More Appointments, More Visiting - (Louisville, KY)

We were up really early this morning - 5:15.  Linda had "female" doctor appointments starting at 8:00 a.m., so we had to get her two-hours of coffee in as well as deal with rush hour.   :)

You know, there are very few places that I feel as uncomfortable as I do sitting in a gynecologist's waiting area.  There were no "Sports Illustrated" magazines, or anything else I cared to read.  I was stuck with the AARP magazine if I wanted to read about anything "manly" at all.  :)

Right at 8:00, the wide screen TV in the waiting room popped on.  It blared "Welcome to the Gynecological Network" or something to that effect.  Yikes!  I kept my head down and read my AARP article on "Rock Stars Over 50".  It was the best I could do short of sticking my fingers in my ears and repeating "la la la la la la la la".  :)

We had been the first to arrive, so once Linda was called back, I was by myself ... briefly.  Soon, other women came in .... none with their husbands.  And none of them were smiling.

I felt like they were looking at me like some kind of pervert invading their sacred territory.  I slumped down in my chair and hid behind my magazine trying not to make eye contact or look up for any reason.  The vibe was not a friendly one - at least not in my direction.  :)

Fortunately, right after I read how much sexier Tina Turner is than Lady GaGa, Linda reappeared.  Though I put on a good act, inside I was thinking "Hi Honey, how'd it go, everything all right?, here's your jacket, let's get outta here!"  :)

One appointment down.  Then it was on to the Women's Diagnostic Center where they do mammograms and such.  It was a much bigger waiting room and there were a couple of other guys in there.  They had regular TV and Sports Illustrated.  :)

I grabbed the SI before the other dudes got to it.  But I have to admit I looked up to watch "Regis & Kelly Live" every once in awhile.  Kelly's cute and she cracks me up.  :)

Once again, Linda got in and out pretty quick.  Yay!  Now we're both done with body part examinations.  :)

We had just enough time to drop by my parents' house before going to our meeting with our financial planners, Laura & Shaun.  It's been awhile since they moved from Merrill Lynch to the regional firm of Hilliard-Lyons.  They got tired of "headline fatigue" at Merrill and are very happy they moved.  So, it was the first time we got to see their new office and the first time we've sat down in person in a couple of years.

I'd say our "profile" is quite different than their other 300 clients, and we present some unique challenges.  With no fixed income and no way to determine how much we might earn each year, they have very little to work with.  :)

But using their models and probabilities, they determined that, conservatively, based on what we have right now and assuming no additional contributions, there is a 70% probability that we can draw about $9,200 a year for the rest of our lives.  :)

Yeah, that's not quite going to cut it.  :)

But we knew that.  We knew we were going to have to "earn our keep" for the most part.  In fact, the $9,200 is a little better than I had figured when we started.  :)

Of course none of us can predict the future, so we'll still go with our year-to-year plan of trying to build an income from our passions, trying to cash flow our expenses as much as possible without returning to the structure of a societally-approved career, and being prepared mentally for the worst possible situations.  It's not a very scientific plan, but it's gotten us through five very happy years so far.  :)

We really like working with Laura and Shaun, and there are a few RV-Dreamers across the country that work with them as well.  Laura took us to lunch and then we were off to the next stop.

We had gotten the call that our eyeglasses were ready.  So we went to pick those up.

Here is Linda's new pair of progressive lens glasses.

She also has magnetic clip-on sunglasses (so we didn't have to get two separate prescriptions).

And here I am with my first set of "readers".

We've both determined they will take some getting used to.  :)

Those pics were taken at Linda's Mom's condo where we landed for dinner.  While everyone was getting dinner prepared, I worked on installing some additional RAM in their desktop.

Scary, I know.  :)

But once I figured out that the side panel came off and I didn't need to take off the entire cover, it wasn't too difficult.  Thank goodness for the internet - I can find a "How To" guide on just about anything.  Of course, I don't necessarily trust them, so I find three or four and make sure they all say nearly the same thing.  :)

Eventually, we had a wonderful dinner cooked mostly on the grill.  And, finally, the sky actually cleared completely.

After watching American Idol with the fam, we made our way home by the light of the full moon.  It was a beautiful evening at the horse farm.

It was another busy day.  In addition to running around, we got an email from our employer in Michigan.  He had a list of all the duties and asked us to choose our top five preferences so they could review everyone's answers prior to our arrival.

They're still looking for some other couples, so let us know if you might be interested.  :)

Well, I'll wrap it up.  Tomorrow, I have a golf game and we have dinner with more friends.  I told you we'll need a vacation when we get out of Louisville.  :)

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Comments

[Judy Bell]

Ha ha ha! Howard, that was the funniest entry you've ever written. I can relate to the non-smiling look of the ladies. Just think of what awaits us when we go through the door. :) ;(

[Laurie King]

Very becoming! Nice to see isn't it?!

[khoenig@yahoo.com]

The glasses look good on you both. Howard loved your reaction to the waiting room, been there done that. Great post.

[Connie]

"Jeepers, creepers, where'd you get those peepers..."

Ahhhh, the things our parents forget to tell us. To be honest, nearly everyone that turns the corner into their 40's probably need some kind of peepers.

Howard, I noticed you weren't wearing your readers while working on the computer memory. :O ;)

The more you use them the more you'll need them you'll discover.

They really look great Howard and Linda!

[klueck]

You both look very nice in your new glasses!

I hope Linda has better luck adjusting to the progressive lenses, than I did. I have two brand new pair of glasses sitting in the drawer that I can't get used to. I went back to Walmart reading glasses or one single contact lens.

[Robbie & Alice Simons]

Was that cord coming out of the top of the desktop computer plugged in? :-)

[Kathy Salsbury]

Cute eyeglasses - both of you!

[Rod Shaut]

It doesn't get better as you get older. They tell me I need trifocals next.

Howard I can relate to the waiting room stuff. A few years ago I had to get a sonagram and my doctor sent me to a OBGYN clinic. Connie was waiting for me with a bunch of pregnant women when I came back out. I proudly said "Great news Hun, it's a boy". You should have seen the looks on those women.
--Rod

[Bob and Lynda Soady]

Oh boy, AARP and reading glasses!! Lets see, what was it you said about 'elderly folks' when we started RVing? You're slowly getting there! BTW - we use Skype and don't have extra charges. It depends on your contract I think. We're 90 on the list at Jojoba.