7 New Year Hopes & Dreams

For the past 10 months, we’ve been treading water. Just trying to keep going, staying alive and well. It’s been a time of emotional ups and downs, as we adjust to the social isolation and other restrictions of the covid-19 pandemic . Now. there’s light at the end of the tunnel. We can allow ourselves to think of seven New Year hopes and dreams for 2021.

Vaccine: Not sure when it’s going to be available. We’re hoping to get it in the next month or so. My husband has agreed to go first. If he can handle it all right, I’ll get it too. Not looking forward to the side effects, but there really isn’t any choice.
Dinner at a fine restaurant. We’ve done a lot more take out this year, but sitting down with cardboard containers at your table doesn’t quite do the job. I want to get dressed up, go out for dinner, and enjoy the ambiance: Romantic lighting. Soft music. An appealing menu of delicious food. . Attentive wait staff. Afterwards, nothing to clean up or throw away in the kitchen.
7 new year hopes and dreams include dining at a fine restaurant.
Getting a Haircut.. Salons have been open, but I’ve not been willing to take that risk. I’ve done a pretty decent job of cutting my own hair, but a professional will do much better.
Talking to people when out in public. When wearing a stocking cap and mask, most people don’t recognize me. And even if I see someone I know, , I’m afraid to stop and chat. Didn’t realize how much I miss interacting with casual friends and acquaintences.
Swimming. Yes the pool at the YMCA has been open. And they’re following all the guidelines for social distancing, but it’s a little too high risk at my age. I was okay with it in the summer because I could leave without going into the locker room. But walking out in the cold with damp clothes is not my idea of fun. I just want to dive in the water, swim, do some exercises, get out, take a shower, dry my hair, get dressed, and walk out into the sunshine.
Senior center activities. Our local senior center is a haven for the retirement crowd. Miss the camaraderie of participating in tai chi and playing mahjong. Eager to once again see friendly faces, and having a good time.
Family get togethers. You can Skype and Zoom all you want, but it’s not the same as hearing the laughter of your grandchildren, seeing the light in their eyes. and the feel of a warm hug.

Happy New Year!

December 28, 2020December 28, 2020

ANXIOUSLY ZOOMING INTO CYBERSPACE

People have been Skyping for years, but, I wasn’t too keen on it. Then, my children guilted me into thinking I really ought to connect with my faraway grandchildren. Still, I shied away from the idea, citing my lack of tech savvy. But when my daughter sent me a webcam, I knew the jig was up. I had no excuse to avoid my Skype anxiety. Seeing myself on webcam for the first time was a shock. My dark distorted image resembled a horror movie monster. Someone said it was all about the lighting. That helped a bit. But I still found it awkward making conversation in such an unnatural setting. The covid-19 pandemic exacerbated the problem, because we couldn’t have a family get together. That’s when , I found myself anxiously zooming into cyberspace.

If you’re reading this blog, you probably know the difference between Skype and Zoom. But, just in case, I’ll explain the difference. With Skype, you’re just connecting with one place. There may be more people in the room, but basically, it’s a one-on-one situation. With Zoom, You’re in a video conference with 3 or 4 people, all in different places. On Christmas day I found Zoom to be a pleasanter experience. With more than one person participating, there’s less performance anxiety. It felt as though my three kids and I were sitting around in a living room, just like in the old days. Conversation felt natural, and unstrained.

anxiously zooming into cyberspace. Zoom fatigue is causing anxiety during the pandemic. — During the pandemic, many are anxiously zooming into cyberspace. Zoom anxiety is real..

Not surprisingly, many younger people have Zoom anxiety, especially when it comes to meetings associated with their work. It freaks them out to see all those people looking at them. Worse yet, is the unflattering sight of their own panicked face. They find themselves feeling sweaty and tongue tied. The problem is so prevalent that Psychology Today has offered 3 tips on how to deal with it.

If you’re interested in zooming, all you’ll need is : A phone or computer; a webcam; speakers, a microphone, and of course, an internet connection. If You don’t need to have a Zoom account., most adults in the workforce already have one.

In my case, my daughter e mailed me an invitation to join her meeting. I clicked on the link, downloaded Zoom, used the passcode provided, and voila! I had zoomed into cyberspace. Not too bad for an octogenarian!

December 26, 2020December 26, 2020

LET’S HAVE SOME TEA

The Christmas holidays are a magical time. Everything comes together— family dinners, cards from far away friends, calls and visits from loved ones, beautiful music, and delicious food. We want everything to be perfect. But often it’s not. Things don’t always turn out the way we expect. Someone’s late for dinner, your son has a fender bender, you burned the coffee cake—there are dozens of little annoyances that are bound to happen even during the best of times. How to cope? Take a tip from the British. When things go wrong, they say, “let’s have some tea.”

I was never much of a tea drinker until the covid-19 pandemic started last March. The weather was still cold, and we were all a bit panicky and depressed. All of a sudden, I had a craving for tea. As the days wore on and the virus continued to spread, I started heating the water in the late afternoon, and sitting down to sip a cup of hot tea. It was more soothing than I had ever expected. It also gave me a little lift —not the jolt you get from your morning coffee, just a feeling of calm and clarity.

The history of tea dates back over 5,000 years ago to ancient China. In 2732 B.C. Emperor Shen Nung discovered tea when leaves from a wild tree blew into a pot of water he was boiling . He enjoyed the pleasant scent of the resulting brew and described a warm feeling as he drank the tea.

Besides giving you a boost of energy, tea also has other health benefits. According to Harvard Health, it’s an anti inflammatory which may reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke. It also boosts memory and may prevent cognitive decline. Drinking tea after a meal reduces blood sugar levels, which is helpful for those with Type 2 diabetes.

There are various types of teas. Green tea is preferred by many, and is supposed to have more health benefits. Personally, I prefer black tea with a little bit of honey. The next time something goes wrong, and everyone’s feeling stressed, you might suggest “let’s have some tea.”

December 23, 2020December 23, 2020

DID TRUMP DODGE A BULLET?

Did you ever experience a broken engagement or get turned down for a job? It was upsetting at the time, and it took awhile to stop mourning your dashed hopes. But then later–maybe much later– the lost lover turned out to be a bummer, and the company that refused to hire you went bust. Or, with a more positive outcome, you found a better job, or met the love of your life. Looking back, you realize that the loss you mourned was actually a blessing in disguise. You dodged a bullet. Now, Trump supporters are grieving the Biden win during the 2020 election. But maybe it’s not a bad thing, after all. Did Trump dodge a bullet?

The stock market is climbing on good news of the vaccine. . But at least one financial advisor is predicting a once in a lifetime crash. During this pandemic, millions of jobs were eliminated in retail, restaurant and other business. Many of these jobs aren’t coming back. How long can the government keep on printing money before we have massive inflation and higher taxes?

Instead of the robust economy everyone is looking forward to, we could have stagflation–slow economic growth, high inflation and high unemployment. They say inflation is under control, but I’m not sure what indicators they’re using. Right now, the cost of food and housing is skyrocketing.

The cyber attack last March may lead to something disastrous for the country. Who knows what a hostile power is going to do with all the information they have now. We could experience massive power outages. Suddenly, you have no telephone, internet, heat, light or running water. Nothing works. Most large organizations have generators that tide them over until the power goes back on. But what if it doesn’t? Generators can’t run indefinitely. Imagine being the president of the United States during such a disaster.

Those are just two scenarios that the next President could face. We avoided foreign wars under Trump. But the luck may run out with Biden, with so many countries desperate after being ravaged by Covid-19. Only time will tell if Trump dodged a bullet.

December 21, 2020December 21, 2020

HOW ABOUT THOSE EYEBROWS?

Anyone who been to a mall has seen the eyebrow threaders. They work in a small kiosk, and are typically staffed by young women from India. Since I am a cold-weather mall walker, I’ve watched them at work for the past several years. And I’m always amazed at the number of women who use this service. How about those eyebrows? Why would you go through such a painful process to remove a few stray hairs?

When the Covid-19 pandemic began, these places were shut down in some states. But that didn’t last long. When you’re wearing a mask, the eyes are all anyone sees of your face. Wearing makeup doesn’t help; no one sees foundation, rouge, or lipstick, but you must have beautiful eyebrows

How About Those Eyebrows? Should you pay to have them threaded? — How About Those Eyebrows? The eyebrow threading business is booming.

Eyebrow threading has become more than just a “want.” The need has become intense. Churches, bars , banks and libraries may close, but not the threaders.

I look at old pictures taken in college and later years. My eyebrows looked just fine, as most young women’s do. We did a bit of plucking with tweezers just to even things out, but the idea of going to a public place and having someone use a piece of thread to shape my brows would have seemed bizarre.

Up until last year, the clients at the kiosks were not what you would expect. Mostly, they were middle aged women who didn’t seem overly stylish in the way they dressed or wore makeup. But when they left the kiosk, they had a glow about them. The threading made them feel better about their looks. Lately, the clientele appears younger. And the business is booming. Teens and twenty-somethings stand in lines or wait in chairs to get threaded every few weeks.

You have to wonder if it’s risky during the pandemic. The technician can’t thread your eyebrows from a distance. She has to get very close to your face. Yes, you’re both wearing masks. But masks aren’t keeping doctors and nurses from getting sick. Besides that, threading can cause herpes and spread staph infections.

They say the pandemic has lots of people in bad financial straits, fearing eviction and hunger. But that doesn’t seem to affect the eye threading business. How bad can the economy be when hordes of women are incurring this needless expense? How about those eyebrows?

December 18, 2020December 18, 2020

WHAT’LL WE DO NOW?

The 2020 Election is pretty well over. Yes, it’s being contested, but it doesn’t look like that effort is going anywhere. According to various polls, at least half of Americans think there was voter fraud, but there’s no proof. That may stir up a little flurry in the media, but the pre-election frenzy has fizzled out. As Richard Nixon said in 1962, after losing the California governor’s race, “you won’t have Nixon to kick around anymore.” Trump could say the same thing. What’s going to happen to people like Rachael Maddow, Sean Hannity, Don Lemon, and Tucker Carlson? What will they rant and rave about, and what’ll we do now?

Print media will have the same problem. Have you read the newspapers the past few days? If it weren’t for the coronavirus epidemic, I don’t know what they would have to report. They’re filling their pages with more and more “soft news” on topics like disease, domestic abuse, and jail overcrowding.. Honestly, I don’t know why we still take two newspapers. Guess it’s just force of habit. None of our adult children have newspaper subscriptions, and I don’t think they’re going to start buying newspapers now.

Cable news, especially, will suffer. CNN, MSNBC have provided fodder for the liberals . while conservative Fox News scores highest in prime time viewing. . Network news is federally regulated, and makes it’s money through advertising. Higher ratings mean they can charge more to advertise. Unfortunately for them, Cable news isn’t heavily regulated, so they can up their ratings and attract more advertisers because of all their outlandish political diatribes against one party or the other.

This past week, we’ve done a lot more channel surfing. We’ll watch anything but cable news. The other night, we watched a fascinating documentary “Mountain Men.” Since both of us come from farm backgrounds, it probably appealed to us more than the average city slicker.

Actually, it’s been rather relaxing. You don’t have to endure irritating social media posts about politics. Or avoid people with opposing political views. The excitement is over. But, what’ll we do now?

December 16, 2020December 16, 2020

WARNING! THEFT AT THE CHECKOUT

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected some supermarket employees. A family member may have lost a job. It seems the situation has become so desperate that a few cashiers & baggers have started filching our stuff at the checkout. For me, it began two weeks ago. Among other things, I bought a bag of noodles for $4.95, with a plan to make chicken and noodles. But when I arrived home, I didn’t have the noodles. I chalked it up to a mistake. They were on my store receipt, so I must have dropped them in the parking lot. Today, I came home from another supermarket, lacking a bottle of white wine that was on my receipt. What happened to it? Warning! Theft at the checkout.

It wasn’t the money that bothered me. Yes, I had the chicken, but I didn’t have the noodles. The bottle of cheap white wine was for a recipe I’d clipped from the newspaper. No one wants to go to the store more often than usual during this pandemic. But these missing items meant I had to go back outside.

Warning! Theft at the Checkout. While your back is turned, someone can stash one of your items under the counter.

After researching it, this is what I’ve learned. Your back is turned while you’re checking the computer about your purchases, or watching the bagger. This is when he/she takes something from your jumbled up purchases, and stashes them in a bag or place underneath the counter. Theft is more apt to occur when the checkout involves two people. In places like Aldi’s or Walmart, it’s less likely because the cashier does the bagging while you watch the entire operation.

When you get home, you might attribute the missing item to senior confusion.. But you’re still functioning well. Paying bills. Driving. Shopping. Cooking. They think you’re senile, don’t know what you’re doing. But they know what they’re doing. They stole your merchandise, thinking you will never know the difference. But you do. Just another example of senior abuse. Warning! Theft at the checkout could happen to you.