-
Savvy Senior: How Medicare Covers Physical Therapy Services
Click for audio version. Narration provided by WondervoxAI.
By Jim Miller
Dear Savvy Senior,
Does Medicare cover physical therapy, and if so, how much coverage do they provide? My 66-year-old husband was recently diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and will need ongoing physical therapy to help keep him moving.
Worried Wife
Dear Worried,
Yes, Medicare does indeed pay for physical therapy along with occupational and speech therapy too, if he needs it, as long as it’s prescribed by his doctor. You’ll also be happy to know that Medicare has no limits on how much it will pay for therapy services, but there is an annual coverage threshold you should be aware of. Here’s what you should know.
-
The Twist Podcast #226: Vigilante Samaritans, Vichy Gays, and an Interview with Stephen Dolainski
Join co-hosts Mark McNease and Rick Rose as we consider the parable of the Good Samaritan, question the motives of the Vichy gays, and speak with Guided Autobiography instructor Stephen Dolainski.
About Guided Autobiography (GAB)
Guided Autobiography is a unique form of self-reflection that encourages and assists individuals in writing their life story. It is an interactive process that provides guidance and support from an experienced facilitator who helps the participant identify meaningful moments, themes, and values in their life and create a narrative based on these reflections. It allows for individuals to take ownership of their autobiographical process, providing them with the agency to share only those aspects of their life they feel comfortable disclosing.
Guided Autobiography is beneficial for both mental and physical health. Writing one’s life story can bring about feelings of greater understanding and appreciation of oneself while helping the individual recognize how far they have come in terms of personal growth. Through this reflective exercise, participants can gain insight into how experiences from their past have shaped who they are today and how trauma or loss has impacted their lives. Additionally, it can provide a cathartic release, allowing them to express emotions that may otherwise remain unspoken.
Enjoy The Twist on Libsyn, iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Amazon Music, and TheTwistPodcast.com.
Copyright 2023 MadeMark Publishing
-
Lambertville and New Hope Pride: A Rainy Day in Paradise
Click for the audio version. Narration provided by WondervoxAI.
With all the efforts being made in states across the country to force LGBTQ people into silence, out of public view, re-marginalized as outlaws whose very lives are once again being made criminal, it was beyond refreshing to walk in the Lambertville (NJ) and New Hope (PA) Pride parade. It rained all day long, which didn’t dampen our spirits. It was a big, wet, glorious day.
Some thoughts on Pride
Pride for LGBTQ people is not the opposite of humility. It does not come before a fall, but after rising from the weight of discrimination and hatred. Pride is not arrogant or self-serving.
Pride, for us, is:
Learning to love ourselves and each other despite the lies we’re told about ourselves.
Learning to care for ourselves and each other, despite having been abandoned by families and institutions.
Learning to be free, and to celebrate the freedom of others, whether they are like us or not.
Learning to hear the inner voices of kindness, encouragement, and daring, until they drown out the voices of condemnation, contempt, and mockery.
Pride does not mean we’re ‘proud’ to be something we naturally are. It means we reject the rejection, the bigotry, the scorn, the ridicule, the hatred of others, the self-hatred we’re taught from pulpits and state houses and governors’ mansions and laws meant to defeat us. Pride is the conviction that we won’t be defeated, and that we have nothing to hide.
-
Rick’s Latest Listicle: Odd Jobs of the Odd Kind
Click to hear the audio version. Narration by WondervoxAI.
Rick Rose
Co-Host of The Twist PodcastWelcome to Rick’s Latest Listicle, a regular feature sharing Rick Rose’s lists of things to know about.
Want an odd job you can truly call odd? After researching dozens of the most unusual jobs out there, here are my Top Five picks, from five to one:
5. From researching the bed to setting it up, to sleeping in it (of course) to filing a report with their findings, it’s all in a night’s sleep for a Professional Sleeper. Do you wake in the morning well rested? Then thank this profession for all they do.
-
The Weekly Readlines May 18
Click for the audio version. Narration provided by WondervoxAI.
The Weekly Readlines (rhymes with headlines!) is a feature at LGBTSr providing news you can use every week.
BIG CUP: THE WEEK’S TOP STORIES
The terror from Tallahassee continues: Wilton Manors’ board of commissioners voted unanimously to force compliance of Florida’s anti-drag law for their upcoming Pride parade. There will be no queens on floats this year.Fallout continues from CNN’s clown hall, complete with its audience of hyenas, while right-wing extremists once known as the Republican Party celebrate it as a win.
A 3-judge panel of the 5th Circuit appears ready to reveal itself as the idealogues they are and limit or ban the use if Mifepristone. And mass shootings continued as a daily presence in American life.
-
Savvy Senior: Toenail Trimming Tips for Seniors
Click to hear audio version. Narration by WondervoxAI.
By Jim Miller
Dear Savvy Senior,
Can you recommend some good toenail clipping solutions for seniors? My toenails have gotten increasingly thick since I’ve gotten older and have become very difficult for me to reach down and cut.
Almost 80
Dear Almost,
Trimming your toenails is a task that most people don’t think much about, but as we get older it can become very challenging. For many older adults, like yourself, toenails can become thicker and harder to cut, and reduced flexibility can make it more difficult to even get into the right position to cut them. Fortunately, there are solutions available that can make this job a little easier.
-
Mark McNease Mysteries Podcast #57: Kill Switch: A Kyle Callahan Mystery (Chapters 10 – 12)
I’ll be bringing you the audiobook edition of Kill Swtich: A Kylle Callahan Mystery, in three-chapters released over the next 12+ weeks! The narration is provided by my own WondervoxAI, using the voice of someone I call Android Josh.
Kill Swtich is the 5th installment in the Kyle Callahan Series, and it finds Kyle dealing with the trauma of having ended the life of a vicious serial killer. Fasten your headphones, and check in every week for the next three chapters.
-
The Twist Podcast #225: CNN’s Clown Hall Fail, Single Serve Bathrooms, and the Great American Pickleball Divide
Join co-hosts Mark McNease and Rick Rose as we torch CNN’s clown hall fail, encourage the spread of single serve bathrooms, and consider the great pickleball debate tearing the country apart.
Enjoy The Twist on Libsyn, iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Amazon Music, and TheTwistPodcast.com.
Copyright 2023 MadeMark Publishing
-
LGBTSr Now Includes Audio Versions of All Posts to Better Serve Readers (and Listeners!)
Click to hear audio version. Narration provided by WondervoxAI.
If you’re like me and your eyes aren’t always in the mood to focus properly, audio can be a way to make things more accessible. This is certainly true of those of us into our 60s and beyond. I’ve heard from readers who are visually impaired, or who have trouble reading fonts. Now I can offer them something that makes LGBTSr inclusive of our readers, and our listeners, too!
Every post, article, and news item will include an audio version. Simply click on the audio file at the top of each item, and enjoy the narration. I’m currently using my own venture, WondervoxAI, to provide the voices. The technology is exciting for a tech nerd like me, and the opportunities it offers to be more efficient and provide more service to various audiences is pretty amazing.
Fasten your headphones!
Subscribe here for weekly delivery of LGBTSr on Substack. New content every Friday.
-
Side Hustles for Older People (and Everyone Else!)
Click to hear the audio edition. Narration by WondervoxAI.
The cat is out of the bag: I’ll be leaving my job in three weeks. I spent 30+ years in corporate America, then switched to working in a grocery store when we moved from New York City to rural New Jersey. Six years later I am finally hanging up the deli apron to be … whatever fabulous things I can create! Writing, publishing, podcasting, working with AI and new technologies, you name it. I’m also going to get some side hustles going, and I thought it would be helpful to find out what some good ones are.
Side Hustles for the People
Side hustles are a great way for older adults to supplement their income and stay active. Whether they’re looking for a few extra dollars per week or a full-time gig, there are plenty of options for seniors seeking to make some extra money. Popular side hustle ideas for older people include pet sitting, becoming a freelance writer, delivering groceries, providing virtual assistant services, and renting out rooms on Airbnb.
-
Rick’s Latest Listicle: Friends By Any Other Name
Click to hear audio edition. Narration by WondervoxAI.
Rick Rose
Co-Host of The Twist PodcastWelcome to Rick’s Latest Listicle, a regular feature sharing Rick Rose’s lists of things to know about.
As a single man, another Valentine’s Day came and went this year. But terms of endearment aren’t just for lovers and partners. I use them all the time on my friends. I got great practice living in Louisiana. In the South, affection and respect are expressed abundantly. They can be used in a variety of contexts, from everyday conversation to more romantic gestures.
Here are my favorite Top 5 Terms of Endearment.
5 Sweetheart or Sweets
The word “sweetheart” originated in the 13th century as a combination of the words “sweet” and “heart.” In the Middle Ages, the heart was seen as the seat of emotion, so calling someone your “sweetheart” was a way of saying that they were dear to you.
-
Book Review: I Have Something to Tell You (For Young Adults), by Chasten Buttigieg
Click to hear audio edition. Narration by WondervoxAI.
By Terri Schlichenmeyer
The Bookworm Sez“I Have Something to Tell You (For Young Adults) by Chasten Buttigieg
c.2023, Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing $18.99 209 pagesExperience, they say, is the best teacher.
Once you’ve done something, you can say you like it and you’ll do it again or not. The subject comes with a different viewpoint, once you’ve gotten a little experience with it. You’re wiser, more confident. As in the new book “I Have Something to Tell You” by Chasten Buttigieg, you’ll have the chops to offer valid advice.
If you’d have asked 8-year-old Chasten Buttigieg what life was like, he probably would’ve told you about his big brothers and how wild and daring they were. He would’ve said he didn’t have many friends and that he loved his parents. He wouldn’t have told you about being gay, though, because he had no frame of reference, no experience, or role models. He just knew then that he was “different.”