OptomisticGirl Posted January 3, 2012 Author Share Posted January 3, 2012 I don't desperatly need new glasses but it would be nice (plus it's been a year since my last exam so I'm due for another anyway). But I need a root canal as well. I first have to get another deep clean ($50 I believe out of my pocket) plus $50 dedecuible since this is a new year and then the $600 root canal. Aye. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huntress0527 Posted January 3, 2012 Share Posted January 3, 2012 Dental costs are the worst aren't they? Anything medical stinks because how do you really know you're getting ripped off? Everything is so expensive and seems like nothing is gauged in terms of price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OptomisticGirl Posted January 3, 2012 Author Share Posted January 3, 2012 Agreed. I'm lucky I guess in that my dental insurance pays for half of big medical procedures - so the root canal actually costs like $1,200 but I only have to pay $600. Still sucks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OptomisticGirl Posted January 3, 2012 Author Share Posted January 3, 2012 I just had a minor freak out. I was lying in bed listening to music and I felt something furry brush my leg. I flipped, almost threw the laptop, screamed, threw back the covers... to discover Jasper in the 'sneaking' position cats do looking at me like 'I just came under the covers for a snuggle mommy!'. Lord. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OptomisticGirl Posted January 3, 2012 Author Share Posted January 3, 2012 I made Jasper's vet appointment for his microchip for next Tues at 5 PM. I picked up a 7-12 shift that morning because, well, any and all extra money won't hurt us at this point! So I can come home, talk to L, and then take Jasper to the vet later that night. Since he isn't doing an exam on Jasper and is just inserting the microchip they are only going to charge me for the chip and not a doctor visit - the chip is about $45. Since we are at that point where anything related to him is in effect after I straighten my room I'm going to dive back into the DEFRA website and the other forum we are on for moving to England to make sure I'm still update to everything I need to know about the PETs Scheme. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DN Posted January 3, 2012 Share Posted January 3, 2012 OG - when you check prices you might find a return ticket with a deal is actually cheaper than a one way ticket - they rarely have deals on one way flights. That happened to me once. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OptomisticGirl Posted January 3, 2012 Author Share Posted January 3, 2012 OG - when you check prices you might find a return ticket with a deal is actually cheaper than a one way ticket - they rarely have deals on one way flights. That happened to me once. Did you take the round trip DN? We thought of that - I think L even looked at it and it was a few 100 pounds cheaper - but we weren't sure if you could ACTUALLY buy a round trip and just not use the return trip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DN Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 I just threw away the unused portion of the ticket. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OptomisticGirl Posted January 4, 2012 Author Share Posted January 4, 2012 that's good to know - thank you DN! I figured it wasn't like unlawful or anything not to lose it - it's the same as if you miss a flight, they just fill the seat up! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DN Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 This was a long time ago and it may be there are laws about now because of terrorism or whatever but I doubt it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OptomisticGirl Posted January 4, 2012 Author Share Posted January 4, 2012 I guess it wouldn't hurt to call Delta and find out. They may think I'm a cheap skate but hey, I'm willing to admit to it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avman Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 This was a long time ago and it may be there are laws about now because of terrorism or whatever but I doubt it. Nope, no laws against that sort of thing. You just throw away the return portion of the ticket and don't use it. I used to work at an airline and people did this all the time. It is frequently cheaper to buy a restricted round trip ticket then it is to buy a one way ticket. A one way ticket is usually priced at 1/2 of the full fare charged with no deals. And the difference between the full fare and a discounted ticket can be substantial. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OptomisticGirl Posted January 4, 2012 Author Share Posted January 4, 2012 Nope, no laws against that sort of thing. You just throw away the return portion of the ticket and don't use it. I used to work at an airline and people did this all the time. It is frequently cheaper to buy a restricted round trip ticket then it is to buy a one way ticket. A one way ticket is usually priced at 1/2 of the full fare charged with no deals. And the difference between the full fare and a discounted ticket can be substantial. Thank you for this Avman! So do they have like full price round trip tickets and then discounted round trip tickets? Would this be like something they would showcase closer to the time to try to fill the plane up? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avman Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 So do they have like full price round trip tickets and then discounted round trip tickets? Yes they do. They separate the fares into full fares and discounted fares. Full fares have few to no restrictions. You can cancel, change the dates, upgrade to first class easily, sometimes check bags for no fees, etc. All these things are geared towards business travelers that must frequently fly at the last minute with little planning and who may have to change their trip at a moments notice. Discounted fares have more restrictions. The bigger the discount the bigger the restrictions. You may not be able to cancel or change your ticket at all for the best price. And you have to buy farther in advance. It is never a good idea to wait until the last minute to buy the plane ticket. Once you are within 2-3 weeks of a flight the fares will start to climb. Buying at the last minute almost guarantees you'll pay the highest price. Every so often you'll see a deal for last minute travel but it is the exception. If you are flying on a route where they think they can snag any business travelers at all you will not see last minute travel deals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OptomisticGirl Posted January 4, 2012 Author Share Posted January 4, 2012 Thank you, again, for this information Avman. We're hoping 'they' don't take long to decide to grant us the visa or not - another forum we are on specifically for US to England visas sometimes the turn around is as little as 15 days - but then when you look at that in time concept, that's 1/2 a month. We can't apply until beginning of Aug (mid Aug more realistically, depending on how long it takes L to find us a home) and they say they have all answers within 3 months so it's a tight time scale. I'm hoping we have at least a month between approvment and our date to move that way the price won't be so bad being last minute. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OptomisticGirl Posted January 4, 2012 Author Share Posted January 4, 2012 Well I started off by just straightening my room but have went into full blown sorting through everything for England mode. I emptied out the green plastic thing in my closet, sorted it, gave the ugly green thing to my mom who used it to store Tyler's toys. And I even sorted some of the stuff I went through into a box of stuff I want to ship but that's not NEEDED right when i move over (like my fairy statues, a bunch of other breakable stuff, some odds and ends) and then I have 2 boxes (I say boxes but they are totes) of stuff I do want to take with me when I move - pictures, important papers, books, etc. I haven't went around my whole room yet (I've been at it for like 2-3 hours now) so I'll leave that for another day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OptomisticGirl Posted January 4, 2012 Author Share Posted January 4, 2012 Just discovered we can pay $300 - like that's a drop in a bucket! - for priority service and 'they' will have an answer to our visa in 15 days. Hmmm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
renaissancewoman101 Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 Just discovered we can pay $300 - like that's a drop in a bucket! - for priority service and 'they' will have an answer to our visa in 15 days. Hmmm. that is not that bad of a price to pay to find out quicker, so you can finalize plans and move over quicker. Are you guys considering the "priority" service? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OptomisticGirl Posted January 4, 2012 Author Share Posted January 4, 2012 that is not that bad of a price to pay to find out quicker, so you can finalize plans and move over quicker. Are you guys considering the "priority" service? It depends greatly on how long it takes L to find us a house that allows pets. If we find one quickly, no since some applications with none priority have recieved answers back from anywhere from 24 hours to a week - which would be a waste of $300. I think the ONLY time we would consider paying it is if L can't find a house quickly and it's crunch time to get me over before our 1 year. That's the only time I, myself, could fathom paying for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OptomisticGirl Posted January 5, 2012 Author Share Posted January 5, 2012 Such a long, hard day at work... I got into town and was standing in line at the uniform store (needed new pair of shoes, pants, and shirts for work) when I get a text from my mom 'Call me, you locked me out of the house!' Eh? Apparently mom didn't tell me she was going around back so when I left for work I thought she had left with my sister so I locked the front door (because any other time she would complain if I didn't!) and I locked her out. I had to drive 20 minutes back home to unlock the door for her which made me 30 mins late for work. and then work was none stop. I got home and sorted through some more stuff of mine - found stuff from waaayyy back in high school that made me smile with fond memories at some of it and then cringe as to why I kept certain things. I even found a few letters my ex's best friend wrote me when he was in basic training - I keep everything, I tell you! I still have some stuff in my room that I need to sort but the vast majority is done, separated into what I want to send before I leave and what I want to bring but can wait until I'm over there to ship it later. Less than 9 months... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seraphim Posted January 5, 2012 Share Posted January 5, 2012 Hahahaha my sister-in-law has stuff from grade TWO and she is almost 41, she is a MAJOR pack rat, I think she almost classifies as a hoarder.Her brother was the same but I sorted him out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OptomisticGirl Posted January 5, 2012 Author Share Posted January 5, 2012 I think that while I love to write and I have had this book concept in my head since I was 8, I'm afraid to write. Isn't that so silly? I'm afraid to do the one true thing I love doing. How pathetic. And it's so hard to explain. Writing anything (from this journal, to our blog, even a letter to a friend) comes natural to me. Writing to me is the most natural thing in the world - it's why I love this journal. I love putting my thoughts and ideas and feelings onto paper.. to me there has never been a greater invention than the paper and pen. It completely opened man's options up to be limitless. And okay, I'm techinically not WRITING but I have OCD when it comes to my handwriting so I try to steer clear of writing things down if I have to but you get the basic concept. But when it comes to this novel (novels, I should point out. I always refer to it as a novel but it is in fact a series of novels) my writing falters. I have had this book concept in my head since I was 8 years old. So what? For 15 years I have been trying to write these blasted novels and I have 1/2 a page of a prologue and snippets from other areas of the story I want to tell but could be the end of the story, they are just things I want to happen. And what causes my writing in the one area I want to exercise it more than anything to stop? Fear. Fear is a very paralyzing emotion - even when you fear things that may never come. What do I fear? I think ultimately, I fear rejection of my writing. And even that is odd to me because as a writer and even as a human being I know we all face rejection in one form or another. It's life. People don't like it, you move on and find someone that does. But with these novels is so different... for me (and this story I have had in my head) I put a lot of myself in my writing. Not literally but when you put a story to paper (or Microsoft Word if you have OCD with your handwriting) and it's a story you created from scratch with characters YOU embodied personality into and a world YOU created it takes a little with you - if that makes any sense. You put the most intimate part of you into a story you want to see on paper and then hand it to another human being to look into. For me that moment anyone else has my writing in their hands is the most vulnerable I ever feel... and maybe that's why I fear writing (in that regard). I hate being vulnerable. I don't like being at the mercy of others. You know I trust L with my life and without a SECOND'S hesitation would put my entire life in his hands but the simple thought of him reading any part of this story sends me into a mini panic attack. He has read snipets of the story (what little there is) and I remember the anxiety before I hit the sent button to send it to him and then had to force myself not to log into his email and forever delete it. I actually wrote a few chapters in the fan fiction genre years back on a tv show I use to love, the most I have ever written in one story at one time. It's still there on the site, easily found if you knew what you were looking for but I have never sent L the link. Not even my ex knew it existed. I dunno why I'm writing this to be honest. I came accross some of my story stuff when clearing stuff out for England and I guess it got me to thinking... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redrose85 Posted January 5, 2012 Share Posted January 5, 2012 practice, practice, practice. Make it a routine. Write everyday. For me, I’m mostly just sick of writing so I actually don’t want to, but it is one of those skills you use or lose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OptomisticGirl Posted January 5, 2012 Author Share Posted January 5, 2012 It's not so much that I have writer's block in the traditional sense, just the thought of someone reading it and judging that one piece of writing I put so much into, scares me. It's something I obviously have to over come. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OptomisticGirl Posted January 5, 2012 Author Share Posted January 5, 2012 I'm going to have so much driving to do my last few weeks in the states.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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