Retire In Style Blog Too

Just because! Pushes I love my fun websites better than the average bear. BUT it seems that I have managed to sign up with a website (Polyvore) that sends me text messages DAY AND NIGHT . It is driving my nuts. I can not find a place to unsubscribe although I will continue looking. Did I mention that it is driving me nuts and I hate being "pushed" around. In case you don't know what a push is: push:   In client/server applications , to send data to a client without the client requesting it.... Increasingly, companies are using the Internet to deliver information push-style. Probably the oldest and most widely used push technology is e-mail . This is a push technology because you receive mail whether you ask for it or not -- that is, the sender pushes the message to the receiver. (from Webopedia )  This annoying practice is being used more and more. Suggested Reading Many of the women that I follow write for Huffington Post. It drives me nuts that Huff Post recommends su...

English: Audi A8 at Snetterton (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Let's just dream about the future for a minute. Because our population is aging faster than the speed of light, it would be so nice if technology and transportation would hurry up and set us free. One of the worst nightmares that any aging person has is the loss of their driver's license wouldn't you say? Imagine being trapped in a house that works for you but is not near those things you need to survive...food, clothings, medical care or even just a drive in the country. My daughter was talking about a totally autonomous car the other day..."I can hardly wait!" she said hopefully. She commutes a long distance everyday and could use at least part of that time to do phone calls (although that be illegal in some states). And you think she can hardly wait! What about my husband and I. Wouldn't that be the most wonderful thing in the world? We are 73 and 77 years old. Safety is a great concern for us and we...

I really don't see my city very clearly on a day spent out and about if I am alone. I am lost in my own thoughts. Visitors to the city view things that I see as perfectly normal in a different light. Take, for example, the fact that young people dress up in costumes, get on our mass transit and go to Pioneer Courthouse Square as someone else. I see it as perfectly normal but if you are from another part the country or the world, you may see it as beyond weird. This last week we had visitors from out of town and we took the Max Line downtown to see Saturday Market and shop at Nordstroms. Pioneer Courthouse Square was our stop on the Max Line so we waited for the next train there. An event sponsored by some big athletic company was being set up. Just at the edge of the stairs two young girls dressed as English school girls with faces painted white as though they were about to appear in a Johnny Depp movie were waiting for the action to begin. My visiting friend turned to me and asked...

When I was young I thought a party was about great food and drinks. I thought the decorations needed to be perfect and everyone catered to at every turn. It turns out I was so very wrong. A great party is about people that are willing to laugh and make their own fun. My husband and I hosted a party for over 100 people this last week. We invited anyone that was willing to make the effort to go to our parks activity office and pick up a ticket up. All we asked was that they bring a donation for a local food bank. Interestingly, enough people did not come early because they didn't think there would be that much demand and missed the chance to attend. The Birthday Boy Husband, friend, daughter and me We hired a wonderful band that played 60's music and we bought sheet cakes that could be cut into very small pieces. We bought a keg of beer and cups.  I decorated the tables with minimal funds and then we waited to see what would happen. It is amazing what can go right and what can go...

Twitter (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) I was blown away when I read an article posted in the NYT's this weekend called Older Job Seekers Find Ways to Avoid Age Bias . The Times writer wrote about people approaching retirement that were still seeking supplemental income. We all know the trouble that age group has finding fulfilling work. It seems that those very workers cannot find employment in part because they are perceived as "technophobic". Yikes! This is what the article said that caught my interest: A lack of technology aptitude is a common worry. “People over 60 are often perceived as technophobes,” said Nancy Collamer, a career coach and author of “Second-Act Careers: 50+ Ways to Profit From Your Passions During Semi-Retirement.” To overcome age bias, demonstrate comfort with technology and social media, Ms. Collamer said. “Include your LinkedIn URL on your résumé, or mention an interesting article you found on the employer’s Twitter feed during an interview.” I know...

Well, did you know that former pro football player Ickey Woods will celebrate almost anything?” Are you a lover of parties and people and celebrations? I am! I am like Icky Woods, the NFL football player they feature in the Geico ad. He is the one that loves to celebrate and will do a happy dance when his number comes up at the deli counter. I am like that. So we are going to celebrate my husband's 80th birthday next week...don't get me wrong...my husband ISN'T actually 80. I decided that some celebrations should not be delayed, not for any reason. So we are going to just do it...now. I have hired a wonderful band from here in Tucson and invited everyone in our park to attend. We will give them a little popcorn and a can of beer. We will dance until late at night or 9:30 p.m. whichever comes first .   ☺   We are going to do the happy dance just because we can. So Icky Woods wherever you are, my hat is off to you. Celebrate the small stuff...life is all about joy and a celeb...

2006 Oregon Ducks football team (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) We watched our Oregon Ducks go down to defeat last night. I don't care who you are in our state, that is a hard pill to swallow. Our college athletic teams are living breathing symbols of the state. All those true fans of the game lived and died with their team. We know all about our team jerseys and the Nike connection to Oregon. The fact that the TEAM does not plasters stars all over the helmets could be a way of telling the world that one man's success only contributes to the whole. The wing symbols on the helmets and shoulders of the uniforms are the eye candy that make the team look so elegant I think.  In many ways the state has Phil Knight to thank.  He is the benefactor that has brought so many wonderful changes to the University and all that it offers. The game reminded me how proud each of us are of our local culture. Oregonians are no different. Those of us that have lived their whole life in the state take ...

Do you watch Elementary? Does the American version of Sherlock Holmes hold any appeal for you? I am a great fan of this show. I love that it is smart and above all quotable. In the segment I watch this last week called The Eternity Injection , Holmes was in a big black funk. He is a recovering addict with 2 years of AA meetings under his belt and now he realizes that this is his life...for ever. Day after day, week after week he will be a recovering addict....no more, no less. I loved the line he used as he talked to Watson about his feelings: Now I think if I were to use drugs again, it would, in fact, be an anticlimax. It would be a surrender to the drip, drip, drip of existence. It is a very depressing thought isn't it...the drip, drip, drip of existence? I think that we have all faced that feeling at one time or another. It is the mundane act of living after we have reached our goal and must now live without that tantalizingly need to conquer what stands in our way. It has occu...

Kitty Bartholomew's Decorating Style:  A Hands-On Approach to Creating Affordable,  Beautiful, and Comfortable Rooms Back in 2013...July I think it was...I began to wonder about Kitty Bartholomew. You remember, she was the delightful lady that hosted a show on HGTV for many years. She showed us how to make what we have sing...there was no demands for granite or demolishing outdated kitchens. It was all about creativity, paint and comfort. That post was called Kitty Bartholomew Where Have You Gone?   If you do a Google search for Kitty Bartholomew you may see it down the page a couple of places. I ended with the words: Kitty Bartholomew wherever you are, thank you for making it okay to "live" in my little house with a cat that sheds and a husband that nests. Even today I receive comments on this article because, back in the day, HGTV resonated with a whole generation of women that loved to create. The industry of scrapbooking and craft supply stores sprang up around these ...

Wouldn't it be wonderful if I could amaze and delight you everytime I wrote a post? I mean the kind of stuff that makes you go WOW, she is really good! All I have to offer you today are some very good books I read in 2014 with just a short description of each. Take a quick peek at them and then tell me what you have been reading. This past summer I read Cleopatra: A Life  by Stacy Schiff. Cleopatra was such an elusive subject that Schiff had to depend on history written several hundred years after she had died. No painted image of her remains nor does any of her words. And yet the author managed to capture a queen that could have been alive during the time of Christ, the richest and most powerful ruler of her time even though she is hidden from view. Now I am in the process of reading No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II  by Doris Kearns Goodwin. This is no an ordinary book in anyway shape or form. Goodwin relates the story of the Ro...

Back in 2013 I wrote a blog post that posed the question "Is Cable TV Obsolete?" Now we see that that possibility may become a reality. So I have another question. When our cable and possible network TV goes under, where will all the movies and shows we watch now come from? I am beginning to think that, like nature, TV viewers do not like a vacuum and streaming TV companies like Netflix will rush in to fix that problem. Or it could be that cable companies will morph into a leaner and more functional business using computer streaming too. If not, will we be left with nothing? Well, maybe not...what about TV from the rest of the world? I love Amazon Prime and Netflix more that the average person. Google Play is also available but I haven't accessed that yet . Those computer streaming instant video options have opened a world to me that I had not seen before. I can watch BBC and foreign films that are wonderful. Who knew that the rest of the world might be far more talented ...

 (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) I have a cold. It is my first sick spell in years. I actually have forgotten how to be under the weather. My moaning skills and cranky side is so out of practice that I think my husband is wondering if I am really sick! He keeps asking me if he can get me something! WOW! There are lessons to be learned from a bout with a cold. If we don't learn something from every miserable situation we are missing an opportunity. Here is a little list I came up with as I was coughing my head off. I realized being sick is not good when you are out of practice. Here's we go: NEVER drink out of a friends martini glass...even that much alcohol does not kill germs. Wash you hands ten times more than you do...really. Avoid hugging everyone in the room. I know, that is hard but just kinda pat them on the arm. Get a grip on what is available in the way of meds. Really, that old stuff in the medicine cabinet is out of date and may even be dangerous. Take care of your spouse...

Photograph by Artistic Bliss Photography Hillsboro, Oregon I remember telling people 17 years ago that I was old and I had been around the block a lot of time. It gave me a sense of superiority over all those youngsters trying to tell me about stuff I knew and had forgotten 40 years before. That was back when I was very old and wise. Those were the days. But now I have come out on the other end of the tunnel of self-proclaimed aging and am now embracing just being me! You know the person that exercises to get over stiffness and even runs a little when I am walking. My new mantra is Do it now and get it over with! The truth is old is vastly over rated and the old age card has been played by people of adult status to the point that it has no meaning what-so-ever. My plan is to never ever, ever say it again. I am just tired to death of the conversation. I am done. I'm just saying. How about you? b+

I learned to watermark my photography in 2014...what now? WORD FOR 2015:  an·tic·i·pa·tion anˌtisəˈpāSH(ə)n/ noun the action of anticipating something; expectation or prediction. "her eyes sparkled  with anticipation " I know...you are making New Years Resolutions like mad! Good for you. I applaud your determination and resolve. Pardon me if I don't join the resolution movement for 2015! I like my life so much that I am not going to mess with anything. I'm not broken so I am not going to fix me! Still I am very excited about the New Year because I know all the possibilities that lay before me. New books, travel, the wonders of watching my family grow and the adventure of learning. I love that while I don't plan to change and am very satisfies with everything, life just happens to me. I could only wish the same for you. My word for 2015: Anticipation! What will we do or see or learn or influence? I am smiling now and you should be too. b+ Related articles New Year...