tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22055816958501524952024-09-04T16:22:59.636-07:00Find Out What It Means to MeUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2205581695850152495.post-45079561014240097522014-03-22T12:12:00.003-07:002014-03-23T12:51:44.123-07:00

About once a week I download apps whose only appeal is that they're free. So I have dozens -- maybe hundreds -- of apps that, like old shirts from high school, are out of sight, out of mind, unlikely to be seen or used  again. Today, however, I came upon 14 apps that are useful to retirees.  1. AARP -- A shortcut to the best that's available at the AARP website. For iPad

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2205581695850152495.post-43096541440221636832014-03-18T13:51:00.003-07:002014-03-19T05:52:17.132-07:00

Cookies rock -- they are one thing I would definitely pack if I were going to be abandoned on an island. And not the packaged variety. I'd want something right out of the oven, made with my own two hands.  In retirement, I'm becoming a kitchen ninja with cookies as my throwing stars -- I mean, these are killer cookies. As you'll see in the video, I've come a long way since my

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2205581695850152495.post-50182353099172977422014-03-14T09:23:00.002-07:002014-03-14T10:11:28.632-07:00

On his last day at work, Karl Walenda walked a high wire between the two towers of the ten-story Condado Plaza Hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico. I walked to Starbuck's. Two very different approaches to retirement.  Whereas I've ended up with a non-fat, no-whip mocha, Karl finished his 1-second retirement kissing the concrete. Of course, he also got worldwide attention. I got a farewell

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2205581695850152495.post-17990584229885624632014-03-13T12:43:00.003-07:002014-03-13T12:43:33.597-07:00

I met Henry in the surgical waiting room at Henry Ford Hospital in West Bloomfield, Michigan. We shook hands, a fairly regular first-time greeting, quick, polite. I couldn’t read his face but he didn’t seem as surprised to run into me as I was to see him. Then he licked me.  Black Labradors are friendly, but Henry lit up everything within10 feet. The woman holding his leash said, “He’s

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2205581695850152495.post-32488487440524867952014-03-11T18:23:00.001-07:002014-03-12T11:55:11.932-07:00

Before I retired, I spent at least 8 hours a day at work surrounded by colleagues. Most of them bipeds. Some with opposable thumbs. A few with prefrontal cortex. One or two able to use tools. But all of them friendly and capable of communication. Now I start my day started in complete silence.  It’s wonderful but different. Almost spooky. Today, by nine o'clock; I had checked

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2205581695850152495.post-90876019487557982012014-03-10T12:44:00.000-07:002014-03-11T08:21:15.554-07:00

I had the wrong idea about retirement. I thought I’d be employed one day, and completely retired the next. But it turns out that I'm retiring a piece at a time. There are parts of me -- ankles, elbows, liver, nose, etc. -- that are on the beach, enjoying the view, so to speak. But there are other pieces that still go to work every day. Worst of all, my head -- it still wakes up

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2205581695850152495.post-11835309471262304802014-03-09T11:44:00.002-07:002014-03-09T11:44:45.010-07:00

I can't stand it anymore. Dictionary-challenged folks (mostly Republicans and Tea Partiers) keep using the word "entitlement" to describe Social Security and Medicare as gifts that a lot of lazy, undeserving riffraff (we retirees who otherwise couldn't afford to retire) receive when we hit retirement age. Not true! Send these conservative high school dropouts back to class for their GEDs! 

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2205581695850152495.post-72812935320582307552014-02-25T08:45:00.001-08:002014-02-25T13:36:34.851-08:00

Sometimes, for no apparent reason, there are mornings like this – one person's up, the other one's down. On this particular morning, I was up. It was Max who still had to go to work. Putting on her coat, looking around, she had a dark look. "This place is a mess," she said. I had to agree. But it was too dangerous to mention that at least half of it was hers. She looked over the top of her

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2205581695850152495.post-5641523670847475142014-02-23T06:49:00.002-08:002014-02-23T09:45:40.165-08:00

I have always been given to flights of fancy -- within an hour I have been a Sherpa in Nepal, a corpuscle in a trouble heart, a gargoyle on the west wall of Notre Dame -- and, in retirement, the opportunities to live inside my head have multiplied. And today, or at least part of the day, I was Sherlock Holmes. My objective: to observe the curious aspects of Max, my wife, to learn who she

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2205581695850152495.post-64005670774744614022014-02-21T06:21:00.000-08:002014-02-23T08:46:57.158-08:00

These three survivors of batch number four still weren't chew-able but did come in handy for leveling a shelf Never eat the first batch of retirement cookies. Do not feed them to your dog (or the vet, for that matter). Do not throw out; call your local bomb-disposal unit. Having said that, let me add: Don't give up. I didn't, and it all worked out. Consider my recipe for success... 1. Preheat

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2205581695850152495.post-25463428394157682752014-02-19T18:20:00.000-08:002014-02-23T08:59:50.273-08:00

There was moment, shortly after waking on the first day of retirement, when a question at the back of my head made my eyes pop open: “Now what?” I had great plans – lots of plans – that I’d been piecing together for several years. But it suddenly became clear that I had goals, not plans, which is like having a shoe without a foot – the shoe looks good but it’s not going anywhere by itself.

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2