Inside Marcy's Mind
Having hosted the Aging aint for Sissie's podcast for two years, I wanted to expand what I could discuss. This podcast will touch on the fun of aging and whatever has crossed my mind! Please join me as I walk through life! #retirement #travel #fun #aginggracefully Link in my bio! Listen now!
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Inside Marcy's Mind
From Surgery to Stargazing: Navigating Life's Hurdles with Empowerment and Energy Efficiency
The podcast episode reflects on Marcy's journey through her recent breast cancer diagnosis and her path to recovery while highlighting the importance of family bonds and proactive health management. It also offers practical advice on electrical safety and energy conservation in the home.
• Sharing personal health experiences and journey with cancer
• The role of family in supporting during tough times
• Importance of health screenings for early detection
• Safety tips on what not to plug into power strips
• Common habits that waste electricity
• Encouragement to look for positivity and connection
Hello and welcome to Inside Marci's Mind. My name is Marci Backus and I am your host. Well, good morning everyone, and or whatever time of day you are listening, I'm recording this. At what time is it 6 45 on January 15th and it's four degrees outside, so it's a little chilly. I've got my coffee, I'm gonna take a sip and I'm glad you're here and I'm glad you're joining me.
Speaker 1:I have been in out for the last couple weeks and I don't like doing that because I don't like losing my audience, but it was a necessary break. I just couldn't focus on a lot of things and this was one of the things that took the hit. I, as I shared a few weeks ago, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. So a week ago today today is January 15th, january 8th I had my cancer surgery, so I've been in recuperation. This last week I've been taking good care of myself. I know for a fact that if you don't take good care of yourself, you don't heal well. I do surgeries really well. I've had a lot of them. I seem to have gone through this one quite well, probably one of the best I've had. Makes me very happy. Next week, a week from today, I will see my oncologist and then I will see my surgeon. I do know that I will be following this up with chemotherapy, so I got a little road ahead of me. Surgeries I know, chemotherapy, don't know that one. So that's going to be some new territory. We'll talk about that a little bit. But I do know the main thing is to eat well, to exercise when I can and to take good care of myself mentally and physically. Physically is a lot easier than mentally. I don't know about you, but man self-talk is not my best thing. I can talk myself into a corner, I'm telling you. But this week I'm looking forward to.
Speaker 1:My birthday is Saturday, turning 64. If you hear the cats, they're just having a good time this morning. They're very talkative and let's see. So my birthday's coming up. I'm going out to lunch with friends on Friday, looking forward to that. And I've been talking to my kids a lot. You know it's kind of nice. The surgery has brought my kids to me, which you know they're always there, but they're busy with their lives. I was busy with my life. I remember my mom being so grateful when I'd call and I'd think what do you like, why? And I get it now. You know you'll learn these things as life goes on. Excuse me, I have a little tickle in my throat this morning so I may hit the cough button a couple times, but I'm glad you're here.
Speaker 1:I've got some interesting things to talk about today, but what else has been going on in my life? My husband's family home has been put on the market. That's been something that's been in the works for the last couple years and I'm really proud of them. They work together the best that siblings can. It's not an easy thing and it was drawn out for a very long time for them. I'm proud of my sisters-in-law. It's hard work and it's hard to go through family things, and this is a big deal. Their dad bought this land, designed the house for the land, built the house, so it's a lot, it's an absolute lot to do. So I'm proud of them.
Speaker 1:And let's see what else. Oh, we did book a trip to Ireland for October to celebrate my husband and his best friend's 70th birthday. So I have something to look forward to. You all know I love to travel and this breast cancer has clipped my wings for about six months. I didn't think that was going to be so hard, but let me tell you something. It's hard. It is hard. Let me tell you another thing.
Speaker 1:I found out that you can. If you fit certain criteria, you can renew your passport online. So if you are in the year this, craig and I need to renew both our passports and go online and see if you qualify. We did it. It's not a big thing to qualify. You just don't have to. You can't have any weird glitches in there like changing of address. If everything is status quo, you can do it online. I did hear yesterday that there's a big backup for passports, so we'll see. We don't need ours until October again.
Speaker 1:But my, here's my feeling on passports If you don't have one, you should have one. You never know when international travel is going to be a part of your life, and if somebody calls and says you know what I want a trip to here or there, even Mexico, for gosh sakes, and living in California most of my life, you know Mexico is not that far. And Canada, you need it for going to Canada too. And if this administration is driving you to Canada, you need it for going to Canada too. And if this administration is driving you to Canada which I can understand, that you need a passport. So that's my call for passports. If you do a lot of traveling, you already know about getting the TSA pre-check and all that, so I don't need to tout the benefits of that.
Speaker 1:What else have I been working on? Oh, insurance. You know, health insurance is a pain in the patootie. I had to go, finally, on individual health insurance. We've been paying for my health insurance for the last two years from Craig's Last Company, but I finally got kicked off that and had to get an individual insurance. And boy do they just I'm not going to beat around the bush screw you with individual insurance. You pay more and you get less coverage. And there's no way, unless you want to pay. I, I'm paying 1300 just for my health insurance, not including vision and dental benefits. And let me me tell you, on top of that, my coverage is if you're in a group plan. I don't ever try to get off it. I'm telling you, group plans cover you a lot better than individual.
Speaker 1:So just my biopsy and I have, like I said, I pay. Well, it's really almost $1,400 a month, $1,300 and change. My biopsy alone is going to cost me $1,700 out of pocket. And I have an HMO FYI, this isn't a PPO or whatever it's called, p-o-p-p-o, whatever. You know what I mean. Preferred provider. I have to go where they tell me, do what they tell me, get the referrals they tell me. And with that I still owe $1,700 for a biopsy. So, looking forward to Medicare, the gal, when I was talking to her about the bill, she's like well, medicare I go, oh yeah, but Medicare is, you know, $179 a month. I can put up with some issues when you're paying this much. It's just ridiculous.
Speaker 1:Anyways, that's my tale of woe, for today we're staying positive because positivity is the way to be, and I am positive that this breast cancer will be cured and I will move on with my life. And no, breast cancer is not part of my family. So don't go down that road that you don't get mammograms, you don't do all these things because it's not in your family. I'm the first one that I know of that's got breast cancer in my family. I have a sister that had another type of cancer, but not breast cancer. So get those screenings, do what they tell you.
Speaker 1:I found mine through a dream, fyi. I had a dream, I had a lump. When I woke up I felt there and there's big old lump. I was getting knocked on the head by the universe going pay attention, pay attention. And it was. I had just had my mammogram last november, so I found it in october. I was going to be having my mammogram, my regular mammogram, in november. So again, just reminding you take of yourself, take care of your health. No one else is going to do it and this is the only life we've got, all right. You two, those cats, are just full of it this morning and I don't know.
Speaker 1:We got some things to talk about. I don't know, do you have any extension cords in your house? I do, and do you know? There are things you should not plug into an extension cord? So we're going to go over a little list of those things. I try to always leave you with a little bit of knowledge. Next week I will. I'm not gonna be able to tell you much because I meet with my oncologist after I do my podcast, but we're going to talk about some other things next week. But this week we're going to talk about what not, what not to plug in to an extension cord, because, if I'm guessing, you've probably got one in your house. That's got some things you shouldn't have in there. So hang in there, we're going to chat about that, all right.
Speaker 1:So extension cords Do you have one in your house? I do, and there are, you know it's just. This is this condo. Was actually built this building in 1970, so the amount of outlets wall outlets that you have are limited. I know in newer homes there's a lot more, which is awesome and that's the way it should be, but if you're in an older place or a place that doesn't have them, I guarantee you have extension cords and there's eight common household items.
Speaker 1:You should never plug into a power strip and this is coming from electricians, as we all know that power strips are a godsend for managing multiple devices, but they're not the answer to all of your electrical needs. So it's important to understand that these devices are not designed for high powered appliances or for devices that need stable power. That's kind of an interesting thing to find out. Well, obviously it's not stable, it's not direct, you're, it's a, it's a conduit to the original. So so, while power strips can handle most household gadgets, some are way too powerful and should be avoided, as this can lead to damage to the device or fires, and we don't want fires and God bless, you know I didn't talk about los angeles fires at all.
Speaker 1:I should have talked about that at the beginning. But it's devastating, it's heartbreaking. I grew up there, spent most of my life there in southern california. In those areas I've driven through pacific palisades more times than I can remember. A very beautiful area, um vegetation, just stunning. And I I know that that is all gone and I do send my best out to everyone who has been affected by the fires. So let's, so let's, talk about some things that shouldn't be plugged in so we can save ourselves some an electrical fire. So microwaves Microwaves should never.
Speaker 1:Most power strips cannot handle the 12 to 15 amps needed to power a microwave. They can increase the chances of a fire or even damage your entire home's electrical system. If your house does not have enough outlets, you can call a professional electrician who can assist with the situation. So if you're having to put a microwave somewhere where it's going to have to be plugged into an extension cord, you're going to want to think about that. Now I'm thinking most adults my age know this. Maybe you don't, so this is important. This is really great information to share with your young children, I should say your adult children I'm going to talk to my kids. Make sure they're not doing any of this.
Speaker 1:Small countertop appliances like a coffee maker, toasters. They appear like they're lightweight, not a heavy-duty appliance, but they can be quite taxing on a power strip. For example, with toasters there's a network of exposed wires inside and much power is required to fire up those wires. It doesn't seem like it, but it does. To boot, plugging these little machines into a power strip often leads to things like melted installation insulation on the cords. So you need to be careful. Space heaters and air conditioners both of these items and I and I think they would be a definite clue to you, but it's these units require a lot of electricity and power strips are not cut out for heavy lifting. It's a solid no for hooking up space heaters and air conditionings to power strips due to the high risk of overheating and again damaging everything and fires. I call an electrician. It's not that expensive to get an outlet put in. It's a lot cheaper than having your house burned down.
Speaker 1:Let me tell you Hair care appliances. Now, this is something you wouldn't think. Hair dryers pull a large amount of power very quickly, so the minute they're on, boom. They're taking that high amount of electricity With hair care appliances. It's best to have an electrician install a gfci outlet to your home to avoid common bathroom hazards such as accidental water exposure. So you know what those are. Those are the ones that have the black and red button and they pop if they get any moisture near them or around them. Super important.
Speaker 1:Here's one that these days you may have plugged into a power strip and that is a CPAP. Machines are incredibly important and need a constant, stable power supply, so they should never go into a power strip. So if you have some of the things in your bed into a power strip, make sure you've got two places to plug things in in your outlet. Make sure your CPAP machine is taking one of those Gaming PCs and high-end audio systems. I think this is a problem probably for most of our young adults that have all these things near their TV. They need protection from power surges and you want to make sure that you don't have them plugged into a power strip. Right, like not a good idea.
Speaker 1:Here's an interesting one Now. I have done this, so it's called daisy chaining, and it's another power strip plugged into a power strip and I have done that. It's um, it's just bad. It's just not good. Here's a simple rule If a device generates heat, has a motor or uses more than 1,000 watts, skip the power strip, go straight to the wall outlet. So stick to using power strips. For things that draw small amounts of power, like chargers or lamps, for anything, have your plug into a wall outlet. It's your safest bet.
Speaker 1:If you're ever unsure, something feels off about your electrical setup, don't hesitate to call a professional. I'm going to tell you another thing. Not to plug into a um power strip is your internet. It makes it unstable. I I figured that. I found that out here. I was having trouble when we first moved here, and again I have some power strips because we don't have a ton of outlets and I had plugged in our internet into a power strip, plugged in our internet into a power strip, and it makes it unstable. It's not stable and you want the wall as much more stable electricity. So if you're having trouble with your internet, make sure it's not plugged into a power strip but it's plugged directly into the wall. So that's a little bit about that I think we've talked about Okay.
Speaker 1:With that being said and talking about the power strips, let's talk about common waste things, that habits that waste electricity. So these are some things that waste electricity. Now it's weird here because the summertime my bill is really low and I use my air conditioning like crazy In California, oh my God. But we also have electric heat here and my electric bill goes up three times in the winter. So I was interested in what are some of the common problems adjusting your thermostat too often, moving it up and down and kind of doing you know the, the fun thing. I turn ours down at night and up in the morning just once. But if you're during the day hitting your either your air conditioner or your heater, it is takes a lot of power to power it back up, power it down, that type of thing. You're wasting electricity, not having an efficient system. So make sure that you heat pumps are 300% more effective than traditional furnaces. So look at your system. I know when we got our new air conditioner in California we had an old grandpa air conditioner, an old one, out there just churning away in the heat, and the new one we save so much on our electric bill. So make sure and make sure you get your air conditioned, your air conditioned system and your heating system cleaned out.
Speaker 1:I here, I have little filters. It's their wall, their big wall unit. It's kind of like a hotel and I vacuum those out every two weeks when I vacuum and make sure I get the cat fur off and all that, and I open it up and I vacuum inside it to make sure it's running efficiently and that it's not being blocked. The airflow should not be blocked. So if you're not that, you're using way too much electricity too, and actually I should probably do that today, because I did not do that. I did hire cleaning help for during this time of my chemo, when my chemotherapy starts and stuff. So that's something I've got to remember to do. But it's super important. If you don't clean those filters, it makes your unit work 10 times harder and use way more electricity. So make sure you're cleaning those filters. If you have the filters that get replaced, do them every three months. If you have ones like mine, make sure you're vacuuming them every couple of weeks. Make sure you're pulling it apart and vacuuming the inside at least once a month.
Speaker 1:Keeping vampire appliances plugged in I did learn about this. So many people assume that if they turn off an appliance it's not consuming energy. That's not true. You know how our TVs go boom and they turn on right away. Remember back in the old days they warmed up. Well, that's instant on, and instant on is drawing electricity. So if you're going on a vacation, unplug your TVs, unplug your vampire appliances. I know it's hard to do on a daily basis, but they definitely.
Speaker 1:Craig, excuse me, craig has an old system here for radio and CDs and we listen to our turntable. But they're old and they draw a lot of electricity. Once he turns them on he will not turn them off. I have to go turn them off. We don't we listen on the weekend, so during the week I turn them off because I open up that cabinet. It's so hot in there. These are old appliances and I can't seem to make them understand. It's a fire risk. And not only is it a fire risk, it's wasting electricity like crazy. So I go in and I I turn those off, but just know, like printers, computers, all these things are drawing electricity. Satellite DVRs, computers, printers, heating furnaces, routers, modems, phones, gaming consoles, television, microwaves all those things are vampire appliances.
Speaker 1:Some people believe that they can avoid the startup penalty by keeping the lights on instead of turning them off when leaving a room. They feel like it takes a lot of electricity to turn them on. That's ridiculous. Lighting your home is 20% of your energy bill and since the average home has 40 light bulbs, he says the average cost is $200 a year. You can slash that number by being aware of when you're leaving unneeded lights on. So that's something to think about.
Speaker 1:Using the wrong light bulbs Okay, light bulbs are like buying pantyhose in the old day. You go in there and you don't know they make no sense anymore. So it takes a little bit of learning about the light bulbs, but I suggest you do, according to energygov. Go to energygov, they can help you with that. But incandescent lighting is the least efficient type of lighting. 90% of the energy is heat, whereas only 10% is actually light. So halogen lights are more efficient than incandescents, but still insufficient. Good gracious, marcy. Cfls compact fluorescent light bulbs are quite energy efficient. However, they also are the type of lights that contribute to the confusion about whether to turn the lights on or off when leaving a room. That's because CFLs should be turned off if you're leaving a room for more than 15 minutes. However, if you're back in less than 15 minutes, leave them on.
Speaker 1:This is like way too much work for me, sorry. Do your best. That's all I can tell you. You know we're all out here just doing our best. So here is just some easy tips for lowering your energy costs. Fortunately, there's several ways to stop wasting electricity Unplug your device when it's not in use.
Speaker 1:That isn't always possible, but do your best. Again, do your best. Buy products that are like LED lights, that have low standing power usage. Invest in Energy Star appliances. Find out how much power you're actually using with a home energy audit, and you can go to your your um. You get a lot of information. If you haven't gone to the website and logged into your company that you pay ours is ComEd that I pay for electricity. You can learn a lot there. I was also able to take advantage. Our building was offered the ability to put part of our electric bill on a wind farm and a solar farm, and even though we can't have solar on our building here in Chicago, I was able to take advantage of that and cut my electricity bill. So there's a little bit of information about electricity. Hope you learned something. Today. We are going to stop this electrical conversation and we're going to move on to a fun fact for today. We are going to stop this electrical conversation and we're going to move on to a fun fact for today. All right, today's fun fact.
Speaker 1:This is kind of exciting, especially if you like to watch the night sky. I know my sister, cindy, does so. On January 25th, a celestial spectacle awaits sky watchers Now. In certain parts of the world. They're going to be able to see seven planets Venus, mars, jupiter, saturn, neptune, uranus and Mercury align in a breathtaking arc across the night sky. We will be able to see partials of that. Probably see four of them would be my guess. Probably see Venus, mars, jupiter and Saturn, maybe no, yeah yeah, venus, mars, jupiter and Saturn would be my guess. We may not be able to see Neptune, uranus or Mercury, but on January 25, if you can go out into the night sky and take a peek, I think it should be kind of exciting.
Speaker 1:I used to walk. I used to see a lot of planets in the sky. I used to walk my dog Bonsai, super early in the morning and it was clear it was California and I would get to see a lot of these planet things, like you know, at 6am, 5am, just before they go down, and it always was exciting to me. I could see rockets take off, I could see all kinds of things. It was quite an exciting time. Those morning walks. I miss them.
Speaker 1:Well, I hope you're able to January 25th. I'll try to remind you next week, january 25th, planetary Parade as it's called. It's a celestial event. Last night I got to see or the night before might have been the night before I got to see the wolf moon. The wolf moon is the first full moon of the year and that was on January 13. And I got a beautiful view of that rising over one of the buildings here in Chicago. Well, I hope you are healthy. I hope you are well. I hope this new year is greeting you with good things. I know it's been a rough start. I hope it is not an omen of things to come, but I'm going to choose to believe it's not and that there's positivity that awaits around the corner. And you know, if you want positivity in your life, what do I say? Just go out and do something positive.
