Speaking of other blogs, here’s something from today’s Time Goes By. If you haven’t already found this blog, you should. It’s a gem, with a new, thought-provoking story or discussion every day of the week.
No Nursing Home For Me!
At dinner through the Mediterranean aboard a Princess cruise ship, an elderly lady sat alone along the rail of the grand stairway in the main dining room. The staff, ship's officers, waiters, busboys, etc., all seemed very familiar with her. When a waiter was asked who she was, he said he knew only that she had been on board for the last four cruises, back to back.
Wanting to know more, a fellow passenger asked her one evening if this was true. “Yes,” she replied and without a pause added, “It’s cheaper than a nursing home.”The average cost for a nursing home, she explained, is $200 a day. With a long-term cruise discount and a senior discount, the price of a Princess Cruise is $135 per day. That leaves $65 a day for: - Gratuities, which will only be $10 per day.
- I will have as many as 10 meals a day if I can waddle to the restaurant, or I can have room service (which means I can have breakfast in bed every day of the week).
- Princess has as many as three swimming pools, a workout room, free washers and dryers, and shows every night.
- There are free toothpaste and razors, and free soap and shampoo.
- They will even treat you like a customer, not a patient. An extra $5 worth of tips will have the entire staff scrambling to help you.
- I get to meet new people every seven or 14 days.
- TV broken? Light bulb need changing? Need to have the mattress replaced? No problem! They fix everything and apologize for your inconvenience.
- Clean sheets and towels every day, and you don’t even have to ask for them.
- If you fall in the nursing home and break a hip you are on Medicare; if you fall and break hip on the Princess ship they will upgrade you to a suite for the rest of your life.
- And here's the best. If I want to see South America, the Panama Canal, Tahiti, Australia, New Zealand, Asia or you name it, Princess will have a ship ready to go.
- And don’t forget: when you die, they just dump you over the side at no charge.
Anyone want to join me at the dock in New York?
http://www.timegoesby.net/weblog/2010/02/lets-retire-on-a-princess-cruise.html
There are two interesting things I’ve learned about aging in the last few days:
1. You can use it as an excuse for anything, as in, “you can’t expect me to run that fast, after all I am 65,” and “sorry I forgot your birthday, but sometimes dates are just too much for my 65-year-old brain to handle."
2. On the other hand, if you look at the process of aging as ripening, it doesn’t seem so bad. I'm not getting older, just riper!
I look forward to being sweet and juicy, but am not quite ready to be picked, thank you very much.
Some of us have noted that more and more seniors and not-so-seniors are “early adapters,” turning to the Internet for support and social interaction. Now Harvard and others are studying the phenomenon.
Read all about it in the Technology section of today’s New York Times:
Online, ‘a Reason to Keep on Going’
Like many older people, Paula Rice of Island City, Ky., has grown isolated in recent years. Her four grown children live in other states, her two marriages ended in divorce, and her friends are scattered. Most days, she does not see another person.
But Ms. Rice, 73, is far from lonely. Housebound after suffering a heart attack two years ago, she began visiting the social networking sites Eons.com, an online community for aging baby boomers, and PoliceLink.com (she is a former police dispatcher). Now she spends up to 14 hours a day in online conversations.
“I was dying of boredom,” she said. “Eons, all by its lonesome, gave me a reason to keep on going.”
That more and more people in Ms. Rice’s generation are joining networks like Eons, Facebook and MySpace is hardly news. Among older people who went online last year, the number visiting social networks grew almost twice as fast as the overall rate of Internet use among that group, according to the media measurement company comScore. But now researchers who focus on aging are studying the phenomenon to see whether the networks can provide some of the benefits of a group of friends, while being much easier to assemble and maintain.
Read more…
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/02/health/02face.html?_r=1&ref=technology
When I was growing up, I truly believed Kansas was the center of the universe. In our house, the word ‘home’ meant Kansas. More specifically, Wichita.
My parents were from there and, to hear them tell it, Wichita was an idyllic place to grow up. Wichita people were honest, friendly and levelheaded, unlike so many around us in New Jersey, said my folks. The schools were far superior, just ask some of my aunts! Even the corn was better.
Almost every summer, my dad packed us all in our un-air-conditioned Nash, and we headed west for 1700 miles of pure bliss. We looked forward to this trip all year. Just my mom and dad, my brother, the dog, sometimes my grandmother and cousin, me, a big metal cooler and couple of hundred pounds of luggage. My brother and I packed our little bags with coloring books, crayons and other things we could torment one another with. The dog just hung out the window.
Once we got there, we spent a few weeks going from one relative’s house to another, eating in backyards, oohing and aahing over everyone’s gardens and the height of their children. Our aunts and uncles took us to the zoo and the park along the river. We got to eat Nu-Ways, drink Waco (later known as Dr. Pepper) and eat Steffen’s ice cream, right out of the vats because one of our uncles was a milkman. We had lots of kids to play with, and that was great.
(Click Read More to continue)
The person thought to be the world's oldest blogger, Maria Amelia Lopez, died May 20 in Spain. According to the Associated Press, Lopez, who was 97, loved to communicate with people from around the world. through her blog.
"It took 20 years off my life," Lopez wrote. "My bloggers are the joy of my life. I did not know there was so much goodness in the world."
Her blog is available at http://amis95.blogspot.com/ .
Don't miss "At Card Table, Clues to a Lucid Old Age"in today's New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/22/health/research/22brain.html?_r=1&hp
The story reveals new information from research on 90-somethings, especially those who have no signs of dementia. Of course, we'll all be in that pool, right?
Two factors keep showing up as important, if you want to keep those brain cells accessible. One is regular social interaction with friends or family, and the other is the use of grey matter. Wonder if today's young seniors, like us, will benefit from the use of the Internet, which provides both mental stimulation and a virtual social life? Would make an interesting doctoral dissertation, but the candidate might have to wait 20-30 years for the degree.
Here's an interesting story in today's Washington Post, about a long-term study of hundreds of people, and how they age.
Excerpts from: Body of Evidence, by Lori Aratani, Washington Post Staff Writer, The Washington Post, Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Every year hundreds of people travel to Baltimore for an unusual purpose. They are not here to tour the city's aquarium or sample its fabled blue crabs. They are not in search of fame or money. Other than free lodging, they receive nothing in exchange for their visit, which entails a certain amount of discomfort.
No, these folks, some of whom have made this journey for decades, believe the trip is worth their time and expense because how they live -- calculated according to everything from the strength of their grip to how many apples they consume in a month -- may offer clues to how the rest of us might live better, longer, healthier lives.
These individuals -- homemakers, retirees, doctors and myriad others -- are participants in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (BLSA), the country's longest-running study of aging.
Since 1958, a total of more than 1,400 volunteers have agreed to regularly undergo in-depth physicals and memory and other screenings conducted by the study's physicians. The resulting data span more than half a century and are a gold mine for researchers interested in the aging process.
…
This is no vacation. During their stay, participants will have a physical that goes well beyond sticking their tongues out and saying "ahhhhh." They rarely will sit for more than 30 minutes before they are whisked away for another exam or stuck with another needle. Sprott, now in his 12th year in the study, confirms that the pace can be brutal.
Researchers take routine measures (temperature, blood pressure and weight), but participants also undergo more sophisticated tests. Echocardiograms help researchers examine hearts, and spirometry tests measure lung function. In addition to collecting blood and urine, researchers might also take samples of the participants' breath.
Even simple tests can provide valuable insight. Researchers will evaluate a participant's grip strength, which previous BLSA research has shown can predict whether someone might be at higher risk of complications after surgery or more likely to die prematurely.
Please go to this url for the complete story----http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/18/AR2009051802245.html?hpid=sec-health
How did this happen? How did I (we?) turn into a fan?
I remember all the musicians and painters and actors I felt a kinship with in my youth, but I can't say I ever went out of my life to push them along in their careers or cheer for them from the sidelines. That's no longer the case. People my-- and your--age have fallen in love with falling in love with stars, be they singers, dancers, chefs, models, entrepreneurs, whatever.
We agonize, we wince at every misstep. We vote like crazy, hitting the redial button as many times as we can, telling ourselves we're just doing this so the object-of-our-affection gets an even chance.
I have a suspicion this instant news option of the Internet is the genesis of this phenomenon. We don't have to wait for a monthly subscription for a tidbit about our favorite singer. Nor do we have to stand in line for tickets, or travel miles and miles to stand in more lines for a concert. It's all there for us, anytime, all the time.
Add to that the newfound sagacity that comes with turning 50 or 60. At this point, we've done just about everything once. We are pretty good at predicting the ups and downs that parallel success and failure. AFter all, we've been there. We know what will happen. Just ask us. And, if you don't, we'll tell you!
To all the Simonettes out there, vote on! And, vote like Yamin it!
We came to California to visit, but also take a brief vacation from the craziness of the past few months. Sometimes you just need to turn off the news, and forget about it for a little while. The recession, the flu, the war(s), the murder and mayhem will still be there when you sign back on.
Mendocino County looked like a good bet for peace and quiet. We found plenty of it in a town of 400, about 20 miles east of the coast. Near the intersection of vineyards, redwood forest and cattle ranches, we discovered a cute little inn with guest cabins, each containing one bed, two chairs, a table and absolutely nothing else. Nothing like austerity to cleanse the soul.
There we were, curled up in our rustic cabin nestled under a down comforter when Dave’s phone went off. I didn't lie about the lack of cell service. It was weak at best, when you could get it.
The caller was one of the tenants renting our condo back home. Dave could hardly make out what he was saying, between uncontrollable sobs.
The night before, when he returned home, he found his wife of 50 years dead in a pool of blood. It was even worse than that. She had died in a particularly violent and ugly manner. The police believed it was a natural death, but they would wait for the ME’s report.
Naturally, we swung into action and spent the rest of the day trying to help from afar. We hired one of those crime scene clean-up companies and looked for other ways to assist the poor man. Mostly, we mourned the death of a delightful woman who was only a few years older than we were.
Last night, on House, the ghost of Autumn sang a particularly eerie version of “It’s later than you think.” At that, it all came together. The yin and yang of life. Just when you ‘re dazzled by the age and beauty of the world around you – as we were, in a redwood forest – death walks in to remind you of its omnipresence. Anytime, anywhere. Even when you’re on vacation.
You're not going to last as long as those trees. Your days are numbered and your number can come up at any time. And don’t expect it to be pretty or fun.
So, like Autumn sang, enjoy yourself, it’s later than you think. Enjoy yourself, while you’re still in the pink. The years go by quicker than a wink, so enjoy yourself, it's later than you think.
And, make sure you use your time wisely. It's so precious. Don't waste a second.
On a related note, Ann Sentilles has a superb post about a woman she met who is making good use of the last third of her life. Ann calls her a poster child for her site, which is all about late women growing older. Don't miss it on The Third Third. Click on the link on the right. I loooove The Third Third!
I've stumbled across two wonderful sites and urge you to check them out.
The first is Fifty Shift, for women facing 50, or still staring at it in their rear-view mirror. A UMass faculty member runs it.
The other is Times Goes By, a well-established blog that promises to tell the truth about aging. (As if we didn't already know!)
If you like Birds on a Wire, you'll probably like one or both of those blogs, too. They're written by intelligent, thoughtful women who offer their readers much to ponder, and many ways to participate in a lively discussion.
You can link to both sites by clicking on their names, as listed in the blogroll in the right column.
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