I’ve learned a new hobby! It’s called SQUIDOO.COM and what it means is that I am making lenses right and left. But these are not like those lenses you wear in your eyeglasses - far from it.

Then what is a lens you ask? Or at least I hope you ask since I’m writing this for others. Altho, yeah, it is fun to write for myself as well.

A lens is a post you write on a special interest, whatever it may be. I mean, if it’s babies, you can write a lens on Poop! www.squidoo.com/babypoop/ This is a hilarious lens, even though I’m far beyond those days. It also provides lots and lots of information for parents or the expecting.

You can write excerpts from your very own family journal; for example, interesting or humorous stories. You can talk about your hobbies, crafts, golf game, whatever really interests you. You can also add photos or gifs to it.

This is NOT like My Space, or Yahoo360 with a very limited readershipa and possible personal contact involved. Readers cannot contact you directly or receive your email address.

A new lens may have a ranking of 42,000 (in other words, depending on the subject, there may be that many other lens’ on your chosen subject) . But then again, if your interests are unusual enough, like say a snake charmer, you could have very little competition. I have 3 lenses open right now, as of today, and they all carry a ranking of 12 to 13,000, which is pretty darn good. But then I’m writing about seniors, and there isn’t a lot of senior stuff available yet. (ONLY 13,000??) What can I say. It really is fun.

Not only that, you can email your lens to your friends, add it to your blog, do just about anything you wish to do with it. Or you can just sit back, go AHHHHH while you enjoy your creativity.

Oh yes, I forgot to mention there is a learning process involved so you get the added benefit of keeping the brain active as you learn. It is set up with modules, which are a snap to fill out (once you catch on) and you can add or delete as many as you like.

Well, anyhow, I’m having fun! I think if you want to learn a new internet skill, you could well find it fun also. Check it out and see what your think. I’ve linked to one of my squidoo lenses on the right hand side of this page. Right now I’m adding slightly revised posts from here to get them going, but I hope to expand some more soon.

In March 2006, I made a trip South to personally meet a very dear internet friend with whom I had shared many phone calls, emails, and forum duties. What a joy to meet face to face this person who had become a good buddy through cyberspace.

In the process we met two other internet friends, one from Canada and one from the New Orleans area. We got to see and spend time with them as well. The Canadian friend was on her way to a Med Cruise with her husband so it was the perfect time to get together.

Typically, they and the plane arrived on time - their luggage did not. We took them to a local Target store to buy the necessities. Fortunately the luggage came ;ater that night before they left on the cruise next morning so they did go on the cruise fully outfitted!

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Preparing for Med New Friends

Our next major stop was to New Orleans, during Mardi Gras, five months after Hurricane Katrina . In spite of wind, rain and floods, they were determined to follow the wonderful traditions of Mardi Gras.

Due to time limitations we did not get to tour the damaged areas of New Orleans but were fortunate to find the French Quarter undamaged. Our New Orleans friend met us there and we had a great day, eating, visiting and touring. What a beautiful and fun place it is in spite of the damage sustained! It seems to me that this is one city that will never die, in spite of Nature’s terrible outburst.

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After a grueling week of traveling, visiting, eating too much and losing money at a local casino, I arrived home, tired but very happy.

It is so wonderful to meet all these wonderful people, both through the internet and in person. And you know what? In person they were exactly like the people we’d gotten to know so well through cyberspace. The internet is such a great place.

(For additional pictures, please see the photo gallery and click on the sub album, A Fun Place to Visit.)

Recently, along with about 350 other senior citizens, I attended the orientation meeting for the Fall 2006 senior course series at our local community college. The response to these courses is amazing over the last 20 years.

The minimal fee of $20 covers just as many classes as any person wants to attend. They are non-credit courses and they cover every conceivable area of individual interest.

Instructors are volunteers who have experience and knowledge in their chosen area. As payment they receive a minimal amount to cover transportation and expenses. One instructor in the computer area told me he spends about 4 hours computer preparation time for every 1 hour of class time. I consider that real dedication! Of course since all instructors are retired they enjoy the challenge and stimulation of teaching their peers… who are there out of choice, not necessity!

Classes are held all five days of the week somewhere on campus or a nearby area. A very partial listing of the range of choices includes literature, language, computer skills and maintenance, legal and financial challenges, senior investment and economics, exercise including tai chi and water aerobics, crafts and painting classes. On and on the list goes.

I won’t bore you with the complete list of offerings, but if you want to develop your interest and skill in any area, you will find it here!

I wonder if this type of learning is available to seniors in other parts of the country. I’ll have to research it and find out what is available. If you personally are interested in taking courses in your area of interest, you might check with your local community colleges, high schools and senior centers to see what they have on offer.

The cost is so minimal and the benefits so great that every retired person should be blessed by this opportunity to expand knowledge and grow.

I normally do not purchase items online, but I recently had an experience with an Ebay seller that warmed the cockles of my heart.

I ordered a Relaxo-bak seat on the recommendation of a friend who had purchased his at the chiropractor’s office for more money than was charged on Ebay. So I ordered it from the Ebay seller. I then proceeded to sign in to PayPal… a real challenge in itself. For reasons I discovered later I had several problems with opening an account and it took several days.

I did email the seller and she responded quickly, telling me not to worry, she had it ready to go as soon as the problems were resolved. She also told me this was not an uncommon situation, but once it was handled PayPal was a great tool for money transactions on line.

To make a long story short, we struck up an internet email conversation and I discovered a new friend. I had mentioned Actively Senior to her and she requested the url to it. Once she came in and read it, she made a few choice comments:

Hi, Beverly!!! Thank you so much for emailing me with the info on your Seniors Blog. I LOVE IT!!! Honestly…I really do!! Very informative as well as really neat & funny stories!!! THANKS!

Not only that but, since she’s a bit shy of senior years, she showed the site to her mother who said she also enjoyed it and was bookmarking AS.

I think the point here is the internet is a wonderful place to meet new people, make new contacts and friends, and expand our world vision. That being said, I am giving you the url for this very lovely lady who sells items designed especially for people who have met good old ‘Arthur’ (arthritis) and need help with aches and pains.

The link has been added to the column on the right under the Business Category.
I hope you’ll check Stacey and her products out because she is truly a delightful person and gives great service.

Thought I’d let my doctor check me,
‘Cause I didn’t feel quite right. . .

All those aches and pains annoyed me
And I couldn’t sleep at night.

He could find no real disorder
But he wouldn’t let it rest.

What with Medicare and Blue Cross,
We would do a couple tests.

To the hospital he sent me
Though I didn’t feel that bad.

He arranged for them to give me
Every test that could be had.

I was fluoroscoped and cystoscoped,
My aging frame displayed.

Stripped, on an ice cold table,
While my gizzards were x-rayed.

I was checked for worms and parasites,
For fungus and the crud,

While they pierced me with long needles
Taking samples of my blood.

Doctors came to check me over,
Probed and pushed and poked around,

And to make sure I was living
They then wired me for sound.

They have finally concluded,
Their results have filled a page.

What I have will someday kill me;
My affliction is OLD AGE!!!

Today’s thought: Time is a great healer. That’s why they make you wait so long in the doctor’s office.

My son sent me this. It was started by a blogger who asked all bloggers to volunteer to write a tribute to one victim of the 9/11 murders. Result: 3,173 people will honor the memories of those killed. Be patient… the tributes will not be posted untill 9/11, but many preparations are being made.

This is truly awe inspiring. When you open the main page you will find links to each tribute. If you right click on the tribute you want, it will open in a new window and you can go back and forth to read each one you have time for.

Please take time to check out at least a few, as each volunteer was responsible for researching the life of the individual chosen. One of the volunteers has already been called by the daughter of the man whose name she chose.

http://www.dcroe.com/2996/?page_id=2

1. Gube the Gubester Says:
September 6th, 2006 at 5:44 pm e

MUSINGS BY GUBE
Age
In this life the old believe everything, the middle-aged suspect everything, and the young know everything. Have you thought about the fact that when we were younger we were prone to call attention to our abilities and then as we get older we talk about our inabilities. Youth looks ahead, old age looks back and middle age looks tired.

Some people, as they age, go to pot. That may be true, but from all the arrests of younger people for possession, it would appear to me that they are going to pot also. With modern medical technology people are living longer lives. It seems as if everybody wants to live a long time, but nobody wants to grow old. I read where there are three ages of man. They are youth, middle age and, My, but you are looking well. If you are smart you will never ask a woman her age as few woman will admit their age, but on the other hand few men act theirs.

There is a dangerous age for the male. Some men, as they advance in years, seem to think that the grass is greener on the other side of the fence, but the funny part is, that by the time a man finds greener pastures, nine times out of ten, he’s too old to climb the fence. Age is the best possible fire extinguisher for the flaming thoughts of youth. A lot of the fellows that indulge in that sort of thing are in the awkward age. They are too old for the Peace Corps and too young for Social Security. Few women admit their age, but few men act theirs.

I would be amiss if I didn’t have balance in today’s discernment. What about the female of the species? Cosmetics are used by teen-age girls to make them older sooner, and by their mothers to make them look younger longer. Some women, as they climb up the ladder of life, grow up and spread cheer; others just grow up and spread. In addition to the proceeding I have noticed that a lot of women’s ways of communication change as age advances upon them. If they lower their voice, it means they want something. If they raise it, it means they didn’t get it. As age advances upon them they become quite astute with money. Sixty percent of the country’s wealth is now in the hands of women, but they’re graciously allowing men to hold the other forty per cent because their handbags are full.

I hope that after reading today’s Musings you have a better idea of a portion of what is really happening in the walk through life. I have an abundance of thoughts and material that relates to age, but space does not permit me to get into it in depth. Perhaps, sometime in the future we will discuss the subject under a different heading. For those of you that are prone to worry about getting along in years, I offer you the following that might ease your fears: You’re getting along in years when the only urge you feel in the spring is to climb out of your long underwear. Translated, that means that if you don’t wear long underwear you will never age. Keep breathing!

Gube

The other day a young person asked me how I felt about being old. I was taken aback, for I do not think of myself as old. Upon seeing my reaction, he was immediately embarrassed, but I explained that it was an interesting question, and I would ponder it, and let him know.

Old Age, I decided, is a gift.

I am now, probably for the first time in my life, the person I have always wanted to be. Oh, not my body! I sometime despair over my body . the wrinkles, the baggy eyes, and the sagging butt. And often I am taken aback by that old person that lives in my mirror, but I don’t agonize over those things for long.

I would never trade my amazing friends, my wonderful life, my loving family for less gray hair or a flatter belly. As I’ve aged, I’ve become more kind to myself, and less critical of myself. I’ve become my own friend. I don’t chide myself for eating that extra cookie, or for not making my bed, or for buying that silly cement gecko that I didn’t need, but looks so avante garde on my patio. I am entitled to overeat, to be messy, to be extravagant. I have seen too many dear friends leave this world too soon; before they understood the great freedom that comes with aging.

Whose business is it if I choose to read or
play on the computer until 4 a.m, and sleep until noon?

I will dance with myself to those wonderful tunes of the 50’s,and if I, at the same time, wish to weep over a lost love … I will.

I will walk the beach in a swim suit that is stretched over a bulging body, and will dive into the waves with abandon if I choose to, despite the pitying glances from the bikini set.

They, too, will get old.

I know I am sometimes forgetful. But there again, some of life is just as well forgotten … and I eventually remember the important things.

Sure, over the years my heart has been broken. How can your heart not break when you lose a loved one, or when a child suffers, or even when a beloved pet gets hit by a car? But broken hearts are what give us strength and understanding and compassion. A heart never broken is pristine and sterile and will never know the joy of being imperfect.

I am so blessed to have lived long enough to have my hair turn gray, and to have my youthful laughs be forever etched into deep grooves on my face. So many have never laughed, and so many have died before their hair could turn silver. I can say “no,” and mean it. I can say “yes.” and mean it.

As you get older, it is easier to be positive. You care less about what other people think. I don’t question myself anymore. I’ve even earned the right to be wrong.

So, to answer your question, I like being old. It has set me free. I like the person I have become. I am not going to live forever, but while I am still here, I will not waste time lamenting what could have been, or worrying about what will be. And I shall eat dessert every single day.

Author Unknown

Is there a senior out there who has not sat in the doctor’s waiting room, wondering why it was taking so long to get in to see the dcotor. After all, you had to sign in your time of appoinment. and arrival - why doesn’t the doctor have to sign in the time you finally get to see him/her?

Not only that, but you sit silently in a room full of other people sitting silently, staring at walls, pictures, old magazines, or books from home. Heck of a way to spend a day, isn’t it?

Recently I was in just that same position, sitting in the eye specialist’s waiting room, awaiting laser surgery, along with 15 or 20 other patients and their drivers. But did we sit quietly? NOT ON YOUR LIFE.

We started talking, chatting, telling jokes, laughing, moving around and talking to each other… in fact it became a regular party… or at least a friendly get together.

Of course some of the younger ones wondered what we were having such a good time about?? But you know, for the average senior citizen, we’re just so glad we woke up in the morning and could find what the new day has to hold for us, that we can find pleasures in anything from sharing funny pictures in the magazines to comparing notes on our famillies.

Now we may not have had cake and candles, or wine and cheese… after all, we were in a dcotor’s office. But we still had a good time enjoying each other’s company. I’m just sorry I didn’t get pictures of all the comers and goers, but hey, when you’re having fun, it’s hard to stick to picture business!

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(Pictures posted by permission of individuals involved.)