HUNTINGTON, NY LIBRARY, a source for traveling seniors!!!
Posted: June 14, 2017 Filed under: geezerTrips, Uncategorized | Tags: Huntington, library, Travel Leave a comment »There is no better place for the geezer when travelling than a public library and the Huntington Public Library in Huntington, Long Island can’t be beat.
It is open seven days a week and is located in the center of town. It has all the usual amenities including bathroom, free WiFi, copying machines, computers, e-mail stations, magazines, used book store and a big reference section.
Hard cover books are $1.00 and paperbacks are 50 cents.
In addition there are interesting public programs. Posted today on the bulletin board are:
“Women Pirates,” a lecture by Stony Brook University Professor, Tara Rider.
A mystery book discussion group
Drop-In Meditation program
Courses in Microsoft Programs
They also have a senior information center with information of interest to seniors; including bus schedules and senior programs.
You can read a half-dozen daily newspapers and probably 100 different magazines.
Across the street you can find coffee, breakfast, lunch and an assortment of shops.
Libraries are especially good if you are visiting family. They work, go to school, and generally have a life without you, so if you can get out of their hair and have an interesting day, it is a win-win situation.
Huntington Public Library – www.myhpl.org
Google search: Name of town + library
THINK OLD!
MEETUP – social networking for seniors; and, everyone else-
Posted: May 3, 2017 Filed under: geezerLearns, geezerTrips, New Mexico, Uncategorized | Tags: blogs, learning, meetup, Travel Leave a comment »Meetup is a social networking group based on common interests. You locate a site near you, or near where you will be, by going to meetup.com and inserting your zip code or city. You can then find groups that have the same interest as you. You can sign up, go to the meetings and enjoy what they have to offer.
The Meetup in Albuquerque includes one on blogging using WordPress which I joined. It meets weekly and while it has over 800 members there are usually only 5 – 10 there. The meetings are either “work-a-longs where you can get expert help with your blog for free; or sessions with speakers on various blogging topics; including photography.
The work-a-longs are very good if you are trying to learn something new and need help. I can get quick, knowledgeable help on my blog problems from people who are expert in the field. The meetings last up to two hours and are always useful.
Meetups are not limited to blogging; they are for any thing people are interested in; including, dancing, languages, travel, art, cooking, or you can even start your own. They cost nothing for the participant, and about $10 a month for the sponsor. You could even start one on how to live as an old person.
When traveling, look for Meetups where you will be. Just plug-in the new zip code or name of town and see what you get.
SEARCH IDEAS:
Google: meetup.com +city, state
For example: Since I am going to Huntington, NY:
Google: meetup.com +Huntington, NY
and the result is: a list of Meetups around Huntington, NY, including, hiking, food, photography, sailing, widows and widowers, etc. There is no shortage of Meetups, including 25 on writing; none on blogging and one on WordPress, which costs $6.
You should Google: meetup.com +name of town
They are worth considering.
THINK OLD!
HERITAGE ARTS – a learning vacation at Southwestern Community College in the land of the Cherokee!
Posted: April 13, 2017 Filed under: geezerLearns, geezerQuests, geezerTrips, Uncategorized | Tags: Cherokee, Travel Leave a comment »I recently attended the local Quarterly Chapter Meeting of the Trail of Tears Association, which was held at Swain Center Southwestern Community College, Almond, North Carolina. The speaker was Jeff Marley, a professor at Southwestern Community College, who will teach you how to print in Cherokee.
Jeff gave us a tour of the arts program which includes pottery making using three different kilns for firing: gas, electric and wood-fired. The clay is local and the techniques for making the pottery are both traditional and contemporary.
The school is located about 75 miles from Asheville, NC, on the edge of the Eastern Band Cherokee Indian Reservation. It has a Casino and Museum in Cherokee.
The school has a summer art program that features ceramics, pottery, photography, drawing, printing and “Cherokee Language Printing.” The classes cost around $25; and $50 for a 5 week independent study course. Jeff will help you design your own course if you want. Beats a lot of things you could be doing and it is interesting.
Printing in the Cherokee language struck me. You use Cherokee fonts and print on an old-fashioned press.
Cherokee language fonts.
You set the type by hand in boxes, you place it in the press, you run the press by hand, make a proof and then do as many copies as you want.
A very old press.
If pottery is your thing, there is a large class room;
Pottery Classroom
resulting in as much pottery as you can make:
Pottery
The Swain Center offers hands on instruction in techniques that you would not get elsewhere. How many wood-fired kilns are there? Where else can you learn to set type in the Cherokee Language and then print posters, books and stationary in Cherokee. You may need a translator.
The Cherokee property, not a reservation, is the home of the Eastern Band of Cherokees; the ones who were left and who bought their property, after some of their ancestors were forced to move to Oklahoma where they became the Western Band. There are museums to see; and of course Harrah’s Casino in Cherokee, NC. and the art community of Waynesville, NC. Don’t forget the Biltmore Estate in Asheville.
You can fish, hunt, sail, hike, etc.
The real point of this blog is to encourage people to check out community colleges wherever they happen to be; or happen to be going. You can frequently gain access to college facilities and can learn something new.
THINK OLD!
PANAMA CANAL TRAIN – COLON TO PANAMA CITY – a trip along the canal.
Posted: March 26, 2017 Filed under: geezerTrips, Panama, Uncategorized | Tags: Panama, Panama Canal, Panama Canal Railway, trains, Travel Leave a comment »On March 15, 2017, while on a Road Scholar trip, thirty of us traveled by train along the Panama Canal from Colon, Panama to Panama City, Panama.
We had traversed the Panama Canal by small ship, spent the night in Colon and toured the city the next morning.
Panama Canal Train boarding at Colon Station.
At 5:15 PM the train left from an old loading platform in Colon. We had seats in the dome car and rode along the canal for an hour and fifteen minutes to Panama City. The train runs once a day in each direction.
Our tour director lined us up to board at 5:00 and he had staked out the dome car for our group; sharing the dome with another tour.
Seniors get a break in the fare if they are Panama Citizens or Permanent Residents. Other wise it is full fare: $25. But the extra $7.50 is probably worth it; and, I am sure that our Road Scholar had worked some sort of deal.
The history of the Panama Canal Railway is fascinating as it predates the canal, was used during the California Gold Rush, and, in 1852, when it opened, was the only transcontinental railway. It was also immensely profitable, as the Panama Canal is today.
Don’t plan on taking a boat trip through the canal and catching the train the same day. It won’t work. There are too many variables in getting through the locks and to the train station. You don’t want to be stuck in Colon without a hotel reservation.
If you need transportation and are not on a tour, remember that Uber works in Panama and is reasonable.
Sources:
Panama Canal Railway – Wikipedia
Road Scholar: Grit and Glory: Exposing the Panama Canal
THINK OLD!
BIOMUSEO – FRANK GHERY’S MUSEUM IN PANAMA
Posted: March 24, 2017 Filed under: geezerTrips, Uncategorized | Tags: BioMuseo, Ghery, Miuseums, Panama, Travel Leave a comment »The BioMuseo in Panama City, Panama is one of Frank Ghery’s museums around the world. The BioMuseo reflects the flora and fauna diversity of Panama. It is educational as well as entertaining. It would be a wonderful place for grandchildren. It also has a $4 discount for non-resident seniors, making admission cost $18.
BioMuseo
Uber is faster and cheaper than taxis in Panama City.
A good place for a rainy day. There is a video and a shop, of course.
One level is full of models of birds and animals unique to Panama, past and present.
This was an optional part of the Road Scholar Trip, Grit and Glory: Exploring the Panama Canal.
You can easily spend an afternoon there; or a year.
SIX CHEAP HOME SECURITY IDEAS FOR OLD PEOPLE!
Posted: January 12, 2017 Filed under: Aging-in-place, geezerAdapts, geezerSecurity, Uncategorized | Tags: aging in place, Canary, living-in-place, security, Travel 1 Comment »
Geezer’s Solar Powered Motion Sensor Outdoor Light.
I am 76, vulnerable and cheap. A recent neighborhood burglary and car vandalism made me rethink our home security.
What is unique about most old people – my wife and I?
- We live alone.
- Our memories are not quite what they used to be.
- I am deaf.
- I think I am younger than I am.
- My support group is shrinking.
- I am cheap.
- I am fearful.
- Any system we use must be simple and self-operating. We can’t be bothered with any complexity.
- We travel and are frequently away from home.
I cannot protect us from everything; but, I can reduce the odds, my fear, and my paranoia. I can provide a video if I am the victim of a crime.
This is what I did.
- I turn on porch and garage exterior lights each night. My neighbors can watch. I have mixed feelings about this as there is an argument that you allow burglars to see what they are doing.
- I rewired the pyracantha along our back wall and tied the stems so that they covered the whole wall. I will let them grow taller in the future.
- I installed two interior lights on timers that go on and off automatically at various times in the evening. ($4.87 each.)
- I wired together wire tomato cages (I use these in the summer for my tomatoes. – or $2 each.) where the exterior walls adjoined my neighbor’s wall. Someone coming over the wall has to deal with the pyracantha, the wires and the cages, which they cannot see in the dark. Jail provides medical treatment.
- I installed a solar motion sensor light ($29.97) over the back door. This gives off enough light to see the back yard and becomes very bright if someone enters the yard. My neighbor can watch the burglar.
- I installed a Canary Security System and Camera ($199.95) tied into my smart phone. My smart phone beeps if someone enters my home office. I can watch whoever is there (even if I am in Iceland), activate an alarm, or call the police. The system records and retains the video for at least 24 hours, or longer if you subscribe. It is quite clear even in the dark. It goes on automatically when I leave the house, but I have to click “private” when I return home or it keeps monitoring. The BIG problem with this is that the first night I did not click “private” after I returned home. The next morning I had a video of a 76 year-old, nude man, coming out of the bathroom; now, I turn it off when I am at home.
When we are really old, our kids can access the Canary from their smart phones and monitor us. I will have to start wearing a robe.
The total cost of our security system was $239.70, plus tax.
I could have used a commercial alarm service, but that costs a lot more, and they call a neighbor, or us, giving the burglar time to get away You put your neighbor in harm’s way when they go to check on your home. If the police are called and it is a false alarm, you may get charged depending on your town.
We travel a lot, have no relatives in town, and worry about security when we are gone. This is not a perfect system, but for the cost, I don’t see how we could do more.
The net result is that I feel better, I have not spent much money, I have a simple system that even I can handle, and I will have a video of the burglar. I may even catch him by dialing 911 and advising the police where he is in my home and whether or not he appears to be armed. The video will be evidence.
In old age the geezer needs a KISS! (Keep it Simple Stupid!)
A six-inch Canary camera attached to my smart phone, quietly waiting for my burglar, or a 76 year-old nude, if I forget to deactivate it.
Pyracantha and wired tomato cages waiting for my burglar.
MINIMALIST SENIOR -BEACH PACKING – 7 ITEMS
Posted: April 12, 2016 Filed under: AGING, geezerTrips, Uncategorized | Tags: beach, minimal, old age, packing, Travel, vacation 1 Comment »Old and going on a beach vacation doesn’t require much. I am a minimalist senior. I can’t tote heavy bags, much less lift them into the overhead airplane compartment. I don’t want to sort things. I am in an “elder rut” and only wear certain easy things I like. I usually leave my checkered pants with the zipper that doesn’t work at home.
In fact, as you can see from the picture, this does not just apply to beach vacations, but to any trip you take after 75, or some other arbitrary date.
I am not going to impress anyone if I don’t wear the latest styles. I won’t be denied admission to any beach restaurant as long as I have the required “shirt and shoes.” I have thought about not wearing pants, but…..
You also have what you wear from home to the beach; and, which can serve in an emergency as extra clothing. It might include an umbrella, raincoat, watch, cell-phone, wallet, travel bag and a light jacket. When you arrive, you take it off: when you leave, you put it back on. No washing necessary.
The following is all that you need for a week, a month or a year. You can wash it all in the sink. During rainy season, you might add an umbrella, or just stay inside.
The following is all you need for a week, a month or a year.
- Sandals
- Shorts with pockets that don’t lose change and wallet.
- 5 t-shirts
- 5 underpants
- Hat?
- Toilet kit with meds
- Laptop, i-pad, case and chargers. You download all your books on the Kindle App., and net flex and perhaps some streaming.
It all fits in a small carry-on bag, including the lap-top or i-pad and cords.
THINK OLD!
SPEED DIALING FOR SLOW OLD TRAVELLERS!
Posted: February 7, 2014 Filed under: geezerTrips | Tags: speed dialing, Travel 1 Comment »
Speed dial numbers that you should have on your smart phone while travelling. It wouldn’t hurt to have them there all the time.
1. ICE (in case of emergency numbers) ICE-1 Spouse; ICE-2 Child; etc.
2. Airline rebooking/travel agent (If the flight is cancelled, you don’t want to stand in line.)
3. Your children
4. Personal physician
5. Travel insurance provider
6. Hotel
7. Neighbor
8. Person caring for you pet
9. Pharmacist
10. Tour guide/director
11. American Embassy
Maybe you don’t need these on speed dial, but at least you should have the numbers. Since you may have to rebook a cancelled flight, lose your medicine, forget to do something at home, etc. Have one of your grand-kids program your smart phone and then tape it to the back of your phone. The kid can also show you how to access the speed dial.
You are too old to try to figure out what to do and where to get numbers in a crowded airport; when you have had your possessions stolen, or when you have just discovered that you forgot to bring some pill that you “must have,” probably the Viagra.
You might even want to add a few more numbers, but don’t add too many; you will only get confused.
Make sure that your phone works in the country you are going to. Most of the services provide for access for a few weeks wherever you are. Call them and ask.