Little things mean a lot when it comes to home economics.  Turning off lights and not running the heater when you can put on a sweater seem like petty savings but by not consuming power, you are not only saving on utilities, you are living green as well which is good for the earth.  Similarly, you may be able to do more without going out in the car then you thought.  Perhaps you can walk to the store rather than drive.  Perhaps you can take public transportation for a low cost rather than use up expensive gas and cause more wear and tear on your vehicle.  These little things can do a lot to stretch your funds so they are there for the important things. Learn more how to save energy and how to produce your own, you might have the time to do that now, Make power at home

Another way to use your business sense is to find ways to supplement your income or use your retirement savings intelligently.  With the internet, you may be able to find ways to invest your savings more shrewdly so you can actually generate revenue by making your money work for you.  You can even find part time jobs that can be done from the internet or perhaps in town that do not put a stress on your “retirement status” but bring in a nice little revenue stream while giving you a chance to get out and be with people.  Lots of businesses like to use senior citizens in this way so everybody wins.

So why do we do it?  This may be a question your children ask when they see you going after such an ambitious goal so late in life.  But when you think about it, we as senior citizens have a right to be a bit offended by the question.  Where is it written that we are denied the right to better ourselves just because we are in the later years of life?  Implicit in the question is the implication of, “What is the point of you getting a degree since you are not going to do anyting productive in retirement and you are so close to death?”

The last thing we as senior citizens want is to be seen as people who are just sitting around waiting to die.  Many a senior citizen has started an entirely new career and accomplished great things after 50.  With the advances in medical science today, it’s perfectly logical that you could live 20-30 years or more “in retirement”.  That is plenty of time to accomplish great things.  And starting out this era of life with a good education makes just as much sense as a youth doing so as they start out on their first career. 

This is not to say that going back to school is going to be easy.  If finishing your high school degree is the goal, you are going into an alien world and one that was probably pretty hostile the first time you were there.  Your presence in the high school or college classroom is going to be the source of some humor and you might take some teasing for being there.  But those same kids will come to admire what you are doing and enjoy having “grandpa” in class with them each day.

On top of the social situation you may create in a high school or college classroom, school is a challenge.  You will have to get used to being in the classroom and listening to lectures, reading textbooks, taking notes, doing papers and taking exams all over again.  If you go after an advanced degree and take several classes, you will be a very busy senior citizen just keeping up with your studies.

But there are some joys you can expect from going after an advanced degree.  College life and being on a college campus each day is by itself a very stimulating environment.  And you may find yourself at a few pep rallies and enjoying campus life just like the other students.  Being with young people each day can be energizing and you may find yourself looking and acting as much like the youth you “hang out with” as you do your fellow senior citizens.

But the greatest benefit of getting that advanced degree is the pride or accomplishment you will get.  If you are finishing your high school or bachelor’s degree, it no doubt nagged you all your life that this was something that you started and didn’t finish.  So by going back and finishing it, you close that door and take away the power of that nagging voice. 

Don’t be surprised if you fall in love with academic life.  Learning is tremendously addictive and you may wish to go on for yet more studies in fields of learning that have always fascinated you.  Nobody will turn away your tuition dollars if you just want to be in college for the pure joy of learning.  And you will be an inspiration to your fellow students when they see you succeed and they tell themselves, “If Grandpa over there can do it, so can I.”

Electricity is churned out by enormous turbines. These turbines need a support to be moved. There are various ways of moving these turbines:

By burning fossil fuels: Electricity is produced when the blades of a turbine are moved by enormous amounts of vapour. This vapour is generated by heating a lot of water in huge furnaces. The water is heated by burning fossil fuels like coal, petroleum, and natural gas. This method releases enormous amounts of carbon dioxide in the air, thus severely polluting our atmosphere. It is important to turn to alternate methods of electricity production for long-term benefits.

By water: You must have heard how dams are constructed to produce electricity. A popular method to produce electricity, a water dams serves two purposes: restricting water bodies and producing electricity. Water dams use the river water to move turbines, helping them produce electricity. Electricity generated this way helps control air pollution; however, this method of electricity production adversely affects the ecosystem in the water bodies.

Water accounts for 90 percent of the world’s electricity generated through renewable resources.

By wind: Electricity is produced when wind energy is converted to electrical energy. Wind mills or wind turbines are used to churn up enormous amounts of wind energy which is then converted into electrical energy.

The latest in wind energy advancement tells us that wind energy is helping create portable cell phone chargers.

By nuclear fission: Yes, nuclear fission does not only make atom bombs, but also helps produce electricity. Nuclear fission causes a chain reaction where the element Uranium is bombarded by neutrons causing it to split. Every time a Uranium nucleus is split, more neutrons are released, causing more splits in the already split Uranium nuclei. The resultant chain reaction generates a lot of heat which is used to heat water the vapour of which eventually moves turbines to create electricity.

By bio-waste: With technological advancements, electricity is also being produced by bio-waste. Bio-gas is a typical way of generating electricity in rural areas in countries like India. In fact, a new technology evolved in the state of Bihar in India that uses human waste to generate electricity.

Make power at home with solar and wind energy to eliminate your power bill. Get our complete guide at earth4energy

The first phone, based on Google’s Android platform, goes on sale in the US on Wednesday and Australian carriers are examining the device with interest following rave reviews from critics.

As well, Hutchison subsidiary Three is working on its own brand of smart phone called INQ, which will compete with the iPhone, Android and handsets from Nokia and Motorola.

Three’s local spokeswoman Sarah Virtue said the company planned to launch INQ in Australia “prior to Christmas”. She added that Google’s Android was “an excellent platform” and that Three would be “keeping a close eye on it”.

Optus declined to comment on its Android plans. Telstra said it was considering “how an Android phone might fit into our range” and Vodafone said it was following Android developments “with keen interest”.

BusinessWeek reported that Hutchison’s goal with INQ was to slash the price of phones that let people surf the net. The handsets were expected to cost consumers $US50 ($72) or less.

People buying an iPhone would pay carriers that amount or more every month over a two-year contract.

The move makes sense for Three because the more people there are who can afford phones capable of surfing the net, the more the company will make from the mobile plans and data bundles it sells to consumers.

“I need to hit the 90 per cent that don’t buy [higher-priced phones],” Hutchison executive Frank Meehan told BusinessWeek.

The popularity of smartphones such as the iPhone, Android, INQ and BlackBerry handsets is growing rapidly in Australia.

Research released by Telesyte today revealed Australia’s annual smartphone shipments have grown by almost 40 times from five years ago and that nearly three in ten mobile phones sold this year will be smartphones.

In addition to being cheap, the INQ phones, which like Android have been built from the ground up with new software, have been designed to hook directly into Facebook, eBay and Skype, with users able to monitor their Facebook news feed from the home screen.

Last year, Three launched its first branded handset, the Skypephone, which allowed Skype users to call each other without running down their monthly mobile cap.

The first handset based on Google’s Android platform, the G1, will be sold by T-Mobile for $US179 on a two-year contract, which is also significantly cheaper than the iPhone.

Some analysts expect Apple to respond to this new competition by pushing its iPhone prices down.

“In 2009 we’ll get a lower-priced iPhone - iPhone Nano - which will bring it to the masses,” Shannon Cross of Cross Research told The New York Times.

Like the iPhone, the G1 includes a touch-screen but there is also a pull-out keyboard and a trackball that can be used like a mouse. It is completely integrated with Google’s suite of online applications such as search, maps, calendar, email and instant messaging.

The G1, based on the Linux operating system, has built-in WiFi for more cost-effective web browsing and can play both music and videos, but managing track libraries isn’t as elegant as the iPhone, which seamlessly integrates with iTunes.

Like Apple’s iTunes App Store, G1 owners will be able to expand the functionality of the device by buying third-party applications from the “Android market”.

David Pogue’s review of the G1 in The New York Times said the device’s software was sleek and intuitive but criticised the lack of an iTunes equivalent for managing songs and buying music, TV shows and movies.

Pogue noted that, unlike the iPhone, the G1 includes a slide-out keyboard, removable battery, voice dialling, picture messaging, built-in audio recording and the ability to turn any song into a ring tone.

Engadget’s review noted the G1’s lack of a standard headphone jack. The software “is thoroughly modern and attractive, but its high-contrast, almost cartoonish look might be a turn-off for some”.

The Wall Street Journal’s Walt Mossberg gave the G1 a good wrap but thought the keyboard and battery life could have been improved.

He said the tight integration with Google’s services would be tedious for those who don’t use them. The only way to get contacts and calendar items into the phone is to synchronise them with Google’s online services and there is no way for it to synchronise with Microsoft Outlook.

“In my battery tests, the G1 lasted through the day, but I had to charge it every night,” Mossberg wrote.

“That’s better than the initial battery life on the current iPhone, though in fairness Apple has improved the iPhone’s battery life through software updates, and I found them to be about the same for mixed use.
 
This story was found at: http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2008/10/20/1224351115013.html

Academic research supported by the Economic and Social Research Council and Arts and Humanities Research Council shows that most members of the baby boom generation - often regarded as the first teenagers of a more affluent consumer society - have modest ideas for their retirement. While some plan substantial projects, particularly in relation to travel or using second homes, most people’s ideas for spending time after retirement retain a traditional pattern - watching television and films, playing records or going for long walks.

Findings from the study, says Dr Rebecca Leach, “provide only limited evidence that first wave boomers are developing new third age lifestyles.” Most have fairly modest aspirations, hoping at best to maintain current lifestyles and activities provided health and finances permit them to do so. The range of lifestyles is greater than would have been the case with previous generations but there is little evidence of ‘alternative’ models of consumption. Alternative health provision, for example, was widely practiced by between only three-seven per cent of people interviewed for the research. Many of those questioned “professed a critique of materialism, yet demonstrated ambivalence about this in practice.”

The first wave baby boom generation, born between 1945 and 1954, represents 17 per cent of the UK population. Born at a time of austerity, this group later experienced relative prosperity and the emergence of a mass consumer society. The research project by Dr Leach at Keele University and King’s College, London, looked in particular at the role of consumption in approaches to adult ageing. It examined the extent to which baby boomers see themselves as part of a distinctive generational group, and how this might affect consumption patterns.

Baby boomers are shown to be a diverse group, varying considerably depending on wealth, class and education. Only a minority - 41 per cent - of those interviewed by the researchers identified with the term boomer and the study showed that members of the group view themselves in different ways. These are:

• The baby bulge group, who were aware of themselves competing with many others for school places and jobs.
• The burden group who worried about the consequences of being followed by a smaller generation.
• The lucky generation who felt they had benefited most from economic growth and the welfare state.
• The political generation who believed they had been trailblazers through their lives, taking initiatives that had produced social and cultural change.

Baby boomers have been widely characterised as more individualistic than previous generations, leading to suggestions that this would make them less family oriented. Yet the research shows that family responsibilities among boomers have increased rather than reduced. Demographic data shows that 43 per cent of those born between 1945-1952 have at least one child living at home while 37 per have financial responsibility for other members of the household - usually children. Improvements in life expectancy mean that 43 per cent of people aged 50-57 still have a mother alive, and 20 per cent a father.

Boomers demonstrate a changing attitude towards inheritance, with surveys suggesting they are more likely to want to use their wealth to enjoy life than to worry about leaving a bequest.

Housing has played a big part in boomers’ lives. The proportion of owner-occupiers rose from around one in four in 1950 to two-thirds by the mid-1980s. Today, 33 per cent of boomers own their homes outright and 52 per cent have mortgages, while 15 per cent have second homes. Home improvements, shows the research, form a significant part of boomer lifestyles. So does increasing the value of homes, especially in terms of using housing to fund life during retirement.

Most boomers - 70 per cent - regard age as unimportant in terms of their personal identity and, almost without exception, they told the researchers that they felt younger than their actual age. Boomers regard themselves as being more like their children and younger people than like their parents and older generational groups and, say the researchers, “see ageing as something that requires managing but is not overly problematic.” The Dr Leach showed that while 69 per cent of people interviewed agreed that it was possible to plan for retirement, 71 per cent were themselves making either no plans or only limited ones.

Dr Leach identify global travel and cosmopolitan food choices as powerful examples of lifestyle activities associated with the boomer generation: 81 per cent of the people surveyed went on holiday abroad at least every two years.

“Travel was a major consumption item for boomers and loomed large in projects for retirement,” says Dr Leach. “Less evident was any wholesale transfer of teenage consumption concerns into midlife: boomers might have been the first teenagers, but they have now grown up. Consumer interests have matured, notably around interests linked to homes, gardens and travel.”

This, comment the researchers, does not entirely undermine the idea of boomers as early exponents of a consumer society. “In the same way that music, fashion and mobility were used to construct a teenage identity, consumption can be seen to play a similar role in mid-life: the notion of the big trip or the retirement project - usually a hobby or home building project - providing a focus for boomers’ spending as well as a source of self worth and esteem.”

Dr Rebecca Leach, summarising importance of the research, says: “There are lots of assumptions about baby boomers: that they are wealthy, radical individuals who are spending the kids’ inheritance; but this research shows that the reality is much more complex and ordinary - some of what it means to be a ‘boomer’ is because of shared life experiences but some of it is driven by the same challenges (health, wealth, jobs and family) as those faced by all of us.”

Article Source
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/125109.php

Part of the confusion may lie in another misconception or “myth” about senior citizens that they are not capable of sexual activity. There are two levels of error in this misconception. The first is the idea that people over 50 are sexually inactive. Nothing could be further from the truth. Sexuality is a healthy component of adult life at all phases of our maturity and senior citizens are just as capable of sexuality in their relationships as your most randy teenager, albeit probably good deal more careful.

The second misconception that is good to confront and put to rest is that even if sexuality is not part of the mix, seniors are not romantic people. This misconception is without a doubt held people who don’t spend any quality time with senior citizens themselves. If anything, the opposite is the truth. If anyone tracked the movie rental patterns of senior citizens, they would witness that seniors have a healthy appetite for romantic comedies and have a healthy interest in romantic relationships.

Retirement very often is a time of tremendous rebirth of the concept of romance between senior couples. Married couples who may have seen the romance fizzle in their relationship during the child raising years often see that element of their relationship blossom and become even more sweet and exciting than it was when they were dating. Adult life before retirement is often packed with pressures of raising kids and getting them “launched” as well as work and social pressures. This kind of thing can take away the emotional and mental energy needed for romance. So when a marriage matures into retirement years together, its common for senior citizens to rediscover why they fell in love in the first place and experience a new era of romance that is fun and thrilling for both.

But senior citizens who find themselves single are perfectly capable of looking for romantic times with others of their own generation. If they have managed their finances well, senior citizens may be well equipped to enjoy an active dating life and enjoy romantic evenings with each other that enrich their lives and keep them upbeat and looking forward to their next romantic experience.

Moreover, seniors have the time and the leisure to nurture their romantic relationships slowly. So the suspense of building a romance makes that romance full of excitement of discovery is easily afforded for a senior citizen who may not be as “eager” to see the romance “go somewhere” as a youth looking to start a family. But dating and enjoying romantic times with the opposite sex also provide much needed companionship and deep friendships can evolve from romances in the golden years. If the senior citizen has lost a spouse, these times with others their own age can fill a gap left by that spouse and help ease the transition and the grief so the senior citizen can move on to single life successfully.

When you take apart the word Feng Shui, “Feng” means “wind” and “Shui” translates to “water.” Wind and water are two elements of nature out of the five that are often part of the Feng Shui equation. The Chinese have always viewed water and calming winds with a bountiful harvest and health.

There is a Taoist view of the environment that every living thing is filled with a special energy. Feng Shui is based on this particular visionary concept. You will discover as you delve deeper into this ancient Chinese concept that yin and yang (passive and active energy forces) are derived from this Taoist view as well as the five elements found in nature, all philosophies that are used in Feng Shui principles.

The five elements in nature that Feng Shui refers to are wood, fire, water, earth and metal. These elements interact with each other in nature and even in your home and work areas. In addition, these elements are each related to particular colors which embody the essence of each element. For example, the element fire has red, orange, deep yellow and purple associated with it. Water has blue and black while the wood element has green and brown. For earth, a light yellow or brown corresponds to that element while white and gray refer to the metal element.

Practitioners of Feng Shui have a number of tools that they use in order to better assess information pertaining to a particular living or work space. The first tool is called the Ba-Gua and is a map with an octagonal grid with various symbols from an ancient prophesies. This map is the most tried and true way to determine Feng Shui in the home.

The Lo-Pan is a compass for Feng Shui that provides direction to dig deeper into a home or other building. Like compasses that Boy Scouts use, this one does have a magnetic needle. However, the similarities stop there. This Feng Shui compass has concentric rings in bands arranged around the needle. There are a few different variations of this compass with some having as many as thirty to forty rings around it.  Each ring provides information that you would then use in tandem with the Ba-Gua and in interpretation of the five elements.

Feng Shui is used to change the balance of energy (or chi) in your living and work environments to ensure a more pleasing and beneficial environment that in turn, leads to positive changes in your health, family life, marriage, wealth and even recognition. Feng Shui may seem like metaphysical mumbo jumbo but it is a practice that has proven its validity time and again, starting with the ancient Chinese.

While it lost favor for a while, Feng Shui is becoming a force to be reckoned with in architecture and interior design. In fact, there are different schools of Feng Shui that sometimes take years of stuffy before you are truly knowledgeable in the ways of this ancient Chinese method. However, you do not have to be an expert in order to make a few positive changes in your life using Feng Shui. Even a few followed principles can make a huge impact on your life.

The purpose of a hobby is to allow you to explore an interest and even build an expertise in an facet of life that you follow for the sheer joy of learning and engaging in that activity.  You have no interest in making your living at that hobby and for most of us that do build up a hobby life, to earn money at it would ruin the fun of it.  You want to be able to go after that hobby at your own pace and “do it your way” without the nuisance of a boss or someone telling you that you are doing it wrong.

Many hobbies are recreational activities.  Golf, bowling, pool or playing poker are such hobbies.  And each of these are the kind of pastimes that require dedication to get good at them.  And once you have your expertise up, you get a real gratification from competing in that sport and demonstrating that your years of devotion and the time you put into that hobby were wroth the effort.

There is just a certain satisfaction to becoming so completely lost in a hobby that time disappears and before you know it, a day can go by and you didn’t even know it.  That kind of mental absorption keeps your mind sharp and functioning which is good for your health in many ways.  And many hobbies are just that time consuming and just that fascinating.

If you have a flair for the technical and mechanical, Ham Radio is a hobby that seems to become a passion for those who become enthusiasts.  The joy of Ham Radio is being able to communicate around the world through this private network that anyone can join.  And Ham Radio operators have at times proven valuable in communications during time of national crisis when perhaps other forms of communications were not available.

To find that perfect hobby, look within at areas of fascination that you never got a chance to express and explore.  If you cannot get enough of history, the civil war or the renaissance, reenactment and renaissance fairs give you the chance to all but travel back in time and enjoy the feel of being part of that era in history.  If theater is your passion, dozens of local theater groups will take all the time you can give even if you don’t have an acting bone in your body.  And enjoying even a simple level of involvement in the theater like putting together posters or painting sets can be just as exciting as getting out in front of an audience.

The key is to find something you love and find others who love it too. This is the great thing about hobbies.  There is almost always someone out there who is just as fascinated by this field of interest and probably a whole society who are just as able to see a day or a weekend disappear becoming absorbed in their hobby.  So throwing yourself into your passion also opens doors of social interaction with others who may not be senior citizens and that is refreshing. 

The benefits of getting involved in a time consuming hobby are many.  You do need to use some common sense and balance so you take care of your health and spend time with family and friends.  But that leaves plenty of time to be obsessed with your hobby and have all the fun that this kind of pastime can bring to you.

Many sellers offer discount hearing aids that are identical to the full priced hearing aids that you get directly from the manufacturer. Often, the only difference is the price, which may be half the price you pay the maker or even less. When you are looking into such a deal, make sure the two devices are actually the same in every respect except for price.

There are many features and parameters to check to make sure your discount hearing aids are the real thing. For one thing, if you want to buy a model that is a fully digital one, make sure the discount hearing aids are listed as 100 percent or fully or totally digital. Otherwise, you might end up with a model that has some components that are analog. This will give you less flexibility in the programming and processing of your aids.

Compare the number of frequency bands or channels. Having more will give your fitter more latitude in accommodating your hearing losses if they are not consistent through all the ranges. With more channels, your audiologist can give more amplification to the frequencies you have trouble hearing and less to the ones you don’t. If the manufacturers’ hearing aids’ channels are not the same as your discount hearing aids’, they will respond differently to programming.

Carefully scrutinize the data of the two hearing aids to determine if both are actually the same model with the same directional microphone capabilities. Some brand names offer directional microphones in some of their models but not on others. If one has this feature and one doesn’t, then the discount hearing aids you are looking at are not the same as the manufacturers’ models that you suspect you are dealing with. 

Another aspect of the hearing aids to be checked is whether they have memory presets and if so, how many and what kind are they.  This will help you determine whether you your discount hearing aids are the same as the originals.  More is not always better, as personal preferences vary, but just make sure to get the number and type of memory presets that you want. 

You can become easily confused, if you’re not careful, by the different styles of discount hearing aids. BTE, or behind the ear, hearing aids are readily available at lowered prices. You can also get the other varieties, and you should be aware if you are getting an ITE, or in the ear, hearing aid, which fits in the shell of your outer ear. Be sure to recognize the different ear canal varieties, such as IC, in the canal, and CIC, completely in the canal. 

Finally, you will, of course, want to make sure you get the best price possible. Compare the prices of identical models and styles and make sure you get the best reliable deal. Just make sure there is a good policy on returns in case you are not happy with them.  That, after all, is the most important factor in choosing discount hearing aids.

Driving is just such an issue.  For most adults, the ability to drive a car is an integral part of our sense of empowerment and freedom.  We seldom think of what it would be like if we couldn’t just “jump in the car and go.”  But that feeling of complete freedom to go where you want and when you want is such a deep part of how we all function that it seems inconceivable to any of us to lose that mobility and freedom.

But for senior citizens, there will come a time when they will need to give up driving.  The causes are many but the most common reason that calls for senior citizens to stop driving is failing eyesight.  While much can be done to preserve the eyesight of senior citizens, if their ability to see becomes a hazard behind the wheel, they will have to be told that its time to let that precious freedom go.

So how do we help our senior citizen loved one accept and then cooperate with a plan to reduce or eliminate their driving?  You might be surprised that when it comes time for you as the child or caregiver of a senior citizen to talk to them about giving up driving, they may have already begun to think about it.  Senior citizens are very aware of their physical condition.  So while they may resist giving up the car or van, they may know deep down that this time would come.  Some other compelling reasons to take that step sooner rather than later are…

. Doctor’s orders.  If the senior citizen’s doctor specifically directs that Grandpa cannot drive. The senior will often respect that directive even more than family advice.  A doctor’s credibility goes a long way on this issue.
. Their own safety.  In the same way that no senior citizen wants to “fall and not get up”, the idea of being in an accident which may cause serious injury resulting in painful recovery and possible permanent reduced freedom and mobility is a compelling reason to turn the car keys over to someone else.
. The safety of others.  It’s easy to find news stories of a senior citizen who continued to drive only to be involved in an accident that caused injury or death to others, maybe even children.  That prospect is so horrifying to a Grandma or Grandpa that they may choose to ground themselves then ever face that kind of guilt.
. Savings.  Getting rid of the car means no more upkeep, car payments, gas expense and auto insurance.  Senior citizens are penny wise so that kind of savings can make a big difference.

If your senior citizen comes to understand that accommodations can be made to help them get out and about, the loss of that car may not be a big deal. Public transportation or buses that community services centers send out to retirement villages can help senior citizens get out to the grocery store and to doctor’s appointments.  And if their family pitches in to help drive Grandma or Grandpa around, not only do they lose the expense and liability of driving, they get more family time too.  And that is a great incentive to give up driving and let others serve as their chauffeur.