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September 2024

August 2024

What Happened to Summer?

Summer ’24 is just about history.  Where did it go?  What did I do?

OK, I did go to a Yankees/Red Sox baseball game in New York City; I did visit my kids and grandchildren in Maryland, and I did spend two great days in Maine.

I no longer can do the 40-miles a day bike vacations of years past.  And my memories of summer camp are almost seven decades old.  Still, I hate to say good-bye to summer.

A September 2nd Labor Day should not be allowed.


Better Laundry

I have been writing this blog for almost seventeen years, and I believe the word “laundry” has never appeared.  Until now.

That is because The Wirecutter, a newspaper column that tests all kinds of products and recommends best choices by price categories, has a new podcast, the first episode of which is called “Better Laundry.”

Here is some helpful information from Episode 1:

  1. Spill red wine?  Soda water, the go-to fix is not the best.  Instead,
    “Better Laundry” recommends pouring white wine on the stain. 
  2. Buying a new washing machine? Front load is more efficient than top load.
  3. Fabric softener? Doesn’t really do much.
  4. Hot water is not better for stains.
  5. Liquid vs. powder detergent? Liquid is overall better, but for mud or clay, use powder.

Who knew?


Lost and Found

I hadn’t had my vision checked in way too long so that when I did, I was lucky that my prescription had only slightly changed.  Nevertheless, I was shocked at the cost of my new glasses. 

They came in a hard plastic case which my small purse didn’t accommodate.  Therefore, I transferred them to a cloth case when I got home and tucked them into my purse.  That was a Friday.  The next day, I shopped for (and bought) a gift at my favorite gift shop.

On Sunday, I realized that my new glasses, never worn, were missing.  The store, where I was sure they had fallen out of my purse when I paid for the gift was closed.  It would not open until Tuesday at noon.  When I called on Tuesday, they said no glasses were found, but they took my name and number in case they showed up.

This was not good.  I have never lost a pair of prescription glasses, but losing a pair never worn…

So, on Wednesday I stopped by the store to see if the owners may have missed them, peering under counters, etc.  No luck.

Since I had been nowhere else, I re-looked at home—under everything one could look under.  Again, no luck. 

I don’t know what made me peer into a decorative box on my dresser where I keep random necklaces and pins.  In it sat a cloth glasses case containing my never-worn glasses.

I worried about the absent-mindedness that made me put them there, but I got over that.

I blamed it on being 80-something.


The Power of Vulnerability

The other day, I was the 65,819,833 person to watch a Ted Talk from June 2010 about vulnerability.  The speaker, Brené Brown is a research professor at the University of Houston, and the author of best-selling books.  More important to me, she is a totally charming and engaging speaker with an important message.

And that message tells us that being vulnerable is a good thing.  It allows us to take chances like being the first to say “I love you.”  To feel vulnerable means you are alive.

Brown says it so much better than I can. 

Watch at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCvmsMzlF7o


Compassion and Choices

Long-time readers of the 80-something blog, will recall that my husband Peter voluntarily stopped eating and drinking in October, 2021 because his quality of life had deteriorated from Parkinson’s Disease to the point that he did not want to live.  Although I still miss him every day, we had 56 wonderful years together and I am forever grateful for that

But watching him suffer while starving himself to death were the worst eight days of my life.  And although how one chooses to deal with end-of-life issues is a personal decision, I believe that medical aid in dying should be an option for those who would choose it.

In ten states and the District of Columbia, medical aid in dying is available under very specific circumstances and with detailed safeguards.  Although additional states are considering this legislation, there is strong opposition by the Catholic church and the handicapped population.  I respect the wishes of those who oppose this option, but hope that they would not prevent those who choose to end their suffering in a peaceful way, surrounded by their loved ones, to do so.

You can learn more at https://compassionandchoices.org/


Life Happens While You Are Making Other Plans

About to start my stretching routine before breakfast the other day, I glanced out my living room window and noticed a woman across the street, hands folded across her chest, staring at something.  A moment or two later, noticing she was still there, I went out onto my 3rd floor apartment’s balcony to see what she was looking at.

That’s when I saw two police cars, two fire engines and a car, flipped completely onto its side, in the middle of the street.  Moments later, I joined other walkers and joggers outside and learned that a car had careened into a parked car and flipped over.  The driver, badly injured, (and unconscious so I was told by observers) had been removed from the car and was taken away by ambulance.

Perhaps the driver had lost consciousness or something happened to the car’s steering.  I’ll probably never know.

Once again, I was reminded how precious life is, how precious every day is and how in an instant, life can change so radically.

Carpe diem.


AI--Not-so-bad

Unless you've been stranded on a desert island for years, you've heard a lot about the potential impact of artificial intelligence.  When ChatGPT appeared on the scene in late 2022, people were concerned.  Would AI write students' papers?  Would jobs disappear?  And much more.

On a podcast about the ethics of AI recorded at the Aspen Ideas Festival this summer, Vilas Dhar, president of the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation spoke reassuringly on this topic.

He asks, “What kind of society do we want to build and how will AI get us there?”  He suggests that this is a time for introspection.  We need to change from focusing on what technology does “to” us—like getting us to shop on line—to what it does “for” us—helping us get access to health care, for example. Or how it can help things to be done “by” us— like sharing our ideas/data with policy makers.

AI may make us more productive, but it is not a replacement for us.

For more, see bit.ly/3WylhTL

 


Grammar Lesson

The 80-something blog doesn’t usually get into politics.  This is a blog about aging, not about how to run our country.

However, I must speak up about the poor use of English in the news last week.  There was some controversy over the Republican Veep candidate’s negative statements about the childless-ness of Kamala Harris.  She has been, however, the step-mother to two of her husband’s children for ten years, and according to their birth mother, very involved in their lives.

Harris’ stepdaughter, Ella Emhoff, posted the following on Instagram, “How can you be ‘childless’ when you have cutie pie kids like Cole and I?”

In my view, it should be “like Cole and me”.

Is my grammar out of date?!


How Things Get Fixed

During our 56 years together, Peter and I had a very workable division of labor.  For example, he didn’t iron anything, and I didn’t do anything that required a screwdriver.  He mowed the lawn, and I watered the plants.  Etc.

So, in the almost three years that I have been on my own, I’ve learned a thing or two.  (Luckily, I don’t have a lawn anymore.) My latest challenge:  a loose toilet seat, the result of a houseful of overnight company (not that I am blaming anyone in particular).

First, I tried on my own, but I failed in my attempt to get access to the screws that held the seat in place.  Then I googled “tighten Toto toilet seat”.  Five minutes later, mostly spent digging out the correct two screwdrivers, problem solved.

You gotta love Google.