WOMEN AGES 50+ FOR MARCH 2018

Machka9 wrote: »

When I arrived at work this morning, there was a survey for employees aged 50 and up.

I think it was meant to be a "how can we make the workplace a better place for those of you who are 50+" kind of thing, but unfortunately it didn't come across that way at all.

I can sum up all the questions with ... "how can we encourage you to retire already and really, why are you still here"

My husband figures that some 20-something work experience student in HR was told to create a survey, and that was the result.

For example, one of the questions actually asked if I was willing to take a part-time job at a lower band level because of my age!!! That was one choice of several. In my last few years on this side of retirement, would I be willing to ... shift to a part time position, or be interested in job sharing, or be interested in going to a low paying part-time position, or be interested in teaching some bright young thing how to do my job and then job share with that person .... things like that!

And why are us ancient, one-foot-in-the-grave folk even coming to work? Again, select all that apply. Is it because we want the social interaction, or is it because we just want to keep ourselves busy once in a while, or is there some faint feeling of accomplishment or something, or is it because we need the cash.

There were about 30 questions like that with words like "winding up our employment", "easing out of the work world" etc., and then a comment section at the end. I (politely) gave them a bit of a blast and pointed out that those of us at 51 years old probably have 16-20 years of employment left. We're still climbing the ladder! We want education and experience opportunities that could put us into higher band level positions with better pay.

I just hope my comments give someone something to think about. A bit of a shift in the obvious preconceived ideas conveyed in the survey.

If the survey had been directed to people in their mid-60s who can actually access their super and the gov't pension, it might have been different, but it'll be a good 12 or 13 years before I can even look into getting ahold of all that so that I can potentially retire! Sure ... I'd like to go now and keep buying those lottery tickets but ...


Anyway, meanwhile, since I don't have one foot in grave, I will continue to work, attend uni, cycle, and enjoy life! If I've inherited my grandmother's genes, I could have a long, long way to go.

Machka in Oz

This is horrible, Machka. Good for you for speaking up. Wow. I'm 57 and I would have been insulted. I still have at least 10 years of work left.

Felicia
Still kicking in Willamette Valley, Oregon

Katla Tell your husband I just looked at the ecovent website you mentioned, and was so impressed I submitted information for a quote. It's so great! May not be in the budget for this year.

Karen in Virginia

Beth having DD home for me this week has been calorie dense for me as well, staying up eating and talking late....I would say the wheels are off the bus but that may be an insensitive comment given your recent car trouble Still, loved having her home and I'm ready for her to be on her merry way. Glad you are all safe and your mechanic is booking a trip to Boca while we get ready for the next nor'easter!!! (in your case lake effect snow) ah well, may the instant pot bring you the luck of the Irish tomorrow!

Went to the deep water class today. The plan for tomorrow is to do Prevention's Belly Butt & Thigh DVD.

Joyce - I string popcorn for the Christmas tree (as you know). One thing that the cats love is when I take the popcorn off the tree and just put it on the ground outside the office window for the birds to eat. The cats just sit in the window all the time....lol You want to talk a BIG basketball place? NC is there. Personally, I really don't care for March madness, but all around me there are people who do.

After exercise stopped at the Salvation Army. Don't know what's up with this one, they seem to be really downsizing, they don't carry as much. Then went to WalMart to pick up a few things, in addition to one of Loki's meds. Then to Food Lion for soda for Vince and since I was right there, went to the Dollar Tree for Easter cards for the girls. Hey, they're only $1. And you thought you were a tightwad, Becca!

Becca - so glad to hear that Lee is doing so well. Baby steps, and I'm sure he's doing so well because he has an awesome nurse.

Have a vet appt this afternoon then tonight we go to the Hickory Community Theater to see The Hobbit

Liz - welcome! Do you do your Daily Yoga at home? If you do, check out some of the DVD's that I'm willing to sell.

KJ - did you put green food dye in eggs? Our pool is all ready for St. Patrick's day and I don't even have to put any dye in the water....lol You are so inventive for your kids. Your dh sounds a lot like mine. Pain is right. One time I had a backwards party for my daughter. Everyone came wearing their coats backwards. She had her clothes on backwards, things like that. Just an idea for you

M - does Australia have any laws as to what you can and can't ask? I know that when Vince interviewed someone, he couldn't ask their religion. However, he could ask them "sometimes the job will require you to work on a Saturday, will that be a problem" If a 20-something person made up the questionnaire, they might not be aware of things you might not be able to ask. I hear ya about encouraging people to retire. Vince got a package that he couldn't say "no" to so he retired.

Katie - sorry the pain limited you today. How devastating for Tripp's family!

Terry in VT - I liked to shovel, too. Still do. But you're right, after a while you don't have any place to put the snow. That was one of the nice things about a snowblower. It would blow the snow a few feet from the edge of where you were shoveling. Vince would snowblow and I would shovel the little bit that was left on the driveway, etc. Oh, I remember snows like your pics when we lived in the Poconos. Sometimes it was so deep that you had to use two shovels full on one spot. Congrats on the loss

Okie - if you want to talk OCD, you're talking about Vince. He was never diagnosed, but there are certain ways he wants things done. So many times I've said "what's the difference". Congrats on that weight loss

Rye - sick kitties always make me sad. Does he like tuna? Happy birthday

The chlorine in the pool where I take the water class makes my skin dry so I carry a small bottle of lotion with me. Anyway, I used up what I had, didn't realize my bottle was so low. Sometimes Vince will use it to hydrate his skin. He always laughs at me for taking those small samples of shampoo and body lotion from hotels. Well...after using up all the lotion, I had some of the small bottles he could use. See? My being cheap is paying off.

Heather - we have a printer/copy machine to take to the dump along with some lawn chairs, but we're waiting for it to warm up. Then I'll get on Vince's case about taking it. That's what I had to do before, that's what I had to do to get all the papers shredded. Oh well... I think sometimes he does it just to shut me up. But whatever works

Joyce - saw this on facebook and thought of you: "it's OK to cry if you are in pain. Remember tears are prayers too. They travel to God when we can't speak"

Off to the play

Michele in NC

Dr. Katie: My prayers go out to Tripp's family and his friends. What a terrible loss. Lovely photo of you! :bigsmile:

Pat in OH & Betty: You can impose dietary sanity on a young child in your home, but you can't do so with an older child or adult. You need to help them learn to take care of themselves & they have to want to do it. Many hospitals have classes or can refer a new diabetic to classes. DH has diabetes and for years thought it was a result of exposure to a virus. When he got sick, his doctor told him he had leukemia. His veterinarian diagnosed the diabetes and sent him straight to the hospital. Thank goodness for the veterinarian! At the time he was told his life expectancy was between 7 & 10 years, at best. That was 53 years ago. Now we have a nephew and granddaughter who have also been diagnosed with diabetes. It is clear that there is a genetic connection. It would be good for a newly diagnosed diabetic to take classes and I wonder whether there are any available in your community. A good doctor should know. Managing the disease takes skill and classes can help.

Pip: I love the photo of Rocky & young Floyd. :bigsmile:

Heather: I like your new title. It will help people choose to buy it because they'll have enough information to make a good choice.

Rye: Thanks for sharing your story. It is heartfelt and motivating. Congratulations on your hard work and on your success!

Karen: DH is pleased that you're looking into the ecovent.


I intended to go out to the stable and work with Arrow today but it wasn't practical. No one else would have been there. I am not willing to work with him unless there is another person near enough to call for help. To paraphrase a well known nursery rhyme, 'when he is good he is passably good, and when he is bad he is horrid.' He occasionally likes to buck and kick on the lunge line. :grumble: I haven't had trouble with bucking while I'm riding.


Katla in beautiful NW Oregon

"Normally I'm quite normal . . ." The Gods Must be Crazy

Beth - golly, once you guys get the car and truck repaired, you should be good to go for a long time! Sorry to hear about the struts Maybe your mechanic will be nice enough to send you a postcard from his vacation spot!

Barbie - hope you and Jake are home and he's relaxing. Valium is nice like that, lol. When I was driving my DH home from the hospital a few years ago I requested the nurse give him one and she did. As I recall he "came to" a couple times and said for me to pull over so he could drive, lol. NOT! Then he'd go back to sleep.

Kelly - PJ day sounded like a lot of fun! And I had to laugh at your DH spotting the bag of death! Mine accuses me of trying to poison him with fiber - tho he doesn't have any allergies like yours does. His favorite comment is "Like poison it tastes".

Margaret - how is your sleep coming along? I thought of you when I put up light blocking curtains in the bedroom yesterday. Seems like all our neighbors leave many porch lights on at night so our block is lit up, according to my DH, like the Vegas Strip! Anyhow the curtains do a good job. I'm not worried about sealing the room, so there are a few gaps here and there. Got them at Walmart, brown, at a 54" length and reasonable price I thought.

Took Rosie the mini schnauzer to the vet yesterday to get weighed. 12.2 lbs, and she'll be a year old April first so is considered full grown. She's got some "heft" and they don't want her to gain any more weight. I'm in the process of switching her over to food made for mini schnauzers, it has 1/3 of the calories of the other food she was on.

I started tomato seeds on Monday, and most of them have germinated and are now under lights on a shelf in the garage, keeping their tootsies warm on heat mats. This was a pleasant surprise since some of them are from 2011and 2014 and are still viable. I keep my seeds in plastic coffee cans in the fridge. I guess if they have to find a new place for the seed bank near Penny in Norway, I'll volunteer a shelf in my fridge if someone else can supply the coffee cans, lol.

Had a pleasant surprise at Christopher & Banks today. I went in to get a new pair of jeans that are long enough. The ones I have worn for a few years have now shortened themselves an inch. So I pulled a pair of 14's off the rack, hoped they would fit (actually feared they'd be tight like clothes normally are for me) and voila - they were too loose! I figured in another month or two I'll be down to 12's (I hope) so will wait a while before I buy a new pair. All my life I've bought clothes that were too tight thinking I'll fit into them someday....No More! It's time to buy something that fits right off the rack.

Seems like it wasn't that many years ago 16's and 18's were the norm for me. THANK YOU STRENGTH TRAINING FOR THIS GIFT! STRONG WOMEN STAY YOUNG and wear a smaller size without much effort, at least in my case.

I was gone most of the day it seems so did a lot of skimming of the posts. Looking forward to a weekend of not having to go anywhere.

Have a good evening!

Lanette
SW WA State

barbiecat wrote: »

I didn't bring the pets home today. Jake is so needy and in a lot of pain and I couldn't imagine adding the pets to the mix. They would be happy to be home and needing a lot of attention, too. I just didn't want to stretch myself that far. My walking friend e mailed me to ask if I needed anything and I told her that I had everything I needed except enough patience.

Lanette, congrats on your fitness and smaller size. Very funny about giving your husband valium for the drive home.

Awe Barbie, you're doing amazing!! Just take of yourself so you can care for Jake!
I brought all those snacky foods, but have had sandwiches all three days! I had a small apple fritter for breakfast, with some Mighty Mango Naked juice. We are on day three, and this afternoon they put the catheter back in, that they had taken out this morning. The problem is, he's still swollen inside, so his plumbing isn't working! But he's walking laps 4x a day!
Hugs!
Becca

In happy news ... I'm down 800 grams this week. That's 1.76 lbs.


I had been very gradually gaining for the past ... ummm ... probably 18 months.

It is really hard to get the eating right with the long distance cycling I do. I want to eat enough so that I've got the fuel for the ride and recovery, but not too much so that I gain weight. But then it's really hard to tell because I retain water after every long ride and can gain as much as about 3 kg. If I do long rides each weekend for a while, my weight bounces all over the place.

Then I went through a few health issues which are always a problem for me ... I always gain a little bit of weight when I get sick or have surgery. About 18 months ago, I was in the midst of doing a couple really long rides, and came down with measles followed by the flu. That started the gradual weight gain. Then I was diagnosed with pre-cancer and had surgery last May. And last August/September got hit with the Great Flu of 2017 (the same one many of you have been dealing with lately).

I hit a weight about a month ago where I thought, "Right. That's it." It's not my highest weight ever but it was the point where I figured I'd better put the brakes on and start doing something about it. And one reason is that the heavier I am, the harder it is to cycle up hills.

So ... I'm now down 3 kg (6.6 lbs) from that point. That's 3 less kg I have to haul up hills!

Machka in Oz

Don't people understand the wisdom that people over 50 can bring to a workplace. Women won't need to take maternity leave, people won't need to leave early get kids home from school or take them to ball practice. We have mentalities that kids in their 20s and 30s don't have.

Several of you are asking about if the doctors k ow what is causing my pain. Yes they do and it's weird but they are glad I have the pain. I had a stroke in December and the only thing it affected was the sensation in the fingers of my left hand and the left side of my face. So for about 6 weeks, these areas were just numb. Very functional but numb. Then they were fiery hot and now freezing cold to the point that they are very painful. But this means that the nerves are trying to regenerate. I am expected to have a full recovery but they said it will take months. I know now that the two months I have gone through isn't the months the doctor meant. Months being very capitalized MONTHS!!!!!! I hope my Christmas present will be complete recovery.

So at 9:30 PM I find out today is national sleep day? I could have had a nap. But instead, I did my, no our taxes. So they are done, done, done! At the end of the Efile,mtheybare if you want to have it deposited or you want a check. I want a check. I want to hold that return money in my hand. Of course the state tax payment was almost the entire amount of the federal payment to us. Oh well. At least we do get a Federal return to take care of that.

My precious 16 year old grand daughter Trinity went to take her drivers test today. She had already passed the written exam but was taking the drivers test. So right before taking the test Nashe gets a text that she is going to fail. It is from a mumber that they didn't know. She didn't pass. She doesn't appear to be that upset and is going to retake it in two weeks.

Becca, so glad DH is doing well. But are you?

Barbie, so glad to here you are home safe and sound. Good decision in not having the animals there yet. They will be excited when they get nome.

Betty does your hospital/health department/insurance have a diabetic nurse that can be a semi emergency call for concerns? How much education bid both you and him have when he was diagnosed as to what to do when your blood sugar is to low and how to determine what is to low and what is 'I have to watch this' level.

Joyce, Indiana

barbiecat wrote: »

Becca, Your positive attitude is an inspiration for me. Glad your husband is walking a bit.

Well, whatcha gonna do? Its either laugh or cry, and I'm one ugly crier!! Today he needed a plastic urine cup thingy, and so I went to the nurses station and declared simply, "my husband hasn't got a pot ta pee in"! Haha! Of course everyone is so young and gave me a " she's lost her marbles" look....

Husband walked 6 times today! He is wearing an oxygen tube while he sleeps, because his chest gets old air trapped, and his oxygenation %'s go down. He still has his catheter, and his drain. His incision looks crazy remarkable, not angry just a line of staples, no dressing on it. His epidural looks weird, because its a metal looking small cable, but its covered in clear dressings. Because its an opioid based pain blocker, Lee is not fond of it. So he isn't pushing the clicker thingy to self dose. His pain level is only a 2 when he walks but nothing when he's lying or sitting.
I had a wonderful sandwich that I bought at 9am and ate at noonish. It was farmers thick bread, turkey, a drizzle of mustard, provolone cheese, and sautéed onions! It was yummy. I ate husbands brownie.... I know bad!!! I made a large coffee and thoroughly enjoyed it!
Well time for bed!
Hugs to ya all!
Becca
Portland Oregon