A co-pay too far and "Those Were The Days"

Meet Me at Maynard's crowd

In my last missive I mentioned that we were going to get our allergy shots on Monday. Well, that turned into a much more complicated thing that we anticipated. We arrived at the resort health clinic right at noon, the time they open, and were first in line for our shots. Shots are given on a first come, first served basis so things were looking good.

Good, until the doctor asked us if we had an Epi-Pen. For those who don’t know an Epi-Pen is an emergency device that injects you with epinephrine in the event you got into a severe allergic reaction. Over the years that I have been taking shots I have owned several Epi-Pens and have never had to use one. The six or so that I have owned have all expired unused.

Joan's favorite block on the MMM walk

Being the folks we are we gave the honest answer and that opened a whole can of worms. Before we could get our shots we had to pick up Epi-Pens for both of us at a local pharmacy before the clinic would administer shots.

So the doctor placed a prescription order and we headed to the pharmacy, but lost our first and second place position in the clinic line. After we arrived at the pharmacy I nearly had a severe allergic reaction when the clerk told us that the co-pay for the Epi-Pens was $217 for each package. Before I hyperventilated and needed the Epi-Pen I simply told the clerk that he could restock the items as we would not be paying such an outrageous price.

No idea, except they have a drug problem here

Just a few years ago, before everyone’s child came down with peanut allergies, they cost well under $100 and the co-pays were even less. In Canada you can buy them in a two-pack over the counter without a prescription for $94 retail (that’s Canadian money so about $60 in today’s exchange). Looks like Canada does a lot better negotiating drug prices than American insurance companies.

A couple days later, with Joan starting to hack and cough, I went back and purchased one of them, so Joan can get her shots, but I refuse to pay that much money for something I know I will never use and which will expire in just about a year.

Another part of the MMM walk

So she’ll try again next Monday to get her shots armed with an Epi-Pen that costs about $500 retail and will likely never be used.

Before the great Epi-Pen adventure Joan attended her aquacize class and I had a good workout.

After the great Epi-Pen adventure we headed downtown to attend our first Meet Me at Maynard’s this season. We are now up to ten MMM and only have five more times before we get our free hat. We earned the t-shirts last year on our eighth visit.

Joan walked really well compared to last year and was able to do almost the entire 2-mile trek with only one rest stop. That is much better than last year. The weather was chilly, but we waited for the prize drawings, which we didn’t win and then headed to dinner downtown.

Last year there would have been dozens of homeless

One big change is the absence of the numerous homeless pods and folks downtown. Apparently after complaints from downtown businesses and visitors they have relocated the folks elsewhere. Where elsewhere is I haven't found yet although every street corner has at least one panhandler.

Also the Hotel Congress is famous because John Dillinger once stayed there while fleeing from charges in other states.

Kitchen Cocktails is a relatively new restaurant with televisions the size of an old drive-in theater. OK, not quite that big, but one of the largest televisions I have ever seen. We dined on appetizers and watched the first half of the Clemson vs. Alabama National Championship game. During the dinner Joan bit down on a hard piece of bacon and a piece of a back molar broke off. More on that later.

Morning in the Old Pueblo

After we left we liberated our car from a downtown garage and I realized I left my Atherton Police Department hat (I worked there in the 1970s) in the booth at the restaurant.

I dropped Joan off in front of the restaurant and made a spin around the block so she could retrieve my prized hat.

Back at the RV we watched the rest of the game and then went to bed.

On Tuesday, I was up early and headed for my first big hike. There were 27 folks on hand for the hike, but the planned hike location had to be changed because of the recent weather here. A stream that runs down from Seven Falls was running quickly and two-feet deep. Because we have to cross the stream five or six times it was not practical for us to do that hike Tuesday.

The hiking group getting ready to head out

Instead we headed to East Saguaro National Park and the Hope Camp Trail and a side trip up the Ridge Trail for some stunning views and a rest stop. It was an enjoyable hike and a great first hike for someone just getting acclimated to the higher altitude.

It was great to meet up with old friends and yet sad to learn that a couple of the regular hikers from past years are no longer hiking due to health concerns. It is sobering to realize that all of the things we do here on earth have an expiration date.

After I returned to the park, I showered and we headed to the resort pot luck and joined a few dozen other folks for a true pot luck dinner. This week turned out to be meatball week and Joan was one of those who contributed a crock pot full of meatballs. Folks who attend our annual Christmas party and very familiar with those meatballs and they are the favorite of our granddaughter Addisen.

Heading up the trail

I woke up early Wednesday and got in an hour long workout at the fitness center and then started making phone calls to find a dentist to fix Joan’s tooth. We located one who agreed to schedule Joan in on Thursday. More on that later.

Our friends from Riverside Tabernacle came to the park at 10:30 a.m. and we gave them a tour of Market Daze and then a quick tour of the park and lunch in the ballroom. We have plans to go hiking with them Saturday in Sabino Canyon.

William Florian, a one-time lead singer for the New Christy Minstrels, was the entertainment at the Wednesday night concert series this week. What a great and fun show. To be clear in the history of the New Christy Minstrels there have been a total of 300 members of that group. Florian did not join the group until 1977, but he put on a great and fun show tonight singing both songs from that group, the Mamas and Papas, John Denver, even a couple Neil Diamond songs.

Cactus in the foreground snow capped mountains in back

He was funny and a great story teller. He is spending the night in the resort in his 40-foot motor home, which he drives from concert to concert. If you get a chance to see “Those Were The Days” with William Florian, you would not be disappointed.

Usually on Thursday I head to the Men’s Bible Study, but not this Thursday. We found an ad for a local dentist in the resort newspaper, called and made an emergency appointment for Joan to get her molar fixed. Anyone who has had a broken tooth knows that your tongue instantly goes to that wounded tooth and rubs against the raw edge of the tooth.

Dr. Rodney Gold, an Iowa dental school graduate, put a temporary fix on the molar and we are in a waiting mode from the insurance company on what they will cover for a crown. We should have the answer in a few weeks and we’ll get the tooth fixed here before we head home.

Fighting the rock to stay alive

After the dental appointment we went shopping for an HDMI cord so we can show movies through my computer only to learn that the computer won’t play Blu-Ray DVDs either. Looks like Mad Men will have to wait until we get back home.

At 1 p.m. we went to the weekly lecture at the resort, this one was on the history of Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. The presenter, a retired Air Force veteran, is the current civilian historian of the 355^th Air Wing at the base.

The presentation was very interesting and we learned that the base started in 1919 as the nation’s first municipal airport and was later transitioned into a military base with the dawn of World War II. Flight crews for B-24s and later B-29s all trained there during the war.

Break time on the trail

Because of the surrounding desert and its vast gun ranges, the base is ideally suited for training combat air support crews and is currently home to the A-10 Thunderbolts (Wart Hogs) that are used extensively in the battle against ISIS. There is also a helicopter squadron and a C-130 squadron here as well.

Folks in Tucson have been celebrating all week with the news that the demise of the A-10s have been postponed for at least two years by Congress. The financial impact of the base is more than $1 billion a year for Tucson.

The historian showed us lots of photos and had great stories, including one about John Dillinger being arrested in Tucson and flown out of Davis-Monthan for his extradition to Indiana on felony charges.

A very old Saguaro cactus

The base is named for two airmen who were killed in training crashes back in the early part of aviation history, I believe somewhere around 1915.

We sat outside soaking in the sunshine until the sun dipped low enough that the cool temperatures returned.

Thursday night I attended the group Bible Study and on Friday Joan went to the Women’s Bible study and wrote postcards and took it easy Friday afternoon. (Actually we take it easy just about every day). Joan did some laundry (I earn my keep as the mule who hauls the dirty laundry to the laundromat) and we are planning to attend the resort dance tonight. You’ll have to read about that in my next release.