Only ten days left until Christmas! The time flies by – especially when I only post once a week or so. We’ll pull out of San Diego a few days after Christmas and unwind in the desert for a couple of nights before we head to Mesa, Arizona. I still have a couple of projects to complete before we head out.

The good news this week is, I got a raise! My first direct deposit from the Social Security Administration hit my account on Wednesday – the first raise I’ve had in six years. The bad news this week is, it’s the deadline for health insurance under Obamacare. What a debacle that is for someone in our age and income bracket. In our domicile state, South Dakota, anyone whose household gross income exceeds about $64,000 won’t qualify for subsidized health care. Health insurance for a family of two in our age group you can expect to pay a minimum of around $1,600/month on the government exchange for a high deductible policy that doesn’t cover anything but emergency care outside of South Dakota.

In essence, the folks that came up with Obamacare reasoned that anyone with an income level above the $64,000 threshold will pay exorbitant premiums to make up for the subsidies given to others. With the end of tax penalties in 2019 for not purchasing a policy from the exchange, we opted out this year. Instead of using an Affordable Care Act – what an oxymoron – policy we purchased a private short-term healthcare policy that gives us much better coverage for a third of the cost of anything Obamacare had to offer.

On Mondays, I usually make a late afternoon stop at Dan Diego’s to have a cold one with the guys. My go-to ale there is Duvel Belgian Golden Ale – I love this stuff. I have one, then usually follow up with a PBR before heading home for dinner. 

I came home Monday just in time to catch a fiery sunset over low tide on Mission Bay.

Last week, Donna made another new dish. It was dry-rubbed BBQ-style country-style boneless pork ribs she cooked in the crockpot. The meat was spicy and delicious. She served her portion over leftover spaghetti squash and mine over a baked potato. 

By the way, you might notice that I updated the WordPress template I use for this blog and it now inserts photos in their full size.

We have a rental car for the weekend that Donna picked up yesterday. She reserved a compact car and ended up with a Mazda Miata hard-top convertible – a nice upgrade! Today we’ll drive up to Menifee and visit with my step-dad, Ken. Ken is 87 years old and he’s getting concerned about his health and whether he might need assistance in the near future. He’s healthy at the moment, but he wants to be prepared. This is a good idea – we’ll make our plans while he is still mentally and physically in good shape. 

Ken created a trust years ago to protect his assets and make sure they are distributed according to his wishes. But he created that trust more than 30 years ago and a lot has changed since then. My friend Dan Cullen is an attorney in San Diego specializing in family law. I intend to have him review the trust documents and we’ll amend or rewrite it as needed. Dan gave me a checklist and a few other documents to go over with Ken and my brother Eddie today. It’s always good to have legal advice from someone you trust.

The weather has been a little cooler this week with highs in the mid-60s although we did reach the 70s on Thursday and Friday. Overnight lows have been around 50 degrees. No complaints here. We made reservations to return in April and we’re discussing our plans for next fall. We only make reservations for long-term stays like when we’re here in San Diego or for the three months we spend in Mesa, Arizona.