Tag: cost

March 12, 2026 – Buyer Beware

March 12, 2026 /

What we’ve got here is a genuine 1971 Thomasville dresser. Built in the USA and solid wood. Boy it is heavy too. Even with the drawers out, it was all I could do to lift this thing out of the basement. You may recognize this dresser from the post Tacticool Thursday post in 2020.

Like everything in my life, it has a story. My wife purchased this used somewhere. In that era it was probably Craigslist. But, I drove down with my nephew in the pickup to load this and a nightstand in the back. I remember that we paid $200 for it. It’s purpose was to go into the Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU). We were in between tenants and actually I was considering not renting at all. My wife wanted to setup the ADU as a guest house.

Guess how long not having a renter lasted? About a month. Because it was already there and it was heavy as heck, it got left in the bedroom. That is when it changed from a used with no blemishes to missing hardware and finish. Eventually, we got a tenant that no longer wanted a dresser missing hardware and so I moved it into the basement (to die).

I used it to store things in. That was the whole Tacticool Thursday post that I wrote about. Fast forward to moving and we no longer have the luxury of inaction. I know… I will donate it. I was thinking that I would refinish it and sell it. If I donated it, maybe someone else would do the same thing.

Little did I know that donation centers have the right to pick and choose what they accept. I’ll be the first to admit that it is not in tip-top shape, missing hardware and finish and a hole in the back. I will also admit that it is not a fashionable piece. I would have almost killed to have this in my early days starting out. Aside from cosmetics, all the drawers operate as they should, it should have some value. After seeing multiple items for sale in the under $50 range for weeks on end, I determined that there really was no market for 1970s furniture, in better shape I might add.

My son and I took it to two different donation places and were soundly rejected. When we got home, my wife was not happy because I didn’t call before we went. I reluctantly agreed that I will cut it up and throw it away in a couple of days. Right now, our trash was full. I said in the meantime, I will post it for free.

Wouldn’t you know it, I hadn’t even finished posting it on Facebook Marketplace and someone asked for it off of Nextdoor. They also asked if I could deliver it. They were literally six blocks down the street. Of course, I said yes even though I had just taken it out of the pickup and hour earlier. My wife did not want me to do this, but I told her that delivering it was going to be way quicker than cutting it up and managing the trash.

It did not end the way that I had anticipated, I was expecting to donate it. But the fact that someone wanted it as is and was happy to get it was a good ending. This whole experience has got me to think about the whole lifecycle of stuff. I don’t think that we ever intended to put this dresser in the ADU to then take it out and store it in the basement. But, this thought line has happened a lot in the shop already.

Last October we went to an auction and there were some steals. An 8″, long bed joiner went for $150. I could have sold my 6″ joiner and made money on that deal. But, I simply did not have room in my shop for it so I passed. A deal is really only a deal when you can take advantage of it. Otherwise, I would say that it is more of a burden than a deal.

I see this all the time. People acquire things because they are cheap or free. Without a need, a place to store the items simply become accumulation. Then, more often then not it often becomes garbage when it is actually useful, it just didn’t end up at the right place to begin with.

Obviously, not everyone has the same consciousness about throwing things away. I know people that think the trash can is where things go when they are unwanted. On the other hand, I go out of my way to make things go to a better home, i.e. delivering the dresser. Maybe, I put too much effort into it but it is because I care.

End Your Programming Routine: I am convinced that this is a God moment. I was actually mad that I couldn’t donate the dresser and I had resolved to cut this piece up and throw it away. I couldn’t leave it, I didn’t want it and I couldn’t even give it away. I was heard trying to do the right thing and a solution appeared. The right solution.

February 4, 2025 – The Cost of Stem Cell Transplant

February 4, 2025 /

I anticipate being brief today because a picture is worth a thousand words. I believe that I mentioned this earlier last year, but for the sake of clarity: a stem cell transplant would not be performed without insurance approval. That was all pre-approved before we went through all of this last summer.

I brought it up, so I might as well give a quick overview for context purposes. My wife had an Autologous Stem Cell Transplant. This is the most common form put into practice (I have to admit that I don’t know much about the other types). The theory is that the oncologist is going to kill the cancer first, like a first time diagnosis. If that goes well, then you go through the transplant process.

This consists of high dose chemotherapy, harvesting your own stem cells, then putting them back into you when the high dose chemo is complete. The purpose would be to reboot your own immune system. This is accomplished by getting good stem cells post chemotherapy, killing everything and then starting over with the good cells. The autologous part means that you are the donor for the stem cells. I have to believe that other types use different donors, but not 100% sure.

While the process is fairly effective, the risk is not from the procedure itself but the secondary effects. Those would be infection due to lack of immune system, stroke from high blood pressure from all of the medications, dehydration from side effects and failure to thrive through eating, drinking and mobility.

It is imperative to be near the treatment center with high dose chemotherapy. Some sessions took up to six hours to complete. By the time it is over, the requisite hospital stay of 7-10 days is required and if you went through it you would agree. After that, the follow-up treatment is pretty minimal. Our staying in Portland was a function of how far we lived from the treatment center (a requirement). To be honest, I am glad that we did.

When you look through the pages and pages of the Explanation of Benefits (EOB) statement, you would see all of the activities for this event. This is not the total cost but it is pretty close. You have lodging fees, plus food and incidentals. In our case, the lodging was reimbursable so that was net zero. The only additional cost really was the convenience food or unconventional packaging.

I thought that it might be interesting to show what a major medical event would actually cost. I know that one day we will probably all have one but unless you are actively caring for someone you don’t get an opportunity to really understand this. I found it interesting anyway.

End Your Programming Routine: OK, I am going to leave cancer for good (unless it comes back). I want to count my blessings that it has been a stable and calm six months. I am doubly thankful that insurance covered the process completely and disability handled the loss of income. If you have to go through this, it couldn’t have been much better than this. God must be looking out for us which means there has to be a greater purpose from this event. I will keep my eyes open.