Archive for the ‘boomers’ Category

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Shingles Vaccine Follow-up. Have You Gotten It?

Friday, August 20th, 2010

When I first posted the blog about the shingles vaccine, I have to admit I felt dumb that I hadn’t known about it. In the time since then, I realised that I’m not the only one who didn’t know about it, and only 10% of the eligible population (considered to be people over 60) has actually gotten the shot. Why? According to a really interesting article in the NY Times it’s expensive, and not necessarily covered by insurance. My own vaccine was $250, money that I think was well spent, and I don’t know whether the insurance covered any of it.  My personal experience with health insurance is that almost nothing is covered, and when it is, it’s an unexpected surprise. But that’s a whole other blog.  The people I know who have had shingles all say it was the most painful experience of their lives, and I’m sure would have all coughed up $250 or more to prevent it.

The other issue becomes more of a catch-22; because the vaccine is expensive, and people aren’t getting it, doctors aren’t stocking it, and they’re not recommending it because people don’t want to pay for it, etc… The average cost of treatment for shingles was $525  five years ago, and it takes about 5 weeks to recover from the virus. So wouldn’t you think insurance companies would rather pay the cost of the vaccine, rather than the cost of the treatment? Have you gotten the vaccine? Why or why not?

Don’t forget to check out this week’s Blogging Boomers Carnival.

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Posted in aging, boomers, health, health insurance | No Comments »

Is Being Alone a Thing of the Past?

Friday, August 6th, 2010

Do you worry about being alone when you get older? Pretty common worry, right? But maybe Baby Boomers don’t have so much to worry about. A month ago, I was at a lecture that Gary Vaynerchuk was giving. If you don’t know who he is, he’s turned his family’s liquor store into a multi-million dollar business, using social media. He’s also a crazy, young, guy, with unlimited energy, and he makes a great speaker. One of his many great ideas was that he’s not worried about getting older alone, because he’s so connected with social media. Interesting idea, right?

Aren’t your parents connected in some way with other people, on the Internet? Whether it’s just e-mail, or they exchange photos online, or keep a Facebook page, our parents are out there to some degree. The iPad has become a huge hit with seniors worldwide, and the oldest Twitter user just died at 104.  And Boomers are online and using social media even more. Whether you’re addicted to Facebook, or just don’t get it, you’re probably online a lot more than your parents. You may not consider them all your BFF’s but think about how many people you connect with through LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, even YouTube.  And who knows what the Twitter of the next ten or twenty years will be?

So for us, maybe the issue will be how we find time to be alone, in a connected world. What do you think?

For other connected Boomers, please check out this week’s Blogging Boomers Carnival. Interesting posts on social media, and living longer, check it out!

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Posted in Technology, aging, boomers, parents, seniors | 1 Comment »

Stubborn. How Many Baby Boomers Are Dealing With This?

Friday, July 30th, 2010

A good friend of mine, like a lot of other Boomers, has a lot on her plate. She’s caregiving for her husband and her mother, working, and a long-distance grandma to four grand-kids. Her mom is living alone, not far from my friend, increasingly fragile and needy. She thought she had things worked out; her mother would go to live with her sister in California. That is until it came time for her mother to go to California. Stubborn, and set in her ways, not to mention the home she’s lived in for years, she put her foot down and refused to budge.

It made me wonder, how you start to broach this conversation, and what the signs are that your loved ones shouldn’t be on their own any more. The fact that you can’t cope is certainly a strong signal, but there should be earlier warning signs, and there are.

According to my friends at SeniorHomes.com, there are five signs a loved one might need assisted care:

  1. Does your family member’s skin feel soft and have a normal color?
  2. Can your family member see clearly?
  3. Can your family member hear you?
  4. Is there food in the refrigerator?
  5. Are medications current and being taken regularly?

I know what you’re thinking…I can answer these questions but this is not giving me the tools I need to have this conversation. So here goes…AARP has a really good post on starting a conversation. Click here for the link. Jacqui at SeniorHomes.com also gave me these two links for assessing your loved ones needs, and their site has the full answers to the five questions.

“Talking To Your Loved Ones About Their Care” from the American Health Care Association
http://www.longtermcareliving.com/prep/conversation/

“Assessing The Need” from Comfort Keepers. This is a really good assessment guide.
http://www.comfortkeepers.com/sites/default/files/document/assessmentguide.pdf

Thanks to Jacqui and Chris at SeniorHomes.com for their help with this! And be sure to check out this week’s Blogging Boomers Carnival. There’s a great post from our hostess. Check it out and comment if you don’t think Boomers are “a bunch of big fat heavy drug users who never exercise and are bad with money”. Doesn’t sound like anyone I know, what about you?

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Posted in aging, boomers, caregiving, conversation | 3 Comments »

Lettuce Running Amok, Infidelity, THC, RV’s, It Must Be The Blogging Boomers Carnival!

Monday, July 26th, 2010

What do you think is the number one site used in divorce cases involving infidelity? What happens when lettuce runs amok? Where else could you find the answers to these and other burning issues for Boomers, but the Blogging Boomers Carnival? I’m hosting this week and invite you to check out and comment on:

  • Family law attorneys say the number one site most often used as evidence in divorce cases involving infidelity is Facebook. Read about it at LifeTwo.com.
  • Over at Contemporary Retirement, Ann reports on a new study that suggests that it’s friends, and not children or grandchildren, that could be the key to a happy retirement.
  • SoBabyBoomer tells us about two boomers, concerned with surviving their individual career challenges in a declining economy, visit the library to discuss how to proceed with their phased retirement.
  • As it turns out, the medicinal properties of THC found in cannabis or marijuana go far beyond soothing pain and nausea.  They may even cure cancer someday!  Learn more here.
  • A trip down Memory Lane with The Boomer Chronicles. My fab RV trip down South.
  • It used to be easy. Wear red shoes with a red purse. How things have changed! Get the scoop on the modern rules for co-ordinating your purse and shoes at Fabulous after 40.  
  • Vaboomer has a giant lettuce plant gone amok in her crazy garden.  Help!
  • Janet Wendy at Gen Plus has fallen in love all over again…with an Android.  The Droid X by Motorola, to be exact. 

    • And I’ve got another blog,the Accidental Locavore, check it out and see what I’m cooking and eating that’s local and fresh. This week’s farmbasket was loaded with tomatoes, corn, and lots of other goodies.

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    Posted in boomers, business, family, health, memories, people | 2 Comments »

    Hurricane Season and Your Records. Huh?

    Thursday, July 15th, 2010

    It’s hurricane season, and depending on where you live, it’s a cause for preparation, or just another couple of months on the calendar. Well, no matter where you live, hurricane season is a great reason to safeguard all your important papers (and if you have a business, do it for the business too). My friend, CPA, Linda Hamilton offers the following tips:

    Create a Backup Set of Records Electronically. Taxpayers should keep a set of backup records in a safe place. The backup should be stored away from the original set.

    • Keeping a backup set of records – including, for example, bank statements, tax returns, insurance policies, etc. – is easier now that many financial institutions provide statements and documents electronically, and much financial information is available on the Internet.
    • You might also want to add copies of your passport, drivers licence, even credit cards.
    • Even if the original records are provided only on paper, they can be scanned, which converts them to a digital format.
    • Once documents are in electronic form, taxpayers can download them to a backup storage device, like an external hard drive, thumb drive, or burn them onto a CD or DVD.
    • Taxpayers should consider online backup, which is the only way to ensure data is fully protected. With online backup, files are stored in another region of the country – so if a hurricane or other natural disaster occurs, documents remain safe (I use Carbonite).
    • Document Valuables. Another step a taxpayer can take to prepare for disaster is to photograph or videotape the contents of his or her home, especially items of higher value. A photographic record can help prove the market value of items for insurance and casualty loss claims. Photos and videos should be stored with a friend or family member who lives outside the area, or can also be stored online. Putting the videos on YouTube, is probably not a great idea…
    • Update Emergency Plans. Emergency plans should be reviewed annually. Personal and business situations change over time, as do preparedness needs.
    • Don’t put it off. The next rainy day, is a good day to do it.

    And don’t forget this week’s Blogging Boomers Carnival. Where else can you get info on everything from PSA tests to why you should be on LinkedIn?

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    Posted in aging, boomers, business, crisis, people, taxes | 1 Comment »

    Your Brain, Use it or Lose it?

    Friday, July 9th, 2010

    It’s probably the most important body part you have, but when was the last time you worked out your brain? And, no, trying to remember where the Weather Channel moved on your cable system, doesn’t count. If you’re like most of us Boomers, the thought of  losing your mind, could cause you to, well, lose it. We’re obsessed with crossword puzzles, Sudoku, and Scrabble, but I would guess that very few of us actually make time to work out our brains. Even if you believe that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, exercising your noggin can’t hurt. The most important thing is to get started, and keep at it. Sounds like exercising anything, doesn’t it? There are a lot of companies working in this space, as Baby Boomers age, the market is growing with them. I met some of the people behind Posit Science at a Boomer conference, and recently have been in touch with one of their Internet marketing analysts, Eric. He’s sent me a couple of the games to try out…pretty interesting, and a little scary. Check them out here: 

    How did you do? I’ll share if you do.

    If you want another way to work out your brain, check out this week’s Blogging Boomer’s Carnival!

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    Posted in Alzheimers, aging, boomers, dementia, exercise, people | 1 Comment »

    July 4th, What’s Better Than A Barbecue?

    Thursday, July 1st, 2010

    With all the talk about grilling up a storm this weekend, it got me to thinking, what’s your family’s July 4th tradition?

    What's on your barbecue?

    Is there something traditional you toss on the grill?

    Or something special you do to a burger?

    How about corn?

    Does your family have a ritual for July 4th?

    Pack a picnic and watch fireworks?

    Make ice cream? I just made an amazing chocolate ice cream. Easy, and if you comment, I’ll post the recipe.

    If we’re up in Maine with my parents, we usually down as many lobsters as we can, and if we can convince my mother to use (inferior New Jersey) blueberries, we can talk her into the famous raspberry-blueberry pie, but that’s about as big a tradition as we’ve got.

    Her neighbor Nancy has a big July 4th party, and my mother makes tomato aspic for that. If you don’t know what tomato aspic is, think of it as being like a large bloody Mary jello shooter. As much as I was never a big fan of anything jiggly, this is pretty refreshing on a hot day, and maybe my mom will comment and give us the recipe.

    Happy July 4th to all! What will you be tossing on the grill?

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    Posted in boomers, family, parents | 2 Comments »

    Family History. Is This a Harder Conversation Than the Money One?

    Friday, June 25th, 2010

    Why is it that most families are reluctant to discuss family health histories? A good friend of mine died last year from prostate cancer. He got it at a pretty early age, and at a pretty advanced stage. When he was finally diagnosed, it turns out that there was a long family history of the men in his family having and dying from prostate cancer, going back at least three generations. But nobody talked about it, and so my friend was never warned in time to start getting himself tested at an even earlier age.

    • Side note: there was a fascinating study recently about using dogs to detect prostate cancer. Turns out there’s something in the urine, that trained dogs can smell. So if a dog keeps sniffing around an embarrassing area, maybe it’s time for a check-up.

    In my own family, I bet there’s a history of depression, that no one has ever talked about. I’ve suffered from it, and think my father suffers from it. But we’re WASP’s so we don’t talk about it (until now). I know that my father’s mother had arthritis, and it looks like my mother has it in her hands. My doctor told me years ago that I had signs of early arthritis in my hands, but once again, no one talks about it.

    Recently, my husband was told he has a “tiny bit of diabetes” and he should watch his weight and diet. You’ve probably already figured out what comes next. Yes, he has a family history of diabetes, and he knows it, but the extent of his knowledge, unknown.

    So, how do we start this conversation?

    Don’t forget to check out this week’s Blogging Boomers Carnival, it’s the last one before the 4th of July!

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    Posted in Diabetes, aging, boomers, caregiving, family, health, men, parents, people | No Comments »

    Spirituality & Self-Improvement: Is This A Boomer Thing?

    Thursday, June 17th, 2010

    If it's so easy, why am I so overwhelmed?

    Have you ever read the Oprah Magazine? I subscribed a few months ago, mostly because it was $5 a year from Amazon. When I finally got around to reading the May issue, I was struck by the number of columns that dealt with spirituality, and self improvement. It made me wonder why women seem to need to improve their inner beings every 5 minutes or every other page. The other thing I started to think about was where men go to get in touch with their inner selves. You sure wouldn’t find an issue of Sports Illustrated giving tips on improving anything but your luck in the fantasy leagues. Maybe Men’s Health, (no, that’s all about performance)?

    • So do men get in touch with their inner beings?
    • Where do they go for inspiration?
    • Do you think they get it from watching their favorite team get trounced by their rivals?
    • Do women give it to them by osmosis?
    • What if they’re on their own?
    • Why do women seem to need it so much more then men?

    I posed the question to a few people, some men, some women. The most serene person I know reminded me that most of the top spiritual books are written by men (my theory: they know where the money is and that most self-help book are bought by women). She thinks that men read more of this than you might think, and most of the classes she’s been to have had just as many guys as women. Someone else told me that a lot of men aren’t spiritual until they go through a 12 step program. When I threw it up to my husband, he said that he always finds truth in music, and that he became self aware through therapy.

    • But how much self awareness is enough and when is it too much?
    • If you shirk from it does that make you less of a person?
    • What does it mean if you find it in every other page of a magazine?
    • If it’s so easy to put your life on the right track, why don’t we?

    Just this week, through books and magazines, I’ve been invited to “wake up to reality” by asking four questions, to make my life a success by following The Success Principals, to reject self-loathing and treat myself with the “kindness and respect you would show your best friend”, to make the right thing the easy thing to do, etc. etc, and it’s only Monday! What do you think?

    Don’t forget this week Blogging Boomers Carnival. There are some great posts, including donating your body to science.

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    Posted in boomers, goals, men, people | 10 Comments »

    Have You Ever Heard of a Credit From Goodwill? Read On.

    Friday, June 11th, 2010

    My former business partner, Leslie and I have an ongoing challenge as to who has the cheapest mother. Over the years the title has  bounced back and forth. There was the time several years ago when the Sunday NY Times ran an article about our former business, Project Solvers. I called my parents to see what they thought of the piece. My father sounded uncomfortable and mumbled something about talking to my mother.

    “What, don’t tell me you didn’t buy the Times today!”

    “Your mother will have to explain it to you…”

    When my mother got on the phone, she told me that she had asked one of their neighbors who subscribed to the Times to save it for her. In the meantime, she had gone down to the train station, and snuck a peek from a copy there.

    “Mom, it’s not like my last name is Bush, and I’m in every day. You should have told me and I would have sent you the $5.”

    That kept my mom on top of the competition for quite a while.

    More recently, in a cab going to dinner after my cousin’s graduation from Harvard (doctorate in Public Health, it never gets old!), my mother was telling us about a recent Goodwill purchase. “I talked your father into going to Goodwill because I had a $4.99 credit. I found a teakettle, and between the credit, the senior discount, and the Tuesday discount, I came out with a teakettle, and a credit for $.77!

    I think the same thought crossed the minds of everyone in the car at the same time…

    “Back up a minute. You had a $4.99 CREDIT at Goodwill? Aren’t you supposed to be giving them stuff?”

    “Well, I bought something and I didn’t like it, so I returned it.”

    Is there anyone who isn’t howling with laughter? We were!

    “You returned something to Goodwill????”

    “Of course, I bought a pair of jeans for $4.99, I took them home, and they didn’t fit so I returned them.”

    More laughter!

    Anyone got a story that could top that?

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    Posted in boomers, business, family, seniors | 2 Comments »

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