So today was the day our van was finally going to be fixed.

Except it didn’t.

Turns out there was a miscommunication.

When it was talked about, my cousin had mentioned picking up our van.  This was after I’d mentioned I was concerned about driving it with that grinding noise it was making. I wasn’t sure how he planned to do that, but no alternative was mentioned, so I waited on him to arrive.

Meanwhile, my husband phoned in some prescription refills, plus needed more distilled water for his CPAP.  So I left the keys with him while our younger daughter and I went into the next town to get some non-Costco shopping done at the grocery store, after hitting the pharmacy.  I made sure to text my cousin to let him know about the keys.

It wasn’t until he answered that I found out he’d expected me to have dropped our van off some time ago.

*sigh*

Which means he won’t be able to work on it until Wednesday.

I’ll be bringing our van to him and leaving it there, Tuesday night. :-D

Just a couple of days longer.

Meanwhile, a bit more progress was made with the unpacking.  I should have been working on the boxes in the office, but I decided to continue in the living room, instead.  I was getting tired of looking at the aquarium, all wrapped up in the corner.  So I took off the foam sheets duct taped around the outside, then had to use a stool to be able to get all the accessories from inside the tank and store them in the cabinet under the tank.  Then I could take out the foam pieces that were protecting the inside.

That done, I tucked the lights between the tank and the wall, along with the power bar we’ll eventually be using in that corner.  Got the ironing board put away.  There was also a taped together bundle with an umbrella, 3 shinai and a jo staff.

Curious, I took the stickers to see what these were listed as, on the sheet.

The bundle with the umbrella and shinai was labeled “Anberallas”.  Or maybe it says, “Anherallas”.

The ironing board was listed as “Airlen Board.”

It hurts just to try and type that out. LOL

Now, all I’ve got left in that little corner to get rid of is my sister’s carpet shampooer.  A visit will need to be arranged, after our van is fixed. :-)

The only other thing left in that area that I need to figure out what to do with are the baskets of light bulbs on our piano bench that weren’t supposed to be packed.  They’ll likely just have to go to the basement. :-/

The next step for the area is to get a nimble daughter to climb over the piano and install the antique mirror of my mother’s that matches the piano so well.

We were planning to put some decor items on the piano itself, but one of the cats really loves it up there.  We’ll have to be careful what goes up there!

I’m totally procrastinating over the boxes in my office.  Totally.

We’ve got some progress in another thing that we had a delay on.  We’d done the paperwork to transfer our medicare coverage away from the province we moved out of, to the one we now live in.  We’ve had coverage here before and were even able to include our old health care card numbers.

The forms all came back.

They wanted ID. The girls each got their own form, but the one for myself and my husband had a handwritten note saying that we needed to include copies of ID for all the family.

Thankfully, my younger daughter was able to find her birth certificate that had gone missing – it turned out to be still in the suitcase.

Now it’s just a matter of signing the new form attached to the old ones, and send them in with the photocopies.  At least the postage is pre-paid.

While it doesn’t matter much for our daughters, who have no medical appointments or prescriptions to deal with, it might be an issue for my husband and I.  Our old health care numbers ensure coverage for up to 3 months after moving to another province.  We have doctor’s appointments (I made a “meet and greet” appointment with the same doctor for myself) in the middle of the month.  For me, that’s just a few days after my 3 months is up, but my husband got here 3 weeks earlier, so he’s already past the 3 months.

I’m not sure how that’ll be dealt with.

For the non-Canadians reading this, Canada’s medicare system is federally funded through our tax dollars, but provincially managed.  Each province is slightly different than others.  While the basics, like regular check ups, treatment, hospital visits, most medical tests, and specialists are covered, some things covered in one province might not be covered, or only partly covered, in another.  For example, when my husband was first diagnosed with severe obstructive sleep apnea, we were living in this province, and the CPAP machine, humidifier, hoses and masks were fully covered.  After we moved, however, there was 0 coverage.  We’ve come back just in time for this province to change from full coverage to partial coverage.

Thank God for private insurance!

Yes, we in Canada do still need private insurance.  Especially for dental, eye care and prescriptions, which isn’t covered by our medicare system.  I know of one province that also has its own “pharmacare” for prescriptions.  There is a deductible, then the province covers the rest.

In a nut shell, we have medical coverage, but it isn’t “free”; we just pay for it through our taxes, like a group insurance program.  Some provinces also charge premiums.

It also isn’t universal as, while certain essentials are covered, each province maintains its own services.

It also isn’t all government run.  While there are certainly provincial health care clinics with both medical and support staff, many of which also include labs for blood-work and equipment for Xrays, we also have private doctors with private clinics (they bill the government for covered services), and private companies that provide a mix of services that can be covered by the government, private insurance or the patient gets billed.

Which can make things pretty convoluted, when you have complex health concerns, as my husband does.  Most of his medical care is covered by our medicare system, and the rest by private insurance.  So far, the doctors have managed to keep his prescriptions among those that are covered by private insurance.  Thankfully, my husband has a very good plan, so there’s a long list of approved prescriptions.

Did I mention, Thank God for private insurance?

I think I’ll just say it again, anyways.

Thank God for private insurance!

The Re-Farmer