After 15+ years of being eligible for senior discounts, I still haven't gotten the hang of making the most of them. We recently stayed at a federal campground, and I realized that I still haven't applied for the Golden Pass (or whatever it's called) so we could save a bundle on the fee. For that one night, we would have saved $8. I've got to remember to look that up. One more thing on my to-do list.
I just got this link from a friend. 108 Stores with Senior Discounts (PDF, 141 KB) I wasn't aware of many of these perks. I only recently learned I could get a free drink with a dinner order at KFC. It was so funny. The cute teenager waiting on me was squirming, trying to ask me if I was old enough for the discount. I know darn well she had no doubt that I was, but she made such an effort not to insult me. I love seeing such thoughtfulness in a teen; I'm so often brushed off as too old to be worthy of attention.
I remember the first time I received a senior discount. I bought lunch in restaurant in Lakeport. After I got home, I realized my tab was less than it should have been. I looked at the receipt and saw that I'd been given a discount. It didn't say senior, but I couldn't deny what it was. Close to tears, I told Doyle that I thought I'd just been given my first senior discount. How dare that cashier assume I was past the age of 55 (or whatever their senior guideline was). I knew I didn't look that old. I was still teaching, so I was coloring my hair to keep from being invisible to my students. My face was downright youthful looking. Humph!
I've gotten over that. My gray hair, baggy eyes, and wrinkles, not to mention the damn old age spots, give me away every time. I've found that most clerks, however, don't offer the discount without being asked, so I've got to make myself ask for it. I need to notice which days stores give a special price to seniors. I've got to get in "old lady" mode when it comes to shopping. A saving's a saving, no matter how I can get it.
Every time I grumble about my disintegrating body, I need to think: SENIOR DISCOUNTS. "Shop 'til you drop" happens a lot quicker now; I have to make the best use of my time!
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Senior Perks
The other day I wrote an entry about the negative side of growing older. The Cyberspace Monster gobbled it up, probably for good reason. Nobody wants to listen to an old geezer grumble about aches and pains, particularly another old geezer.
Today I'm thinking of the perks of being older. Number one on my list is grandchildren. I have seven, and they're the best grandchildren in the world. Oh, I know other grandparents would argue with me on that point, but I'm allowed to ignore them. My kids are great, too. In a couple of weeks my baby will be forty, so with an eight year span between the three, I think I can claim to know a lot about raising kids. The reason you try to do your best to raise good kids, is so that maybe they'll present you with wonderful grandchildren. In our case, it worked. I'm sure being perfect parents had a lot to do with it. LOL Yeah, I know, you think I'm exaggerating, but who cares what you think?
I'm in a more positive mood today because I have Jessica and Daniel with me.. I get to see them more than the other five, because they live a lot closer. At 9 and 11, they still need babysitters when their parents go out, so we don't have a lot of trouble snagging them for a night now and then. They arrived about noon, bearing Subway sandwiches for their grandparents. Yum. Grandpa was more than glad to eat his for lunch, but since I'd just finished breakfast, I stashed mine away. Predictably, they also brought a package of mac and cheese for dinner. One thing I've learned about grandchildren, is that they're inseparatable from their mac and cheese. Tonight I gave Jessi her first chance to actually make their favorite entree. Grandpa dumped the cooked macaroni in the strainer, then back in the pan. Jessi squeezed the cheese out of the foil package, stirred, and, viola! Mac & cheese! Happy kids, messy kitchen, oh well! I feasted on my seafood Subway sandwich, and Jessi didn't notice that I didn't sample her cooking.
Later, the kids and I hot tubbed together. We had a deep, serious conversation - one of those that can only happen between kids & Grandma in the hot tub. The dishes were still in the sink when when we headed for bed, but, who cares? Our time together is a lot more important than dirty dishes.
Next day note: Grandpa did the dishes this morning before the rest of us rolled out of bed. That makes last night even better!
Today I'm thinking of the perks of being older. Number one on my list is grandchildren. I have seven, and they're the best grandchildren in the world. Oh, I know other grandparents would argue with me on that point, but I'm allowed to ignore them. My kids are great, too. In a couple of weeks my baby will be forty, so with an eight year span between the three, I think I can claim to know a lot about raising kids. The reason you try to do your best to raise good kids, is so that maybe they'll present you with wonderful grandchildren. In our case, it worked. I'm sure being perfect parents had a lot to do with it. LOL Yeah, I know, you think I'm exaggerating, but who cares what you think?
I'm in a more positive mood today because I have Jessica and Daniel with me.. I get to see them more than the other five, because they live a lot closer. At 9 and 11, they still need babysitters when their parents go out, so we don't have a lot of trouble snagging them for a night now and then. They arrived about noon, bearing Subway sandwiches for their grandparents. Yum. Grandpa was more than glad to eat his for lunch, but since I'd just finished breakfast, I stashed mine away. Predictably, they also brought a package of mac and cheese for dinner. One thing I've learned about grandchildren, is that they're inseparatable from their mac and cheese. Tonight I gave Jessi her first chance to actually make their favorite entree. Grandpa dumped the cooked macaroni in the strainer, then back in the pan. Jessi squeezed the cheese out of the foil package, stirred, and, viola! Mac & cheese! Happy kids, messy kitchen, oh well! I feasted on my seafood Subway sandwich, and Jessi didn't notice that I didn't sample her cooking.
Later, the kids and I hot tubbed together. We had a deep, serious conversation - one of those that can only happen between kids & Grandma in the hot tub. The dishes were still in the sink when when we headed for bed, but, who cares? Our time together is a lot more important than dirty dishes.
Next day note: Grandpa did the dishes this morning before the rest of us rolled out of bed. That makes last night even better!
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Growing older in Cyberspace
I remember the themes of my second and third posts, but not the exact words. Maybe that's a good thing. I know I blabbered on more than you would have liked. I'll just try to recapture some of the main points, and leave it to you to expand if you want.
I'll only try to tackle one of them now. Growing Old in Cyberspace ~ That was the title of one of my lost posts. It was more prophetic than I would have thought. Because of my foggy brain, many of my (Oh, so Brilliant) thoughts are gone in cyberspace. My premise was that most of my contemporaries and I are much behind the younger crowd in technology. My grandchildren were exposed to computers in the womb, and can suck up the rapid changes in technology like sponges. We seniors had to transition from the marvels of radio, television, hand-crank telephones, dial telephones, electric typewriters, and teletypes before we were exposed to computers.
I was lucky enough to get into the ground floor of computers, at least the third floor. My first computer was a Mac SE, a magical machine that didn't have a hard drive. I bought it with scholarship money my first year at CSU Chico, which was when I was 47 years old. I didn't buy the SE 20, which had 20 mgs of memory, because I didn't know what a hard drive was, and it cost a couple of hundred dollars more. The basic computer was, after all, over two thousand dollars. Add a $500 printer to that, and I shot my wad. The next fall, I used scholarship money to buy a $500 external hard drive which gave me 20 mgs of memory! This set-up got me through the next five years or so, until I'd saved some money from a few years of teaching.
I bought a new computer when the internet, with it's miraculous email, lured me into spending more money. Many of my contemporaries joined in at this point, having to learn computer basics along with the marvels of cyberspace. I was scrambling to keep up with the now-exploding world of the internet, and it's been a scramble ever since. There are some aspects of computer-speak I'll never understand, and many programs I've chosen not to learn. When I was teaching, I made much use of print programs, Microsoft Office and Filemaker. I've found since, however, that as I've upgraded computers, I've had to buy upgraded versions of programs. Filemaker zoomed out of my price range, and my most current version of office is 2003. That works on my new PC laptop with System 7, but on my 2009 Mac, I make do with the basic programs that came with it.
Somehow I got seduced into the world of facebook, along with many of my friends. We're all struggling with the fact that we barely master one part of it, only to have it changed. I feel a little smug when I hear my younger friends complaining about the same thing. Oh well, there are more of us learning together.
Many of my friends have chosen not to delve into computerland, so I find I have more trouble keeping in touch. I lovingly call them dinosaurs, one of whom is my husband who won't come within three feet of my computer. He has at least learned how handy computers are, and often asks me to look up something for him. He also doesn't grumble as much over the money I've spent on technology, which is a plus!
I'm still resisting buying a smartphone, since I rarely even turn my cell phone on. I'm thinking of getting us the simple models where you can buy minutes as you go. I know if I do that, however, I'll soon be lamenting that I can't take pictures or text (still learning how to do that) or play Words with Friends on my phone. I don't have data on my phone now, but I do have an iPod that came with my Mac. I can play games with my kids on that as long as I'm near a Wi-Fi. Oh, I forgot to mention how Wi-Fi has become a necessity in my home.
Will someone please place a moratorium on technology so I can catch my breath?
(Sorry, my recap is longer than my original post!)
I'll only try to tackle one of them now. Growing Old in Cyberspace ~ That was the title of one of my lost posts. It was more prophetic than I would have thought. Because of my foggy brain, many of my (Oh, so Brilliant) thoughts are gone in cyberspace. My premise was that most of my contemporaries and I are much behind the younger crowd in technology. My grandchildren were exposed to computers in the womb, and can suck up the rapid changes in technology like sponges. We seniors had to transition from the marvels of radio, television, hand-crank telephones, dial telephones, electric typewriters, and teletypes before we were exposed to computers.
I was lucky enough to get into the ground floor of computers, at least the third floor. My first computer was a Mac SE, a magical machine that didn't have a hard drive. I bought it with scholarship money my first year at CSU Chico, which was when I was 47 years old. I didn't buy the SE 20, which had 20 mgs of memory, because I didn't know what a hard drive was, and it cost a couple of hundred dollars more. The basic computer was, after all, over two thousand dollars. Add a $500 printer to that, and I shot my wad. The next fall, I used scholarship money to buy a $500 external hard drive which gave me 20 mgs of memory! This set-up got me through the next five years or so, until I'd saved some money from a few years of teaching.
I bought a new computer when the internet, with it's miraculous email, lured me into spending more money. Many of my contemporaries joined in at this point, having to learn computer basics along with the marvels of cyberspace. I was scrambling to keep up with the now-exploding world of the internet, and it's been a scramble ever since. There are some aspects of computer-speak I'll never understand, and many programs I've chosen not to learn. When I was teaching, I made much use of print programs, Microsoft Office and Filemaker. I've found since, however, that as I've upgraded computers, I've had to buy upgraded versions of programs. Filemaker zoomed out of my price range, and my most current version of office is 2003. That works on my new PC laptop with System 7, but on my 2009 Mac, I make do with the basic programs that came with it.
Somehow I got seduced into the world of facebook, along with many of my friends. We're all struggling with the fact that we barely master one part of it, only to have it changed. I feel a little smug when I hear my younger friends complaining about the same thing. Oh well, there are more of us learning together.
Many of my friends have chosen not to delve into computerland, so I find I have more trouble keeping in touch. I lovingly call them dinosaurs, one of whom is my husband who won't come within three feet of my computer. He has at least learned how handy computers are, and often asks me to look up something for him. He also doesn't grumble as much over the money I've spent on technology, which is a plus!
I'm still resisting buying a smartphone, since I rarely even turn my cell phone on. I'm thinking of getting us the simple models where you can buy minutes as you go. I know if I do that, however, I'll soon be lamenting that I can't take pictures or text (still learning how to do that) or play Words with Friends on my phone. I don't have data on my phone now, but I do have an iPod that came with my Mac. I can play games with my kids on that as long as I'm near a Wi-Fi. Oh, I forgot to mention how Wi-Fi has become a necessity in my home.
Will someone please place a moratorium on technology so I can catch my breath?
(Sorry, my recap is longer than my original post!)
This is the real beginning of my blog - reposted
“Darling, I am growing old,
Silver threads among the gold,
Shine upon my brow today;
Life is fading fast away.”
Eben E. Rexford.
I guess this doesn’t totally apply to me, since my hair was never gold, but “brown” just doesn’t cut it. I could change it to “Darling, I am winding down; silver threads among the brown.” That would at least rhyme, but I don’t like it much, either. I’ll just borrow the “silver threads” part, and go from there.
I AM growing old; I’ll be celebrating my seventieth birthday next month. I kind of like that number. It validates my aging body, and it hints of the wisdom I hope I’ve gained over the years.
This blog will be devoted to my threads of thought on aging: pros and cons, acceptance and protest; an inside view of what is often referred to as “the downhill part of life.” It’s something my mind can’t ignore. As the saying goes, “sh . . happens,” but it doesn’t necessarily have to stink! I don’t want the rest of my life to be a process of fading. I want it to be a continuous flow, ebbing, but with periods of regrowth.
I invite comments on these threads. My mind needn’t wander on in isolation. Outside views can be interwoven with mine, whether they come from young or old. Let’s look at the later years of life together. Maybe I’m more focused on aging than I was at twenty-five, but I can’t let that focus dominate my thoughts. I need to be shaken up a bit, and I hope you’ll help me by offering your prospective.
Silver threads among the gold,
Shine upon my brow today;
Life is fading fast away.”
Eben E. Rexford.
I guess this doesn’t totally apply to me, since my hair was never gold, but “brown” just doesn’t cut it. I could change it to “Darling, I am winding down; silver threads among the brown.” That would at least rhyme, but I don’t like it much, either. I’ll just borrow the “silver threads” part, and go from there.
I AM growing old; I’ll be celebrating my seventieth birthday next month. I kind of like that number. It validates my aging body, and it hints of the wisdom I hope I’ve gained over the years.
This blog will be devoted to my threads of thought on aging: pros and cons, acceptance and protest; an inside view of what is often referred to as “the downhill part of life.” It’s something my mind can’t ignore. As the saying goes, “sh . . happens,” but it doesn’t necessarily have to stink! I don’t want the rest of my life to be a process of fading. I want it to be a continuous flow, ebbing, but with periods of regrowth.
I invite comments on these threads. My mind needn’t wander on in isolation. Outside views can be interwoven with mine, whether they come from young or old. Let’s look at the later years of life together. Maybe I’m more focused on aging than I was at twenty-five, but I can’t let that focus dominate my thoughts. I need to be shaken up a bit, and I hope you’ll help me by offering your prospective.
I can't believe what I did!
At least my template and format are intact. My followers (all three) remain. I have the first post saved on my computer. I'll try again, but not now. I need another cup of coffee. Maybe coffee on steroids. EEEEEeeeeeeeeeeek. This is not a sign of old age. It's a sign of stupidity. That, I can work on. The journey continues~
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