Remember the pictures they used to show of  Baby New Year being greeted by Ancient Old Year?

I thought you would.

I’ve come to the conclusion that  the past is gone and not to be retrieved, and the future is nothing to worry about.    The present is the gift we have today and it is to be treasured and cherished, for we may not have tomorrow.

Seems as if so many people are worrying about the economy, finances, success or failure, the future of the dollar.    Even the future of the USA ’cause the rest of the world seems to be catching  up  to us.

Well, shoot, time is of the essence  and the essence can be sweet or sour, depending upon how you perceive it.   No, I’m not losing it, or talking nonsense.     I have just decided that instead of thinking about all the horrible things that can and may or surely might happen, I’ll just stick my head in the sand like everyone else and not worry about anything.

The great thing about the past is that you can retrieve the happy parts while blocking the unhappy parts.    I mean, why cry about something you can’t change?    Acceptance  is the only way to go.

The great thing about the present is  you can decide what you will do with it.   You can work, play, sleep, study, watch tv, sit and think, or communicate with friends.   By the way, have you joined the social networking craze?    By that I mean Twitter (been tweeting lately?) or Facebook (picturing your phace for all to see?)

Misspelling deliberate

Funny thing about Twitter is that all these strangers want to connect with you and follow your every word. Sorry to say, my words aren’t so great and I severely limit the no. of people who can “follow” me, but I get innumerable requests from these strangers.Facebook is a little better and through it I have found a couple of people I communicated with in the past.  For one reason or another I lost touch with them and am pleased to rediscover them. On the other hand, my privacy is an issue there.

Confirming that, I sent an invitation to a friend in Canada to join me on Facebook and the invitation was accompanied by pictures of many of her relatives.   She couldn’t understand how Facebook could know those folk belonged to her.  She responded to me and said it was “one of life’s little mysteries” how those pictures got there. I replied it is downright scary.

That is another thing about the future. Between hackers, the government plus technological advances, I’m concerned there will be no such thing as ‘private’ information. (Yes, despite my claim to ignoring, I am concerned about future happenings.) Actually, as a senior I have an advantage there. I can die and avoid it all. (Just kidding.) Plus, we have so many “experts” predicting things one never knows what to think. Heard today we will have 30 years of icy weather instead of the warming predicted. Just to cover their bets though, they are saying it is all a part of Global Warming. HUH??

I’ll close with this little bit of philosophy:

Senior moments (forgetting something temporarily) are fine!

CRA (can’t remember anything) is bad.

HAPPY 2010

The Gubester
“Much of what you wrote was indeed food for thought. I retired whan I was 48 years of age and looking back I can say that had I not have been able to do so I probably would not be alive today.

“I was self employed and active in the affairs of the city suffering a heart attack at age 46 in my second term as mayor.

“Being fortunate enough to sell my business while I was still young and leave the “rat” race of life added years to my longevity.

“True, the ravages of time have attacked me to some degree in these so called golden years but there are many that are not given the privilege of reaching them.

“Your very last paragraph sums it up very nicely and I quote:

‘My suggestion is to sit back, relax, think about all the wonderful things you have done, all the more         wonderful things you would like to do, and enjoy life however it comes. That is what I have done and guess what? It’s worth it!’ ”    Gube, Expectations, Actively Senior, August, 2009.”

The gentleman who wrote this was a good friend from the Seniors Playground (See Link) .  He was a very creative writer and wrote a column called Musings in his local paper.   He has also contributed to  the Creative Writing Category here.

Gube is now deceased because of  his heart problems.   We were very sorry to lose him as he was a venerable old gent who never disappointed us.   The numbers grow smaller as time wears on.   But I do not grieve long for my former friends because in most cases the end was a blessing due to illness, loss of loved ones and lack of proper health care.   Oh oh I can hear you muttering, “Here she  goes again.”

Not really.   This is not intended to be a downer article nor is it a political article.   It is an update of who and where I am currently.   You see, my finances have slipped into the Never Neverland range.   I am seeking ways to resurrect them to a living level.   I raised three children alone and my finances were not this bad.

Currently I am studying a course on the internet that I hope will benefit me big time as I get more comfortable with it.    It will require much of my work experience, including the Mortgage Loan work, the Title Company work, and the Legal Assistant work over the last 50 years.   It is wonderful to find at-home work on the internet that closely matches my qualifications.   I can’t wait until I receive that first big bundle of money.   

Along with that I have another website  called Big Money with Bevb set up by my mentor Andy, who got me started here at Actively.   He’s a great friend and helper but I misunderstood the provisions of this website.   It is based on the Lottery in England and I now know we Americans cannot bet on the lottery in England.   The idea behind the website is great and if I lived somewhere else I could probably do very well with it.   Andy is an Englishman living in Japan and prospering on his internet earnings.   I’m lucky to have him as a friend and mentor.

Then there is Actively Senior, which has slumped since its inception.   In the beginning I was traveling all over, locating senior activities,  taking many pictures for our photo album.   It was really fun because I found many creative ways to add  to it.   But then we lost the photo album to hackers about the same time I started losing my vision.   I moved up here, first to a farm and then into town.   I can no longer drive and this little town in North Texas doesn’t offer much in the way of transportation.   I’ve had three surgeries this year but am feeling much better now.   With special equipment for my computer and a reader for letters and bills, I’m adjusting well.    But I’m afraid Actively has paid the price in spite of my best intentions.

As you can see I have a lot going on, which is part of the transition process from  a  working middle age adult to a retired senior adult with special needs.   The interesting thing I discovered when I first started this website was that a very large number of senior citizens were working part time to increase their limited incomes.    Since I was doing the same thing, I won’t comment on this phenomenon except to say that it’s a shame so many of us cannot live on our promised Social Security Benefits.

It is even worse now since our Medicare costs keep going up but our COLA benefits have been  frozen for at least two years.   Many people of all ages and all status are being hit hard right now, so I am not unusual or whining.   I said this article would not be a downer but it seems as though it is.   Except that I expect to come out alright in the end.   I will update you further when I do.

If you’re a senior you may wish the government would reform your personal health and medical condition.    After all, isn’t that what individual health reform really means to each of us?

Barring that possibility the government is trying to come up with a health reform bill that would enable all citizens to access health care  for prevention of medical problems or best cure possible.   At present that is certainly not the case.

On both sides of the aisle there is contention; one side claiming socialism and the other side claiming what is proposed is not enough.    There have been references to the Canadian system of universal health care.   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_and_American_health_care_systems_compared   Although I’m not a big fan of Wikipedia, this article provides a great deal of insight on the comparison between the current American and Canadian systems.   I won’t go into details here; there is just too much information and you might find it valuable to read it for your self.   I have heard that some Canadian citizens cross the border to the USA to get better medical care.   Also that some provinces are more effective than others or have shorter waiting periods. “Total government spending per capita in the U.S. on health care was 23% higher than Canadian government spending, and U.S. government expenditure on health care was just under 83% of total Canadian spending (public and private).” Wikipedia.    Of course the point made here is that all CANADIANS ARE COVERED whereas only a portion of the US residents are covered although we have a much larger population..

Others have said that we  should look to the French universal health care plan.    http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/9994.php#top   I have read through it and in some ways it sounds similar to our health insurance system except that it is universale and all french residents are covered.   As usual the wealthy have provisions to get extra care through supplemental insurance; but the poor are also covered with health care insurance.   The main goal seems to be  prevention of problems.   Nobody is left out, even EU residents residing in France.   The problem I discovered is that they keep talking about reimbursement of medical costs.   I’m not totally sure what they mean by that, but I interpret it as meaning each individual pays for their own medical expenses and are reimbursed by the State.    That would never do for me; I just do not have the money  available.  I do know the CMU plan covers those with chronic diseases like diabetes or heart problems.     But perhaps I’m wrong about all this and if someone in France or knowledgeable about their system would correct me I’d really appreciate it.

Our American system is intolerable for many people because of rising costs.   That is for both insurance and medical expenses.   I will quote  a man here who is very dissatisfied with what is happening to him and his wife..

Today I just got a letter from my medical insurance Co. saying that next year my monthly premiums will be going UP $250.00 for a total of $614.00 each & every damn month.  For my two surgeries so far I’ve had to pay over $2,000.00  from MY POCKET as well.  In years past the MOST I ever paid was less than $50.00 for any hospital or outpatient procedure.  When I retired in 94 my payment was only $45.00 a month, seems like every year our Ins. Co. doubles the premiums… This just MIGHT be the straw that broke the camels back for us.  As there’s NO WAY we can make that kind of payment every month, then still have to pay extra after surgeries or what ever is done… Guess the best thing to do is just die, or go to Mexico then come back as an illegal alien which gets everything FREE!!.(Seniors Playground - ‘Mad as Hell’)

President Obama in Grand Junction Colorado:  “Insurance companies will no longer be able to … place an arbitrary cap on the amount of coverage you can receive or charge outrageous out-of-pocket expenses on top of your premiums,” Obama told the crowd of roughly 1,500 people…
“No one in America should go broke because they get sick,” he said to loud applause.   Reuters, August 15. 2009.

I like the part about outrageous out-of-pocket expenses on top of your premiums, and the No one in America should go broke because they get sick.
However, after the little bit of research I have done I can completely understand why both sides of the aisle are having serious problems and contention on the whole health care issue.

I do not claim to be an expert or to have any special insights into this problem. I’m really just an ordinary citizen who is as concerned as you are about the health care crisis in America. My only suggestion is to get any health care done now, if you can afford it. That is what I’m trying to do.

and so is my website.   The human body may break down but the website and internet last forever.   Thank you Andy.   All this is to say I just went through an easy surgery installing a pacemaker to rev up my poor heart.  What a difference it has already made in just 3 days.

Yep, the old heart is pumping away just as it should be and my brain, organs and all parts are enjoying the change.   Like a friend said, “Let us know when you go square dancing.”     Well, maybe not ready for that,  but not far from it.   How about a nice gentle waltz.   Betcha I could handle that.

Is there a purpose to this post?    Yes, it is to say that as an Active Senior if you need a medical procedure do go ahead and get it.   It will improve your life so much and allow you to live up to your Expectations.   Most importantly, the more you use your brain, the better your mind and memory will be.   Somehow that seems more important to me than any physical limitation.

With this supposed New Health Reform Bill, no telling what we Seniors will be eligible for.   I wish they would post the contents of the bill under consideration so we can know what all the arguments are about.    Right now rumors are flying; fists will be next I’m afraid.    And yet we have no way to know what all the ruckus is about.

So my suggestion is:   If your doctor has recommended a health care procedure, don’t wait for that bill to pass in hopes it will be cheaper , get it done now so you’ll have the benefit of better health.  I can attest to the benefits of following through now.    I was sick and listless with no energy and no desire to accomplish because I got worn out just thinking about it.  My life is changed!

Thank you doctors and nurses and all medical personnel.   You did very well by me.

I have recently celebrated the 32nd anniversary of my 39th birthday.   Want to know how old I am?    Figure it out for yourself!

It was a great day and a good time was had by all.    Now I could stop here and the post would be complete.    But if you’re a regular reader, you know I won’t stop.  After all, the older I get the more “wisdom and experience” I have to share.   By this age I have lots to share, yes? Or as is now popular…WAY?    You are supposed to reply, NO WAY!

A minor digression here to explore the oddities of current popular language.   Whatever happened to the word  YES?   It worked  fine until a couple of years ago.   Oh well, my inflexible old age is showing… can’t keep up with the times.     Or, maybe I don’t want to keep up with the times.

Uh….you know…like uh…way….no way!   As a friend said:  “those words are just ’space fillers’ to let the brain catch up with the mouth.  The way I see it, it would be better if the brain were ahead of the mouth.   It sure would stop a lot of people from getting ‘foot in mouth’ disease.”

Well, getting back to the topic at hand…. BIRTHDAYS!…as you can see, I’m not only inflexible but also forgetful in my old age.    Maybe I have CRS.. (can’t remember Sh-t)   Then again, perhaps the fact that I’m still alive, kicking and screaming at this age is a very positive sign.    After all, every birthday is now an achievement   I am still seeing the green side of the grass, not the black, so I’m blessed.

Despite all my limitations, along with changes in expectations I find that life is still interesting.    In many cases it is because the people around me are changing and growing.   That is fine with me because their examples are causing me to grow.  In other ways I find reasons and ways to grow.   Not only that, but many of the things that are worrying other people don’t bother me.   I’m past all that.   “If we are still alive, have funds for our basic needs, and our minds still work,  we have a future.”  (Expectations)

So on to the end… the Birthday dinner with family and friends was excellent; the cards and congratulatory messages were pretty as well as amusing so it is time to say goodbye to this birthday and to look forward to my next one.    As my son told me today, “I’ll live to be 90 and see my grands graduate from college.”   From his mouth to your Book of Life, Lord.

Which Expectations did you bring with you into retirement?    Did you retire at the usual age of 65, or did you work until the last possible minute?    Did you kick the dust off your feet as you waved goodbye to coworkers at age 55?  Perhaps you lucked out and won the lottery!   Were your retirement years all planned out?    Or were you going to take it day by day and just enjoy the freedom from work responsibility?

This is a lot of questions to start off with I know.    Yet so many of us wait breathlessly for retirement, for the”golden years” to start.    Sometimes they truly are golden; other times perhaps not.  I know a man who plans his dream trips and has made many of them already.    Another man has moved south to the Gulf of Mexico and is daily enjoying the boat he purchased in expectation.   He and his buddies really love catching and eating all those fresh fish.    I also know one lady who worked and saved to make a trip to Israel as soon as she retired.    Her trip was planned and paid for; but she passed away a week before leaving.   So a person never knows what the future will bring.

Does this mean wee should not dream?   What if our expectations are all wrong when the time comes?   SO WHAT!   If we are still alive, have funds for our basic needs, and our minds still work,  we have a future.   Our expectations may change due to heath or circumstances, but they don’t die, they simply change.   That is what I call transitioning.  After all, at 40 you can’t really tell what life will be like at 65 or 79, or even older.    That doesn’t mean we stop dreaming, being active, or growing.    It may just take different forms.

My suggestion is to sit back, relax, think about all the wonderful  things you have done, all the more wonderful things you would like to do,  and enjoy life however it comes.   That is what I have done and guess what?    It’s worth it!

When I was quite young, my father had one of the first telephones in our neighborhood. I remember the polished, old case fastened to the wall. The shiny receiver hung on the side of the box. I was too little to reach the telephone, but used to listen with fascination when my mother talked to it.

Then I discovered that somewhere inside the wonderful device lived an amazing person. Her name was ‘Information Please’ and there was nothing she did not know. Information Please could supply anyone’s number and the correct time.

My personal experience with the genie-in-a-bottle came one day while my mother was visiting a neighbor. Amusing myself at the tool bench in the basement, I whacked my finger with a hammer, the pain was terrible, but there seemed no point in crying because there was no one home to give sympathy.

I walked around the house sucking my throbbing finger, finally arriving at the stairway. The telephone! Quickly, I ran for the footstool in the parlor and dragged it to the landing. Climbing up, I unhooked the receiver in the parlor and held it to my ear. ‘Information, please’ I said into the mouthpiece just above my head.  Read the rest of this entry »

Lives there an adult who has not read or at least heard about Gail Sheehy’s book Passages?    The book was  written about adult crises and how to help oneself to cope and overcome them.

Well, I find I am past the “Adult Crisis” stage; instead I’ve entered a whole new phase of life experience.   For want of a better title, I call it “Transitions”.    The term Passages implies you are on your way from one place to another;  while Transitions means something very different.   According to Merriam Webster’s dictionary, transition as a form of change means: a movement, development, or evolution from one form, stage, or style to another.  So what, you say?   Then you must be one of our younger readers.   

Transition means your life is changing as you become  a senior citizen. You find your interests and ideas are changing.  So is your body changing, both healthwise and in appearance.     Has your hair turned gray?   Do you need strong bifocal glasses?    Are hearing aids a necessity in your life?   Do you routinely forget names and places; or why you went from one room to another?   Instead of running and chasing with your grandkids, do you sit comfortably and watch them run and chase?   Do you heave a sigh of relief when they go home, collapsing into your favorite lounge chair?   If you answer yes to many of these questions, you are transitioning into senior citizenship.  Of course many of thr signs and symbols of aging can be covered or erased through modern cosmetic techniques and plastic surgery.   Read the rest of this entry »

Much as we were loath to lose Nelda/Cheers from this earth, we still wanted to give her a royal clown send-off. Her family in South Texas held their memorial service for her at 2 p.m. CST and we timed our celebration to parallel theirs.

Even though our celebration was on the internet, people really got involved in it and in their memories of personal experiences with Cheers. As the administrator said, no more tears today, just joy in celebrating Cheers’ life and blessings to us.

It was a fun time, held on the island of DUNFRETTIN (get the meaning there?) which is the place to forget sorrow and problems. It has sand and beaches, palm trees and mild breezes, with native staff to take care of food and refreshment. The good ship S.S. Imagination left the pier every 5 minutes to carry everyone to the celebration. We’ll be waiting for anyone who cares to join us there..

The theme of the day was Clowns (what else) and balloons figured predominantly in the posts. Also important were individual recollections:

DK “I think everyone here can remember all the times I was trying to explain how a program or something works. Cheers would get on me and say keep it simple for us simple folks. I would e mail her pictures & descriptions of how a program would install or how to do something in a program & she would e-mail me back saying HUHHHH We had a lot of fun going back & forth with explanations. I was glad I could make her last year a HAPPY year”

ARM: “Let the celebration begin.

Maybe these are Birthday balloons but it is the celebration of the birth of Cheers in a different life. Chloe, to your list of things about Cheers we should add all the jokes we had to explain to her. It was fun trying to confuse her.”

CHLOE: ” Wish I had kept a list of all the “Cheerisms”. Between the malapropisms and the bad spelling there were times I was laughing so hard just about fell off my chair! Know some of it was deliberate on the part of Cheers because she knew darn well that somebody would come back (often myself) with a smartas* comment. So the first graphic is to say THANK YOU!”

Finally, let us give Cheers the send-off she deserves

Saying goodbye …

Now the balloons rising to the heavens to say: Well Done Cheers

GOODBY DEAR FRIEND… WE SHALL MISS YOUR WISDOM, HUMOR AND LOVE.

Yes, my dear friend Nelda, aka Cheers has moved out of the cycle of pain and suffering into the heavenly arms of her Savior, Jesus.

Nelda was a very special person who was ordained to bless others with her humor, dedication, wisdom and love. She was non-judgmental as she offered up her suggestions and wisdom to those who came to her. She was also a human being, with her own faults and shortcomings, but now as we deal with her death we prefer to see her only in the ways she blessed us.

Have you lost a very special person? Someone who loomed larger than life in your heart? Then perhaps you can understand how the members of the Senior Playground are feeling.  (http://www.seniorsplayground.com/). This woman’s impact on the world around her is much larger than she, and we, ever realized.

For much of her adult life, Nelda was Cheers, the clown. She had a clownmobile called Beaux and she did love that little car - as did the people who saw it coming in parades and special activities. She never really stopped being a clown; she simply dispensed with the clown apparatus as age took its toll on her. Then cancer reared it’s ugly head and the battle was on! Nelda never quit fighting until the very end; but she passed away quietly and peacefully at home. ‘Tis a blessing to those of us who mourn her because we won’t have to watch her valiant struggle as we pray for her.

Nelda/Cheers never lost her positive attitude and she sheperded our forum whenever she could. Fortunately she had prepared for this eventuality and trained two very good people to carry on after her. So the Playground will continue, but right now the slides and swings are empty as we all gather to celebrate the life of our friend and mentor.

May all the blessings and peace of God be upon Cheers, her family, and her many friends. She will receive the royal clown sendoff of balloons at her memorial service next
Saturday.