November 3, 2011
Dear Everyone:
It
all started with a
flu shot.
I’ve been getting annual flu shots for over a decade.
I remember many, many years ago, when “Jeannie” and I were
visiting our parents in Oregon for
Christmas.
Our older brother, “Byron”, picked us up at the airport.
On the drive, he mentioned that he was just recovering from the
flu.
“This is the last year I go without getting a flu shot,” he vowed.
It
sounded like a good idea and I’ve been getting flu shots ever since.
At
first, I would go to a local pharmacy and pay around $10 for a shot.
Then, the company for which I worked discovered that flu shots
cut down on absenteeism. (I
honestly can’t remember the last time I caught the flu.
A cold, yes. The flu,
no.)
So
each year the company would pay for flu shots and set up dates and times
for workers to get the shots without leaving company property.
And life was good.
This year, no company, no free flu shot.
Boo-hoo.
Instead, the local pharmacy chain was offering flu shots for a price.
They also offered to give you a $5.00 gift card (redeemable only
at their store, of course.) if your
health insurance refused to cover
the cost of the shot. Such a
deal.
Not
to be outdone, another local grocery chain, which has its own pharmacy
“department” also offered flu shots and a coupon worth 10% off at their
store, regardless of whether or not your health insurance covered the
cost of the shot.
So
I opted for the grocery chain.
The actual shot cost $30.
According to their pharmacy “technician”, my health insurance
company “declined” to cover the cost.
I paid the $30, waited about five minutes, got the shot, and the
coupon, and continued with my weekly grocery shopping.
The coupon was good for only one week and, naturally, excluded
“forbidden” items such as alcohol and tobacco.
No
problem. I waited until a
weekday, to avoid the weekend crowds, and went to the store.
Filled my cart with giant, “economy-size” refill bottles of
laundry detergent, fabric softener, bleach, dishwasher “packets”.
Spent around $150.
Saved $15. So the flu shot
was “half-price” and a better deal than the $5 gift card.
And
now I have enough cleaning products to last, literally, years.
The
problem: Where to store
them?
I
don’t have a garage or, as “Jeannie” calls it:
“The really BIG closet.”
I
do have a “storage closet” off the patio.
What I needed was a way to “vertical-ize”.
Off
to the Really Big Office Supply Warehouse Store where I found very
inexpensive plastic shelving units that are so light that I can pick one
up myself, and easy to assemble (no tools required.)
I got one for the storage closet.
And neatly stacked all the cleaning products with room to spare.
It
worked so well that I went back and got another.
Now there are two shelving units holding everything with enough
room left over for two ladders.
(It’s never a good idea to leave ladders outside.
Just gives thieves more opportunities than they deserve.)
Why I have two ladders is a long story that involves “Jeannie”
and painting supplies. And
the patio looks great, too.
(In
the meantime, my health insurance company called me with an automated
call about advocating getting a flu shot, which they had “declined” to
cover at the grocery store.
I hung up on the computer.)
Now
I’m contemplating the second bedroom / office / guest room.
I have a number of plastic filing / storage bins.
Sure they stack neatly.
But the one you need to get into is always the one on the bottom.
(Why is that?) They’d
be so much more accessible on individual shelves.
Those units cost exactly the same as a flu shot.
And
the “temporary” folding table has been “temporary” for over
two-and-a-half years now. In
the meantime, those two old TVs are just gobbling up usable space.
You
can see what’s happening here, can’t you?
I’ve avoided catching the flu bug; but I’ve caught the
“organizing bug”. Come to
think of it, the kitchen could use some work, too.
This is going to be so much fun.
Love, as always,
Pete
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