport photos.
          Armed with all of those, plus getting an extra day off, I finally made the drive to the city of Los Angeles. A few days prior, I looked up the directions from home to the Philippine Consulate on Google Maps and in addition, plugged it into my Magellan and TomTom GPS's. I'm directionally challenged so I needed all the help I can get. Well, what'dya know, but those three gave me different routes to the same destination and back. I opted for a printout that Google Maps gave me and used Magellan as a back up. After all, TomTom didn't discover the Philippines and Magellan did. I chose the no freeway route and that soon took me down the Alameda corridor going north. I should have known this but forgot: the Alameda corridor is a major trucking route from the Ports of Long Beach and L.A. delivering goods that came from overseas via the Pacific Ocean. Thus, it was slow going on my drive. At least I was in no rush in rush hour traffic. Once I hit the numerous turns in L.A. I relied on Magellan to take me to the Philippine Consulate. It said "destination is on your left" and "you have arrived at your destination". Unfortunately, there is no big sign indicating which building it was and being unfamiliar with the area, I circled a few times trying to find a parking spot without a meter, not knowing there was validated parking in the building itself. Anyway, I found a vacant spot a block away and while parking there, my bladder felt it needed emptying. Unaware of where to find the nearest bathroom, I had to resort to my emergency urinal which I always keep in the trunk. I tried to be as discreet as possible by covering myself with a sweater while I relieved myself while seated in the driver's seat. Fortunately, nobody called the cops and I wasn't accused of indecent exposure. Saved by the urinal!
          I walked the short block to the consulate and upon entering the lobby, the first elevator I saw only took people from the 10th floor and up. I walked to another side of the building and found one that took me to the 5th floor where the consulate was located. A hallway brought me to a room with several windows. One side of the room were for people obtaining papers from the Philippines, while the other side dealt mainly with people like me applying for dual citizenship. I arrived at 10 a.m. and was surprised that the line was very short and I was third in line. Perhaps most people had better things to do with their loved ones because it happened to be Valentine's Day. When I got to the window, the gentleman inspected my application and supporting papers. Everything was in order except I copied the wrong page on my old Philippine passport. There was a small snack shop in the hallway that had a copying machine so that got taken cared of in a jiffy. Next, it was time to go to the cashier and hand my $50 fee, then back to the previous window. The guy, took all the papers and asked me to have a seat. Wouldn't you know it, but this was the hard part of the process other than driving in traffic: waiting. I was armed with my Google Nexus 7 tablet where I downloaded the Press Telegram at home earlier. I'm glad I did because the consulate didn't have wi-fi. So I read the newspaper while waiting and was called to the window one more time to sign the newly printed oath of allegiance paper and dual citizenship paper. More waiting ensued in the meantime but not for long. At about 11:45, we were summoned to another room where the oath taking was to occur and waited for the vice consul to come in. My co-dual citizenship applicants (there were about 15 of us) took turns taking cellphone photos beside the Philippine flag and President P'noy Aquino's picture. Among them was a cute 3 or 4 year old girl with a lovely name - Malaya (meaning Free), who posed a few times. What a unique name! I smiled when I heard her mother call her. I've never heard of a person named that before. Kudos to the parents for naming her that :). Looking out the window from that room, you could see the Hollywood sign. You couldn't get more L.A. than that.
          The vice consul arrived a few minutes later and people started to ask him questions about our soon to be dual status. Some asked if we could vote, another if she could run for office, while mine was if we had to pay taxes. We were then sworn in then congratulated individually by the vice consul. And just like that, I became a Philippine citizen again as well as retaining my U.S. citizenship. So, if ever I decide to retire in the Philippines, I would no longer be considered an alien there.
          I was only in the consulate for 2 hours which happened to coincide with the time limit of street parking. There would be no expensive parking ticket to pay and contribute to the coffers of the the city of angels on this day.
          On the way home, I relied solely on Magellan and noticed that I drove by the infamous skid row. Perhaps some of our patients were there but I didn't have time to slow down and check. I made it back home in about an hour, a freshly minted Philippine citizen. So what do I plan to do with this new status? Well, with recent life events with my family which I am not at liberty to disclose at the moment, I don't know anymore. The original plan was to retire in the Philippines near my brother. This would require deep reconsideration based on the recent events.
         ***Extra notes regarding the Philippine Consulate: There was a security guard in the consulate but hardly any security. His main duty from what I observed, was to usher people in and show them where to go. With nary a metal detector in sight, anyone can just walk in without their property or person being checked. Considering how the world is nowadays, that's pretty surprising. Of course the Philippines is probably one of the lowest priority targets of would-be terrorists, if at all.
          I was lucky to have followed all the application instructions carefully and up to now, Mama's help from decades ago had proven useful when she sent me my original birth certificate from Jolo. It's also good that I kept my old Philippine passport after I gained U.S. citizenship. I'm saying this because one of the applicants only brought copies, thus his application could not be accepted and he had to leave with nothing to show for it.
          I brought a couple of sandwiches and 2 cans of soda to the consulate just in case I had to stay past lunch time. It became a late lunch at home instead with the turkey sandwiches and a beer. It became a productive Valentine's Day for me despite being single <B
           One last thing to do after returning from the Philippine Consulate: rinse off and dry the urinal.

Reconsidering The ASUS Transformer to Replace the Netbook

          Several weeks after I blogged about keeping on using my ASUS netbook because of its battery life and ability to use the usual familiar Windows programs (The Case for Keeping the Old Netbook), I switched to using the ASUS TFT 101 transformer. Both of those devices I purchased awhile back as refurbished products from Tigerdirect.com thus saving me more than a few bucks.
          Let me tell you why I didn't prefer the tablet at first even though I also have a keyboard dock with it. First, the mouse touchpad was so sensitive that the cursor was jumping all over the place at the slightest touch. I use my devices to type a lot so that was a terrible inconvenience. That is, until I found out through message boards that you can disable the touchpad just by pressing one of the keys on the topmost row of the keyboard. Problem solved. Another thing I didn't like was that I couldn't save directly to Dropbox and that I couldn't copy and paste from the word processor app to the Blogger website or I haven't figured out how to do it yet. For now, I have to do it via the Blogger app which uploads it to the website once I save the document. Those are minor inconveniences I can live with including the slight lag between the moment I hit the letters on the keyboard and when it appears on the screen when using the word processor app.
          As far as surfing the web, there's hardly any difference other than choosing between a mobile enhanced website or using the full website. And as far as accessing my computer at home, the Teamviewer app works just as well on the tablet.
With the keyboard dock, the battery life is increased to as much as 16 hours and I still have the flexibility to detach it if not needed. There is however one glitch that I noticed. After fully charging the tablet and keyboard dock and I leave both attached to each other, the battery drains slowly from the tablet even when the power is off. Again, I found out from message boards that it is a firmware problem that can be updated, but which may work for some but not for others. Since the tablet battery does not drain when detached, the simplest solution of course is just to keep it so until you need to use the keyboard.
          As far as weight is concerned, it feels like the tablet with keyboard weighs as much as the netbook.
          Well, it seem like living in the tablet world is a matter of making adjustments just like one does when changes happen in life.

A New Safe Bench Press Machine

Valor Fitness BF-47 Independent Bench Press

 Okay, so I've had this Marcy weight bench with a lat machine and preacher curl attachment for about 15 years, except that the lat machine post broke off from where it was welded into the bench about 8 years ago. Lately, with middle age and living alone, I've been feeling unsafe doing the bench press without a spotter. I couldn't maximize the repetitions anymore and besides, sometimes my palms hurt from the weights even when I'm wearing lifting gloves. In the middle of last year, I started looking for a safer way to do the bench press. One of the first things I did was switch from the suicide grip to the thumb around the bar grip. I also considered buying either a multi station machine or just a simple bench press machine to replace the free weights (barbell) I was using. A basic multistation machine would have been slightly cheaper but I wasn't confident I could assemble it. I would have had to hire someone to do it at much additional cost. So I surfed around the internet and found this Valor Fitness BF-47 Independent Bench Press machine at overstock.com, which appeared to fit my needs. However due to financial concerns which I already addressed in another blog, I couldn't buy it at the time, so I just bookmarked it and hoped that somewhere down the line when I've caught up with my bills, I would revisit the website and the machine would still be available. That time came a couple of weeks ago after I finally paid off last year's expenses and luckily the machine was still available but there were only three left. I ordered it right away and waited the few days until it was delivered.
          In the meantime, what to do with the old weight bench which was still in prime condition other than missing a lat machine? I asked my co-worker whom I know lifted weights if he already had a bench press bench (sorry, I couldn't find a better way to describe it). He said he did but it was already very rusty. I offered to give him mine after my new machine arrived.
          On the day that UPS was supposed to deliver the product, I disassembled the old bench, put the parts aside and sent a text message to my co-worker saying that the bench was available for pick up at his convenience. Then I waited for UPS and kept checking online to make sure they didn't bypass me. Well I'll be darned! When I checked at about 2 p.m. last Thursday, the UPS website said the package could not be delivered because there was nobody home. Heck, I even left a message at the gate for the UPS delivery guy so he can dial my security gate number. 15 minutes had passed since the exception was logged in the UPS system. I went downstairs to pick up the slip they usually leave and whadya know but I see the UPS truck driving down the next street. I walked toward the street hoping the truck had not driven too far away, and lo and behold, it was just at the corner! I waited for the driver to emerge from the apartment building then asked him if he was the one who left the notice slip. He looked at it and said it was him and that when he called, there was no answer. I asked, nay, implored if he could come back and deliver my package so that he or another driver would not have to come back the next day. I offered to help him carry the load since he mentioned it was 90 pounds. It was then that I suspected that he didn't really want to deliver it because it was too heavy. Of course, I didn't mention that to him lest he change his mind about going back. Luckily, he took me up on my offer of help. So he drove around, unloaded the cargo, mounted it on his dolly and rolled it up to the staircase where I helped him lift from the top while he pushed from the bottom. I thanked him again for coming back and dragged the heavy package into my living room.
          I proceeded to unpack the parts and laid them on the floor. After making sure that everything was there, I started assembling the bench. Wait a second! There wasn't much in the form of instructions, just a picture of where one part connected to another with what bolt, screw, and washer. No text instructions whatsoever. Oh my, it was going to take a while to figure out a two dimensional drawing into a three dimensional real product. In fact it took me about three hours to assemble that darn thing. The machine looked so simple in pictures and looked like the assembly was going to be simple. Well, no use dwelling on that now. At least I managed to do it by myself with only a wrench and a pair of pliers. I didn't try to use the machine that day because I had already done my weight training earlier, but boy, were my muscles sore the next day due to the disassembling of the old bench and assembling the new one.

          Two days later, I was ready to try the Valor Fitness BF-47 Independent Bench Press machine. Why is is it called independent? Because the left and right sides are isolated from each other. With a regular bench press with a barbell, both arms lift the total weight, but with this machine, each arm lifts independent of the other. Oh, one other advantage of the bench compared to a multistation machine is that I can still use the weight plates I already have. I normally lift 110 pounds on the barbell for 6 to 8 repetitions when I do the bench press. I know, I know, I'm a weakling! I mounted 50 pounds on each side of the new machine first to see how it felt. I positioned myself on the bench and pushed. All that came out was a grunt from me. Hmmm, this is going to be harder than I thought. I may even have to lessen the weights. I tried again and this time I managed a semblance of a full lift before lowering the weight for another repetition. I was able to complete all of four reps! How is it possible that I'm lifting lesser poundage and repetitions?! First of all, the arms of the machine where the weight plates are mounted on also weigh something. Second, it's harder to start a bench press from the chest area because the muscles are not pre-contracted (in my opinion). With a barbell bench press, you start from a straight arm position, lowering the weight to the chest, then lifting the weight upwards. The straight arm position is what I consider pre-contraction of the muscle. Not only that, sometime you can cheat by bouncing the weight off your chest. No such cheating can be done with the Valor Fitness machine. With that in mind, I started over and was able to do 6 reps on the first set and 4 reps each on the next three sets, with each one of those sets maximized without the benefit of a spotter. My first impression is that the machine worked as it was designed to do. It was success and liftoff on first lift! Boy, am I gonna be sore tomorrow.

A Warmer Signal Hill Walk

         What, you may ask, does a picture of a sandwich have anything to do with a walking workout? Read on and you shall soon find out.
          On Saturday, January 19th, a week after my frozen fingers/insomnia walk at Signal Hill with the Long Beach Area Walking Club, I joined them again, but this time with a little bit more sleep and 10 degrees or so warmer. The cold wave that descended upon Southern California in the past week when early mornings hit mid-30 degrees, had finally abated. As I mentioned in my post last week, I had three layers of clothing: a thin base layer, a technical fleece layer, and a mid-weight jacket, plus cotton gloves. Last Saturday, I only needed the base layer, jacket and gloves.
          I got to the location earlier than usual and managed to put in a 25 minute warm up. Then I started the scheduled walk with three other members. Someone new came a little late but she caught up with the group at the top of the first hill. I did my usual advancing ahead then retreating, and (gasp!), I even did a little bit of running. My excuse for that is because I had to burn off the footlong sandwich from Subway I ate the previous day. Based on news items the past few days, it may have only been an 11 inch sandwich. I wonder how many calories that missing 1 inch is? I don't usually eat there, but someone gave me a Subway gift card for Christmas and I had to use it somehow.
          So with all the dipsy do's, short jogging attempts, and the slightly warmer weather, my gloves were off and jacket half zipped by the time we hit midpoint on the course. I was able to walk/jog another hour and 35 minutes with the club for a total of 2:05 which was 5 minutes longer than the previous week.Despite the cold, I lost three and a half pounds of sweat, which was hard to believe. Heck, I haven't lost that much fluids in a very long time during a workout! I must have really put in a good effort to incinerate that Subway footlong/11 inch chipotle chicken sandwich. Maybe next time I'll just have the 5 1/2 inch sub so I don't have to work so hard.
          Last Saturday, I didn't avoid the dirt trail near the end. Instead, I jogged that portion of the course because I felt that I was more unlikely to slip when jogging than trying to walk fast on the dirt and gravel. Because of the effort I put in, I took the next day off and walked easily for an hour to and from the grocery store to buy some jalapeno peppers. Peppers - now that's one way to keep you warm...if only in the mouth.

How Mama Saved Us From Financial Hardship

   
          Amid my recent expenses last year, i.e. plane fare to and from the Philippines, traffic ticket, paramedic and ambulance charges plus emergency room co-pay, I would been in a financial hole for a few months. To add to those financial concerns, I anticipated digging into my savings for Mama's hospital bills, caregiver salary, rent, utilities, and medications. A couple of times, I've sent her my tax refunds for expenses in addition to the ones I send for her birthday and Christmas. This is just something that Filipinos do for their relatives in the Philippines and I actually fall short of what others do because they send money all year round.
          Thankfully, I did not fall off the fiscal cliff and this is due to the unanticipated gift that our Mama left us. Even when her death was imminent and through her eventual passing, Mama was still thinking about her children. We have always been aware that she never wanted to burden us, but unbeknownst to me, she had a modest stash of money in her bank accounts left over from years and years of saving and the sale of our Zamboanga house (which I helped pay off after Papa had his stroke). How she made all of that last without any income for more than two decades leaves me in awe of her budgeting prowess. This is how I think she was able to do it - by mostly living off the interests of her regular bank accounts and time deposits while keeping the principal amounts steady. Sounds simple enough, isn't it? Well, if it were so and if other individuals and governments followed such example, there would be no budget deficits.
          After we buried Mama in Zamboanga, my brother sent me an accounting of expenses and cash left over. He had briefly mentioned the estimated amount before I Ieft the Philippines and it astounded me then and continued to do so when Larry sent me the itemized list. With Mama's own savings and despite having no other income for decades, we were able to pay for her hospitalization, doctor's bills, caregiver and helper salaries, medications, and funeral expenses. With all that, there were still some left over for me and my brother to share. As I mentioned before, it is a modest amount dollarwise, but enough for me to catch up with my bills after Larry sent me the first installment. I don't know how his share is going to affect his financial status, but I'm sure it's going to help a great deal in one form or another.
          As of this writing, I am still awaiting a second installment from my brother and am seriously considering paying down the principal of my mortgage with it. So Mama, we appreciate everything you have done for us and given us in life as in death. What you have done with this unexpected gift is an example of what we can aspire to in our own lives. To me, it is not the end result but how you led your life to accomplish that result which ended up as a gift to us, your children. Thank You So Much and We Love You MAMA.

Walking Workouts of an Insomniac Post Myopathy - Part 2

          Two days after my pre-dawn walk to and from Walmart, I unintentionally awoke early again Saturday morning and decided to show up at Signal Hill to walk with the Long Beach Walking Club Meet-up group. I haven't joined them in a couple of months because it was there where I slipped on some gravel and pulled a left thigh muscle. Well, the walk wasn't scheduled till 7 a.m. so I drove to Von's first to buy some tissues which were on sale for 78 cents a box (limit 2), and second, to Food 4 Less to buy some bread. I still arrived 20 minutes early at Signal Hill which was enough time to do a 15 minute warm up. Oh boy, did I need to warm up because it was chillier than it was on Thursday. I had three layers of clothes: a thin base layer, a fleece layer, and a mid-weight jacket, to go with my track pants and gloves. In retrospect, I should have worn a beanie too. When I returned from my warm up, there were two people waiting there and another getting out of her car. It was a very sparse group and probably due to the colder than usual weather. How cold could it really have been? Well, it was so cold that when I talked, I was slurring my words as if I was having a stroke and my hands felt so numb except for my right thumb which was actually painful.
          As we started and headed up the first hill, everyone was ambling along and socializing, which didn't help to get me any warmer, so I took off. This time, I had my radio to keep me company during my alone time. As usual, I backtracked several times so I could stay relatively close to the group while also increasing the duration and distance of my workout. After all those weeks of recovering from the Lipitor induced myopathy, I had lost some aerobic conditioning despite all the indoor cycling workouts. The uphill climbs felt like I was doing all out 400 meter intervals on the track and left me in oxygen debt. In the past, I would carry over the quick leg turnover after I crested the hill, but this time, I had to recover for a couple of hundred feet before I could pick up the pace again.
          The group altered the course slightly on this day so my backtracking enabled me to find out which part to eliminate and to add. They eliminated the dirt path and used the steeper climb of Skyline Drive instead, which made for a tougher workout but slightly shorter than the original route of six miles. That didn't matter much to me because I didn't bring my GPS watch and my plan was to walk at least an hour and a half, not including the 15 minute warm up. With all the backtracking I did plus an extra hill at the end, my total workout time was two hours, which based on previous walks up and down those hills, probably covered slightly more than 8 miles.
          You know what? With my early morning awakenings or at times barely sleeping at all, I would rather have walked on my treadmill because it has been really cold outdoors. But out of respect for my neighbors beside and below my apartment, not wanting to bother them with my noise, it was better to face the elements outdoors. I wish I could say that I ran outdoors instead, but that kind of workout is not in the cards right now. I can tell you though that I've jogged a few times on the treadmill recently, but I don't feel ready to try it on the harder pavement while I continue to recovery from the myopathy caused by Lipitor.

Walking Workouts of an Insomniac Post Myopathy - Part 1

AHA! That's what I've been doing wrong: I have to face north!

          In the last couple of months, I haven't done any walking workouts outdoors because I've been trying to recover from the myopathy I have suffered from as a side effect of taking generic Lipitor, and because it has been colder than usual this winter. I didn't realize that when I aggravated a running injury two months ago, it was not a run-of-the-mill type of running injury, but that its root cause was the myopathy. When I realized that, I stopped taking Lipitor immediately and started taking co-enzyme Q-10 supplement to restore my muscle functions. My recent walking workouts have been on the impact friendly treadmill indoors, which also helps with the recent cold snap.
          I've also mentioned that I've been suffering from insomnia, so when that happened again very early last Thursday morning, January the 10th, I just got up and decided to do a little shopping at Walmart. I was planning on doing that later anyway so instead of driving there, I decided to take a very early morning walk in the dark. I looked outside and saw that the ground was wet and apparently it had rained briefly earlier. Fortunately, despite it still being cloudy, the rain had stopped. I bundled up, wearing a pair of track pants, long sleeved shirt, and my bubble jacket. I also carried an empty backpack to bag the items I was going to buy. Then armed with my pepper spray, cell phone, and wallet, I ventured into the dark, black and chilly yonder.
          At first, I had my hoodie on but since it impaired my peripheral vision, I took it off so I could be more aware of my surroundings. It was bad enough that I was wearing all black and was not plainly visible to cars driving that early. How early? I stepped out at about 5:20 in the morning which I haven't done in years. I know, I know. For some people, they may have been finishing their run by then and probably already taking a shower to get ready for their day shift jobs. After the first few minutes of the walk, I couldn't help but notice the pre-dawn quietness, then realized that I had forgotten to bring my radio with me. Oh well, so much the better to commune with nature in the darkness, I suppose.
          So I reached my destination in about 42 minutes and picked up a ream of copy/print paper, a huge container or psyllium, and a can of deodorant, paid for it, and bagged them in my backpack. Since I was running short of cash, I stopped by a nearby ATM, then headed towards a grocery store near home where I was planning to buy some vegetables. With the pace I was walking, I would make it there just a little bit after they opened at 7 a.m. But as the night turned into day, I couldn't help but notice the thickening clouds. I wasn't sure if I would make it back home before the rain started again and was looking around to see where I could duck in for shelter in case the sky fell while I was still out there. I already made a turn towards the grocery store then backtracked, deciding to head home instead. The walk lasted all of 1 hour and 30 minutes. Those extra steps to the grocery store would have added about 20 more minutes. Instead, I drove there and it didn't even rain again. I wasn't planning on taking this walk since I had already done a walking workout the day before, but because of my insomnia, I ended up doing my longest walk in recent months.
          Well, this entry is long enough, so I'll just make this Part 1. Insomnia walk - Part 2 to follow.