Baby Steps to the ...

Took some time off since my last post to apply for my Social Security Retirement Benefits. Only took me about 3 hours to complete online and an hour on the phone a coupla days later to fill in the holes. I worked with a very helpful and knowledgable lady at the regional SS office in Birmingham, Alabama. I was a little nervous about applying- realizing that the process would affect my income for the rest of my life. Fortunately, this lady made the process a little less painful. I still have to make some decisions about Medicare. Retirement benefits and Medicare Parts A and B were straight forward, but Medicare Part D and Supplemental insurance are a lot more complicated. I believe they call it "medi-gap" for it's supposed to fill in the gaps in medical coverage that are not covered by the first parts- which is substantial. I spent an afternoon at Border's reading "Medicare for Idiots" which helped me understand a little more- but I'm still undecided. Idiot.

The reason I'm bringing up this mundane subject is because this weblog and musings are about Life's Journey, and Social Security is very much a part of my Journey- especially the latter part of it.

And here's another "beni" about The Age of Retirement: Most states waive the fishing license requirement after age 65 years. And I believe camping fees might be discounted. I will be adding to this beni list as I proceed along The Journey.

I interrupt this web log for an important message: HELP!

Everything is broke: my tooth fell out; the electric outlets in the kitchen don't function; and my genealogy wagon and sometimes fiddler's convention camper won't pop-up anymore.

I haven't used my camper since last October. So, as I started to crank up the the roof to air it out, I heard a dull thumb. The steel cable snapped. And now I'm faced with a pop-up camper that won't pop up. Thinking literally outside of the box, I tried to construct a lift device with 2x4's, rachets, ropes, and hooks. However, the telescoping posts inside the camper got into a tight bind before I could get the roof to its normal height. When I tried to put the roof down, one corner froze and I couldn't get the darn thing collapsed. So, now the camper stands in my driveway, three corners down and one corner half-way up (see image above). Well, back to the drawing boards. I wonder if a camping dealer could fix this problem for less the one of my Social Security Benefit checks. I'd take it.

I will save the missing tooth and electrical problems for later. One baby step at a time, as the overwhelmed Bill Murry said in the movie "What About Bob".