AGING II

     I have mentioned a series of radio programs that deal with the elderly. I've found them interesting and informative.

    They are on CBC ,the Canadian broadcasting corporation. The program is the current. The next issue is Monday morning.

   Heads up. the next program is on gray divorce . Divorce rates have gone down in every age group in Canada except  seniors. 

   I will be listening.

   As an aside 90% of divorce over 80 is caused by obsession compulsion. 90% of senior murders are a result of obsessive compulsion. 

I TAKE ANOTHER SWAN DIVE (FALL)

      In a few seconds of awkwardness I took a clumsy fall . Again there was no harm done and I know I'm going to get the same lecture about safety. And I'm not asking for any sympathy. But I'm going to tell my story anyway.

    Falls for the elderly are in slow motion. We know we're going down and we know where. Our butt hits the ground before our head knows we're falling. Our reaction time is too slow to halt or control the fall.

    So what was I doing? I was cleaning my car. I had my stepladder so that I could clean the top. I put the stepladder aside when I was finished with it. (You'll need to know this later. )

    I was cleaning the exterior below the doors and backing up. Somehow I tripped while going backward. Not a problem. You just fall on your butt which at this point is close to the ground. 

    Okay the ladder was 2 ft away from the car. Some how, I got my feet tangled up in the ladder. My fall was rapidly picking up speed and the ladder was in the way. I knocked the ladder down and was tangled up in the ladder. I checked myself to see if I'd done any damage. Maybe, I should ice this bruise for few minutes.

    I came outside a few minutes later to finish the job. I noticed that the step ladder was in awful shape. Some of it looked like spaghetti . I picked the stepladder up but it would not stay standing. So my step ladder was injured. I carefully bent back some pieces of step ladder and I'm back in business again. 

THE ANNUAL MALL CHRISTMAS LUNCH

     One of our major malls puts on a free lunch for seniors each year. Now this is one of the Micro Manager favorite events. Not so much for me.

     The micro manager likes to get to the mall shortly after 9:30 AM for lunch! Why? At that time the Micro Manager can line up for a free bag full of trash. (I'm not very nice am I?) The gift bag for the Micro manager is a big deal. You get the bag and lots of stuff inside. Well, let see. There's a coupon to get your picture taken with Santa. She can't wait to run over and get the picture taken. What else afghan, calendar, box of Kleenex, some other coupons and  candy and chocolates.

    Then there's the lunch. You line up with 300 seniors and slowly move through the line to get your soup, sandwiches, juice, coffee  and cookies. The lunch is a good deal. To be honest, I didn't line up. The Micro Manager went through with two plates. I held the table down as I had to make sure somebody didn't take off with the goody bag. 

    What did I do when the Micro manager was having so much fun? I read the paper, did the puzzles and played games on the ipad!

   I don't like malls much. Or crowds much when I don't know anybody. I like crowds if I know the people.

    Oh yes, the Micro manager had a little shopping to do. 

   So this was my stressful day.

   I know I'll get a lot of sympathy for this whine!

Getting Old Has Some Funny Parts

     Most of the time we hear complaints about getting old. "Getting old ain't for sissies." I can't do this anymore or I can't do that anymore. This doesn't work. That doesn't work. My ears don't work very much anymore!

     Now some of the complaints about aging are very real and serious. Strokes, heart attacks, cancer. The medical establishment seems to have a bucket of pills to throw at us for every ailment. It's debatable how much good the medication actually does.

      Some people worry about their health. We can't help it. Some people worry about their end.

     Seniors tend to associate with seniors so much of the news isn't good. My 87 year old friend had a bike accident this summer and broke his right femur. He's doing okay and is ready to come back birding with me.

     However from time to time I experience things that just crack me up. This morning I was putting my underwear on when I noticed I still had the pajamas on!!! I wish I could have seen the look in my face. I had a little chuckle. I sometimes look for 10 when I'm doing a Sudoku. I have a silver car. My friend caught me trying to unlock her silver car. Did she razz me about it! That one really catches your attention.

    Now some people really worry that they are losing it when small things like this  happens. You're only losing it when you have the underwear in your hand and don't know what to do with it. We have some mental lapses when we age. I have trouble remembering things in a conversation. I cannot remember a book title or author at the time of the discussion. These things, although frustrating , are not serious.

      Now I have one medication that's really worth it. I have senior epilepsy. What's that you say? Google it. You'll be surprised.  I had spells of not making new memories. It's common to many seniors  and many times they land in the nursing home or worse. If diagnosed properly , you live a healthy normal life. 

    This week was my annual medical check up. I like my physician. He does a thorough check and explains what he's doing as he goes a long. At the end he gives a summary. So I'm in great condition right now. I also visited my optometrist this week. Yes , I have  few issues but they are not serious.

     So I try to keep aging in perspective. I have to keep in mind what territory I'm in.  Seniors are fragile. things can change very quickly even though we look after ourselves well. 

     I hope all the senior bloggers are doing well in mind and body.

Nice Appreciation.

     One of our malls puts on a seniors appreciation lunch every December. Today was the day. We arrived around 10:30 AM. Most tables in the food court were full. Seniors started lining up about 11:00 to get their lunch. Lunch was started at 11:30.

     The lunch was catered by Tim Hortons so we had soup, sandwich, juice , cookies and coffee on a sort of all you can eat basis.

     And there was appropriate music. There was as seniors jug band which played Christmas tunes and popular tunes from "a while ago." A young guy played guitar and sang, seasonal tunes and other great tunes like Four Strong Winds. A very popular older country and western entertainer played and sang.

    So it was a good time and with the music you could have hung around most of the afternoon.

    Now when Mr Introvert says he enjoyed it , it had to be good. Mr Introvert would rather be visiting in a small group or out in the bush wandering around. I have been dragged kicking and screaming to this event before but today I honestly enjoyed it. The only downer was that the micro manager didn't get there in time to get her coupon for a free picture with Santa!!!

      Next year I'll make sure I take my camera!

1000 Kilometers!

     As most of you know, my goal is to ride  my bike minimum of 1000 km (625 mi) per summer. Today I reached that magic number. In fact, when I got home today it was 1001.97  kms. 

     What am I going to do now? Quit? Never! I will continue riding until the weather shuts me down. I hope to ride at least another 100 km. One year I even made one ride in early December.

     Making my goal this year was a bit of a challenge. We had a lot of cold and wet weather. You always think it will get better so you wait . I got very little distance ridden in April, May, June and July. We had a perfect August so I rode about 500 km . I had a problem with a leg muscle so for a while riding was a challenge.

This old bike has rolled 9000 km (5625 mi)

    So I'll ride until snow, ice and low temperatures stop me. Then I will think about riding next year.

Another Senior's Residence I'll Pass

        My micro manager loves anything that's free. She had a free ticket to go for lunch at a senior's residence in town and spend the afternoon with a friend who is a resident in the facility. This is a facility where residents rent a little suite. They can make their own meals or eat in a dining room. 

       Now I've written about senior's residences before. This one was better than the last one but certainly had a major glitch.

       Lunch was to be served at 12:30 but it didn't get started until 1:00 and didn't finish until 2:00. Now if you've got nothing to do and you're not hungry, I guess this would be okay. I'm sure some people may have an appointment booked before the lunch was complete and they would have to miss part of the lunch or all of it. Probably some people for health reasons should eat at a regular time.
  
      Now I would fault a late lunch on principle. Residents pay good money for their lunch and to have it on time. End of argument. So what happens when the terms of the contract are not met? In this case nothing I guess. 
      
   Now the facility had an excuse for the late lunch. This was a holiday week end and a number of staff had conveniently called in that they were not coming to work! Well okay, it's not against the law to be sick. Now some workers may have been abusing the system. The bigger issue is why didn't the facility have arrangements made so that when they were caught short staffed they could find staff for an emergency? All they could do was get administration staff to come to their aid and it was far from adequate. 

    Now many of our senior facilities are like this one. You rent a space, get meals and enjoy a few social activities and get transportation around town. Most people move into such a facility when they really need it.

    I think I'll pass on this type of residence unless I have no other options. I would rather stay in my own home with some assistance.

When is Enough, Enough?

   In my last post I told how my careless maintenance of my bike lead to a serious challenge to my riding. I had begun to question my physical condition.

I'm so keen to ride I get my bike out when there's still snow.

    Last week I phoned my friend , David, to tell him I would help him take down a couple of trees for neighbors. David just loves his chain saw. However , David informed me that regrettably he was not going to take down the trees. David told me that his manager had laid down the law and that if he was going to live in her house he had to quit the chain saw and a few other risky activities. David heats his house with wood so he likes to t the wood from various trees he takes down. He also does lathe work and makes wooden bowls.

Some of David's bowls

    So there was another incident that would cause me to think about my activities. I am 74 and I cycle, cross country ski, skate and climb ladders. Now there's some risk in all of these for all people. For a senior the risk of injury is much higher. 

When I look at this I can hardly wait for snow!

Off to skate again

    Now you just can't stop everything because there's risk. Life has to carry on. However, if one has to stop these activities and a few others , it's not the end of the world. There's still lots to do physically. One just has to find something that is a little safer. Swimming would be fine! Step up the walking routine. This is what David did. He now walks 2 hours every morning. 

    I know that some of the bloggers I follow have discussions with themselves about the proper level of activities they should follow.

    I know I'm proud and that I have always been healthy and active. Some day I will have to take a very practical look at my situation and make some adjustments.