CMS Rock Star

Tomorrow we are making our annual leaf-peeping trip up to Bar Harbor.  This is the perfect time to go there; we take the US 1 scenic route along the coast, and we take our sweet time.  We stop along the way and have a meal at one of the many lobster shacks that proclaim to be the “best” lobster shack in the state.  I love having a lobster roll sandwich and freshly made french fries. 

We plan to go to the top of Mt Desert and take in the beautiful panoramic view that words cannot even bring justice to describe!  I wonder if we’ll see any cruise ships at anchor in the harbor.  Then we’ll go into town and walk along the Main street, window shopping at some places; going into others.  We’ll all buy a “Cool as a Moose” sweatshirt – that’s a tradition we can’t break!

It will be a long day, but I’m looking forward to it.  One of my favorite days of the year!

Today my Dad asked me to go with him to Home Depot to help him bring some sheets of plywood home.  I thought this was going to be a quick trip into town and back again, so I said yes.  Much to my chagrin, the trip was not just to Home Depot, it was also to Auto Advance.  “I’ll only be a couple of minutes, honey, I just need to buy some oil and a filter.”  So I waited in the car, reading the Sunday paper, for forty-five minutes!  Finally I decided I’d better go inside and find him and drag him out of there.  I found him standing in line at the check-out counter, with much more than some oil and a filter in his hands!

The cashier was incredibly slow in processing the order, and I was getting tired and cranky, anxious to get home before even getting to Home Depot!  We headed off to Home Depot, where once inside he met an old friend that he hadn’t seen in months and so he had to chat with him for a half hour before even getting through the door!  So I went into Home Depot and started shopping from the list we had made up, to get things going.

Lesson learned, next time Dad says “would you come with me to…….” if I want to get home within the same four hour period of time, the answer should be NO!

One of my biggest concerns for our American Society is how so many of the citizens cannot afford decent medical care.  I know so many people who have no coverage at all, and don’t qualify for Medicare or Medicaid so they go without any kind of medical care at all – they simply can’t afford it!  I would really like to see the next President of the United States do whatever is necessary to make sure that all Americans can afford decent medical care.

Most of the people that I DO know that have Health Insurance, have their policies through the Kaiser Permanente Company.  Kaiser Permanente has insurance policies for businesses, families, and individuals.  One of the things that makes Kaiser Permanente unique is that it is a non-profit organization – its focus is on healthcare for its customers.  The ekaiserinsurance.com website is an authorized Kaiser Permanente website for the Kaiser Permanente California, Kaiser Permanente Colorado, and Kaiser Permanente Georgia groups.  I’d like to see our family get family coverage for medical, dental, vision, and prescription expenses.

The Kaiser Permanent company has a network of over 12,000 physicians belonging to Permanente Medical groups.  It has more than 400 medical offices and thirty medical centers.  It is America’s largest non-profit health maintenance organization.  The company serves nine states and Washington DC, and has over eight million members.

Silver jewellry is becoming “in vogue” again in the world of fashion.  I’m so glad that it has, because I adore silver jewellry!  Years ago I had my “colors done” and the “expert” said I was a “winter” which means that I should wear silver jewellry, not gold!  I was very disappointed at the time because gold was in fashion at the time.  I’ve always LOVED silver jewellry, but for many years it was hard to find!

And when I first started wearing silver jewellry, I was dismayed by how quickly it tarnished until I learned this really cool trick for cleaning it from a forum that I found on the Internet:

You need a large glass jar with a lid, water, aluminum foil, and table salt.  Fill the jar about halfway with water (hot or cold, it doesn’t matter) and add about a tablespoon of salt.  Tear the aluminum foil into strips and put them in the jar. Add the silver jewellry and let it soak for a couple of minutes.  Take the jewellry out and wipe it with a soft cloth.  The tarnish will be gone!  Now I have to warn you that you should NOT use this on jewellry that has stones in it, only silver! I don’t know WHAT would happen to the stones, but I wouldn’t want to take any chances with them!

I tried this a couple of months ago on my own jewellry, and it worked like magic!  A couple of pieces were badly tarnished and I had to do it a couple of times, but it really really worked!

I love the Sterling Silver Jewellry for sale on the Keysilver Company’s website. All of their silver is of the finest grade and carries the .925 stamp.

When I go out on a social event, I love to wear a lot of Silver Bangles and Sterling Silver Bracelets.  I really like to layer them on!  For a casual social event, I tend to gravitate towards the bangles, for a more elegant formal event, I head for the bracelets.  The sparkle of sterling silver is so appealing to me!  I love fairies, and I found the most adorable fairy bracelet on their website that I want to buy!

The Keysilver’s website sells a wonderful selection of bangles, bracelets, pendants, and necklaces.  They offer free shipping all over the world.  I really like their 14 day money back guarantee too!

My friend works at “X” Mart and she says that the people there are very mean.