Drugstore Bargains

Everybody needs a bargain these days, not just elders. And the prices on simple stuff in the drugstore is sometimes unbelievable! We started using the Rite Aid rebate program about a year ago. At first, it was a pain in the neck...fill out those little spaces on the form, mail it in. Wait forever for the refund, if it comes at all. Then the lightbulb went on---we started submitting the info online. Key in your receipt number, submit at month's end, bingo, a check comes in a few weeks. It's pretty quick and painless, combined with store sales and coupons, it can save a bundle. You don't even have to check the rebate book, just enter the receipts anyway and the site picks up the purchases that qualify.
We also have one of the Walgreen prescription cards, but a lot of people miss the fact that these give a 10% discount on any Walgreen brand product. You have to swipe your card at checkout, and the discount amount will be deducted from your next purchase.

The Little Stuff

We have an 88-year old in the house. He just lost his wife in 2008. He's lost most of his best friends. He is bed and chair bound, and doesn't get out much. But he has his marbles in tact. How do you help a person in this circumstance keep his spirits up? My current answer is to dwell on the little stuff. Make every football game like the Superbowl, with special snacks. Food is big with elders, so we make homemade cakes and candies. And we invite anyone to stop in and visit, even if the house looks like an unmade bed. We have Wii marathons. And we talk current events and put on CNN instead of daytime trash TV. We are always trying to invent new things to keep eldest elder engaged, and sometimes it isn't easy. But the interesting thing is, I find that the simple stuff that works for him also works for the rest of us. Celebrating the simple everyday stuff keeps us all from falling into a winter funk.

A Do Over?

What is it about a new year that brings desire for change? As much as it's just another day, it's always a time to reflect, and to think about what we could do better. Or as they would say in "City Slickers," one of the funniest takes on reflection, we get a "do over." I like to think, as John Mayer says, that "the best of me is still hiding up my sleeve. " If only I could figure out how to roll the sleeve up. Change is tough. I think, because you want it to be an instant process and it is more likely a slow but steady process,.....one small step at a time. What do I want for today? To be more organized. It's never been my forte. NEVER. And maybe, to learn to cook with a little more panache. You know, less meatloaf and something slightly more exotic. To understand the stock market. (Don't fret, I won't mention world peace.) Happy New Year, one resolute day at a time.

Online Again

For the past two months I've been using a borrowed eight year old laptop, as the house computer quit cold turkey. I'm back with a new laptop, and a new appreciation for speed. I missed doing holiday shopping online, but I also realized how much time is spent surfing and playing online. We made it through our first Christmas without Little Elder, and it was different. LE loved Christmas. Big Elder had moments of rueful remembrance, but did pretty well. Christmas is such a mix of fun and sadness, as the parties and visits are tempered with the memories of earlier years and people no longer here with us. Although we are all still grieving, we enjoy those who are here and keep putting one foot in front of the other. It's a bit of a roller coaster at times, but so it goes...

Ode to an Economic Meltdown

The Dow is in a tailspin
As the former heavy hitters
Sit upon the sidelines
With total market jitters.

The days are growing colder
With no oil in the tank
And the work is getting scarcer
With no money in the bank.

It's bad when you are tickled
With a 4% C.D.
And a date is eating hot dogs
While the stars dance on T.V.

If the sparring politicians
Don't think up something drastic
I'll be 95 and asking
"Paper bag or plastic?"

The simple life is not so bad
Don't have a pity fit,
America is down, not out
And never do we quit.

Our treasures are our family
And our friends and good fresh air,
And not the newest gizmo
or a bibelot to wear.


I invite you to respond and add to the verses!

Don't Miss "The Hunt for Black Gold"

I caught the CNBC documentary "The Hunt for Black Gold" last night, and I believe it is a MUST SEE for all Americans. It details the world situation regarding oil exploration, supplies and drilling. We are able, in some way, to remedy our own financial crisis. If there were an energy meltdown, this would probably not be the case. There is too much power (no pun intended) in the hands of countries we don't control. Some don't even particularly like us. We have seen the lines for gasoline in the Southeast following Hurricane Ike. It isn't too much of a stretch to imagine this on a nationwide level. And as Boone Pickens has so bluntly pointed out, "we can't drill our own way out of this one." New technology has got to be the answer. We are greatly innovative people. Until the new technology is in place, we need to conserve out the wazoo! Maybe we can each just do one thing to further the cause....use a clothesline, take public transit, walk, carpool, close off an unused room in the house.....just pick one. You know that tv commercial that demands the government to FREE US from foreign oil. How about we free ourselves!

Oil Spills

I keep reading that drilling for oil offshore is so safe and secure, but never hear any statistics. So I decided to look them up for myself. I looked at the past year, and tried to find spills that were LARGE, in the hundreds of thousands of gallons. In the past 12 months, there were four. One was off the coast of South Korea, one in the Kerch Strait in Russia, and of course, the spills off San Francisco and in the Mississippi River near New Orleans. A fourth event, the discovery of 200 oil-slicked dead penguins on the beaches of Brazil, is still of unknown origin and quantity. There were also countless platform fires and over 40 platforms damaged in Hurricane Ike. This doesn't count smaller spills of under 100,000 gallons. Simply put....this is NOT safe and secure enough for me. How many coastal industries and wildlife could offshore drilling kill with one substantial spill? That I can't look up.