Old So What

  I had a brilliant idea the other day. But you’ll never see it. Why… Because I didn’t write it down, and forgot it. This has happened annoyingly often to me. That’s why I urge you to keep pen and paper near by both during the day and at night. Don’t lose those pearls of your wisdom.

  Brian Dennehy, an American actor with a beautiful Irish name. To say he was an award winner is to put it mildly with two Tony Awards, An Olivier Award, a Golden Globe and six Emmy nominations. He also had one of the most beautiful, polished speaking voices with a friendly face and manner that made you think, “Here is a nice guy!” Mr. Dennehy died in 2020.   He made over 180 films and performances on stage and television.   And, as very rarely happens, he was a gifted character actor who fit in equally well as a leading man.  

 Here are a few of the words of advice I tell my elderly cousin often. Take your time . When you are rushing to finish a task and your mind is drifting, you are more likely to loose your balance or drop something. Focus on one thing at a time. If you are easily distracted or trying to do too much at once, try to focus on the just one thing at a time. This will lead to better outcomes and less trouble. Tell yourself "good job!" If you don't have someone around to compliment you, then you have to compliment yourself. A simple reminder that you can do something regardless of how simple, will boost your confidence and independence. 

  “You’re killing her.   She’ll get Diabetes…” How did this happen?   I don’t know. I was feeding her as usual.   But something went terribly wrong. Unexpectedly she blew up to monster size.   Gone was that scrawny little creature for whom I had felt so sorry; now, there was this mighty overnight presence. (She was so big that you could almost envision her getting her own food.) I’m killing her, I thought.   I’m killing this little huge creature.   I felt different.   I looked different, like an axe murderer? The whole veterinary office was looking at us as we exited, whispering behind our backs, I was sure. “You have to lose weight,” I said to her at breakfast next morning.    She looked at me solemnly.   She knew I wasn’t saying anything good.   There were no words of food mentioned. “It would help if you’d stop eating your sister’s food as well as your own, and no more 10 AM treats, no more 1 AM treats. ...

  No! What seems to be growth is actually a comparison:   As we age our cheeks and lips lose volume and make everything else look larger. And the fact that gravity makes our noses and ears sag adds to the overall aging effect. But, so what?!   (Unless you’re thinking of entering a beautiful Ears and Nose Contest.)

  If you haven't viewed the movie, “Moonstruck,” it may be because you’re too young to have seen it when it arrived in 1987, because this was a BIG, BIG Movie.   If you travel back to that time, you’ll notice there are no cell phones. Time has stood still in a very good place.   But this is a movie bursting with good things!   Great things, including the director, Norman Jewison. It’s-A-Feel-Good and Leave-The-Theater with a Smile-On-Your-Face Celebration! The cast is topped off with:   Cher, Nicolas Cage, Olympia Dukakis, John Mahoney, Danny Aiello and Vincent Gardenia.   Everyone in this production is la crème de la crème. Described as a “Romance/Comedy,” it’s more like a slice of America at a poignant moment, an America very proud of its family traditions and ties to each other.   It gives us just another reason to appreciate our country. Here is a movie as they used to make movies. Alongside the main plot are other stories, and other char...

  A dermatologist, a famous dermatologist who was about one hundred years old at the time (and whose wife held your hand in case you experienced any discomfort during the procedure), once told me that: itching is actually the lightest form of pain.  

  About 36,000,000 older adults fall every year. Well, this didn’t just happen. And I think that the brain tries to eliminate the memory of pain, but to be honest, it actually wasn’t as painful as I would have expected. Now having said that… After I fell down the cellar steps, not because something in my body snapped or through lack of calcium, but simply because I reached for a banister that wasn’t as long as I thought, and I had at the time lost my sense of balance due to dehydration. I laid there thinking that I hope I could get up again quickly so I could forget the whole unfortunate event.   But no such luck because any movement on my part led to an unexpected sharp pain. I looked up and saw this spider looking back from near the stairs, surveying the scene and looking as if it was considering the possibilities. Before it got too far into its plans, I decided to get up. I couldn’t.   So, sitting up was the next option. No one was coming back to my house for...

  It set new records. It resulted in new laws and codes that included the retrofitting of sprinklers on all building floors from now on citywide.   It left us with a lot of statistics.   The most tragic one was that three firemen lost their lives in what can only be described as the perfect storm of office fires. Everything went wrong at once.   It was a building with a prime location and easy accessibility.   It had a modern feeling of power and durability, which turned out to be false. Our offices were spectacular.   Visitors were often overheard expressing superlatives under their breath.   There were different kinds of costly, well-oiled woods used throughout, in the paneling and the flooring as well, so you had to take care when walking not to slip and slide into something, such as the walls. It was beautiful but not ostentatious. These offices didn’t have to try to impress you, they just did.   The company had a history of accomplishme...

  Sometimes you can just plunge right in and do something. You haven’t done it before, but you do have the general idea.   So go ahead. Give it a try! This happened to me just the other day. It was no big deal. But you know I did feel proud of myself afterwards.

  Think of germs as if they were rice when washing your hands. It’s sticky and you have to really scrub down to get rid of them. (A doctor told me that.)

  According to WGSN: It’s Apricot Crush! WGSN, according to their information, is “the global authority on change using expert trend forecasting combined with data science to help you get ahead of the right trends.”  Just another way to know, should you want to, what’s going on in the world of fashion.

To save money manufacturers now make butter compartments that don’t close off the butter dish. (It’s a half compartment sort of thing, which doesn’t keep the butter at a separate temperature, which would make it softer and easier to spread.) Although I suspect that a separate temperature has been missing for quite a while. And small, individual bandages no longer come with a red string that made opening them much easier. Plus, salt shakers now come with just a spout so everything pours out   all at once, no more perforated screen to help adjust the flow. Ka-Ching!

  Suggested that this story be included in our Blog. I really don’t want it included because it’s unpleasant to say the least, but in the interest of telling you that you’re not alone should this happen to you: The other morning, at 2 a.m. to be precise, the outside lights came on, on the side of my house. Thinking it was the usual raccoon, I looked out the bathroom window and saw someone, a man, standing between my side door and my car. Just standing there until he wasn’t and was trying to open the car doors.   I flew down the stairs with my mobile in hand and called the police. I looked out the side door and saw that this person had opened the storm door as well in an attempt to enter my house. I was angry and, not seeing anyone at the moment, I yelled out, “You better leave, the police are on the way.” This was a stupid thing to do and the police dispatcher called out, “Don’t engage this person.” Anyway, the local police, who are very impressive, at least to me,...

  What a juicy name! (I want to get a dog and name it Yakutsk.) Yakutsk, Siberia, Russia. Where it’s cold, the temperature regularly falls below -58F/-50C in January. (But can go to +86F/+30C in summer.) This is the coldest city in the world. So cold that they put the water pipes above ground. And there is a tour of the permafrost museum. (Permafrost is the frozen layer of soil, sand, gravel and ice, which as the name suggests is permanently frozen and is just on or just under the Earth’s surface.) Yakuts are the indigenous people (about 450,000 of them) who are smart enough to survive here through the conquest of most obstacles that would stop the rest of us in our tracks, and with the ample employment of fur: reindeer, muskrat and fox. Dress warm for Yakutsk when visiting October to April.

  In the middle of this song, written in 1931 by Val Burton and Will Jason, comes this phrase: Just picture a penthouse way up in the sky With hinges on chimneys for stars to go by A sweet slice of heaven for just you and I When we’re alone   From all of society we’ll stay aloof And live in propriety here on the roof Two heavenly hermits, we will be in truth When we’re alone   from Penthouse Serenade   The whole song is like this:   imaginative! And how nice to live in a world where chimneys have hinges in consideration of stars.

We all know this person.  Not particularly attractive; sometimes downright ugly BUT get someone to love him/her and voil à , this person’s appearance can actually transform. Now feeling beautiful inside; now looking more confident and radiant outside. Love: It’s a good thing!

  I realize the time to miss you is now endless, reaching to eternity, but luckily for me I won’t be here that long. I found out that the garbage and trash pickup days are endless, too, reaching to eternity. I discovered that I am old. I suspect that I will run out of money long before I run out of me. I observe history, as recounted by younger generations, who weren’t there, get a lot of it wrong.   I no longer have a love for travel if you can’t come along. I think I am a great deal more patient. I can afford to wait at traffic lights.   After all, what’s the rush? I enjoy spending my time around my pets because they don’t understand and they don’t judge. I feel as though I have lost my place in the world. I never thought you would die.

  I am free, really free for the first time in about fifty years! If I want to eat ice cream for breakfast there’s no one to question me. If I want to get a dog to go with my cat there’s no one to stop me. If I want to change religions (or go without); change diets, friends, or just television channels it’s all up to me. No matter what family or friends may think, or they may say:  I AM the ultimate authority over my own life. With taking into account that ultimate negotiator ugly as it is: money! (And the fact that a trusted relative or confident, whose advice you’ll actually take, is always most appreciated.)

  Well, I do… Except sometimes I talk to other things, too. Like the car, and the refrigerator…Just to encourage them. It doesn’t do any harm.   I don’t know for sure that it helps, but I don’t know for sure that it doesn’t. Photo by Melissa Lyver

  When I last saw the travelog, it cost $1,800 for one night in a 5-star hotel on the Gulf. I don’t recall everything included in that. Something in the range of many pairs of slippers in the bedroom and living room (Why so many I don’t know); breakfast in the room (Although the commentator reported everything was cold because they didn’t include lids on the platters. Maybe that costs extra.) Also included were luxury bath products; complimentary juices and bottles of champagne; beautiful views; a comfortable bed with enormous pillows; access to indulgent swimming pools (including an infinity); access to a beach made in heaven; fine carpets and gold-colored trash bins. There was a butler in there somewhere, though I never saw him. Well, that’s the idea. Actually, it seemed a little boring and bland, a let-down There didn’t seem to be much imagination employed here, no surprises, but that could just be me.   Still for that money I would have enjoyed the option of the room det...

  In the Middle of a Colored Light Show on a Castle Rooftop in Poitiers, France in 1969… My family and I popped up out of the darkness, being that we had missed the start of the show by a few minutes, and we were sort of now the show. As we tried to back away from our embarrassment, we bumped right into a monument honoring the death of Leonardo Di Vinci, only they called him L é onard. Fast forward to 2023, while watching a murder mystery, filmed on French TV, another castle rooftop popped up this time in Amboise, France. Another monument to Leonardo.   I get it, it’s the French version of the joke:   Washington Slept Here.

  When you’re feeling overwhelmed and don’t want to do something BUT something must be done now—start by doing a little; then take a break; and then do some more; then another break; then do some more work on the chore until you’re all done. Taking a break gives you a workable goal and a reward all in one.

  My husband when we got married before our first meal, that I would never cook him cauliflower or tuna casserole. And I never did, as we disliked both items…a lot. The marriage lasted 45 years. ⚭

  Slang that great divider of generations. When is “cool” no longer cool? To the Boomer Generation of the 50s, 60s, and 70s the word was “groovy.”   I remember that word because it wore out its welcome quickly.   Just a few “groovies” and you were ready to heave. The 1980s sprouted words such as: “gnarly” which translates to awesome or amazing. I love this word because it seems so full of possibilities. Whereas “grody” sounds like exactly what it is:   gross! “Booyah” is an expression, a shoutout of joy, or triumph made popular in the 90s. Hearing these words may bring back individual moments of nostalgia and there’s nothing wrong with that! Here’s a word for today’s slang. It’s “sick,” or spelled “sic,” a compliment meaning: excellent or cool.   And so, we have circled right back to where we began: COOL! A word for the ages.

  All I can say is:   get this if you’re tired of your walker making a lot of embarrassing noise. They work! They come in different sizes to fit the width of the shaft of the walker. The box says that these optimize walker performance & stability. You’re going to have to measure the shaft; order this from Amazon OR wherever you choose; and then when they arrive, attach the set of two to the rear legs of the walker. It’s really easy.   If I can do it, so can you! Please Note:   The curved end of the skis should face forward to keep any rugs down. And, of course, the skis replace the plastic tips that originally came on the walker itself. No, I don’t get anything for this recommendation to you except that the gentleman who stopped me outside the post office to tell me, would be glad that I’m passing this tip along to you. Now go out and tell someone else.

  Is it my imagination or has the world suddenly gotten even louder? It was loud enough.  Now it’s impossible even to try to hear yourself think! Traffic honks, siren blasts, dog barks, fox screams (yes, they’re out there), tree cutters and tree removers, street cleaner machines, delivery packages thrown in the general direction of the front door, children yelling or swearing.  All I want is a little:  Quiet! Stop the noise, please, at least for a portion of every day. We need mandated quiet spilling out of the windows and doorways of our homes, and out onto the streets.  So, we can be calm, rational, less crazy, less harassed!  We need more of the beautiful sound of quiet, which is actually the absence of sound. The absence of sound is a glorious, peaceful thing! I observe that animals seem to prefer quiet (with the exception of those of them actually making noise themselves.)

  I had my mother-in-Law with me by the hand; we were by ourselves; we were up to no good. My husband always claimed that he couldn’t take us anywhere; we were an embarrassment.  We laughed at all the wrong times: weddings and funerals were our specialties. That day, mom and I were headed for Lit’s Department Store and the best tasting, but bad as could be for your teeth, peanut brittle in a can.   It must have been before 1977 because that’s when Lit’s closed their doors for good. We took a short cut behind an historic building in Philadelphia, named Congress Hall. There was a back entrance to the building, I don’t recall if there was a single or double door.   Not that it really matters except that out of this door (or somewhere near it, I didn’t see this part) around 12 Noon came Queen Elizabeth II all by herself.   You can’t make this stuff up. No MI-5, MI-6, palace guards or whoever is supposed to be with the Queen to protect her.   No one, just ...

  Every time he shows up, he trips over the cat. (I suspect the cat is starting to see the humor in this.) The cat weighs 28 lbs. and there’s a lot of her to walk around. He has left a lot of chores half done, a lot of jobs up in the air.  The Repairman, not the cat.  At last count, there is still some junk in the basement, from the previous owner, last occupying the house forty years ago, that he still has not carted out through the cellar door.   There are floorboards in the hall that poke up just enough to catch my shoe every time I pass them.   And the doorknob on the master bedroom door keeps falling off. (Although he has worked on it several times through the years.) He did unclog the sink, and a good job he did, too.   And he unstuck the bedroom storm window just in time for the change of seasons. He repaired the carpeted wooden window seat for my fur babies, but not before it fell off and broke my middle toe.   I’m not kidding because...

  For a week now I have been having a problem with my TV remote control. Every time I pressed the button for “Voice Control,” I would get a “Guide for Captions” and other things that I didn’t want! What’s going on? Turns out I was pressing the wrong button! So, check it out before stressing out: Is this the button I usually use? In case it’s not.