I knew I may need new tires on my 2013 Honda because 1) I still have the original tires on the car and 2) the tires have begun to squeal going around corners at a relatively low rate of speed.

When I spoke to my cousin to wish her a happy birthday, she mentioned she'd just bought new tires for her Ford Escape. She didn't bother to research tires at all but just went with what the shop recommended, which was Michelin. She was able to use a $70 coupon Michelin is currently offering on the purchase of 4 new Michelin tires.

I went to my favorite consumer review site, consumersearch.com, which aggregates reviews by other places like Consumer Reports. Their #1 pick was Michelin Premier (for all season tires), so I checked to see if BJs carried them. They did, and the online purchase and then the online appointment to have them install was very easy. Normally I would shop around for the best price, but I just didn't feel like I have the time, especially if all it saves me is $30 or so. (Not that I know what the potential cost savings could be.)

So I'll have to wait til Oct. 20 for the install since I can't get over there on a week night. They ARE open til 8 pm but I would be too tired.

I also checked the date of manufacture on the tire side since this would indicate how pressing your need for replacement may be, not the mileage as you might suppose. Mine were made in August 2012 so I definitely needed to replace. I am anxious to get it done. They weren't cheap, at over $100 per tire plus cost of install.

I am finding as I chit chat with various people that they all have much longer commutes than I do; one person today told me she drives 1.5 hours one way. It will make it harder to ask to work remotely just because, or when it snows.

I made a tasty lunch for work today: my mother's recipe for cold pea soup, which is a bright green because you don't cook the peas, and my wheat berry salad, which I've been making for so many years I forgot where I got the recipe. Also a bottle of Bai, the only bottled drink I'll consume.

I'm very happy to see that the FDA unexpectedly gave an early green light to the maker of a generic Copaxone at both the 20 and 40 mg dosage. I use the 40 mg dosage, 3x a week, for the MS and the price for this drug has done nothing but increase exponentially. Word on the street is that the generic will be 25 to 30% cheaper and that Teva will respond by lowering its price. These price wars can only benefit consumers.

"In August, a U.S. House of Representatives committee contacted Teva, Novartis and five other makers of multiple sclerosis drugs as part of a drug pricing investigation, saying that some of the dozen drugs used to treat the progressive neurological disease appeared to have lockstep price increases.

The 2017 price for the 40 mg version of Copaxone is $80,000 per year and the 20 mg version is more than $90,000 after having been launched in 1996 at just over $8,000, the House committee said."

Take a minute to read that again: In the span of 20 years, the cost of Copaxone went from $8,000 to $80,000 a year. What is wrong with this picture? GREED.

The people making these decisions may be pharma executives, but to me they're just as evil as Bernie Madoff.

I don't know why the daily injection (20 mg) would be even more expensive than the 40 mg (3x a week) because anyone in their right mind would prefer fewer injections.

Teva's technique to keep up the sale of its drugs is by paying 100% of the co-pays of Copaxone users. Even though Teva has paid my co-pay for years, it's not doing anything to lower the price of drugs overall because this just encourages me to continue using their very high-priced drug.

I can do my part by switching to the generic and I would also like to do that for a degree of peace of mind should I ever get in a jam and need to cover the payment possibly, it would be more doable with the 25-30% discount. I won't do it if Teva lowers their prices.

I don't think I'd try to do this now as I can't see my longtime neurologist since he and Cigna have a contract dispute and he is no longer in their network. He authorizes my prescription a year at a time even though I have to refill each month, and I made a point to have him authorize refills for another year right before the date Cigna told me was the end of their relationship with my doctor. And since my Cigna will run out with my COBRA in January anyway, no use complicating my prescription drug care any more than it generally is.

I'll wait to see what happens with this job. Best case scenario: get a perm job offer that comes with health insurance. It could still be expensive because this is a very small company, but it would have to be better than the healthcare exchange. Worst case scenario: I get stuck on the healthcare exchange with its expected double-digit rate hike in 2018 for people who make too much $$ to qualify for the subsidies. These are the people (like me) who would bear the full brunt of the ridiculous healthcare price increases.

I will take another look at available plans when they become available for viewing Nov 1 and I'm afraid it won't be pretty. But at least I'll know what I'm dealing with.