. Today was a day spent working toward eliminating various frustrations that have been confounding me in recent weeks.
I brought Luther to the vet yesterday and got a prescription for an inhaler medication for his feline asthma. The vet told me it would be cheaper to buy from a Canadian pharmacy, but wasn't much help in steering me toward one or another. (Prior to this I tried putting Luther on a grain-free diet as I'd heard this could be causing his allergic reaction, but after 6 weeks, I saw no improvement, and he's been fighting me daily as to what food he'll eat. Food he ate the day before may be a food he turns his nose up to today. Vet said food allergies are not nearly as common as marketers make you think, but then he also said best to avoid feeding him beef, chicken, dairy and wheat, so that doesn't leave me much.)
I finally placed an order with one Canadian pharmacy, for about $40, which included shipping, for a med that cost over $200 here in the states. It's the same medication, Flovent, that's used with people.
After placing the order, I began feeling uneasy about the transaction, which I did over the phone, because I gave them my bank account number. They don't take credit card numbers, and while the other option was mailing a check, it's going to take between 3-5 weeks to get the med as it is and I didn't want further delays.
I called my bank later and they basicaly said the transaction is as secure as my trust in this particular company (whom I don't know from Adam). If I didn't want to close this account and open a new one (I will need to refill the prescription on an ongoing basis), they suggested opening a second checking account or a money market account in which I would keep the bulk of my money, and then only transfer to the checking as need. So basically I could limit the amount of my day to day money that would be exposed to this kind of risk. I Should have asked the question, but I guess, unlike a credit card transaction, the bank does not bear the loss in case of fraud.
This is what I'll do. I do already have an online money market elsewhere, and I am pretty sure their rates are better than my local community bank, but I would rather keep this money local to me, so I'll do the paperwork online and have an appointment set up for Tuesday to sign some stuff.
Another headache: I started my taxes. Usually I more or less "copy" how I did the previous year's taxes since things don't really change much from one year to the next, but in the 4th quarter of last year, I became self-employed (still working for the same company) and now have new tax forms to deal with. Guess I'll have to dig thru old tax returns in the attic tomorrow to see how I filled them out. Yuck.
Headache #3: For over a month now, my keyboard has had lots of problems, like, intermittently, it won't type various characters, or it types a letter 6 times in rapid sucession when I only typed it once,or it won't type at all. I bought the computer just a year ago and extended my tech support subscription just to make sure this problem was fixed. I was on the phone with them no less than 6 times for excruciatingly lengthy calls. Finally, the last time we spoke, they agreed to send me a new keyboard/mouse, which I got today. So far, it seems like it solved the problem. Why did we have to drag it out this long before I got the replacement keyboard? Ugh.
Other accomplishments today: Along with the cat inhaler med, I also ordered, from a different company, a special mask that fits over the cat's head and lets you administer the drug easily. I hope he doesn't hate it too much. I did some laundry. Right now, a pot of homemade vegetable stock is simmering on the stove, and when it's done, I'll be using it to make some potato and garilc soup. It's the 3rd recipe I'll be trying from a big soup book I got via my Buy Nothing group. I hope the soup is not too bland; all it has in it is 2 HEADS of garlic, potatoes and stock. Maybe I'll add tomato to it. EArlier today, I made a 2nd batch of some really good pumpkin-barley pudding so as not to waste an opened can of pumpkin puree.
In other news, I was able to get my father to an area clinic to get his first vaccine. I went very smoothly. I didn't know what to expect, so I gassed up the tank, but it turned out to be indoors and no real wait at all.
Oh, that's wierd. I see most of my entries for 2019 are missing. WTF?
February 13th, 2021 at 02:55 pm 1613228127
I hope all goes well!
:-)
February 13th, 2021 at 03:44 pm 1613231071
February 14th, 2021 at 08:33 pm 1613334790
I hear you on the keyboard and all the stress. They want you to get these plans, but then fight you when you try to use them. Years ago I had an HP computer and it would stop working. I talked to customer support, he had me take out the battery (and the whole time I'm thinking, I hope this doesn't void the warranty) and this and that. I finally had to send it in. Three times. Yet they wouldn't replace it and each time I got it back, it was more of the same. One time I swear they didn't even look at it. I had left a screw out just to see and there wasn't one back in the slot. The third time it worked, but not for long. I finally gave up and bought a cheapie laptop to use.
February 15th, 2021 at 05:10 pm 1613409022
The mask for Luther is bound to be a problem at first; if you can give him his meds before breakfast and give him breakfast immediately after, that should help since the meal will serve as a reward. Also, if he comes to realize that the meds make him feel better, that will help. When I had to give Teddy subcutaneous fluids when he was diagnosed with kidney failure, the first couple of months were very hard, but he eventually seemed to realize that the fluids made him feel better and become more cooperative (which was a good thing since he was on the fluids for 2.5 years).
The second bank account option is what I've been using for a few years. That second checking account is what I have linked to a debit card and I generally don't keep more than $200 in there unless a known larger expense is coming. That gives me my ATM access for cash.
Good luck with taxes; let me know if you have any questions. I haven't really looked at this year's updates yet but will probably manage to do so next weekend.
February 17th, 2021 at 07:26 am 1613546809
I'm Jon, tech support from saving advice. I'm currently restoring the lost entries from your blog and also for the other users. I'll inform you once done.
Thanks.
February 17th, 2021 at 02:59 pm 1613573959