ElderAuthority.com

Heard it Through the Grapevine: Senior Discounts

Ask for Your Senior Discount
Money is high on the list of worries for senior citizens, caregivers, and families. We are going to need every penny we can get.  One of the bright spots in aging is that lots of things are FREE or discounted for seniors.  But YOU must ASK  for your senior discounts!

There are discounts for  restaurants, supermarkets, department stores, travel deals and other types of offers giving various discounts with different age requirements.  Some of… More

Longevity Factor: How Much Do You Laugh?

Laughter is a Longevity Factor
Researchers in Norway found that near death patients who maintained a good sense of humor increased their odds of survival—by 31 percent!
Caregivers: How much do you laugh?  Invalids: How much do you laugh?
Humor expert Allen Klein gives this advice for increasing the laughter in your life.
Place Laughter Reminders
Hmmm.  I need to do this.  I think I will start with putting pictures of laughing animals on my office walls.  That should give… More

Social Security Online

Social Security Online Simplifies Life
Wahoo!  Yeehaw!  The bad old days of standing in  line at the Social Security Office are a thing of the past.  The Social Security Administration website now gives you access to your information through “my Social Security” and allows you to make changes from home.  There’s no need to drive to a local Social Security office or wait for an appointment with a Social Security representative.
Set Up a “my Social… More

Help for Seniors: Heard it Through the Grapevine

New Wine Before Bed
A single glass at night could mean a peaceful, uninterrupted night’s sleep…
California vintners in the Napa Valley area, which primarily produce  Pinot Blanc, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Grigio wines, have developed a new hybrid grape  that acts as an anti-diuretic.  It is expected to reduce the number of trips older people have to make to the bathroom during the night.
NEW Wine for Seniors:  The new wine will be marketed as PINO MORE.
Contributed… More

Life of Pi: Insights for the Intentional Life

Image by mikebaird via Flickr

Drifting or The Intentional Life
I saw the movie, Life of Pi, this weekend.  It is true art in its soulfulness, beauty, wisdom, and ability to make us want to be better people.
Life of Pi is about a 16-year-old boy, Pi, who is shipwrecked and survives adrift in a lifeboat with an adult Bengal tiger.  His relationship to God, religion, art, family, nature, death and life are transformed along the way.  At one point Pi gives up hope and collapses in the… More

Senior Lifestyles: College Towns

Successful agers do not let stereotypes define what they do with their lives.  Senior lifestyles include relocating to college towns.
The “Road to Retirement” series from CBS Nightly News validates the radical move we made by pulling up roots in Texas and relocating to Ann Arbor, Michigan.
College towns offer a variety of activities to keep body and soul active and engaged.  These include:

Attending class
Following local sports
Pursuing lifelong learning… More

Best Senior Living: Humor is Key

Laughing Senior by ElderAuthority

Keeping your sense of humor and helping others find theirs is a tried and true way to the good life at any age.  The best senior living includes humor, savvy, and connection.
A married couple is traveling by car from Victoria to Prince George .
Being seniors, after almost eleven hours on the road, they were too tired to continue and decided to take a room. But, they only planned to sleep for four hours and then get back on the road.
When they checked… More

“Anything Goes” in Ann Arbor

Seeking Out Fresh Experiences
Thirty days after moving to Ann Arbor from Dallas we have taken advantage of very few of the delightful and unique opportunities offered in our new town.  We did manage to catch a movie at the Michigan Theater.  Otherwise, most of our time has been spent completing renovations, unpacking boxes, hanging pictures, making trips to Lowe’s, paying bills, and getting to know our neighbors.
There were at least a dozen events I wanted to attend… More

Relocation and Finding a New Hair Salon

A trip to a new hair salon can be a traumatic event.   Ten days after moving into my new home in Ann Arbor, MI, the urgent need to do something about my hair outshouted the claims of boxes still waiting to be unpacked.  Reluctantly, I made an appointment for the dreaded first visit.
Plan Ahead
There are things you can do to make the transition to a new salon less stressful.
I have been very lucky in my selections for the past 15 years.  When I left New York City eight years ago, I asked… More

Moving is a Pain in the Neck

Happy New Years to you all!  A week ago, we left Dallas.  We made it safely to Ann Arbor two days later and are still waiting  for the moving van to show up with our furniture.
Moving Day
Moving Day was pretty miserable.  The truck was at the house by 8:30 a.m., and the movers loaded our stuff into it until 6:30 in the evening.  It took another two hours to clean the house since we had to leave it shiny since it is now empty and For Sale.  By the time I was done polishing floors I… More