OlderWiserWomen

We all are aware of the fact that “seniors” get discounts. Your local restaurant gives discounts at a certain age, some stores will offer you discounts on certain days, and occasionally you’ll get a coupon in the mail that entitles you to some product or event for a deep discount, and event for free.

I ran across this book that has gathered lots of information that shows you how to get things for free. Some examples include how to get free dental care, free foods, free legal help, free eye care, how to earn money when traveling and more.

Definitely check it out - Free For Seniors.

The Elder Wisdom Circle is ” a FREE service providing practical advice and guidance from empathetic volunteer seniors. Please think of us as grandparents to the cyber-world.” They are “comprised of volunteer Seniors aged 60-97. Elders participate individually from their home computers or collectively at a senior community. Our Elders represent a richly diverse patchwork of life experience and wisdom.”

This is a fantastic idea.

Hmmm….what about Older Wiser Women mentoring Younger Wiser Women?

I get more questions on a daily basis about the medicare drug plan, and it’s sad to say that I’m almost as confused as everyone else.

The intended benefits of the plan are to provide a more affordable away for seniors to obtain medications. I think one of the confusions about it is it is done in a tiered approach.

A plan for example may have a $250 annual deductible. Then after you pay your deductible:

• You pay 25% of the cost for medications when your totals are between $250-$2,250 per year. (the plan pays 75%)
• You pay 100% of the cost of your medications when your drug costs are between $2,251-5,100.
• After you have spent $5,100 on the cost of your medication will be between $2.00-$5.00 (generic vs brand name medication) or 5% (which ever is higher).

That is called the Standard Plan. Each company that is offering a plan will have some slight variation of this. They can have a deductible that is lower, your co-pay higher, etc.

When reviewing my Mother’s plan (Kaiser), the structure was similar though the amounts different. Please note: as with her plan, it varied from each Kaiser district. I would expect it would be the same depending on which Blue Cross plan (for example) you were enrolled with.

Where can you get more information?

• Medicare
• AARP
• your individual insurance company
• your specific state Dept of Social and Health Services (DSHS). For example, here is the one for WA State

I doubt it will get any less confusing; however, it’s important that you make a choice before the deadlines.

You’ll find a complete article on OlderWiserWomen:  Medicare Drug Plan - A Primer.

I have to tell you … I’m having a great time reading the stories women have sent in. Some are funny, some are serious and many have some really good lessons.

Bev sends in her story written on a 1950 Smith Corona Portable, Noreen shares a delightful story about a crazy old lady and Bobbi reminds us about the gift we receive when we ask for what we want.

I’m looking forward to sharing more of these stories with you as time goes on…right now, I still have a lot of reading to do.

Stay tuned!

CHICAGO — It sounds like a perfect parlor game for baby boomers suddenly confronting their own mortality: What are your chances of dying within four years?

Researchers have come up with 12 risk factors to try to answer that for people older than age 50.

This is one game where you want a low score. Zero to 5 points says your risk of dying in four years is less than 4 percent. With 14 points, your risk rises to 64 percent.

Just being male gives you 2 points. So does having diabetes, being a smoker and getting pooped trying to walk several blocks.

Points accrue with each four-year increment after age 60.

The test doesn’t ask what you eat, but it does ask if you can push a living room chair across the floor.

You can read the rest of the article here: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/health/259555_death15.html 

The full test is available in the Journal of the American Medical Society (JAMA).

Many remember Gail Sheehy as the author of Passages, written many years ago. Last month she published her new book, Sex and the Seasoned Woman. She states there is “a, new universe of lusty, liberated women, some married and some not, who are unwilling to settle for the stereotypical roles of middle age.”

She has interviewed a few hundred women, reporting the results here. The results should not be too much of a surprise to OlderWiserWomen…many of us are still having sex!

The book is not about sexual techniques or really sex at all. It’s more about empowering women to reclaim that part of their lives, about the possiblities that lay ahead, and an attempt to dispell some of the sterotypes that abound about women of a certain age.

As OlderWiserWomen, it’s my hope that as we acquire wisdom, our Common Sense improves. We all know this is not always the case.

Here is an email I received today. While meant to be humerous, it does does speak some sad truth….

**************************

Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as knowing when to come in out of the rain, why the early bird gets the worm, life isn’t always fair, and maybe it was my fault.

Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don’t spend more than you earn) and reliable parenting strategies (adults, not children, are in charge). His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a six-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.
Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job they failed to do in disciplining their unruly children. It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer Panadol, sun lotion or a sticky plaster to a student but, could not inform the parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.

Common Sense lost the will to live as the Ten Commandments became contraband, churches became businesses and criminals received better treatment than their victims.

Common Sense took a beating when you couldn’t defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar can sue you for assault.

Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realise that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.

Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents, Truth and Trust his wife Discretion his daughter, Responsibility and his son, Reason.

He is survived by three stepbrothers:

I Know My Rights
Someone Else Is To Blame
I’m A Victim

PS. Not many attended his funeral because so few realised he was gone. If you still remember him, feel free to pass this on.

Have you seen it yet?

Here is what one critic had to say:

The show is designed to motivate its audience, usually made up of—you guessed it—middle-aged women, into a screaming and hooting support group for what Gail Sheehy called “the silent passage” in 1976. Nowadays, most women I know are far from silent about menopause, so I’m guessing that Menopause: The Musical is a clever excuse to get together and raise hell. From what I’ve already heard through a network of my feminine peers, the show delivers what it promises: 90 minutes of outrageous silliness. Expect anything deeper, and you’ll be disappointed.

You can read her full review here.

So…what did you think? Feel free to leave your comment.

Barbara

Ladies, you are now the darlin’s of the big markets! I remember hearing from women who were my seniors that when we reached a certain age, we were ignored. Well…no longer!

Take a look and see why - Love Those Boomers