Doing The Same Thing Over And Over - And Expecting A Different Result

Lucy pulls back the football, originally uploaded by niallkennedy.

Charles Schultz who created the Peanuts comic strip showed us lots of lessons, if only we could pay attention and learn. I think myself I am guilty of giving people another chance over and over. And over and over, I am disappointed by the exact same result.

I think that often we want to believe the best of people and are just unwilling to see that they will not change!

Something to think about from Keith & Martha!

Gazing At The Sunset? Maybe Not!

When I was looking (through a photo service I use) for a picture of an older couple, this was an interesting choice. Why?

Well, sometimes I think younger people see us oldsters as doing exactly that - sitting on a bench, looking at a sunset at the lake.

Wake Up America! Senior Citizens are having most of the problems you are having, particularly financial worries.

When you are younger, you think of being retired and doing interesting things, enjoying life and having no worries. In today's economy, that is just not happening!

What is happening is that the money set aside - hard-earned savings - have dwindled and IRAs and various portfolios are down to pitiful amounts. Company and Government pensions sometimes are indexed but not anything very helpful.

One thing I find really discouraging is broken promises. Let's call them that. I have a prescription that I have taken for a very long time. It is a generic drug and so under the supplemental insurance I have, suddenly, it is not generic and I am paying full price for it.

The amounts we pay for supplemental insurances are very high indeed and they increase every year.

We pay the same amount as younger people for everything including our groceries, pharmaceutical necessities, transportation, auto upkeep, lawn maintenance, cleaning supplies, etc.

In the years when we should be truly enjoying ourselves, we are working harder than ever to manage what we have.

In the years when we should have no worries at all, we have as many or more than we had when we were young.

When we were young, we always had the hope of pay raises and promotions.

One thing most people would not think about is the cost of being old. Hmm. Did you know that the rate for a month in an Alzheimer's unit or special care unit of a nursing home or healthcare center is $5,000?

What are things we can do, to help ourselves to a better retirement? First off, if you are still young, try, try to put aside money in very safe vessels like bonds and CDs. (That comes under the category of "I wish I'd listened to my Momma!")

As seniors, we have a strong organization fighting for the right of people over 50 - AARP. Make sure when you turn 50 that you join and keep up your membership over the years. AARP is definitely "Grey Power" at work.

Another thing to do is to go to www.whitehouse.gov and write a note to the President, telling him of the things that are causing you to worry during your so-called retirement!

www.aarp.com

www.whitehouse.gov

. . . The Poppies Grow . . .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjMzySWBxXg&feature=related

Recession or Depression?

Hey, you guys. Do you think times are tough now? Experts say this is a Recession. Do you know what a Depression is? Have you thought about what it would be like to live through one?

Unemployment today is around 8%, and might be headed for double digits. Unemployment then (1929 to 1940) topped 25% and there were homeless people everywhere. I know. I was there.

Before you get feeling sorry for me and my compadres who lived during those days with me, let me tell you something that may surprise you.

I was better off then than I am now. Of course, understand I was very young, not the responsible person and rather oblivious as to what was going on around me. Thanks to dedicated, loving parents, whose hard work, common sense and God-given good fortune kept them and their family above water during this tough time.

My Father, who drove a truck for an oil company, kept his job throughout the Depression.

My mother, who planted and harvested a huge garden, canning, preserving and giving away the surplus, knew all the tricks to save time, effort and money in cooking, sewing and running a house during hard times.

We lived next to a railroad, which mainly hauled coal and oil from the mines and wells in Southern Illinois to Chicago and from there to all points East and west.

Traveling on those trains as unpaid passengers were many jobless, homeless people, which some people called Hobos or Tramps.

About a mile North of our house was a dense wooded area I'll call Smith's Woods, named after the people who owned the land. Hobos camped out there, as it provided a semblance of shelter and gave them a place to gather, to talk about their problems and hopefully share some food.

My boyhood friends and I used to go to Smith's woods to visit the Hobos, and when we found out they were constantly cooking a big stew over a campfire, we started carrying carrots, potatoes, beans, corn and anything else we could scrounge to the woods to add to their stew.

In today's world, what we did would have been considered the most foolish and dangerous things a child could do. Maybe we were just lucky, but we found these people to be very kind, intelligent and friendly. They appreciated our gifts of food and constantly thanked us for our help.

Very often they would come into town and since our house was on the way, there were constant knocks on our back door from men offering to work for a meal. They helped spade our garden, mowed our yard and swept the driveway-----and my Mother never turned one away without giving him some food.

I'll tell you more about the Great Depression next time I blog. Thanks for reading.

Must Be Something We Don't Get . . . Keith speaks up!

Well, there must be something we don't quite get . . .

Grandchildren living with significant others, some with children - why is it so different today from two generations ago?

Could it possibly be that divorce became too easy? Is it because their parents are divorced? Are they afraid to commit? Does wealth mean more than a loving relationship?

Was it the feminist movement of the 60s when the Pill was created? Should we blame it on Burt Reynolds posing "in the all together" for a feminist magazine?

Could it be because their parents both work?

When we were kids coming home from school, our mothers were at home. At dinnertime we all sat around the table and ate, and discussed the events of the day. Today kids come home , grab something from the freezer, microwave it and eat it at the counter, then dash off to visit friends. They didn't even see their parents, so how can there be bonding?

I worked three jobs in high school just to pay for my first semester at Rose-Hulman. But my mother very rarely worked. Dad was a Mechanic - a fine one - at Marathon Oil in Robinson, Illinois.

Actually, my father, J.D., wanted me to be a Greyhound Bus driver. That would have been a good job! I would have had a uniform, a fine pension and I would have traveled . . . well, all the time!

My better half's mother was almost always at home. She didn't come home to an empty house very often.

Both of us rode bicycles to get around - use of the family car was a very special privilege, only granted when we had been good and they handed you the keys - plus a short lecture:

"Where are you going? Who will you be with? What time will you be home?"

What? Your kids have their own cars?

So, are cars to blame? Do we grant too much freedom without enough supervision? Have we gone too far to reverse our course? Can we bring back family values?

I guess I just don't get it!

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

You all know the Aretha Franklin song about RESPECT! We were happy to seen an article in the January issue of Lutheran Magazine by Jonathan Cordero and Don Waisanen.

When we were kids, grandparents were not doing all the work, all the gift-buying or all the entertaining. Exactly when did that start happening?

We see this happening all around us. Grown "children" calling with all kinds of problems to be solved by their parents. Adult children with children of their own and houses of their own expecting to be entertained and helped by the older generation. When did this start, exactly?

When I was a kid, we would drive out to West Toronto to bring the grandparents up to our house for Christmas dinner and gift opening. It wasn't all roses. One year my grandmother asked what I would like. As they were very fashionable at the time, I asked for a "robe necklace of beads". This was a fairly long necklace of colored beads and not too expensive.

When I opened the first box, there was a short necklace - not stylish at all and it was not going to be attractive on me. I smiled and thanked my grandparents.

In the next box, there was another necklace, just like the first, only a different color. I smiled and thanked my grandparents.

The third box I opened revealed the same item in a different color. Obviously, a pattern was forming and Mother told me she needed some help in the kitchen.

When we got there, she told me she knew this was not what I hoping for but to please act happy because Grandma had meant well when she bought them.

I happily opened five boxes containing five necklaces and no harm was done. Grandma never knew and my mother bought me a more suitable strand of beads after.

My point is that it did not kill us to be extra kind to grandparents.

I remember my grandfather as being rather stern - he had been a policeman, you see. Grandmother was a very gentle lady with wonderful knitting and crocheting skills which she was happy to pass on to me.

Where did we go wrong? What happened to a little respect - just because we are older now? It surely must be our turn to sit back and let the younger ones do for us.

Are You Ready For Halloween?

Hope you have an Ava at your Thanksgiving Table!

Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia - October 2007

Ninety Years - A Beautiful Landmark!

I have a wonderful mother-in-law from my first marriage who keeps me in her extended family up in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. This week she turned ninety! Now, she's the one on the right there, with the naturally black hair, and that's me on the left with the also naturally grey hair! This photo is from last year when we visited. Kay Webster still has her wonderful sense of humor and a great love for family. So, today, there was a wonderful party for her and over 40 people came to visit, some from British Columbia and some from Ontario. Happy, Happy Ninetieth, Mom!