How many, how frequently, how numerous, how much, how often are the times when seniors deal with officials, professionals, clerks, representatives, assistants are we thrown into a state of total frustration and complete dissatisfaction?

How many calls have been made when attempting to identify an official with appropriate authority to identify some means for addressing an issue related to some business transaction, purchase, agreement or other arrangement caught up in a business deal in which the process went south, was clearly outside the boundaries of mutual understanding and contradictory to any expected outcome?

Several temptations are lately looming up offering beguiling opportunities for seniors, and particularly for me. Back in my early teens I owned a 1948 Willys Jeepster. It was yellow, a convertible, stick shift, with all the bells and whistles that made it an enviable and enjoyable toy. For some reason, now forgotten, I surrendered it and have regretted its loss ever since.

I am now in search of its replacement, an enjoyable undertaking that has sent me looking all over the country to try to find an identical replica. They are out there and the temptation runs stronger on some days than others.

For those 10,ooo persons who are retiring every day, what plans have been set in motion to occupy your time, captivate your interest, steal your enthusiasm, capitalize on your personality?

My wife’s sister was here for a brief visit over the weekend. Over a leisurely lunch, she shared her plans for imminent retirement. She will retire on December 31, which is also the occasion of my birthday. It pleases me that so many people find occasion to celebrate on my birthday.

She laid out some of her plans and expectations. She has been appropriately developing plans and giving thought to just how she will invest her passing of days and meeting desires in which she has long held

In this catastrophic financial storm through which so many are passing, one of the growth issues many are experiencing is seniors finding ways to help our children get through the morass.

Many talk of the younger generation, our kids, needing to pay our way when financial stress takes over. This reality is already real. Many are already having to intervene for them. The financial overload, brought on by joblessness, inability to get through the peril of being without sufficient resources, having to come back home to live is already on the heels of many.

It is a grueling time. It is a time of broken hearts and overwhelming sadness

When the final count is done and the declaration made, will it make any difference who becomes our president? With all the millions being poured into advertising to convince us of the worthiness of one or the other, will all the words, invectives, charges, counter charges and finger-pointing have made any difference at all?

What I’m hearing these days is that with things as bad as they are or seem, after the election, they will be worse, no matter who is elected. Now, isn’t that a sorry state of affairs? Isn’t it sad that our nation has sunk to such despair and disdain over our political condition, that there is decreasing optimism about the outcome of this election?

There is a commercial which depicts a guy loading a truck while in the process of moving. A neighbor shows up, the guy asks ” you wanna help?” The neighbor’s reply, “no, I’m good.” Not very good, if he can’t volunteer to do some heavy lifting.

We had dinner with friends a while back when the subject of our move was brought up. Without missing a beat, one of the guests said, “I’m great at packing. I’ll help.” And she has every day since beginning this arduous task. She and another friend have been here to do the necessary duty of helping us be ready for the movers.
Now that’s friendship! No one likes to move, it is an exhausting, seemingly never ending undertaking. No one likes to lift and wrap and pack and fit items in boxes until it is all done. But, some really do demonstrate a definition of friendship when they step up to the plate and are there for you and with you.

Identify Real Bargains vs Glitzy Eye Candy The Internet abounds with lists of deals to avoid, simply because they aren’t ‘deals’.  We senior citizens know what that means.  Someone or some ad suggests you will be getting a good deal or the deal of a lifetime.  Retailers provide only the information they think they need [...]