An Ode to Porches

More and more I am noticing new homes with lovely front porches, complete with wicker furniture, flowers, and antiques. They look lovely. The problem is, I never see anyone on them.
In the "old days" porches were really an important part of everyday life. Dad read the paper there. Mom mended things, or shelled peas, or read. (I know we don't actually do these things much anymore). However, the front porch of the past was the meeting place of the neighborhood, the news front, the political problem solver, the gossip area, the music fest.
Several of the men in our neighborhood would sit on the front porch in the evening and play guitars, or harmonicas. Imagine that!
Neighbors kept an eye on their kids and their neighbor's kids as they rode their bikes or played in the yards.
You were aware of what kind of birds were around your house, and if there was an owl in the area. We noticed the first night that the fireflies came out, and when the locusts started their calling.
Of course, I grant you, that this was before air conditioning, so, sitting on the porch waiting for a breeze was a better alternative than sweltering inside. And, folks didn't have the internet, TV, or video games.
The good thing was, that people got to know their neighbors, took time to visit, and, I somehow believe that sitting and swinging on the old swing was a better stress relief than watching the evening news.
So, here's to the old front porch. Hopefully, we can turn off the tube, or the computer once in awhile and sit out there. You'll be surprised what you can see and hear.



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Retirement?

The challenge of retirement is how to spend time without spending money.
- Author Unknown

Well, who would have thought that in only a few short years we would actually be thinking about retirement, or actually there already if you're lucky. Retirement was something that your parents did, and was wayyyyyyyyyyy down the road. Well, the road got shorter before we knew it, and now, especially in the current economy, a lot of us are scrambling to figure out if we can actually retire at all. We are seriously looking at our retirement accounts, pension plans, and Social Security facts, figuring up what we will actually need, and praying that we will win the lottery in the next couple of years.
First of all, I am not a qualified retirement analyst (disclaimer here), and I am muddling through this just like millions of others out there.
There are, I discovered, although it shouldn't surprise me, a lot of facets to the whole Social Security angle. Of course, we all know that if you take your SS early, at, say 62, you will get a lot less than you do at 66 or 67. There are two opinions on this- (of course), and what it seems to all boil down too, is a throw of the dice.
Any way you look at it, if you wait until 66 or 67 to retire, and live, say, twenty more years, you are going to collect more in the long run than if you retire at 62. Others have told me that they would rather get "something" now, than take the chance of dying earlier and not getting much of anything back. This is a grim prospect anyway you look at it.
Of course, sometimes we need to retire early, and there is no real choice, due to health problems, loss of job ect.
There are a lot of good websites discussing the pros and cons, complete with retirement calculators, estimated amount of funds needed after retirement, and future inflationary trends,-all of which will give you a massive headache, but are, unfortunately important.

Here are some sites that may be important in your future.

Social Security online
http://www.ssa.gov/

How Baby Boomers Will Change Retirement
http://seniorliving.about.com/od/retirement/a/newboomerretire.htm

Senior Citizens Resources- U.S. Gov.
http://www.usa.gov/Topics/Seniors.shtml

Retirement Headlines

Every Penny Counts

A few months ago, I was talking to a lady in my town, and as usual, the first topic was the economy, the price of gas, inflation ect. ect............She told me that she was actually paying less on her cable bill since she called and complained that it cost too much! I couldn't believe this, but, one morning, feeling a little braver than usual, I called my cable company and, feeling really stupid and a little rebellious, told them that I thought my monthly bill was too high. There was a short pause, and then the lady excused herself for what seemed like an hour. She finally returned, and told me that she would lower my monthly bill for one year by $20.00. Would that be ok? Yes!
Feeling empowered, I called my cell phone company, grilled them on their newest promos, and saved another $15.00.
By the end of my morning power trip, I had managed to save about $50.00 a month.
In all, this taught me a valuable lesson. It never hurts to ask, and if you don't ask, you'll never know what you can do. Companies will very seldom send you a note saying, "Excuse me, but I think you are paying us too much."
Here are a few of the areas I started out with, and I'm sure there are many more.

1. Do check with your telephone and cellular companies and see if they are running any specials. While you're at it, double check your current services to see if you are actually paying for things that you never really use.
2. Check out your cable or dish service and see what they can do for you. They might not be as obliging as mine, but it's worth a try. Also, they might be running really good rates for new customers, and it never hurts to point out that loyal older customers need breaks too!
3. It may not be a money-saver, but I like to pay my utilites on the budget plan. At least that way I'll know what to expect.
4. Check over your car and house insurance. I recently realized that we were paying collision on a car that has been in storage for fifteen years.
   
5. If you have a water softener and are paying rent each month, take a look at how much you have spent. It might be cheaper to buy it outright, and since it's used, they will cut you a good deal.

Get out and Move!

It's summer again, and there are more opportunities to get out and exercise. Bicycles come out of the garage, we get new walking shoes, we try to get rid of the winter bulges that we accumulate over the winter.
While studies have shown that we are undoubtedly the first and largest generation to take to exercise on a widespread basis, it is important to remember, and I'm sure that everyone is aware of this, that you go into it slowly. If you haven't run, or walked, or cycled, or swam for twenty years, don't try to do it all in one day. I speak from experience. Just because it wasn't a problem in your twenties, doesn't mean you can do it now!

There are four or five important exercises that most doctors will tell you are the most beneficial.
In the following article at http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,319246,00.html, these are the big five.

I. Stretching- Limbering up, and gradually, over a period of time, getting those muscles and joints and tendons to stretch and move again, is essential for all the rest of your activities.

2. Strength training- For a girl, I could always lift fairly heavy loads, (which in hindsight probably wasn't that great for my back), and I never thought that the day would come when I couldn't. However.........I have recently found out that lifting weights is not only good for strength, but my bad shoulder, my upper back, abdomen, and those "wings" that form under the arm. I also discovered that if you haven't done this for several years, you shouldn't pick up where you left off and start with the 25 pound weights!

3. Cardio- This, obviously, is to build your endurance and strengthen heart muscles. Again, build slowly. This doesn't mean running five miles your first time out. (Most of us would never make it anyway).

4 .Balance-This is really important as far as I am concerned. Falling is not a good idea at an y age, but as we get older, bones are much harder to mend.

5. Core- I don't like to think about my core. In fact, I only just learned what that meant from watching infomercials. Anyway, building the abdomen (part of core) is important for the strength of your back as well, and clothes fit way better.

As I get older, I find that I am thinking more and more about exercise in terms of the limbering up, rather than the vanity side. Of course, I do want to be able to get into last summer's clothes, but I find that a couple of miles on the bicycle everyday does wonders for my arthritic knees, and the weights do strengthen my bad shoulder.

We Might be the Last

This is Flag Day. One of those days that most of our parents never forgot. Mom always had the flag out bright and early. It wasn't a law or a hardship. It was something that you did because you honored your country, believed in it, and especially felt grateful to all those who had suffered and died in all the wars to keep the rest of us safe.

We just might be the last generation to remember patriotic holidays. We might just be the last generation to remember patriotic parades, old and young veterans, who dragged out their uniforms and marched proudly behind the flag down Main Street.

We might be the last generation to remember how every man removed his hat when the flag went by, and everyone else put their hand over their heart. How everyone tried to sing along to the National Anthem, and got all teary- eyed when the old vets saluted as they passed their flag.

We might be the last generation to remember that saying a prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag started out our day in school. We thanked our Creator and our country that we were Americans, and we didn't think there was a darned thing wrong with that!

We might be the last generation to attend Memorial Day ceremonies and cry when taps are played.

We've grown a little since those rebellious days of the 60's, (hopefully). We know that change is sometimes good and necessary, but we also remember our roots, and our past. We remember that a lot of good people died to make our country what it is today- a place that a lot of other nations emulate and a lot of people want to call their own.

So, maybe, we could pass on a little patriotism to the next generation. It's just a red, white, and blue piece of material, but there's so much history and faith and goodness behind it that kids today are missing. It's not a bad thing to love your country, honor your vets, and respect your flag. These things should never go out of style

America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.-Abraham Lincoln

You Might be a Boomer if.............

Your idea of a day out is three doctor's appointments
Your doctor looks like he just graduated from junior high
Your breakfast consists of more pills than cereal
Your knees go down, but not up
People in their 60's no longer seem like "old timers"
You find it hard to believe that a co-worker was actually born in the 80's
Teenagers ask you about the old days- (the 60's)
You don't recognize the rock stars you once idolized on TV because they are "SO OLD!"

You don't recognize the names of current rock stars or groups or movie stars
You remember life before cell phones and internet (and TV)
You know who the Cisco Kid and Sky King are
Items are showing up in antique stores that you still use around the house
Clerks ask you if you get the senior discount
Clerks call you dear or sweetie or other nauseating names reserved for the very old
You begin to seriously think about retirement
You begin to wonder if retirement is actually possible
You consider looking into becoming a greeter at a department store