We left Pelham, AL a little early to beat the predicted rainy weather and got down here on Sunday. Dad & Anna were a little "under the weather", so it was probably best we left them alone, anyway. Biggest surprise when we got here was running into Greg, Judy, Don & Zola at Mickee's when we went there for an early dinner. Had a great time catching up with them and really enjoyed the time. The Folks-on-Spokes guys are arriving down here, too. Donna got a ride in with them yesterday for ice cream, but unfortunately, missed today's ride.
As with all things in life, things happen. The Friday before we left Pelham, we broke a water line in the trailer and flooded the basement storage area and left our campsite muddy. We got all the stuff out of that area quickly and Donna mopped up the storage floor before we took on finding the leak. With me working the water pump and switches at the water system manifold, Donna (with flashlight in hand) located the leak at a connection in the hot water line to the washer.
After an hour of trying to get up there between the bedroom floor and the top of the generator box, we had no success and decided to shut off all the water to the washer at the manifold until we could get someone here in the Gulf Shore area to look at it. This also served as a reminder that RV manufacturers don't plan for repairs to RVs. That doesn't mean it can't be done, but that little to no thought, consideration or effort is given to the ability to make future repairs when RV manufacturers design their products. Like Microsoft Office Products (remember, I'm part of that generation that made Bill Gates a billionaire selling us software that didn't work), even new RVs must be fixed before anyone can use them. So one would think they would give that some thought & effort before they design & built an RV. Apparently, not.
Anyway, we've had it looked at, repaired, and it still leaks. We may have the whole fitting replaced before we leave, but we're guessing it won't be truly be fixed until we get back to Lagrange, IN in May.
In other news, we learned that the default answer to any Medicare claim is "no" - typical for any private insurance whether it be home, auto, health, life, extended warranty, etc, though I didn't expect it from Medicare based on all the positive, upbeat, literature they send us. Apparently, Medicare thinks I'm still working - probably because we gave a wrong answer on the form when Donna applied for Medicare Part B. So they think the insurance from the company I work for is primary and should pay first. It appears there's no option on that form Donna completed way back when to indicate that I'm retired and using health insurance from a former employer. Consequently, it seems any answer we chose was most likely wrong. Never mind that all that well-woman, preventive health care services that Medicare so loudly proclaims to cover doesn't take effect until your second year of Medicare coverage. Way to go DC! No wonder they got the Affordable Care Act wrong. They didn't even design Medicare to be useful! What a "great" benefit everyone gets to pay for!
At least Donna let me revert back to my bureaucratic ways and yell at the lady over the phone that I was tired of them lying to us while Donna read to them from Medicare's own information that said Medicare paid first. In theory, Donna's Medicare data is now being corrected to note that I'm retired. Then all the claims are to be resubmitted. After Donna talked to all the doctor offices she visited while in Fredericksburg, everyone seems to easily accept this may take quite awhile.
Sooooo...we've had an eventful week. At least the Blue Heron in the above picture knows what it's doing. (That's a fish cleaning station it's watching.) Later, David
