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When you live in a small town there aren't a lot of different options for car services Send, but I think my local dealer has always been trustworthy. Of course they no longer treat me like royalty for buying a car from them now that so many years have gone by, and the staff keep getting younger and younger (and the guy that went to school with my bro has retired).
I used to love driving, I thought when I retired I'd hop in the car and travel. But then I developed a driving phobia that causes crippling fear in heavy traffic...
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You can find reliable mechanics by going to the Car Guys website and putting in your zip code. Have found two wonderful local mechanics through them.
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I cannot believe I'm actually posting this but I have become anti-techie. Lately everytime I try to check out a menu online or confirm a place is still open I am confronted by a screen wanting my email and/or phone before I can read a menu! No thanks, I do not need any more junk email or phone calls! If you want to put such a barrier to viewing your general information, then I am going to just pass on your business. Can't they at least wait till I order something?
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AGREE! Many places lose my business.

I don't know where I have added my email address in the past month or so, but I have been bombarded with scams and junk! The only thing I can figure out is shopping for Medicare supplement!
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I met that yesterday. It was the company who looks after my investments, I have a new advisor and i wanted to check her out. I couldn't get into the site without giving them my email address, which they already have, but i wasn't going to give again. I really object to that!!! Are they so hard up for business???
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@llamalover47

Yes, Costa Rica is a very beautiful country if you don't mind living in the third-world and getting panhandled incessantly because everyone knows you're a foreigner and they think you must have money. I took a vacation there once. The begging really ruined the trip because we couldn't take a step off the resort we were staying at. Nothing like living in village where the hospital shares the same building with a the church. Perfectly fine if your don's need surgery on a Sunday or basic care.

@gladimhere.

I couldn't agree more. I will not do any online business that insists on a cellphone number and email before even allowing the product to be seen. Restaurants too. If I can't read the menu online without the "screen" over it demanding an email and phone number, I move on.
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I've been in branding and marketing for 4 decades (b to b, not retail). Giving out your email today is really not different than giving a business your home address when you ordered something (credit card, delivery) "back in the day". They put or sold that info to companies that sold mailing lists. Hence, junk mail. I have a free gmail account that is dedicated for purchases. Then, once the retailer starts sending me junk email, I go in and request to be taken off their list (it's an option at the very bottom of their emails, often in tiny print and in pale grey). By law they must unsubscribe you. Any emails that I want to keep (like order/delivery info) I just forward to myself at my protected email address. I do occasionally get spam texts and calls, but I use RoboKiller to block those and my iPhone is very quiet. Do you use an encrypted browser? If not, then whenever you go online you are also being watched and followed and your information gathered. Yes, technology has scary downsides but it can be mostly very useful to us as we get older. Block chain technology would de-centralize informatiion so that you would "own" it and it would be much harder for businesses to get your info (essentially, advertisers would have to pay each you and me personally for the same info they're getting for free now). This is what crypto is based on (this is a very simplified explanation). Block chain also has downsides, just like most things in life. Adapt to the best of technology that makes our aging lives better and keeps us more connected to family, our healthcare, each other.
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Regarding retirement living in places like Cost Rica... What happens when you need next-level healthcare? What's the cost of a medical transport back to the US? If you weren't transportable, could your family afford to go to you? And how fast could it happen if they don't have passports? What about PoA laws orr guardianship in other countries? What laws would govern the ex-pat?
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Sendhelp, about 10 years ago the Jeep dealership said I needed a couple thousand worth of repairs on my Jeep. I said I would think about it.

I found a really good place to take my vehicle that had old time mechanics, and ten years later none of those so called "repairs" ever needed to be fixed.
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Geaton777, I always wondered about health care and legal documents outside of the United States, too.

I know that Medicare is only good for treatment in the United States and its territories [Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands].
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My friends who retired to CR come back twice a year for dental care and doctor visits. They go to a local facility for emergent care. They have a supplemental policy that pays for care there. They still have their home in the US if it should ever become necessary or they would want to move back. They went into the move eyes wide open and have never considered it an irreversible permanent move.
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I'm still ticked at McDonald's requiring an app in order to earn coffee and other rewards, at least Tim Horton's lets you use a physical card card if you'd rather.

I imagine wise American expats buy extra insurance for living abroad in the same way we Canadians do whenever we leave the country. And yeah, my understanding is that expat enclaves are like gated communities, there is no reason to venture into sketchy areas.
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cwillie, I just helped my son purchase travel health insurance for a 3-month gig in NZ (it's from BCBS). It is "inexpensive" but the issue is not the coverage, the issue is the *quality* of the healthcare you'd receive depending on in which foreign country one is living. Would I choose a surgery and rehab in the US rather than CR? Probably. Would I want cancer treatment in the US? Yes, def. Plus, not sure about getting prescriptions in other countries. Also, even though NZ offers nationalized healthcare, there is little to no financial provision for non-citizens or people without a 2-yr work visa. In NZ you have no real abiliity to have a "primary doctor" for non-emergency wellness care. Only if you are sick or injured enough to warrant the ER or hospital, so not sure if this is true in other countries. I'm not yet on Medicare so don't really know how it works for out-of-the-US coverage.
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My grandchildren have complained about McDonald's and their insistence on using the app. They've switched to Tim's. Not an inconvenience - they're next door to each other on fast food row.
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Great conversation everyone, while I was sleeping.
Reminds me of the song:
It's a small world after all.

It's a world of laughter
A world of tears
It's a world of hopes
And a world of fears
There's so much that we share
That it's time we're aware
It's a small world after all
It's a small world after all.....
It's a small, small world
There is just one moon
And one golden sun
And a smile means
Friendship to ev'ryone
Though the mountains divide
And the oceans are wide
It's a small world after all.
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Burnt: Wow! Must be similar in nature to the Bahamas. Couldn't even glance at an item for sale, else being hounded to buy it.
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wishing everyone a wonderful sunday!! courage!!

i continue to have a very rough time. but it’ll improve. i’m finding solutions for my LOs.

just wanted to wish you all a GREAT sunday. i’ll return one of these days.

bundle of joy :)
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@Llamalover47
Costa Rica is like the Bahamas as far as the poverty and third-world conditions go. The Bahamas is built up more though and is more cosmopilitan as far as hospitalization and medical care goes.
We love island vacationing, but pretty much it's the same thing everywhere. I'll take Hawaii any day of the week. It's expensive though. Isuppose you pay for the pleasure of not being panhandled and harassed on vacation. You will get none of that on Maui.
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Bundleofjoy, so glad to hear from you. You always share joy/ jokes with us but you don't seem to share your troubles. Don't you want to? Even if we can't help, it may help you feel better having someone listen and commiserate. We're here for you.
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dear polarbear :),

thanks! i got a lot of supportive messages from many of you. it helped a lot.

chaos over here. but bit by bit, things are improving. i prefer not to explain.

sending lots of courage to us all!!
:)
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bundle - the hardest and most important part is to find solutions for you. We can go nuts focusing on other people's problems and finding solutions for them, while not caring for ourselves as much. That being said I understand that the job of caregiving is a difficult one.
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dear golden :),

thanks, i agree! in fact, the solutions i’m working on, are helping me. i’m sending us all lots of luck!

bundle of joy :)
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Third Monday I don't have to jump in the car to drive 100 miles to work! Phew!

But, sure starting to wonder where I go from here.
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Burnt: I went alone to the Straw Market in the Bahamas because my DH had a migraine and stayed back at the hotel. The Straw Market was quite an experience to say the least. DH's company rewarded us with a trip.
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bundle - I understand that. BTDT, but focusing on the problems of others even though their better solutions ease life for us, is not the same as focusing on our own needs and finding solutions for them. I took a long time to learn that one. I know life throws stuff at us which overwhelms.


glad - it's good that you don't have to drive as much as you were and live in two different places. Are you looking at early retirement? Or another job maybe less stressful/demanding? The world is your oyster!
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dear golden :),

by the way, i love being called “bundle” or “bundle of joy”. every time i read that, it makes me smile. and if you met me in real life, you really would think i look like a “bundle” or a “bundle of joy”.

:)

ok, right now i’m definitely less smiley, but i’m climbing back up, to being me. it’s been chaos here. it’s getting better. it started off so well, and then chaos.

anywayyy, regarding what you wrote: yes i agree! :)

in fact i’m working on solving MY problems (what i need and want). and THEN looking at what needs to be done for my LOs.

there is in fact the risk of grabbing the stick by the wrong end:
you try to help your LOs, thinking this will help you, but it’s never-ending…
…their problems just keep piling up…

OR
you can start from the other end: working first on your own needs/wants…

anyway:
things are getting less chaotic. i’m very focused on solving MY problems.

i’m getting there :) !
courage and LUCK to all :).

bundle of joy :)
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BOJ: I hope that your joyous self returns soon.💛
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thanks a lot, llamalover!
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BOJ: You're welcome.
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Prayers for Jay Leno.
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