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The Savvy Senior: Cheap Cell Phone Plans for Seldom Calling Seniors
By Jim MillerDear Savvy Senior
What are the cheapest cell phone plans available to seniors today? I’m 78-years-old and want it primarily for emergency purposes.
Infrequent Caller
Dear Infrequent,
While unlimited high-speed data, video streaming and mobile hot spot are now standard for most cell phone plans today, there are still a number of low-cost wireless plans designed with seniors in mind.
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One Thing or Another: Not So Fast (Age and the Morning Routine)
It’s always One Thing or Another … a lighthearted look at aging, life, and the absurdities of it all.By Mark McNease
I hope my morning routine hasn’t stretched to an hour when I’m seventy, and I certainly hope I can accomplish it unaided. I’m trying.
I used to be able to get up, shower, dress, and ready myself for another day faster than the opening theme song to the morning news. By the time the anchors announced the top stories, I was pouring my second cup of coffee and adjusting my tie, fully prepared to meet the demands of a stalled career.
How does anyone without superpowers accomplish this? Was there a phone booth in the bathroom, into which I hurried one minute and emerged from the next scrubbed and presentable? Or was it youth itself? A youth that extended into my fifties before vanishing into the mists of a morning routine grown longer by the year?
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Grace Anne Stevens: Of Thee I Dream (Poetry)
Grace Anne Stevens Of Thee I Dream
My country used to be
The home of Liberty
Of this I singLand where our dreams come true
For me and each of you
These days I feel so blue,
It makes me scream! -
The Savvy Senior: How to Make a Living Will
The Savvy Senior
By Jim MillerDear Savvy Senior,
What’s the best way to go about making a living will? I recently retired and would like to start getting my affairs in order, just in case.
Approaching 70
Dear Approaching,
Preparing a living will now is a smart decision that gives you say in how you want to be treated at the end of your life. Here’s what you should know, along with some resources to help you create one.
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Lee Lynch’s Amazon Trail: Remember Summer?
Photo by Sue Hardesty By Lee Lynch
The Amazon Trail: Remember Summer?I mean serious summer. When the season was all fireflies and sandcastles, ice cream trucks and taking the train to visit relatives for two whole weeks. It was hours of reading, amusement parks, and hitting tennis balls against the apartment building next door for hours. It was the public swimming pool and cool sheets for sunburns and the ice cream truck. It was freedom.
I’m not exactly sure what happened, or at what age summertime was stolen away, but it sure ain’t what it used to be.
I am not a social person and I don’t have the energy I had when I played vigorous games of handball (with myself) at the P.S. 20 playground once school let out in June. These days, an interview fries me. My summer started with 3 of them in two weeks. The interviewers were terrific and the subjects dear to my heart. In one of them, I talked with Natasha Frost about what pulp novels meant to us: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/lesbian-pulp-fiction-ann-bannon.
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Grace Anne Stevens: My Transgender Life – Perhaps Parallel Lines Do Meet
Grace Anne Stevens Editor’s Note: I’m excited to welcome Grace Anne Stevens as a new contributor. Grace’s voice is unique, necessary, and a fabulous addition to LGBTSr. – Mark/Editor
By Grace Anne Stevens
My Transgender Life: Perhaps Parallel Lines Do MeetLife is full of change and transitions. This is just one of those universal constants, that even if we forget to apply it to understand our life’s journeys, still takes effect. It applies to each of us, and there is nothing at all we can do about it.
As a transgender woman, there has been that moment of transition, or perhaps I should use a capital T…. and call it… Transition, that to most people like me, makes that moment, let’s say, momentous.
The entire concept of changing or transitioning genders comes with a pretty large suitcase of emotions for those doing it and is so often shared with everyone in connection with them. For many, that suitcase may never empty out, and is carried with them year after year.
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The Savvy Senior: How to Find Retiree Travel Perks
By Jim MillerDear Savvy Senior,
What types of travel discounts are available to older travelers? I just retired and am interested in learning about travel deals for people over 60.
Ready To Go
Dear Ready,
There are literally thousands of different travel-related discounts available to retirees that usually start anywhere between the ages 50 and 65. These discounts – typically ranging between 5 and 25 percent off – can add up to save you hundreds of dollars on your next trip. Here’s how you can find them.
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Travel Time: Vienna Travelogue, by Sue Katz
Reprinted with permission from Sue Katz’s Consenting Adult Blog
By Sue Katz
All photos courtesy of Sue Katz
May 15, 2018Because in the last election, the neo-Nazis became part of the ruling coalition, I decided that I wanted to see gorgeous Vienna one last time before it tilted any further towards fascism. I have been in Vienna two or three times before, but not since the 90s. I find a three-bedroom Airbnb with a rather parsimonious landlady (“Look it up on the internet” was her answer to any question – whether about the phone number of a taxi company or the location of recommended local restaurants). Two friends join me: Jaya, the sculptor from Italy and Sandy, the paper artist from the California redwoods.
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The Savvy Senior: How to Choose a Good Estate Sale Company
By Jim MillerDear Savvy Senior,
Can you provide some tips on how to choose a good estate sale company who can sell all the leftover items in my mother’s house?
Inquiring Daughter
Dear Inquiring,
The estate sale business has become a huge industry over the past decade. There are roughly 22,000 estate sale companies that currently operate in the U.S., up nearly 60 percent from just 10 years ago. But not all estate sale companies are alike.
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The Savvy Senior: ‘Extra Help’ Program Helps Seniors With Their Medication Costs
By Jim MillerDear Savvy Senior,
Are there any special Medicare programs that help seniors with their medication costs? My 74-year-old mother, who lives primarily on her Social Security, takes several high-priced drugs that sap her income even with her Medicare drug plan.
Looking for Assistance
Dear Looking,
Yes, there’s a low-income subsidy program called Extra Help that can assist seniors on a tight budget with paying for their premiums, deductible and co-payments in their Medicare (Part D) prescription drug plan.
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Book Review: Tough Mothers: Amazing Stories of History’s Mightiest Matriarchs, by Jason Porath
By Terri Schlichenmeyer
The Bookworm Sez“Tough Mothers: Amazing Stories of History’s Mightiest Matriarchs” by Jason Porath
c.2018, Dey Street $24.99 / $31.00 Canada
244 pagesYour mom is tough as nails.
The minute you were placed in her arms, she became your personal warrior, cheerleader, and banker. She remembers the good things you did and (sigh) the dumb things you tried. She pretends to forget why she ever gave you That Look. And in the new book “Tough Mothers” by Jason Porath, you’ll meet other women just like her.
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Lee Lynch’s Amazon Trail: A Poem and a Plant
Photo by Sue Hardesty By Lee Lynch
The Amazon Trail: A Poem and a PlantThe day was typical for the Pacific Northwest. The brightening sky had stopped sputtering its fine dewdrops for the moment, the wind had blown itself out, and the development where I live came to life. People took advantage of the disappearing dreariness to walk their dogs, scurry to our centrally located mailboxes, or meet their step goals.
I dropped off a copy of New York Magazine in the common room. The cover quoted Melissa Shusterman, who’s running for the Pennsylvania state legislature. “My 16-year-old turned to me after the election and he said, ‘America doesn’t want a smart, qualified woman in office.’ By Friday, I was running.”