"Turning SIXTY..."

1:02 PM, Monday, August 16, 1954...and now 1:02, Friday, August 1, 2014, and just fifteen days shy of turning SIXTY...

I'm contemplative to say the least...

About a month ago, I was thinking about the upcoming birthday, and I thought I've got to do so much more while I'm still in my fifty's...

Small steps...I'll put heels on, and polish my worn out (but comfortable) penny loafers, and I'll purchase some new shoes (on sale!) to replace (if I can find any as comfortable as the old ones) the other worn ones...I'll get new pillow cases to replace the worn ones in my "summer" (downstairs because heat rises!) bedroom...I need to "purge" files in my library desk...I'll organize my travel (mainly cruise!) files, and place them in new plastic cases in the garage...I'll replace my worn  "Daytimer" leather jacket...I'll step up my three times per week cardio from 30 minutes to 45, and my  three times per week swimming from 70 to 80 to 90, to 120 laps, as it is time to drop the  increased body weight (and I'm down 16 pounds in the first two weeks!), and drop that waist size from 40 to at least 38 inches (at age 36, I went from 48 to 29 inches!)...I'm going to treat my feet, gums, skin to regular conditioning...to be continued...

Larger steps...I'm not the only one aging, so realize that every day is a gift from God, so try to add to the quality of the lives of family members and friends...Where am I personally,  socially?  How am I impacting lives?  Where are my career strengths? My personal retirement account is just beginning to make the larger gains (and then the daily DOW drop was the largest today!), but how much will i really need and will it be enough?  What are my real "bucket list" travel goals?  How can I engage (instead of resisting) the daily changes in technology, and society?...to be continued...  

Stay tuned...as sixty is the new forty (and that was a great year!), and it's time to keep om keeping on!!!

"Handi-wipes..."

Tonight I called Mom to compliment her...

For as long as I can remember, Mom has expounded on the benefits of using Handi-Wipes!  She has always been concerned with cleanliness, and as Dad's Parkinson's has advanced it became harder for Mom to surround herself with a "sanitized" environment...and then she discovered them.

When I take Mom's trash out, when I sneeze, when I drop something on the floor, when my eyeglasses become spotted, when I shake hands...Mom hands me a Handi-Wipe...

I had noticed when I used them on the stains of my leather car interior, the leather finish seems to "chalk"..and yet they are made for cleaning baby's posteriors!

Tonight, after I took Mom's trash to the dumpster, and I wiped my hands with one, I tried to use one on the hard to remove brake dust on my tire rims, and the staining wiped right off!  When I returned home, I used the same one to wipe the here-to-fore bug "guber" stains off my garage door.  Then I wiped the same one on some mildew (that normally has to be pressure-cleaned off) on my vinyl porch furniture and it wiped clean too!

After I related these stories to  Mom, and thanked her, I told this story to a friend...He commented that it sounded like the use of Windex in the movie "My Big Fat Greek Wedding"!

And now...it's time to buy a LARGE box from COSTCO!

"Dad..."

April 1, 2014...thirteen years since Dad passed in the early morning hours...at age 73 (he would be an amazing 86 years "young" if he was still here)...after living with Parkinson's since his early forty's..

I reflect on his life every morning...

He had such a sense of humor, and such a great life attitude, such strength against adversity...handsome...a family man and true gentleman...

May my memories of him, "recharge" my energies as I continue to march through life...

"Escape Fire"...The Movie

Recently, as a gift to the ushers for a local performing arts stage company, we were given the opportunity to view a screening of "Escape Fire"...described as the fight to save American Health Care...

I highly suggest trying to see it for yourselves...

Escape fire..the phrase was coined for the process of saving oneself when the possibility of entrapment exists from an approaching wildfire...The movie begins by describing a Montana fire that was moving at 600 miles per hour...the fire fighters soon realized that they were unable to outrun it.  One took an individual approach...he lit a fire in a circle around himself, and invited the others to join him...they did not...he was the only one to survive (40% of the deaths from wildfires are caused by entrapment)...his fire burnt the fuel for the approaching fire, so it passed him.  

The movie points to a need for an escape fire alternative thought process for surviving with the current state of health "care" in America...it suggests that individuals must be proactive in doing this...

Some of the alarming statistics are (hopefully) correctly recalled from the movie...

1. Over $4.1 trillion was being spent in 2011 in the American health care system.

2. Over 75% of the chronic diseases that are treated are curable without their prescribed. medicines, but with "well care".

3. America is ranked #50 in life expectancy in the world.

4. Over 50% of the military deaths are caused by suicide with drug-induced depression.

5. The third cause of death in America behind cancer and heart disease is infection due to hospital staff infections.

6. Avandia was a drug that was the most profitable to hit the market, with quick FDA approval to treat diabetes. What was not being sheared was that it promoted heart disease that was already the major cause of diabetic deaths.

7. Pharmaceutical companies, equipment manufacturers, hospitals, ans insurance companies are realizing incredible profits from the promoted declining health of Americans.

8. We already spend more in America on pharmaceuticals than the rest of the world combined.

9. Only a small percentage of medical schools teach nutrition as part of their curriculum.

10. Doctors are not reimbursed for well-care.

11. A fee for service model of reimbursement promotes the prescription of more medical care.
12. The corporate-controlled food industry does not have our health through nutrition in mind.
13.Stress kills, and even in our schools opportunities for dealing with  it (exercise, the arts, socialization)  are disappearing...

Our realization of the problems, is the first step to dealing with them...let the positive alternatives flow... 

"I'm back...I HOPE!!!"

WOW...it's hard to believe that my last post was October 30, 2013, five months ago...

Now, it's time to get back on track...

Ash Wednesday, 2014...it was eight years ago that I spent the morning at Corcovado in Rio as the magnificent statue of Christ emerged into sight as the morning fog dissipated.  It  was the end of a fantastic "life experience" cruise from Buenos Aires, to Uruguay, thru southern Brazil, to ultimately dock for a few days of Rio's Carnivale!

BTW: if you haven't been following, the cruise industry has been offering fantastic cruise bargains lately...I've just booked three more...and I urge you to check into these offers...

As I recall such experiences, it's time to reflect on all of the blessings of my life...

My mother turned 82 this past January.  She still lives alone, is very independent, and is accepting her "simplified", extremely-organized routine...our family is so fortunate to have her, fourteen years after Dad's passing...

Life has gotten SO complicated, as technology advances at its accelerated, profit-driven pace...I, a strong-willed (astrological) "Leo" have realized today that my life was spiraling "out of control", and it's long overdue to "step back"...absorb the "signs" that  so-apparently can lead us back to what is important...

While I waited for four hours for the fourth day of attempts to repair a leaking 4-month old, 4,500 miles, tire, I had numerous chances to positively influence lives...motivated to spread the word after watching "Escape Fire", a Fledgling Films documentary on the current state of "health care" in America (more to come...highly recommended).

As TD Bank's commercial just played in the background..."It's time to be human again"...

The clocks will be changed this Saturday..."spring ahead"...