Positive, Productive, Profitable Retirement News

Texas Hold 'Em - I had a pair of Jacks - the other guy, a pair of seven's - they turn the river card - a seven - Lady luck shunned me once again.

According to Wikipedia - Luck can be defined as a chance happening, or as that which happens beyond a person's control.

Case in point - this past week, 71 year old John Bromiley was vacationing in Reno - he was playing the Wheel of Fortune slot for what he thought was 75 cents a spin - wrong - it was $3.75 a spin.

Also, he didn't even realize he was playing, because he thought the machine was broken - he told the player next to him that something was wrong with the machine - "'Call an attendant. You just hit the jackpot" advised his neighbour.

John received a cheque for 7.9 million.

Barry and Barbara Salzman bought a Powerball ticket in northern Arizona and won $10,000.
They drove to Phoenix to pick up the check, and while at the lottery office bought another Powerball ticket.

That one won the $15 million dollar jackpot.

Now that's luck in it's truest form - but can we make our own luck - not when it comes to Texas Hold 'Em, slot machines and lottery tickets perhaps, but we can be lucky in life and career according to an English professor.

All of us have bad luck and good luck.
The man who persists through the bad luck - who keeps right on going - is the man who is there when the good luck comes - and is ready to receive it. - Robert Collier

Richard Wiseman is head of a psychology research department at the University of Hertfordshire in England - he heads up the university's Perrott-Warrick Research Unit who has been researching why some folks can be considered lucky and other not so lucky.

After thousands of interviews and experiments, the researchers think they have the answer and Wiseman has written a book on the subject - The Luck Factor: Changing Your Luck, Changing Your Life.

Before I go any further - I know what your going to say - "here he goes again - the positive thinking bit" - but stay with me a little longer - what the professor is saying makes a lot of sense - and remember this Thomas Jefferson quote -

"I'm a great believer in luck
and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it."

From his research, Wiseman believes that when things go bad, the lucky "turn bad luck into good" by seeing how they can turn the bad into a positive.

He says the lucky - "expect good fortune," adding, "Most people are just not open to what's around them."

In an interview with columnist Daniel Pink, Wiseman said "One way is to be open to new experiences.
Unlucky people are stuck in routines. When they see something new, they want no part of it.

Lucky people always want something new. They're prepared to take risks and relaxed enough to see the opportunities in the first place."

In edited form, here are Richard Wiseman's four principles to create good fortune in your life and career.

• Maximize Chance Opportunities - Lucky people are skilled at creating, noticing, and acting upon chance opportunities - adopt a relaxed attitude to life - be open to new experiences.

• Listen to Your Lucky Hunches - Lucky people make effective decisions by listening to their intuition and gut feelings.

• Expect Good Fortune - Lucky people are certain that the future will be bright.
  Over time, that expectation becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy because it helps lucky people persist in the face of failure.

• Turn Bad Luck Into Good - Lucky people employ various psychological techniques to cope with, and even thrive upon, the ill fortune that comes their way - imagine how things could have been worse - don't dwell on the ill fortune - take control of the situation.

"Luck affects everything, let your hook always be cast in the stream and where you least expect it, there will be a fish." - Ovid

Now here's an example of very unlucky guy -

Three Florida retirees, each with a hearing loss, were playing golf one fine March day.
One remarked to the other, "Windy, isn't it?"
"No," the second man replied, "it's Thursday."
And the third man chimed in, "So am, let's have a beer."

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The following can be embarrassing, especially if your an American - but also for a guy who once thought he had a talent for geography.

Here's a grade three Geography Test! - You must drag and drop all 48 states in the time allotted to be promoted to the 4th grade - Click here - Ready.. Begin

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Swinging Seniors

Between the first and second quarters of the NBA game between the New Jersey Nets and the Detroit Pistons - a group of rockin' seniors jogged onto the court and brought the crowd to their feet as they performed their one-minute routine - first, dancing to "at the Hop" then switching to the hip-hop tune "Snap Yo Fingers."

Note that the numbers on their sweaters match their age.
Eighty-one-year-old Fanny Militar was giggling like a little girl after the performance - "It was wonderful, I had the time of my life."

At least five other NBA clubs - Miami, Phoenix, Orlando, Memphis and Utah - have senior dance teams - come on Toronto Raptors - get with it.

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First, the story behind the video clip
The Young@ Heart choir began in 1982 - the members all lived in an elderly housing project in Northampton, MA called the Walter Salvo House.

They staged their first stage production in 1983 and between 1997-2004 the chorus went on 2 tours of Europe, Australia and Canada - the current performers in Young@Heart range in age from 73 to 92.

This video clip is from a documentary shown on Channel 4 in the UK.

The performer here is Fred Knittle, who suffers from congestive heart failure.
This song was intended to be a duet between Fred and another chorus member, Bob Salvini.
Sadly, Bob died of a heart attack and it was left to Fred to carry the song on his own.

According the fellow who uploaded this clip, he believes the people you see crying at 01:13 are Bob's family. The lady you occasionally see mouthing the lyrics in the audience is Fred's wife.

This is Fred, back by the young@heart chorus singing 'Fix You' by Coldplay

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Here's a great gift for the grandkids or for yourself to mount in the rec room bar or your office - the National Hockey League is auctioning two custom designed goalie masks - one honouring Canadian soldiers and one honouring U.S. soldiers

- both autographed by the 2007 all-star goalies.

To place your bid click here - auction closes March 26 at 5pm.

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My son Gord sent this in - a new twist to an old joke -

Working people frequently ask retired people what they do to make their days interesting.

Well, for example, the other day I went down town and into a shop. I was only there for about five minutes and when I came out there was a cop writing out a parking ticket.
I said to him, "Come on, Officer, how about giving a retired person a break?"

He ignored me and continued writing the ticket. I called him a "Nazi."

He glared at me and wrote another ticket for having worn tires.>br> So, I called him a "doughnut eating Gestapo agent."

He finished the second ticket and put it on the windshield with the first.

Then he wrote a third ticket.
This went on for about twenty minutes.
The more I abused him, the more tickets he wrote.

Personally, I didn't care.

I came downtown on the bus, and the car that he was putting the tickets on had a bumper sticker that said, "Hillary in '08."

I try to have a little fun each day now that I'm retired - it's important to my health

Now let's work on some creative retirement job ideas - (Go to URL)

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February 5, 2007 - Retirement and caffeine - road rage video - TV memories

Now, late in my retirement years, I can say I'm free of the TH caffeine curse.
Back in my working years, I was a Tim Horton's addict.

For the benefit of non Canadians, I should explain that Tim Horton's, according to Wikipedia is a coffee and doughnut franchise that, as of January 2007, had 2,710 outlets in Canada, 336 outlets in the United States and one outlet just outside Kandahar, Afghanistan - apparently our soldiers said "to hell with this" unless there was a Tim Hortons on base, so you can appreciate how TH's has controlled millions of Canadian lives.

There was a Tim Horton's directly across the street from the TV station I worked at for many years, and the network newsroom scheduled regular runs for refills of TH coffee and doughnuts - chocolate topped Boston Creme was my favourite. (And I wondered why I needed quadruple bypass years later.)

Medics now tells us the caffiene buzz can depend on many factors such as the persons size and weight and the more caffeine you take in, the more caffeine you'll need to feel the same effects and as I think back, the refill runs did increase over time.

And the trend continues - according to a new Work Place Media survey of 1,200 U.S. workers who were asked what they consume to help them get through their days at work - 83 percent said caffeine.

Now in my late retirement years, I'm glad I'm caffeine clean - only because I'm now caffeine confused - it's all these new studies - examples - from the February issue of Mayo Clinic Women's HealthSource:

• Among a group of 890 older women, a history of consuming caffeinated coffee throughout their life appears to help preserve cognitive skills -- thinking, memory and comprehension -- possibly because of long-term caffeine exposure.

• A large trial called the Nurses' Health Study found that low levels of caffeine intake reduced the risk of Parkinson's disease in women who used postmenopausal hormone therapy. In women who didn't use hormones, caffeine intake at moderate to high levels decreased the risk of Parkinson's.

• Caffeine has been marketed for some time as a potential hair tonic and restorative by German company Alpecin Cosmetics - new tests prove they may be on to something.

• A University of Colorado grad has come up with a way to add caffeine to such baked goods as bagels and pastries. Robert Bohannon, who holds a degree in molecular biology from Boulder and a doctorate from the Baylor College of Medicine, is trying to market the treats to outfits like Krispy Kreme, Dunkin' Donuts and Starbucks.

As far as I can figure out it's the quality and quantity of the coffee or any other caffeine loaded drink that is the deciding factor.
Again, from the Mayo HealthSource report - the Nurses' Health Study also showed that high levels of caffeine -- six or more cups a day -- increased the risk of Parkinson's in women who used hormone therapy.

Thank God I'm not female on hormone therapy - we downed six cups of java before the morning editorial meeting ended.

Apparently, for most people, it appears a moderate daily intake of coffee two to four cups doesn't seem to hurt and may even help.

New coffee stats:

A survey of 1,015 adults by OnTech Operations Inc., a manufacturer of self-heating containers:

• 42% would trade in the morning paper, television or radio for a cup.
• One in five would swap lunch for coffee.
• 12% would give up three hours of sleep.
• One in 10 would skip brushing their teeth.
• Two-thirds of Americans identify themselves as coffee drinkers, and early half drink at least one cup every day.
• Men drink more cups per day than women, while people in the Northeast consume more coffee than drinkers in any other region.
• One-third of coffee drinkers consider themselves social drinkers, who use coffee breaks as a time to catch up with family and friends.
• Almost one-quarter like the hot drink because it warms their hands.
• Thirty-seven percent of coffee drinkers ages 18 to 24 drink the caffeine booster to help them accomplish tasks, presumably after a late night out on the town.
• Caffeine is up and cigarettes are down among U.S. workers. More than four out of five workers said they rely on caffeine to get them through their workdays, while just one in 10 said they rely on cigarettes.

In a 5 ounce cup of brewed coffee (drip method), on average, there's about115 mg. of caffeine.

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Just a few more numbers as an ad-on to the Retirement News Blog entry dealing with driving in Florida.

• The nearest major city to us - Tampa - was rated 156 out of 200 cities in the U.S. with the safest drivers.
• 26% of drivers from the south who say they have road rage on occasion - a higher percentage than that of drivers from Northeastern and western states.
• 8% of drivers who say they drive with a pet in their lap.
• 19% of drivers who say they send text messages while driving.

And even when you're parked there can be road rage - check out this video.

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Thanks to retired buddy Jim Hill for sending this - for those retirees who remember the original Hollywood Squares and its comics, this may bring a tear to your eyes.
These great questions and answers are from the days when " Hollywood Squares" game show responses were spontaneous and clever, not scripted and (often) dull, as they are now.
Peter Marshall was the host asking the questions, of course.

Q. Do female frogs croak?
A. Paul Lynde: If you hold their little heads under water long enough.

Q. If you're going to make a parachute jump, at least how high should you be?
A. Charley Weaver: Three days of steady drinking should do it.

Q. True or False, a pea can last as long as 5,000 years.
A. George Gobel: Boy, it sure seems that way sometimes.

Q. You've been having trouble going to sleep. Are you probably a man or a woman?
A. Don Knotts: That's what's been keeping me awake.

Q. According to Cosmopolitan, if you meet a stranger at a party and you think that he is attractive, is it okay to come out and ask him if he's married?
A. Rose Marie: No, wait until morning.

Q. Which of your five senses tends to diminish as you get older?
A. Charley Weaver: My sense of decency.

Q. In Hawaiian, does it take more than three words to say "I Love You"?
A. Vincent Price: No, you can say it with a pineapple and a twenty.

Q. What are "Do It," "I Can Help," and "I Can't Get Enough"?
A. George Gobel: I don't know, but it's coming from the next apartment.

Q. As you grow older, do you tend to gesture more or less with your hands while talking?
A. Rose Marie: You ask me one more gro wing old question Peter, and I'll give you a gesture you'll never forget.

Q. Paul, why do Hell's Angels wear leather?
A. Paul Lynde: Because chiffon wrinkles too easily.

Q. Charley, you've just decided to grow strawberries. Are you going to get any during the first year?
A. Charley Weaver: Of course not, I'm too busy growing strawberries.

Q. In bowling, what's a perfect score?
A. Rose Marie: Ralph, the pin boy.

Q. It is considered in bad taste to discuss two subjects at nudist camps. One is politics, what is the other?
A. Paul Lynde: Tape measures.

Q. During a tornado, are you safer in the bedroom or in the closet?
A. Rose Marie: Unfortunately Peter, I'm always safe in the bedroom.

Q. Can boys join the Camp Fire Girls?
A. Marty Allen: Only after lights out.

Q. When you pat a dog on its head he will wag his tail. What will a goose do?
A. Paul Lynde: Make him bark?

Q. If you were pregnant for two years, what would you give birth to?
A. Paul Lynde: Whatever it is, it would never be afraid of the dark.

Q. According to Ann Landers, is there anything wrong with getting into the habit of kissing a lot of people?
A. Charley Weaver: It got me out of the army.

Q. It is the most abused and neglected part of your body, what is it?
A. Paul Lynde: Mine may be abused, but it certainly isn't neglected.

Q. Back in the old days, when Great Grandpa put horseradish on his head, what was he trying to do?
A. George Gobel: Get it in his mouth.

Q. Who stays pregnant for a longer period of time, your wife or your elephant?
A. Paul Lynde: Who told you about my elephant?

Q. When a couple have a baby, who is responsible for its sex?
A. Charley Weaver: I'll lend him the car, the rest is up to him.

Q. Jackie Gleason recently revealed that he firmly believes in them and has actually seen them on at least two occasions. What are they?
A. Charley Weaver: His feet.

Q. According to Ann Landers, what are two things you should never do in bed?
A. Paul Lynde: Point and laugh.

Now let's get to work on our creative retirement job - (Go to URL)

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February 7, 2007 - No retirement news just something to think about

" Every day they do the hard work that we as a nation ask of them.
They do this without complaint and they do it knowing that at every turn there are people like you, Noreen, suggesting that what they do is somehow undignified or misguided."

No retirement related news today.

Instead, I've decided to copy an editorial piece that was brought to my attention by retired buddy Bill Ozard.

I do so in the hope that you will pass it on to others.

First, I must declare I'm biased when it comes to our Canadian armed forces.
During my working years, I completed a number of reports dealing with our military - the first back in the mid 60's, in Cyprus, when Canadian peacekeepers prevented the Turks and Greeks from massacring each other - the assignments continued in various parts of the world thru to and including the first Gulf War - then my retirement ended the association.

During that period I witnessed many acts of bravery and numerous incidents of caring and compassion to those they were sent to protect.
As a result, I appreciate and admire the professionalism, bravery and dedication to duty of the men and women of our armed forces - who "do the hard work that we as a nation ask of them."

The following op-ed is Canadian content, but you could change names and locations and it would fit other free nations - such as the UK - but especially the United States.

First, an introduction for the benefit of those from other lands.

Rick Mercer, a Newfoundlander, is a Canadian comedian, television personality and political satirist.

One of Mercer's trademark comedy routines is "talking to Americans" - he travels to major US cities and conducts on-the-street interviews with average Americans regarding Canadian politics, the weather, etc., often with hilarious results.

One of my favourites was when he asked students and professors at Columbia University to sign a petition urging Canadians to discontinue the practice of abandoning the elderly on ice floes - many signed.

One of his most famous bits came when Mercer asked then-presidential candidate George W. Bush, who had previously stated that "you can't stump me on world leaders" - for his reaction to an endorsement by Canadian Prime Minister Jean Poutine - the PM was Jean Chrétien and Poutine is a French Canadian dish of fries topped with cheese curds and covered in brown gravy.

Bush said he looked forward to working together with his future counterpart to the north.
However, to be fair, Bush never actually used the name of Poutine and only failed to correct Mercer on the name.

A few years later, when Bush made his first official visit to Canada, he said during a speech, "There's a prominent citizen who endorsed me in the 2000 election, and I wanted a chance to finally thank him for that endorsement. I was hoping to meet Jean Poutine."

Anyway, Mercer wasn't going for laughs when he wrote the following in the St. John's Independent -

By Rick Mercer - For The Independent

Poor Noreen Golfman.

She wrote in her Jan. 12 column (Blowing in the Wind … ) that her holidays were ruined by what she felt were incessant reports about Canadian men and women serving in Afghanistan .
So upset was Noreen that, armed with her legendary pen, sharpened from years in the trenches at Memorial University's women's studies department, she went on the attack.

I know I should just ignore the good professor and write her off as another bitter baby boom academic pining for what she fondly calls "the protest songs of yesteryear," but I can't help myself.

A response is exactly what she wants; and so I include it here.

After all, Newfoundlanders have seen this before: Noreen Golfman, sadly, is Margaret Wente without the wit.

Dear Noreen,

I am so sorry to hear about the interruption to your holiday cheer.
You say in your column that it all started when the CBC ran a story on some "poor sod" who got his legs blown off in Afghanistan .

The "poor sod" in question, Noreen, has a name and it is Cpl. Paul Franklin.
He is a medic in the Forces and has been a buddy of mine for years.
I had dinner with him last week in Edmonton , in fact. I will be sure to pass on to him that his lack of legs caused you some personal discomfort this Christmas.

Paul is a pretty amazing guy.
You would like him I think. When I met him years ago he had two good legs and a brutally funny sense of humor.

He was so funny that I was pretty sure he was a Newfoundlander.
You probably know the type (or maybe you don't) - salt of the earth, always smiling, and like so many health-care professionals, seemingly obsessed with helping others in need.

These days he spends his time training other health-care workers and learning how to walk again.
That's a pretty exhausting task for Paul … heading into rehabilitation he knew very well his chances of walking again were next to none, considering he's a double amputee, missing both legs above the knee.

At the risk of ruining your day Noreen, I'm proud to report that for the last few months he has managed to walk his son to school almost every morning and it's almost a kilometer from his house.
Next month Paul hopes to travel to Washington where he claims he will learn how to run on something he calls "bionic flipper cheetah feet." The legs may be gone but the sense of humor is still very much intact.

Forgive me Noreen for using Paul's name so much, but seeing as you didn't catch it when CBC ran the profile on his recovery I thought it might be nice if you perhaps bothered to remember it from here on in. This way, when you are pontificating about him at a dinner party, you no longer have to refer to him simply as the "poor sod," but you can actually refer to him as Paul Franklin.
You may prefer "poor sod" of course; it's all a matter of how you look at things.

You see a "poor sod" that ruined your Christmas and I see a truly inspiring guy. That's why I am thrilled that the CBC saw fit to run a story on Paul and his wife Audra. I would go so far as to suggest that many people would find their story, their marriage and their charitable endeavors inspiring.
Just as I am sure that many readers of The Independent are inspired by your suggestion that Paul's story has no place on the public broadcaster.

Further on in your column you ask why more people aren't questioning Canada 's role in Afghanistan . I understand this frustration. It's a good question.
Why should Canada honor its United Nations-sanctioned NATO commitments?
Let's have the discussion. I would welcome debate on the idea that Canada should simply ignore its international obligations and pull out of Afghanistan .
By all means ask the questions Noreen, but surely such debates can occur without begrudging the families of injured soldiers too much airtime at Christmas?

Personally, I would have thought that as a professor of women's studies you would be somewhat supportive of the notion of a NATO presence in Afghanistan .
After all, it is the NATO force that is keeping the Taliban from power.
In case you missed it Noreen, the Taliban was a regime that systematically de-peopled women to the point where they had no human rights whatsoever.
This was a country where until very recently it was illegal for a child to fly a kite or for a little girl to receive any education.

To put it in terms you might understand Noreen, rest assured the Taliban would frown on your attending this year's opening night gala of the St. John's International Women's Film Festival.

In fact, as a woman, a professor, a writer and (one supposes) an advocate of the concept that women are people, they would probably want to kill you three or four times over.

Thankfully that notion is moot in our cozy part of the world but were it ever come to pass I would suggest that you would be grateful if a "poor sod" like Paul Franklin happened along to risk his life to protect yours.

And then of course you seem to be somehow personally indignant that I would visit troops in Afghanistan over Christmas.
You ask the question "When did the worm turn?" Well I hate to break it to you, but in my case this worm has been doing this for a long time now.
It's been a decade since I visited Canadian peacekeeping operations in Bosnia and this Christmas marked my third trip to Afghanistan .

Why do I do it?
Well I am not a soldier - that much is perfectly clear.
I don't have the discipline or the skills.
But I am an entertainer and entertainers entertain.
And occasionally, like most Canadians, I get to volunteer my professional time to causes that I find personally satisfying.

As a Newfoundlander this is very personal to me.
On every one of these trips I meet Newfoundlanders who serve proudly in the Canadian Forces.
Every day they do the hard work that we as a nation ask of them.
They do this without complaint and they do it knowing that at every turn there are people like you, Noreen, suggesting that what they do is somehow undignified or misguided.

I am also curious Noreen why you refer to the head of the Canadian Forces, General Rick Hillier, as "Rick 'MUN graduate' Hillier."
I would suggest that if you wish to criticize General Hillier's record of leadership or service to his country you should feel free.
He is a big boy.
However, when you dismiss him as "Rick 'MUN Graduate' Hillier" the message is loud and clear.
Are you suggesting that because General Hillier received an education at Memorial he is somehow unqualified for high command?
We are used to seeing this type of tactic in certain national papers - not The Independent.

You end by saying you personally cannot envision that peace can ever be paved with military offensives.
May I suggest to you that in many instances in history peace has been achieved exactly that way.

The gates of Auschwitz were not opened with peace talks.
Holland was not liberated by peacekeepers and fascism was not defeated with a deft pen.
Time and time again men and women in uniform have laid down their lives in just causes and in an effort to free others from oppression.

It is unfortunate, Noreen, that in such instances people like yourself may have your sensitivities offended, especially during the holiday season, but perhaps that is a small price to pay.

Best wishes for the remainder of 2007; may it be a year of peace and prosperity.

Rick Mercer

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February 8, 2007 - Retirees and TV - Retirement News down time -

This entry is a day early and will be last for about a week - we're hitting the road to return home for some medical meetings - hope you will check back on a regular basis.

In the meantime - a word about the industry that gave me the opportunity to put food on the family table - wise up guys, we seniors are alive and kicking - start telling our story as it should be told.

Something is wrong here - we have the financial juice, but as far as the suits who control television are concerned we are all dead meat the day after we celebrate our 50th birthday.

All hail the 18's to 49's - and yet -

According to J. Walter Thompson's Mature Market Group, today's 50-plus market holds more than $1.6 trillion in buying power.

• Seniors control 75 percent of the nation's financial assets.
• Control 70 percent of America's net worth, and over half of its discretionary spending.
• Americans 50 and over... own more homes than any other age group.
• Purchase 41 percent of all new cars.
• Spend 74 percent more on a typical vacation than 18- to 49-year-olds.
• Enjoy more than $900 billion in income.

OK, maybe we can live without more arthritis, false teeth and bowel problem advertising but according to a new study, watching television can make seniors depressed.

Becca Levy, associate professor in the Yale School of Public Health's Division of Chronic Disease Epidemiology, Margie Donlon of the University of Rochester and Ori Ashman of Murdoch University in Australia are the authours of a report that states - "The more seniors watch television, the greater their negative images of aging may be, but maintaining a diary of viewing impressions increased their awareness of the negative stereotyping on television."

Participants between 60- and 92-years-old were randomly assigned to an intervention or control group.
Both groups filled out television-viewing diaries, based on those used by Nielsen, for one week.
The intervention group filled out an additional page per day that asked them to evaluate how older characters were presented on television viewed that day.

Average TV viewing by the group was 21 hours a week.

A couple of comments listed in the report -

• From an 81 year old - "seniors shouldn't be targets of jokes so often."
• From a 68-year old homemaker who watched more than 45 hours of television per week, noticed that older characters are often left out of programming. She commented, "I feel like we've been ignored. I feel like we are nonexistent."

Professor Levy said less than two percent of primetime television characters are age 65 or older, whereas this group comprises 12.7 percent of the population - and how many of the two percent are active, intelligent characters pursuing a meaningful life? Not to many - if any.

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And while on the subject of television - last Sunday's Super Bowl was the second-most-watched Super Bowl in history and the third-most-watched program ever on TV, behind the 1996 game between the Cowboys and Steelers and the season finale of M*A*S*H in 1983 - The game drew 93.2 million total viewers.

According to Media Life, three factors helped - (a)Payton Manning, who is everybody's all American. (B)The First two African American coaches - Yea Dungy - great guy, used to coach the Buccaneers our down south home team, and (C) half the population of Chicago, the nation's third-largest market, was expected to tune in.

And, speaking of our down south home area - the two gorilla's featured in one of the Bud Light commercials are stars at Busch Gardens - Sim Sim, a 21 year old silverback and Cenzoo an 11 year old male - the commercial was shot in December and it's the first time in park history that any of it's animals besides Clydesdales, have appeared in any of the parent company's commercials.

I also liked the commercial of the senior guy who, after downing a coke, blasts off to love and adventure.

Your can view all the bowl commercials including previous years and the disallowed, one of which was rejected due to the showing of Mickey Rooney's geriatric behind.

Start here with old guy.

One more interesting video - How does he do that?

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Thanks to retired buddy Jim Hill for this one -

You're in incredible shape," the doctor said. "How old are you again?"
"I am 78," said the man.
"78!" remarked the doctor. "How do you stay so healthy? You look like a 60-year-old."

"Well, my wife and I made a pact when we got married that whenever she got mad she would go into the kitchen and cool off and I would go outside for a walk to settle down." the man explained.

"What does that have to do with it?" asked the doctor.

"I've pretty much lived an outdoor life."

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"Wheresoever you go, go with all your heart."
Confucius

Again, last entry for a week or so, please check back regularly and all the best to everyone.

In the meantime - keep researching your creative retirement job. (Go to URL)

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February 12, 2007 - Retirement thoughts - the weather and baby boomers - Christmas golf

Wow! From palm tress and balmy breezes to 6 foot snow drifts and 20 below temperatures - just like life - one day it's all sunshine, the next you're dumped on - but after you get over climate shock and stop the bitching, you realize - (A)you made the trip from south the north safely, and (B) be it sunshine or snow, it's great to be alive.

While we wait for the medics decision as to whether we have to stay in the snow or return to the palm trees, it's time to press on, so lets start with - an Email from Enid Edwards from Port Stanley, Ontario. - who I don't know personally, but who was kind enough to take the time to send a message from the Self Help Journal on the Home website.

Enid offers an extremely worthwhile idea to help build a more positive attitude -

"In a bedtime journal, I like to write down 5 things from the day for which I am very grateful. It could be as simple as being able to read or to have spent time with my grandchildren or being grateful for my good health.

List what pleases you, and you WILL get more of it."

I know from personal experience that the battle against negativity takes patience, discipline and repetition - Enid's suggestion offers one more opportunity to practice all three - patience to clear the mind and focus - discipline to complete the assignment every night - repetition of the task builds confidence as these positive impressions become the primary thoughts of your sub conscious

There's no magic wand when it comes to developing self confidence and a positive attitude towards life - it's takes hard work and huge amounts of determination - the same goes for building your creative retirement job - there's no quick fixes, but for the determined there's treasure to found - mentally and financially.

Will you look back on life and say, "I wish I had," or "I'm glad I did"? - Zig Ziglar:

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Here's one sight an air traveler does not want to see--

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Interested stat - The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that by 2030 when the Baby Boomers are in full retirement almost 20% of the population will be over age 65.

Everybody is talking about the crazy weather around the world - record temperature highs and lows - record snowfalls and droughts - record numbers of tornados and hurricanes - and guess what - a British study is blaming it all on - are you ready? - baby boomers.

Yup, according to the Brits, the over-50s are one of the worst age groups for contributing to carbon emissions‚ plus, according to this study by the internationally recognized Stockholm Environment Institute‚ based at York University, many in this age group display a worrying lack of understanding over the critical state of the global environment.

The researchers say many of the over-50s believe global warming will not affect them during their lifetimes.

One of the authours of the study, Dr Harry Haq says "They may have heard a lot about global warming‚ but they do not realize it will impact on them‚ and is already impacting on them."

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Thanks to retired buddy Bernice Dini for this one -

Four old retired guys were playing their weekly game of golf, and one remarked how nice it would be to wake up on Christmas morning, roll out of bed and without an argument, go directly to the golf course, meet his buddies and play a round.

His buddies all chimed in and said, "Let's do it! We'll make it a priority; figure out a way and meet here early, Christmas morning."

Months later, that special morning arrives, and there they are on the golf course.
The first guy says, "Boy this game cost me a fortune! I bought my wife such a diamond ring that she can't take her eyes off it."

The second guy says, "I spent a ton too. My wife is at home planning the cruise I gave her. She was up to her eyeballs in brochures."

The third guy says "Well my wife is at home admiring her new car, reading the manual.

They all turned to the last guy in the group who is staring at them like they have lost their minds.

"I can't believe you all went to such expense for this golf game.
I slapped my wife on the butt and said, 'Well babe, Merry Christmas! It's a great morning for sex or golf, and she said, "You'll need a sweater..."

Now let's take a video tour on how you can build your creative retirement job - (Go to URL)

To reference this entry please copy the url in this link: (Permalink)

February 14, 2007 - Saddle your own horse - retirement quotes - senior golf

This is the way to go - move to the light while involved in one of your favourite earthly pastimes - example - Connie Reeves died after she fell off her favorite horse, Dr Pepper, just before her 102nd birthday.

Connie was inducted into the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame at age 95
During her induction ceremony, Reeves jumped up on the stage and said, "Just do one thing: Always saddle your own horse."

The majority in attendance took this advise literally, as any good horseperson would - you always saddle your own horse or at least check your saddle before mounting - but Elaine Agather, a 50-year-old banking executive and currently CEO of the JPMorgan Private Bank South, took it another way - "I thought that's it - It's that ability to take care of yourself."

With that, Agather come up with some tips to help her employees advance their careers and I have taken a few that can be applied to those of us in our retirement years - especially those working a creative retirement job via the internet.:

• Always saddle your own horse - in other words, don't wait around for someone to tell you what to do next.
  From Wikipedia - Ralph Waldo Emerson, in his essay, self reliance, published in 1841, writes - "Trust yourself, for God will not have his work made manifest by "cowards".
  Immediately afterwards, he asserts that everyone had the innate tendency to express independent, genuine verdict when young. But, when young men become adults, Emerson argues, they will become "clapped into jail by his consciousness." - Saddle your own horse.

• Like what you do - not what you like. - Agather says - "Deal with the cards you're dealt - those who excel figure out how to like what they're doing and make the most of it - some fight it from day one, and it becomes a real problem."

• Turn on a dime. - "Embrace new ideas particularly when you don't like them. How you respond to change matters most"

• Get over it - "You see people trip up so many times because they dwell on what happened yesterday - "Get over it - very simple stuff," she said.

• Develop your funny bone - Always maintain a sense of humour - As Hugh Sidey once said - "A sense of humour is needed armor - Joy in one's heart and some laughter on one's lips is a sign that the person deep down has a pretty good grasp of life"

Always saddle your own horse.

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Quotes worth repeating:

• Dr. Julie Walton, a professor at Calvin College has devoted her career to senior issues and in a recent article she is quoted as saying - "Seniors have so much collective wisdom and ability that they should and can give back to society.
  We need them to mentor, to lead, to teach, to give to the generations behind them before they leave.
  They need to be robust."

• "Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life's coming attractions,"- Albert Einstein

• "Live your life and forget your age." - Norman Vincent Peale

• One of the advantages of aging is losing obsession about work and being able to spend some more time with your family. Clint Eastwood

• "Retire in time to experience some more of what life has to offer, take time to smell the flowers, and endure a hobby or three, including cookery." T. Kinnes

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This has been circulating for some time but worth another look.

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I've reported on this before, but the audio book deal at Cracker Barrel has to be one of the most innovative, in-house, traffic building efforts ever devised.

When your driving long distances in the States, the best way to make the miles fly by is to stop at a Cracker Barrel restaurant and pick up an audio book - wide selection - best selling novels - great motivational titles - you pay 33.72 for the book.

When you're finished with the book, stop at another Cracker Barrel, pick up another or return the original - they will credit you 29.20 - total coast - 4.52.

Many of my snowbird friends favour Cracker Barrel not just for the book deal - the food is plentiful and appetizing and all for a reasonable price - try their chicken pot pie on Wednesdays - and no, I'm not commercially affiliated - wish I had shares though..

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Retirement news picture of the week -

Thanks to retired buddy Jim Hill for this one -

One day, two retired buddies, Jim and Bob are out golfing.
Jim slices his ball deep into a wooded ravine.
He grabs his 8-iron and proceeds down the embankment into the ravine in search of his ball.

The brush is quite thick, but Jim searches diligently and suddenly he spots something shiny.
As he gets closer, he realizes that the shiny object is in fact an 8-iron in the hands of a skeleton lying near an old golf ball.

Jim calls out to his golfing partner in excitement, "Hey Bob, come here, I got trouble down here."

Bob comes running over to the edge of the ravine and calls out, "What's the matter Jim?"

Jim shouts back in a nervous voice, "Throw me my 7-iron... You can't get out of here with an 8-iron!"

Now, let's continue researching our creative retirement job - (Go to URL)

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February 16, 2007 - Retirement News Web Wanderings

Sitting in the Doctors waiting room, I was the only one not sneezing, wheezing and coughing.
I was surrounded by a group of people who reminded me of battle weary troops except these folks carried a box of Kleenex instead of a gun.

I was the only "older person" in attendance, perhaps proof that our province's free flu vaccine for seniors is working.

To pass the time, I played Doctor - how many had the flu and how many just had a cold?
I could play the game because several days earlier, Audrey started feeling lousy - sniffles and coughing - and so - I Googled - and came across this site with a symptom chart that tells you whether you have a cold or the flu - both respiratory illnesses, but caused by different types of viruses.

My waiting room score was 3 colds - two flu's - didn't wait around to find out if I should rethink the medical school option.

By the way, this site also has for American visitors, data on the Flu situation for your area - just type in you zip code - my US address shows "high" - above the national average - check out the cold-flu symptom chart

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You are never too old to get in on the joys of working the internet whether you have your own website or take advantage of the various video communities - example - I've spent a lot of time with this senior, known only as "Geriatric1927" - which, if that's his birth year makes him one year older than me.

He's working YouTube and he's a delight - there's a number of clips but start here- this was his first shot at it.

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I enjoyed this site visit dealing with the world's water supply.
NASA hosts this website that has news, fun facts, photo gallery and a great deal more.

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This comment will not please many of my American friends - According to the Canadian Press, the Ontario Pharmacists' Association CEO Marc Kealey, said the U.S. bill that would legalize bulk imports of Canadian prescription drugs should be nixed because it poses a health threat to Canadians and a security risk to Americans.

Kealey also warned that the legislation - designed to make cheaper drugs more accessible to Americans - could also affect Canada's domestic drug supply and drive up the cost of prescription medication for Canadians.
However, officials from Health Canada and Ontario's Health Ministry said the situation in the U.S. is being monitored, and there is no immediate threat to Canada's drug supply - Here's the full story.

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A short video commercial - Golf can be a very violent game.

They were a problem back then - angry parents at a kid's sporting event.
I'm going back four decades here - but when I took my son to his hockey games, there was always a nutter screaming and yelling at the referee or worse, his kid's coach - have to admit that I offered up some comments in my time, but I stayed in my seat - check out this news report about a Dad at his son's wrestling match.

One more "Angry" video - but this time understandable - a professor and the cell phone.

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The British Secret Service agency, MI5, has a new exhibition called 'The Science of Spying' at the British Science Museum. The exhibition offers children and adults the chance to try out for themselves some of the activities that make up modern day spying - . visitors get to role-play as a trainee spy, using the latest technologies and going on a 'secret undercover mission',

Would make a reliable spy? - test your memory and surveillance skills.

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Retirement Humor:

Nearly every year of their 35 years of marriage, Ed, who was now retired, would forgot his wedding anniversary.

But this year his wife had enough - she was really ticked off.
She told him "Tomorrow morning, I expect to find a gift in the driveway that goes from 0 to 200 in less then 6 seconds AND IT HAD BETTER BE THERE!!"

The next morning Ed got up early and left the house.
When his wife woke up. She looked out the window and sure enough there was a box gift-wrapped in the middle of the driveway.

Confused, the wife put on her robe and ran out to the driveway, brought the box back in the house.

She opened it and found a brand new bathroom scale.

Ed has been missing since Monday.

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Many ordinary folks have found a creative retirement job via the internet - like me, many knew little to nothing about how and where to start until we found SBI - Take a minute to view some videos - (Go to URL)

To reference this entry please copy the url in this link: (Permalink)

February 19, 2007 - Retiree's motels - be careful what you ask for

At dinner last night, I was given a warning - when you book a weekend reservation at a motel - be sure to ask - " is their any sports clubs booked at your motel for this weekend?" - doesn't matter if they're adult or kid organizations - one is just as bad as the other - however, a kid's club can possibly be double trouble - the parents like to party the night before the game - then the kids raise hell while the parents work on their hangovers the next day.

This warning to seniors was the result of this story -

An assembly of 9 and 10 year old hockey players, with the obvious approval of their hung over parents, used the hallway of the motel as their personal playground, screaming, yelling and firing a rubber ball back and forth with curved hockey sticks - a senior emerging from his room to ask for quiet was nearly dropped with the slap shot from about 10 feet away - the rubber ball missing the old fella's noggin by mere inches.

As he retreated back into this room, to call for management assistance, there was a moment of silence quickly followed by gales of laughter.
Minutes later, a member of the housekeeping staff asked the little charmers to pack up and return to their rooms - no sooner was that request made when one of the parents appeared and asked what was going on.

When told of the noise, and the near miss, his answer - "Ah tell it to the media." - Yup, this in front of the kids - and you wonder why.

Anyway, this led me to an idea - why don't the motel chains have - 55+ motels - it's the future.

We all know the stats - the population 65 and older will grow faster than the total population - other business are looking for ways to capture the booming senior market.

Just this weekend, ABC news carried a report on how a big German grocery chain is designing stores especially for seniors - you have to sit through a quick commercial before viewing the report.

I would think that a 55 plus only motel chain would be a winner.

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It's just not us old(er) types who could use a nap once in a while - it could be a heart-healthy thing for the youngsters as well.

A study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine tracked 23,681 men and women for six years.
Those who napped at least 30 minutes three times a week had a 37% lower risk of dying from heart problems.

one thing should be mentioned here - the study was conducted in Greece and those folks, with their Mediterranean sunshine culture have been enjoying a midday nap for generations.

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My thanks to daughter-in-law Julie for the following video from a German reality TV show.

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Thanks to retired buddy Jim Hill for sending this to Retirement News - something for all men, retired or otherwise to think about - the ladies, young and old(er) will no doubt appreciate the following -

A man was sick and tired of going to work every day while his wife stayed home. He wanted her to see what he went through so he prayed:

"Dear Lord,
I go to work every day and put in 8 hours while my wife merely stays at home.
I want her to know what I go through, so please allow her body to switch with mine for a day.
Amen."

God, in his infinite wisdom, granted the man's wish.
The next morning, sure enough, the man awoke as a woman.

He arose, cooked breakfast for his mate, awakened the kids, Set out their school clothes, fed them breakfast, packed their lunches, drove them to school, came home and picked up the dry cleaning, took it to the cleaners and stopped at the bank to make a deposit, went grocery shopping, then drove home to put away the groceries, paid the bills and balanced the checkbook. He cleaned the cat's litter box and bathed the dog.
Then it was already 1 P.M. and he hurried to make the beds, do the laundry, vacuum, dust, and sweep and mop the kitchen floor.

Ran to the school to pick up the kids and got into an argument with them on the way home.
Set out milk and cookies and got the kids organized to do their homework, Then set up the ironing board and watched TV while he did the ironing.

At 4:30 he began peeling potatoes and washing vegetables for salad, breaded the pork chops and snapped fresh beans for supper.

After supper, he cleaned the kitchen, ran the dishwasher, folded laundry, bathed the kids, and put them to bed.
At 9 P.M. he was exhausted and, though his daily chores weren't finished, he went to bed.
Here he was expected to make love, which he managed to get through without complaint.

The next morning, he awoke and immediately knelt by the bed and said -

"Lord, I was so wrong to envy my wife's being able to stay home all day. Please, oh please, let us trade back."
Amen"

The Lord, in his infinite wisdom, replied,

"My son, I feel you have learned your lesson and I will be happy to change things back to the way they were.

You'll just have to wait nine months, though. You got pregnant last night."

Now let's research our creative retirement job - maybe even watch some video - (Go to URL)

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February 21, 2007 - The Secret is not that Secret - Get that Retirement home based business going

Now that Oprah has joined the club there's a great deal of hoo-ha about - The Secret

I first hear about this when months ago, Larry King had a group of motivational Gurus talking about this media phenomenon and I mentioned in an earlier Retirement News entry - I don't think The Secret - is so Secret.

For the uninitiated, all this hoopla started when a woman by the name of Rhonda Byrne released a DVD and a book called "The Secret" which to me, offers nothing I didn't find out for myself during my "black Cloud days" of years ago. - but better if you find out for yourself.

Mz, Byrne has come up with what I would call - a "Da Vinci Code" type of presentation, or - "Dale Carnegie meets Obi-Wan "Ben" Kenobi and learns how to use the force."

Add to the mix such action words as "manifesting" and "Law of Attraction" plus clips of experts and researchers, and you have a sure fire hit and, as a result of outstanding promotion, topped with Oprah, Mz. Byrne is making a bundle.

Most of the material is not a secret - never has been - and I don't know if I can fall in with their theory of me being a powerful transmission tower sending out "wealth frequencies" with my thoughts and pulling back the universe's wealth frequencies - whatever the hell that means.

Now having said all that - The Secret is not a bad thing - anybody who can get people to concentrate on being positive is a positive.

The fact is, as mentioned in the DVD, "attitude of gratitude," keeps us thinking positively - what we think - we bring about.

However, they make it sound so easy.
Most people are looking for the quick fix - the magic wand - the easy way - there is no easy way - it takes a great deal of hard work and dedication to develop a positive life.

In the beginning it's an every-waking-moment exercise.
I soon realized that make any headway, you must organize first - develop a battle plan - I took a "shock and awe" approach. - that has an arsenal of many different weapons to help me fight the negativity enemy.

Follow through with The Secret if you want to, but just remember, no matter who you listen to - it's ain't easy - but it's sure worth it - no matter how old you are.

"I am what I choose to be."

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Interesting U.S. stats:

• Entrepreneur magazine estimates that $427 billion is generated each year by home-based businesses - larger than General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler combined.
• According to National Center for Policy Analysis - Today, women run 70% of home-based business - about 17 million.
• About 70% of home-based businesses will last over a three-year period, compared to 29% of other business ventures, according to the Home-Based Business Institute.
• According to IDC, a top national research firm, 51% of home office users are college graduates with incomes more than $40,000.
• The number of U.S. households that have a home-based business currently exceeds 12 percent. - Office of Advocacy, Small Business Administration.
• According to IDC, there are between 34.3 million and 36.6 million home office households in the United States alone.

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Every creative retirement job has its own set of unique challenges.

B. Bradtke, proves that you can run an online business even in a remote location - how about the Australian Outback where Internet access is less than ideal.

Mz. Bradtke, is the owner of two SBI! Sites and her retirement job allows her to fuel her passion for travel, without jeopardizing ownership of the home she loves in the Outback.

Read her story - it may inspire you to look into retirement job opportunities.

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Two elderly gentlemen from a retirement centre were sitting on a bench under a tree when one turns to the other and says:
"Slim, I'm 83 years old now and I'm just full of aches and pains. I know you're about my age. How do you feel?"

Slim says, "I feel just like a newborn baby."
"Really!? Like a newborn baby!?"

"Yep. No hair, no teeth, and I think I just wet my pants."

Now let's take a video tour - (Go to URL)

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February 23, 2007 - Eating an elephant during retirement - WW11 story and DeNiro

As stated elsewhere, I found that retirement -- full retirement, anyway -- is highly overrated.

A part time creative retirement job has allowed me to make a positive change in my retirement, a change that keeps me mentally active and committed to something, that to me at least, is meaningful and fulfilling - as Malcolm Forbes once said -

"The biggest mistake people make in life is
not making a living at doing what they most enjoy."

The same is true during one's retirement years - you must have some challenge that pops you out of bed every morning - the extra income is a bonus.

I mention this because a new study finds one in four baby boomers probably won't have the financial resources to retire on time, and likely will have to work at least two extra years - A retirement job via the internet, started during their working years, would be a big step in overcoming that handicap.

Many of the people who Email this site claim the very idea of venturing into something they know little or nothing about is overwhelming - there's an old truism - "How do you eat an elephant? - one bite at a time."

That's how it worked for me and thousands of others - your first step is to commit the time to research - It's really not as scary as you might think - on the contrary, it can be fun and retirement liberating.

Why? Why Not? Why Not You? Why Not Now?
Aslan

One more on this and then I'll move on - Jim and Fiona started with a rental site in Tuscany - after that one clicked big time - they atarted building new sites and branching out into other areas of interest - Here's their story.

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My thanks to retired buddy Jim Hill for this true story -

Charlie Brown was a B-17 Flying Fortress pilot with the 379th Bomber Group at Kimbolton , England . His B-17 was called 'Ye Old Pub' and was in a terrible state, having been hit by flak and fighters. The compass was damaged and they were flying deeper over enemy territory instead of heading home to Kimbolton.

After flying over an enemy airfield, a pilot named Franz Steigler was ordered to take off and shoot down the B-17.

When he got near the B-17, he could not believe his eyes. In his words, he 'had never seen a plane in such a bad state'.
The tail and rear section was severely damaged, and the tail gunner wounded.
The top gunner was all over the top of the fuselage.
The nose was smashed and there were holes everywhere.

Despite having ammunition, Franz flew to the side of the B-17 and looked at Charlie Brown, the pilot who was obviously scared and struggling to control his damaged and blood-stained plane.

Aware that they had no idea where they were going, Franz waved at Charlie to turn 180 degrees.
Franz escorted and guided the stricken plane to and slightly over the North Sea towards England .
He then saluted Charlie Brown and turned away, back to Europe

When Franz landed he told the c/o that the plane had been shot down over the sea, and never told the truth to anybody.
Charlie Brown and the remains of his crew told all at their briefing, but were ordered never to talk about it.

More than 40 years later, Charlie Brown wanted to find the Luftwaffe pilot who saved the crew and after years of research, Franz was found.
He had never talked about the incident, not even at post-war reunions.

They met in the USA at a 379th Bomber Group reunion, together with 25 people who are alive now - all because Franz never fired his guns that day.

It turns out Charlie Brown lived in Seattle and Franz Steigler had moved to Vancouver , BC after the war - they had lived less than 200 miles apart for the past 50 years.

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One of my favourite actors appeared on Saturday Night Live - Robert DeNiro - and he kept a straight face during this bit

My thanks to daughter-in-law July for warning us GOTY's (getting older thinking younger) about the e-mail virus that even the most advanced programs from Norton or McAfee cannot take care of this one.

It appears to affect those who were born prior to 1965.

Symptoms:

• Causes you to send the same e-mail twice.
• Causes you to send a blank e-mail!
• Causes you to send e-mail to the wrong person.
• Causes you to send it back to the person who sent it to you.
• Causes you to forget to attach the attachment.
• Causes you to hit "SEND" before you've finished
• Causes you to hit "DELETE" instead of "SEND." - I just hate that!
• Causes you to hit "SEND" when you should "DELETE."

IT'S CALLED THE "C-NILE VIRUS."

Now, as mentioned above, lets start with retirement job research - (Go to URL)

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February 26, 2007 - Retirement News Oscar notes - Let's Boogie and Men Stats

I've been a movie addict ever since my older brother took me, at the age of six, to the Uptown theatre in Toronto to see Cecil B DeMille's - The Crusades -the highest grossing film of 1935 - the Titanic movie of it's time.

So, I was sitting comfortably in my recliner last night with plenty of popcorn and coke (as in soft drink) watching the Oscar's - a few notes:

First surprise - Jack Nicholson's bald head - First thought he may have been inspired by Britney Spears - found out later he's making a Rob Reiner film with Morgan Freeman - "The Bucket List" - a buddy comedy/drama about two terminally ill men who flee a cancer ward to complete a list of things they want to do before they die. It is scheduled for release in November.

Second surprise, but one I was hoping for - Alan Arkin winning best supporting actor over front runner Eddie Murphy for his role as the grumpy granddad in Little Miss Sunshine.

Third surprise and disappointing - hardly a ripple of applause for Glen Ford when his picture came up during the memoriam for those who died this past year - interviewed him once - nice guy - born in Sainte-Christine, Quebec, the son of a Canadian railroad executive who later moved his family to Santa Monica - passed away at the age of 90 - made 109 movies, the last was a TV flick, Final Verdict in 91.

No surprise but most worthy - best actress - Helen Mirren for "The Queen" - no contest here - and Mirren ended her thank you speech with -
"For 50 years and more, Elizabeth Windsor has maintained her dignity, her sense of duty and her hairstyle.
She's had her feet planted firmly on the ground, her hat on her head, her handbag on her arm and she's weathered many many storms. ... If it wasn't for her, I most certainly wouldn't be here. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the queen."

For those of you who have just returned from a year at the north pole, click here for Mirren clip on how she prepared for the role.

Thankfully, after being ignored by Oscar even after directing such classics as "Raging Bull" and "Goodfellas," Martin Scorsese finally won best director for "The Departed" which also won best picture - no wonder Scorsese asked - "Could you double-check the envelope?"

The TV overnight ratings are not out yet as of this writing - will be interesting to see if the slide continues. In 1998, when Titanic was a box office blockbuster earning more than 601 million US - the Oscar audience was 55.2 million - when Chicago won after earning about 171 million US - the Oscar audience was down to 33 million - last year when Crash won best picture after earning a paltry 56 million - the audience was 38.6 million.

Another interesting bit - Over the past several years the networks tried to increase the numbers in the 18 to 49 demographic so they tried to lure in the young with hosts like Chris Rock and Jon Stewart - didn't work.

Also, 60% of the Oscar audience is made up of women - older women - so that may explain their choice of 49 year old Ellen DeGeneres, who after Oprah, hosts the most popular syndicated show in daytime TV.

Did it work? We'll know later today, but don't count on it - what Oscar needs is another Blockbuster.

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One more personal note concerning my teen age years - I used to think I was king of dance floor Saturday nights at Balmy Beach Canoe Club - Jitterbugging was my specialty - I could move like I knew what I was doing, flipping my partner over my shoulder and pulling her through my legs, but even on my best day, there's no way in hell I could match these two - then and certainly not now
My thanks to retired buddy Bill Ozard for sending this.

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Over the weekend, Canada's National Post newspaper ran a series articles about the changing roles of Canadian males - might be the same in your country.

Some interesting Stats -

• 82 - the current life expectancy for Canadian men.
• 6.4 - number of years that men's life expectancy increased between 1979 and 2004
• 4.8 - number of years that women are expected to live than their male counterparts.
• 37,000 - number of Canadian men who die annually from cardiovascular disease.
• 66% of Canadian men enjoy fishing.
• 90% of Canadian men played hockey at one time or another.
• 299% increase in the number of men playing golf in Canada between 1981 and 2006.
• 64% of men who wish they was more romance in their lives.
• 30.6 - average age of men marrying for the first time.
• 34.8% of men complained about discrimination at work.
• 33.3% of women complained of discrimination at work.41,000 - number of Canadian stay-at-home dads in 1971
• 77,000 - number of Canadian stay-at-home dads in 1997

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Retirement Humour - thanks to retired buddy Carol Raycraft for the following -

IF MY BODY WERE A CAR...

If my body were a car, this is the time I would be thinking about trading it in for a newer model.

I've got bumps and dents and scratches in my finish and my paint job is getting a little dull ... But that's not the worst of it.

My headlights are out of focus and it's especially hard to see things up close.

My traction is not as graceful as it once was. I slip and slide and skid and bump into things even in the best of weather.
My whitewalls are stained with varicose veins.>br>It takes me hours to reach my maximum speed. My fuel rate burns inefficiently.
But here's the worst of it --

Almost every time I sneeze, cough or sputter. .either my radiator leaks or my exhaust backfires!

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"Will you look back on life and say,
"I wish I had," or "I'm glad I did"?
Zig Ziglar:

For all those stay-at-home dads and moms and those of you near retirement or already in the club - build yourself a creative retirement job - start your research here - (Go to URL)

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February 28, 2007 - Retirement News Updates - Presidential video - Home Doc

A couple of retirement news follow-ups to lead off.

#1 - Concerning the 79th Annual Academy Awards TV ratings - Last Sundays show averaged 40.2 million viewers and 14.1 rating/33 share in the adults 18-49 demographic according to Nielsen Media Research.

Although still on the low end of recent Oscar ratings, viewership was up 1.3 million from last year's show -- the second-lowest-rated ever -- and up in adults 18-49 and adults 18-34, the highest ratings in the latter category in five years.

As noted previously - "60% of the Oscar audience is made up of women - older women - so that may explain their choice of 49 year old Ellen DeGeneres, who after Oprah, hosts the most popular syndicated show in daytime TV. Did it work?" - I have no idea, the only Nielson info I could find dealt j ustwith the usual 18 to 49 demographic.

#2 - Concerning my comments about the Secret not being so secretI'm not alone - Senior Newsweek Editor Jerry Adler labels the Rhonda Byrne's new self-help book, "The Secret" - a publishing phenomenon - as " "breathless pizzazz and a market-proven gimmick."

Adler agrees that the book and DVD doesn't contain any secret.
Adler writes -
""That should be self-evident to anyone who has ever been in an airport bookstore. The film and book are built around 24 'teachers,' mostly motivational speakers and writers (dressed up by Byrne with titles like 'philosopher' or 'visionary') who have been selling the same message for years."

As I noted in the Secret Blog entry, I found that directing your life to a more positive path takes a great deal of work.

In this Newsweek article, Harvard psychologist Carol Kauffman, commenting on The Secret's so called "Law of Attraction" that suggests you create your own reality through your thoughts, notes,
"Basically, it's chaos theory. I don't think you can actually attract things to you.
But if you're profoundly open to opportunity, then when ambiguous events occur, you notice them.
I think what positive thinking does is raise your consciousness to possibilities so they can snag your attention. We're starting to see some empirical studies on that now."

Finally, Adler, in his article nails it -
"In most people's lives, positive thought leads to success only through the transforming medium of action..
For obvious reasons, this is a much less popular message."

Again, it takes work - constant repetition, visualization and dedication - but well worth the effort - remember, it's never too late to change attitudes - age doesn't enter into the it.

If you would like to read Jerry Adler's Newsweek article - Click here

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From the Retirement News video library - I don't know if you caught this awhile back - it's a great political humour bit - here's a video replay of President George Bush and impersonator Steve Bridges at the annual White House Correspondents Association dinner.

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During my growing up years of long, long ago, few people said - "Are you sure the door is locked? - we knew the first names of all our neighbours - Mom was there when we came home from school - if the girl was pregnant, you got married - if we felt sick, we called the Doctor and he drove over and checked us over in our own bedrooms.

Yes, that was long, long time ago and all the above has changed - but in my home province of Ontario there's a little bright light of hope concerning Doctor home visits to Seniors.

I noticed the following headline in Globe and Mail the other day - Old-school doctors bring the house call back into Ontario's health system

Dr. Mark Nowaczynski, a general practitioner in Toronto, has made house calls his specialty.

From the G&M article - Dr. Nowaczynski has spent nearly a decade crusading to bring house calls back into mainstream family medicine. Now, his dream may come true.

Three years after vowing to reform the way health care was delivered to seniors, the Ontario Ministry of Health says that, as early as this spring, it will introduce new rules that will allow doctors to bill for more house calls.

The new plan would remove the barriers that have kept doctors from making a decent living at house calls. According to ministry spokesperson A.G. Klei, the new alternative funding plan for seniors "will enable elderly patients to receive care in the location of their choice - their own home, long-term care home or other facility."

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