April 2, 2008 - Senior Driver - The Doc and the Chief - CVS - Senior Questions
Right off the top - this is clever stuff - my thanks to retired buddy Jim Hill for sending in this video - The Senior Driver
Doctor appointments make it necessary for us to drive north early this year - and the CIC has given strict orders to clean up my office - a room in our home she hides from the rest of world by making sure the door to this closet-size area is always closed. When people ask what's in there - she simply says - "secrets" and hustles them to another part of the house.
I never realize how much stuff I've collected until clean-up time - tangles of computer wires, stacks of software CD's, newspapers and books collected at local flea markets, and notebooks filled with notations of unusual items I thought might be an idea starter for some future article or even a creative internet retirement job
Examples:
When a reread this one I immediately started to wipe down my computer desk - According to Dr.Charles Gerba, the typical office desk has 400 times the bacteria of the typical toilet.
According to Careerbuilder.com - 52% of working Moms would take a pay cut to spend more time with the kids.
45% of fathers would take a pay cut to spend more time with the kids, Only 16% would accept a cut of 5 % or more.
According to the National Retail Federation, the average amount spent on a Father's day gift is $88.80. The average amount spent on a Mother's day gift is $122.16.
According to Home Energy Magazine - a 27 inch television cost $8.50 a year in energy even when it's turned off.
From the dailcat.com - If left to breed at will, one female cat and her offspring can produce 420,00 kittens in seven years.
Underage drinkers, alcoholics and alcohol abusers consume as much as 48.8% of the value of all alcohol sold in the US.
According to news.nationalgeographic.com - 63% of Americans aged 18 to 24 can't find Iraq on a map. 50% can't find New York State.
This from ag.arizona.edu - The bacteria levels in accountants' offices are almost seven times higher than those in lawyers' offices.
From health Day - Boys who are depressed at 8 are 20% more likely to smokers by 18.
From USA today - 60% of men believe it's better to be married than go through life single - only 51% of women agreed.
One more, then I've got to start cleaning up - One quart of motor oil can pollute 250,000 gallons of water.
Another item that caught my eye during the clean-up operation - It's an article in the St. Pete's Times by Dr. Lodovico Balducci, a professor of oncology and medicine at the University of South Florida College of Medicine
You may want to pass this on to the family.
The headline - A doctor learns to be a healer by letting an old chief die on his terms, his mission completed.
Dr. Balducci tells how he was treating a chief of a tribe of American Indians who was dying from prostate cancer - his time, limited .
The chief told Dr. Balducci his final goal in life was to conclude the history of his tribe, which had never been written before and which would have been all but forgotten after his death.
The Doctor asked him how much time did he need. - "At least 6 months."
"Without chemo you have approximately 9 months to live; with chemo you may add 6 months to your life, but you probably won't feel like pursuing this endeavor: I suggest you forgo the chemo and focus on your history!"
The chief died the day after mailing the corrected galleys of his book back to the publisher.
Dr. Balducci writes - " The old Indian chief taught me that death is not always a defeat. He conquered death by co-opting it in his own life. He looked at his approaching death as a working deadline. Death became an opportunity to define himself as unique through the history of his tribe that he alone was able to write.
The old Indian chief also taught me the meaning of death with dignity.
This expression is frequently misused. Dignity is intended to be synonymous with comfort, as freedom from pain, bed sores and indwelling catheters. In some cases it is a code word for invoking euthanasia that is still socially unacceptable.
Dignity is the opportunity to be oneself. Underlying the idea of dignity is the assumption that each and every one has a unique mission, a unique vocation only that person can carry out. Pain, bedsores and indwelling catheters compromise one's dignity only when they impede one's mission.
The preservation and restoration of quality of life has gained widespread acceptance as a main goal of medical interventions in recent years. The FDA has approved a number of drugs that improve patients' quality of life without prolonging survival.
For an old physician like myself this trend could not have been more welcome.
I remember well the old days when patients screamed all the way to death because we were unable and unwilling to relieve their discomfort. Yet even quality of life cannot be considered an end by itself if it is divorced from accomplishing one's mission.
If we equate quality of life with comfort, we would pity Teresa of Calcutta for her poor quality of life, and yet I know of no other person with such a sense of mission and achievement in modern times.
The chief indicated the need to go beyond quality of life, to the meaning of life
And he clarified for me my role as a healer. When I have the privilege to be trusted with a person's life, I now try to understand that person's goals in life.
I consider it my sacred duty to use my knowledge and expertise to enable that person to fulfill his or her personal mission.
This partnership is essential to answer one of the most vexing questions of medicine: When should a person be allowed to die?
That time arrives when the medical conditions prevent that person from pursuing his or her personal mission. When that time is recognized and accepted, death has lost.
After having been a physician for 30 years, I had finally become a healer thanks to the old Indian chief."
You may want to pass this article on the kids - I have.
More Canadian type humour - again, from the CBC - Retirement Planning
After a long day of video editing, I lowered myself into the old easy chair with a groan that sounded like gas escaping from a harpooned whale.
"I'm whipped." I whimpered to the CIC "It's CVS" she responds matter of factly - no trace of sympathy in her voice. "That is?" "Computer Vision Syndrome - It was in the Sunday paper - I was going to rip it out and leave it on your desk - changed my mind - you're too far gone - there's no cure for you computer addicts."
After retrieving the article from the paper recycle box I learned computer vision syndrome, is the result of spending prolonged periods looking at a computer - the result - eyestrain, neck and back pain and general fatigue.
"The No.1 reason for (this) syndrome is focusing on a single target and not leaving it," said Steve Hitzeman, Indiana University School of Optometry clinic director.
He recommends the following:
Look away from the screen for a minute or two several times per hour
Remember to blink- to avoid dry eyes
Position your monitor about 2 feet away from and 4 inches below your eyes, to ease neck strain.
Thanks to retired buddy Jim Hill for today's kicker - Answers to senior questions
Q: Where can men or women over the age of 60 find young, sexy members of the opposite sex who are sexually interested in them? A: Try a bookstore under fiction
Q: My wife is going through menopause. What can I do? A: Keep busy. If you're handy with tools, you can finish the basement. When you are done you will have a place to live.
Q: How can you increase the heart rate of your 60+ year old husband? A: Tell him you're pregnant.
Q: How can you avoid spotting a wrinkle every time you walk by a mirror? A: The next time you're in front of a mirror, take off your glasses.
Q: Why should 60+ year old people use valet parking? A: Valets don't forget where they park your car.
Q: Is it common for 60+ year olds to have problems with short term memory storage? A: Storing memory is not a problem, retrieving it is a problem.
Q: As people age, do they sleep more soundly? A: Yes, but usually in the afternoon.
Q: Where do 60+ year olds look for fashionable glasses? A: Their foreheads.
Q: What is the most common remark made by 60+ year olds when they enter antique stores? A: "I remember these."
Now let's get back to work on our creative retirement job research - start here - (Go to URL)
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April 17, 2008 - Google Bucks - Living a Dog's Life - An Amazing Man
It's been two weeks since my last entry - I've completely ignored not only this Blog but also the host website.
This new creative retirement job of mine - video production - has taken over my life - not that I've accomplished all that much other than learning how to use new editing and flash software and handle my new HD video camera - then there's project research of course - but I'm lovin' every minute of it.
Even so, the amazing thing about working the internet, is that even though I have neglected my Blog and website duties, the Goggle revenue keeps coming in and is even showing an 8% increase over the same period last month.
True, I'm not talking big bucks here, but what I'm banking is paying for all my new video toys plus the odd night at the poker room. However, I'm a peon when it comes to making Google money compared to Tim Carter who, according to an article in USA Today, banks about $1400 per day using Google Adsense and VIDEO.
Carter's notes - "People go online for one of two reasons: Either for pleasure (to play games, shop, learn, etc.) or to alleviate pain (pay a bill, research solutions, and so on.) Figure out how to give your knowledge away for free and become an expert; get people to trust your information and sell ads around that."
Carter solves problems by helping people learn about do-it-yourself home improvement solutions and Carter is now moving strongly into video solutions as he believes there is even more profit to be had through video.
The point I'm trying to make here is if he can do it, so can you - for a retiree, even 5% of his Google take would, perhaps, cover your car's gas bill - just.
Thanks to retired buddy Tom Adams for the following picture titled - Sometimes it just pays to be patient
As a follow-up to that picture, yesterday, we took our family cat to the vet for its annual check up - I copied the following from their newsletter - you dog owners might want to print and post.
Inner Strength...
If you can start the day without caffeine, If you can always be cheerful, ignoring aches and pains, If you can resist complaining and boring people with your troubles. If you can eat the same food every day and be grateful for it, If you can understand when your loved ones are too busy to give you any time, If you can take criticism and blame without resentment, If you can ignore a friend's limited education and never correct her/him, If you can resist treating a rich friend better than a poor friend, If you can conquer tension without medical help, If you can relax without liquor, If you can sleep without the aid of drugs,
Then you are probably the family dog.
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"Never underestimate the importance of having fun. I'm dying and I'm having fun. And I'm going to keep having fun every day because there's no other way to play it." Professor Randy Pausch
A follow-up to an earlier entry concerning the "Last Lecture" of Professor Randy Pausch - the most emotional and enlightening hour, fourty minutes I've ever spent watching a video.
This courageous man is still fighting the good fight since being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer during the summer of 2006 and given three to six months to live. Recently, Pausch qualified for a new treatment known as SIR-Spheres, in which tiny radioactive pellets are directly injected into his liver. Approved by the FDA in 2002, it's not generally considered a cure but it could extend his life.
Pausch concedes that his "shelf life" is limited. But, he says, "I don't want anyone to pity me or treat me like I'm already dead. I've still got gas in the tank."
Based on his Last Lecture, Pausch's new book is a huge best seller - a must read - also take time to visit his his day-to-day updates - opens new window - he realistically details his experience with cancer with amazing honesty, optimism and humour - take the time to learn from him.
"To be cliché, death is a part of life and it's going to happen to all of us. I have the blessing of getting a little bit of advance notice and I am able to optimize my use of time down the home stretch."
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Thanks to retired buddy Linda Ardoino for this bit of Girlie Talk
Women over 50 don't have babies because they would put them down and forget where they left them.
A friend of mine confused her Valium with her birth control pills... she has 14 kids but doesn't really care.
One of life's mysteries is how a 2-pound box of chocolates can make a woman gain 5 lbs.
My mind not only wanders, it sometimes leaves completely.
The nice part about living in a small town is that when you don't know what you are doing, someone else does.
The older you get, the tougher it is to lose weight because by then, your body and your fat are really good friends.
Just when I was getting used to yesterday, along came today.
Sometimes I think I understand everything, and then I regain consciousness.
I gave up jogging for my health when my thighs kept rubbing together and setting fire to my knickers.
Skinny people irritate me! Especially when they say things like...'You know sometimes I forget to eat!' ......Now I've forgotten my address, my mother's maiden name and my keys, but I have never forgotten to eat. You have to be a special kind of stupid to forget to eat!
The trouble with some women is that they get all excited about nothing and then they marry him.
I read this article that said the typical symptoms of stress are eating too much, impulse buying, and driving too fast. Are they kidding? That's my idea of a perfect day!
And finally, thanks to retired buddy Bernice Dini for sending in Girlie Talk - part two - Women's Ass Size Study
There is a new study just released by the American Psychiatric Association about women and how they feel about their asses. The results are pretty shocking:
15% of women surveyed feel their ass is too big.
10% of women surveyed feel their ass is too small.
The remaining 75% say they don't care; they love him; he's a good man and they would have married him anyway.
Now, let's get to work on bringing in some additional retirement income with some Google bucks - start your research here - (Go to URL)
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