Thursday, June 7, 2012

retirement - this retirement thing is not easy

Whoever thought this retirement thing would cause such angst. Figuring what to do with unspent time is hard work, practically a full time job. It has been nearly 5 years that I have been attempting to make my way, trying this and that and have yet to land on any one solution.

The years just click by and it could be more that 5 years by now, but who's counting. One year easily melts into the next.

Although I have given thought to paid employment, I have yet to make a decision as to what and where to bring this decision.  Work thinks for us and doesn't give much wiggle room. Ahhhh, the up side of work.  Starting to idealize the work thing again.

Guess I'll just keep on pondering what to do next and then take some time out for a small nap. Maybe in the following years, let's say two years, I'll have this problem worked out.


Thursday, April 5, 2012

Retirement-are-us disabilities- a laughing matter - or are they

He and she were interacting
He asked, 'did you have a good day, today?
She answered, 'I ate a hamburger and fries at Wendys.
What, says he?
Yes, says she I will have dessert.
Oh, says he, I only like grains and vegetables. Can I read you a poem I wrote?
She stares closer to his face now because she did not comprehend his statement.
He begins to read a poem and she begins to take a nap.
Both are now silent as he reads to himself and she naps off.

This type of conversation has its funny side. Neither of them quite gets what the other is saying, for he, you see, has dementia, does not get the information posed to him that quickly, and twists it when the data finally filters in. She is crystal clear in her thinking, soon to have her 98th birthday, and is super hard of hearing.

When listening to these folks who are near and dear to my heart, it both humors me and shocks me to imagine what comes next. I am grateful to have them both around, but the comes next part, I guess, I just don't want to face.

Maybe, I might just find some professional with whom to have a good emotional cleansing.

Monday, January 16, 2012

Retirement-are-us technology

                                       Highly technological or hardly technological

The printer read 'no ink installed' I looked and relooked and knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that there was an ink cartridge in the printer. I was smart enough to see that. My problem was that I had been able to print but could not copy. What to do, what to do. Using Einstein's adage, insanity is doing the same thing over again and expecting a different result, or some such variation of the saying, I repeated taking the ink cartridge out and reinstalling it a few times.

After the hard realization that this would not alter results, there was a move to Plan B, which entailed calling/emailing H-P expecting a few hour wait before getting answers.  The anticipated multi hour wait was not palatable so I considered what I felt was the path of least resistance -the purchase of another printer for it was clear that this could be a likely answer to my problem. The trip out to the printer store would consume less time than waiting for an answer by phone.

The solution walked into my house in the form of a youth, my son in fact. I made a quick list of topics to address with him- the printer held top spot.  He questioned me about the issue then began poking and probing. He tried the Einstein approach and soon the solution was at hand. A small tab attached to the ink cartridge had not been removed before it was installed. Huh! Who would have known.

Diane, a writer from the Hartford area, make the comment she did not want to learn certain technological applications and procedures. In some cases there is much to much to learn and far too many steps to take and an enormous amount of reading to get through to reach the approval process when setting up a new application. Skype was a case in point. To try to follow my own advice to other seniors,  I strained to read all the conditions, rules, disclaimers and the rest of a massive tome to get to the accept button. Blurry eyed I gave up on that one.  An attempt to sign up on-line for CVS extra care points also failed.

So much for advancements in the world of technology. Leave it to the youth.