PROMISES TO KEEP

Get These Documents Together

2012-02-05T15:32:00.004-10:00

The kupuna I was caring for was diagnosed with a terminal illness. I became responsible for his care. When I realized this, it did not matter HOW I got to be his caregiver. What mattered was that it was my job to see that what he wanted regarding his end of life care was accomplished. I didn't have much time. Even if he didn't completely understand what his oncologist was saying, I did,

Unintended Consequences

2012-02-05T15:28:00.000-10:00

I've been reading too many ghost stories. Let's start with Jim Butcher's latest book on that fine, young, impulsive wizard, Harry Dresden. He makes a pact with an evil fairy--okay, so it's Mab, Queen of Winter so that he can get enough power to heal his broken back and save his daughter. Sounds all good and honorable, right? Sounds like the best of intentions. Save your daughter and make a

What If?

2011-09-08T15:40:00.000-10:00

I wonder what would have happened if my Dad had lived? He died far too young at 44, just months before his 45th birthday, from lung cancer. All his dreams and plans, all my mother's dreams and plans that were so linked into his well-being and health and growing old with her, died too. My mother did not adjust to this huge change. Neither did we. My mother does not like change at the best of

Hats? What Hats?

2011-09-02T11:51:00.001-10:00

I hesitated a long time before posting this because attracting attention almost seems to invite some folks to do stuff to your online information. These days it's ALL online. Although someone out to get your information for whatever reason might be able to get it anyway. All you can really do is make them work for it. Maybe. In an earlier post I said that your parents had been or could be

STOP. THINK. CONNECT. | Stay Safe Online

2011-08-14T14:13:00.000-10:00

STOP. THINK. CONNECT. | Stay Safe Online

Who's Watching You?

2011-08-12T11:49:00.003-10:00

Right now a search engine or a web-crawler or a data aggregator (big word for collector) is poking its cyber nose into everything you've done, everything you've seen and everything you've said on the web. They're also busily sniffing out public records like deeds and tax licenses so that their information on you is more complete and they have the right to do this. These people search engines

Official Google Blog: Using data to protect people from malware

2011-07-30T09:52:00.000-10:00

Official Google Blog: Using data to protect people from malware: "(Cross-posted on the Google Online Security Blog ) The Internet brings remarkable benefits to society. Unfortunately, some people use it f..."

Not Just Kupuna

2011-07-08T13:22:00.001-10:00

My husband and son just don't understand. Because I'm the sickly one, I think I'm a little over-documented. I have an advanced health care directive. I have a will and am establishing a trust. With two chronic illnesses and a multitude of meds and a history with emergency rooms, it SEEMS like I'm the most likely to need this kind of documentation. But life can be full of unwanted surprises.

Ask These Questions Now

2011-05-28T09:14:00.003-10:00

Naive. Like most newbie caregivers I had assumed that having the documents I needed in electronic form was enough. That if I could produce them as needed, on a laptop, tablet, i-phone...these documents would be acceptable. This is not true. While I was helping the kupuna (who felt rushed and was resentful that I was rushing him to do his paperwork) I found that some documents MUST be hard copy.

The End of Something

2011-05-20T20:50:00.002-10:00

I canceled one of the lines on my cellphone plan. It wasn't because the phone was lost. Instead, I lost the person who used the phone. This kupuna died on April 14, 2011. Suddenly, I was pushed into the whirlwind of documents that accompany every death in the United States. I can't speak for other countries. I only know what I know and it was just barely enough. I think I want to get swept

E-readers and other sleep walking adventures

2010-10-02T13:30:00.042-10:00

I bought a Kindle in my sleep. I didn't buy the small cheap Kindle (only $139). I didn't buy the Kindle Dx Usually, the sleep meds just cause me to munch on forbidden food with little memory but quite a bit of evidence to prove that I did eat the rest of that bag of potato chips. And then there was the time I tried to drive to work...in my sleep. But that's another story for another blog...

Retirement

2010-07-27T17:01:00.000-10:00

I'm busier than I thought I would be, but not necessarily more peaceful...right now maybe less. But this is an article that never got published and it's more hopeful than I feel right now..I've been told not to grumble so much over things I can't control and to let it go. I wish I could be so blase and amiable and take the good advice...but when I see a light at the end of the tunnel it's

Everybody's NOT Talking

2010-07-06T10:27:00.003-10:00

My mother is angry. She's not talking to me because I called the EMTs when I thought there was an emergency and she needed immediate care. I didn't interpret her call properly and she was embarrassed by strangers waking her up from a nap. She had just wanted a ride to her doctor's office. I thought she was dangerously ill. It was a miscommunication...again. I don't think I have what it

Your Parents Have Been Robbed!

2010-05-02T21:10:00.001-10:00

That line is enough to make anyone wary and afraid. But what was stolen? And how? It was probably their identity, their social security numbers, their addresses, the good credit they thought they had all because some scumbag decided to take what your parents have built up for years, slowly, with hard work. What can you do to protect your parents, friends, loved ones from losing their health care

It's Been A Long Time Since The Last Post

2010-03-29T09:10:00.004-10:00

And I really wasn't sure where to put this link. But since I'm working on issues with folks who don't want or don't know how to use Skype (my mom--who is a fan--just don't make her sign on or sign up) and others who are wary of all social media, I though I'd put the petition here. What petition? It's to increase bandwidth in Hawai'i--geographically one of the most isolated places on the planet.

A Whole New World

2009-09-25T10:24:00.002-10:00

The kupuna and I are embarking on another technological adventure. I think it is something that all will like better than the cell phones--which were received with varying degrees of enthusiasm and/or success.We've already tried it with both kupuna who seemed to like the idea of actually being able to see the person(s) they were speaking to. They like Skype . It's like Star Trek magic to my

What Does "Old" Mean?

2009-08-17T09:35:00.026-10:00

This article on not projecting an "old" mindset regarding technology struck home.But it was delivered with good intentions--to keep boomers from projecting a technology "unfriendly" attitude. It would be like the neighbors who refused to get a color tv once upon a time because they were sure it was just a fad that would pass and the old black and white was reliable. I haven't seen a black and

The What Now?

2009-07-21T19:15:00.005-10:00

ALL the kupuna have cell phones. ALL the cell phones work. But you know me--I've got to complain about something and I will--why does everyone ASSUME that all people have access to a computer? Why does everyone ASSUME that everyone knows HOW to use a computer?Back in the old days--when dinosaurs roamed the earth and there was, easily, only one color television per neighborhood, each advance in

The Good, The Ugly and The What Now???

2009-06-03T22:44:00.009-10:00

My husband, patient and understanding man that he has been while we assist each other in caring for the kupuna, said I should write about my day-this day-June 3, 2009.Where do I start? I should probably begin with the kupuna who INSISTED that she didn't WANT a cell phone. This is my mother who fell and couldn't contact me because her cell phone was home, in a box, in a desk, in the back bedroom

The Ongoing Saga of the Cellphones

2009-05-08T10:08:00.003-10:00

Complain-complain-complain!On the good side--the kupuna who lost the cell phone found it again. Well, he didn't find it-his mechanic found it last week. He told me today that he keeps trying to use it to call me but it won't let him. Sigh.I had to tell him that he can't use it because I suspended the line in January after he told me he lost it at Christmas.But it gets better--or worse

When You Stop It Feels Better

2009-04-21T23:17:00.006-10:00

At least that's what my sister tells me on Skype as she watches me slap my forehead. She also tells me that if I stop I won't leave a handprint on my forehead. Why, you ask, am I slapping my forehead? My mother fell at church on Sunday. No one called us. She drove herself home. Where was her cell phone that I so diligently purchased and put on my plan so she could CALL me when she needs me?

Keep on keeping on

2009-04-05T14:36:00.009-10:00

My auntie, the last remaining auntie, is the most tech savvy of all the folks in her generation in my family. She's on Yahoo. She emails me and forwards emails. She has a laptop and my uncle has a net book. Pretty cool for folks that lived through the Great War (World War II that is).She has a cell phone which she uses better than some of the folks in my generation and she went out to buy a

Technology in Healthcare

2009-03-20T22:42:00.002-10:00

So far in this blog on technology and generational issues regarding documentation and communication I've steered very carefully away from the work I did before I retired. I thought that this was not because I was trying to distance myself from it. In retirement, though, I've found that distance provides perspective.Some of this work involved the technological improvements in health care--and

got more time on your hands?

2009-03-08T11:13:00.006-10:00

Local community colleges are among the best and least expensive resources for honing computer skills not used since the day you retired or for learning new skills.This can apply to both boomers and their parents.It's usually safe to assume that our gen-X, gen-Y and millenial kids know all this stuff. It's disheartening to me to hear one parent after another say "My kids are better at this stuff

What To Do With All That Time in Retirement

2009-03-02T20:21:00.014-10:00

My local DSL service offered a "free" blog spot called "Ohananet" a combination of the Hawaiian word for family and 'net. All of us residential users were informed that we would no longer have this service so we needed to get our stuff off the site or lose it. The DSL service provided what they believe is a user friendly way of kicking out users who, for the most part, probably just used to