Doctor — $25.00
Co-pay at my internist’s office.  I’ve been trying to get my Clarinex prescription refilled for almost two months now — first I didn’t have current insurance cards and then, when the cards finally came, my prescription had expired [see post].  So they gave me make an appointment for this morning, I go in and wait an hour so I can spend 5 minutes with the doctor before they’d renew.  I couldn’t believe they didn’t require a full physical.  It’s been a couple of years since I had a complete physical so I made an appointment for next month.  I might as well get everything check before I go in for surgery, huh?

Aeropostale — $26.95
I finally decided on a pair of PJ’s for my sister; made the purchase on-line tonight — they were 50% off. 

I am of the “quality, not quantity” philosophy. But quality will only get you so far; proper maintenance of your possessions is a very important component to getting the most value out of the quality products you buy. My Maintenance Monday “column” of sorts is where I share a maintance tip that I employ to help keep my house and my possessions in tip-top shape.

Last week I wrote about the importance of using a bathroom fan to keep your bathroom from steaming up [view here].  Today’s maintenance tip is again focused on keeping away the dreaded bathroom mold and mildew.In a word, squeegee.

When I was still in the process of planning two bathroom remodels, one of my biggest concerns was how do I keep my new bathrooms looking new?  The most common advice I received was to use a squeegee every single time the shower was used.

Using a squeegee was a new concept to me.  I’d used one only once — when visiting my sister a few years ago, she insisted that I squeegee the glass shower door after showering.  The idea was to avoid water spotting on the glass.

Every surface, Every time.
But now I was being told to squeegee every shower surface — tiles and glass.  And after a minute of thought, the concept makes perfect sense.  Using a squeegee on your shower walls removes all the excess water and allows your tile, and more importantly your grout, to dry much more quickly thus, in the long run, avoiding the growth of mold and mildew.

Getting it Done.
Knowing you should squeegee and actually doing it can sometimes be two different things.  Especially for cranky old men and lazy teenagers ;-)  The Husband was easier to train than I had expected but then he had a powerful motive — protecting his investment!  The kids were a little tougher but I finally found the right motivation — anyone neglecting to squeegee immediately after showering (2 hours after the fact does not count) loses their allowance for an entire month.

My preferred squeegee is made by OXO and costs about $8.00. It’s got a nice rounded rubber handle and comes with a suction-cup holder. When dropped, there’s no danger of damage done to tubs or toes. The suction cup works extremely well on traditional tile but simply will not stick to my marble shower tiles in our master bath.

I just ran across this interesting article, Cost of Elderly Care Is Double Prior Estimates, in the NY Times.  It speaks to a subject that, while not yet a part of my life, looms like a dark cloud on my horizon.  Actually, in my case, it looks like an impending first-class storm.  And sometimes the prospect of how complicated and financially devasting elder care could quickly become a part of my life is simply overwhelming.

Aging parents is something that a lot of people my age (43) are facing but few face the issue of aging parents and aging spouses at the same time.  If you’re a regular reader you already know that The Husband significantly older than I am.  At 72, he’s no spring chicken

My father (70) is in terrible health but his future is the least closely tied to mine — he has remarried, we are not at all close, and he has more than sufficient financial means.

My mother (69), on the other hand, is still in excellent health.  She lives alone and is currently more than capable of living independently.  But she’s deeply in debt and doesn’t have any type of health benefits beyond her Medicare coverage.  She’s self-employed but only works part-time.  She has no savings and other than the little income her work brings in, lives solely on Social Security benefits.  If and when her health fails and she requires elder-care, my siblings and I will have to figure out how to share the responsibilities.

Meanwhile, The Husband is battling inoperable and incurable cancer.  At some point the cancer is very likely to matastize into his organs and bones.  I’ve nursed him through two previous bouts with cancer but I know that this time will likely to play out much differently.

I guess I’m employing a combination of that’s-just-too-overwhelming-to-even-think-about procrastination and we’ll-cross-that-bridge-when-we-come-to-it optimism with just a hint of keep-my-house-in-order-so-I’ll-be-in-a-position-to-handle-whatever-comes pragmatism thrown in for good measure.  What else can you do?