Home Again!

Well the economy has claimed another victim!! My youngest son needs to come home and take a rent breather to catch up on his bills. I told him that I would require him to pay utilities and that is it. Since we are a row house with homes on both sides, our  energy bill is quite manageable. That should give him a break. Quite frankly, it will be nice to have him around the house for some discussion, my wife is a liberal and I am conservative, we don't talk much about politics as it usually escalates into arguments. My son is willing to listen and I listen to him. Though lately, I believe my arch conservatism is beginning to erode a bit in my old age.

The other good reason for him being around is that it has given me a good reason to attack our front rooms with an almost violent capacity. I have thrown out stuff, I thought I never would and have been shredding an unbelievable amount of paper to help make way for him in one of the storerooms which used to be his bedroom.

After all this work, I hope he hangs out for a while :-)

Getting old is a Pain in the.....................!!

I never thought getting old would be so complicated. I thought I could work til I wanted to stop then get a paycheck from social security once a month. Here is a rough chronology of the last year or so!

November 15, 2012  called into a conference room, informed I was to be part of a reduction in force. Laid off THAT day and sent home.

Medical benefits were to stop November 30th. I enrolled in Cobra for one month because my wife's plan started in January.  That was successful
Applied for unemployment insurance. Successful but I have to keep going to seminars and keep proof I'm looking for jobs.

Went to Social Security Administration office and asked several questions about  Social Security and Medicare. They said as long as I was a dependent on my wife's plan, I didn't need to enroll in medicare, ok, score 1.

January and February Fought Blue Cross Blue Shield/Cobra because they continued to bill me even though I wanted only one month. Finally my Ex-employer stepped in and straightened out the mess.

June rolls around and stuff starts to happen. I'm told I have to enroll in medicare by my 65th birthday. I call the SSA. They confirmed that I don't need to enroll yet as long as I'm a dependent on another plan.

July starting to think about putting in for my Union  Local 94 pension. Checking into it and its a pain. They want me to send them my original birth certificate. Yeah, like that's going to happen. I asked what If I gets lost. Well you can always apply for another one they say. I'm looking at alternate means of proof now.

Another seminar with unemployment. Training on what to do with social media. I join LinkedIn.

August rolls around and I go to Social Security again. It turns out that it would not be that advantageous to wait another year for my benefits. I apply for them.

The advent of Obamacare now has my stomach turning. What will it do to us. I start looking at alternate insurance. I get a letter from the VA stating that I am enrolled in the VA healthcare system and that it conforms to the Affordable Health Care Act. My wife's insurance company is being cute, they won't tell us if I'm covered as a dependent until their enrollment period begins next month.

I call the VA and ask a few questions. I need to take a means (financial) test to see what priority I'm in now. I made a lot of money my last year on the job, but on unemployment for almost ten months now. The results will determine my copays for clinic visits and prescriptions.

More questions about my Union pension. I can take it in one large monthly payment but it ends when I expire, or I can take half of it and assign the benefits to Regina so she will have a little something afterwords.

When I applied for my SS benefits I said I didn't want Medicare because I was on Regina's plan. Yesterday I got a Medicare card in the mail!!!! What the Heck!!! So I call Social Security this morning and they tell me, no worries, it is for part A only.Its free.

I emailed the Rockland County Office of the Aging. They are supposed to have a rating of all the medicare supplement plans so I can pick when its time to do so. My current doctor has given me some hope. He likes the VA clinic in the county and works well with them. I have a feeling they will fit somewhere in my plans. But a lot is still up in the air until Regina gets her 2014 enrollment plan.

Sometimes, I wish this was the 19th century where I could father 10 kids they could all take turns caring for their old folks.

It's Official!!! I'm Related to a Union Civil War Veteran!!!

Actually two of them. My Great grandmothers brothers on my father's side enlisted in the Union army. One is Timothy Kiley and the other is Jeremiah Kiley. I've done some preliminary research and Timothy was in the 11th New York Infantry, while Jeremiah was in the 11th New York and later on in the 102nd New York Infantry.

I've sent away for their records and will know more when I get them. In fact when I do get them, I can apply for membership in the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War since I am related by blood to a Civil war soldier. I would have preferred a bona fide Rebel, but I'll take what I can get. Can't wait to read their records.

Thanks to Cousin Irene for putting me on their scent. Now I will have a nice project to do in my retirement.

Blogging About A Blog...

I am putting together another blog for the Rockland Civil War Round Table. So far the format I believe is pretty decent, color scheme is ok. I need more articles and photos from the members though. it is at Rockland Civil War Round Table I like the tools to use setting up the blog. But in this one case, I'm a little annoyed. One has the ability to format the blogs individually to a certain extent. However, they do not offer what I think is a suitable background for a Civil War oriented  blog, so I went with something that made more sense color wise then anything else.

Hope the folks like it.

Battle of Sharpsburg, September 17, 1862 Can be Consuming!!

151 years ago today, the Battle of Sharpsburg was fought in Maryland. It is also known as the Battle of Antietam if you are a Northerner. It was a very bloody battle in our bloody Civil War with about 23,000 casualties on both sides. That is more Americans killed and wounded in one day then any other day in U.S. History.

If you are like me, you are a True Civil War Nut and think about it daily. Well September 17th, 19 years ago today proved to be an occasion that demonstrated to my then bosses how all consuming that hobby was to me. I wrote an owner's approval letter to get permission to spend money on a project. So I typed it on my computer, printed it on company letterhead, signed it and walked it down to the owner's rep. A few minutes later, he called me up on the phone and said "where is your head, today?" Confused, I said "What do you mean?" Gerry then said the OA I submitted was dated September 17, 1862. "Your kidding" I replied, then explained to him the significance of the day.

The battle while Tactically a draw, at least stalled Lee and allowed Lincoln to claim a moral victory after which he wrote the Emancipation Proclamation. It also revealed to my bosses, how deep i was into the subject  :-)

Rockland Civil War Round Table kicks off another Season

This Wednesday, the Rockland County Civil War Round Table started its meetings again after Summer Recess. Our guest lecturer, Jay Jorgensen, discussed the role of the 5th Ohio Volunteer Cavalry at the Battle of Shiloh. It was interesting; but, what made it doubly so, was that I visited the battlefield about 15 years ago. Most of it is preserved and in pristine condition, so it was easy to identify with the presenter's commentary.

On a related note, I was presented with a plaque from the Round Table for my efforts within the Civil War community in 1998. It had hung on the wall by my desk. However, I lost track of it when I was RIFFED. Just recently, I tore through the boxes that had been mailed to me and found it wrapped up in the third box I opened, whew! I would have been annoyed if it had disappeared because it was a nice gesture on the part of my fellow Civil War peers.

I'm glad the Round Table season has started up again, it is nice to be amongst those who "still hear the guns". If anyone is local to Rockland County New York, our meetings are at the American Legion Hall in Pearl River on the first Wednesday of each month. The meeting starts at 7:30 PM and is ably hosted by our President Paul R. Martin.

WASHINGTON REDSKINS!!!

I can't take it anymore!!! I'm sick of the current idiotic controversy that people who have nothing better to do then stir up a hornet's nest over nothing!!! I have been a fan of the Washington Redskins since 1968. I love the team win, lose or draw. There is nothing wrong with the team's name, not a darn thing. But then again I'm a white Anglo-Saxon Protestant Male so in this politically correct world, my opinion means nothing.  I'm going to voice it anyway.

I am a large person, I wear 5XL shirts.I am big, therefore the name NY Giant's offends me, change it! I like animals, the name Miami Dolphins offends me, change it! As a history majory, I've studied enough U.S. History to understand our motives for separating from England were not as virtuous as we were taught as kids. Therefore the Name New England Patriots offends me, change it. I admired Benedict Arnold but I don't shove it down anyone's throat unless I am asked about it in a discussion. Also if I was an  American Indian, excuse me, I mean a North American Indigenous Person of the Red Race prior to 1607, I really should be upset at the San Francisco 49's. after all  they are named after a group of people that savaged the landscape and pushed everyone out of the way to satisfy their greed and avarice.

I am sure the name San Diego Padres offends someone out there so change it. How about the Cleveland Indians or Atlanta Braves. Change it, Change it, Change it. In fact why don't we go really stupid and change ALL the sports teams names to numbers, City names are not allowed. How would you like the 2's to play the 13's on Monday night Football.??????  What kind of rivalry will that inspire? Knock off all this garbage and play the game!!! Maybe someone will get assigned 666 then what!!!

Why isn't anyone complaining about the Dallas Cowboys??? Cowboys and Indians, remember when we were kids we played the game with cap guns. What was the object, get the bad guys, right? Well who are the bad guy? If the Cowboys were the bad guys how can you name a team after a group of people that assisted in stealing land from the Indians. If the Indians are the Bad guys, well now what, can you do...............??

And last but not least, the Saint John's University in NYC fell victim to Political Correctness some years ago. They changed their name from the Red Men to  The Red Storm. Red Storm are you kidding me, it sounds like they are worshiping communism now, right? So change it again. I say they should be the first in the new numbering system and they should change their name to Saint John's 01. But wait, someone will look at that and say that's a series of zeros and ones, oh no, we can't have that, that would offend people who don't like the binary  system and on and on and on..............

But my final note on this subject is simple. It is that most of the complainers are one note people. They have no concept of the world around them. Want an example. 1868 Washita Creek, Oklahoma, Custer's troops formed up to attack a largely defensive Indian village. What song did they use as a signal for attack? Gary Owen! In the 70's Gary Owen was adopted by today's 7th Cavalry as their song.   Now if I was an Indian, that would really be offensive; but who takes the time to learn these things.

GO   'SKINS