Many to Some -

I imagine most all should know that I'm what's known as a senior citizen. I must do something to occupy myself until nap-time and sleep-time. At most, they take a total of 7 hours. Those leave 17 hours that I must fill up doing something. If only sitting and merely my head is nodding. I pay a lady to be here 3 to 4 hours weekdays. She fixed my breakfast, fixes my beadroom and bath, makes my bed. She vacuums all but Bill's bedroom, shops for me and prepares my lunch. About then she leaves. I am alone until about 4 in the afternoon when Bill comes home from working at Lawrence Teck. Then he fixes my dinner. I am through with it, return to my bedroom, watch TV until 8 O'clock when I slip into bed and sleep until 1:30 or 2 and my day starts once more.
Weekends are a little different as Kristina is not here. Then I must do my breakfast and my lunch. They must be easy to fix as I cannot do much. My age, the one leg and quite bad and nearly crippling arthritis. An English muffin, 2 sausages, a glass of Vernors for breakfast. For lunch is pretzels, cheese and Vernors again.
Those leave with 13 - 14 hours yet to fill. With my computer, I am not too sharp but I did write a book that got published back in the 90's. On it I spend 1 to 3 hours. All that gives me close to 10 hours yet to fill. I gave up driving 7 - 8 years ago. Fortunately, I like to read and read 1 to 3 books every week. Without books what is there to do ? How many people like to read and have book to do that ? Without reading, what do people do ? Just sit there ? Holy mustard filling ! And how many books were there 100 years ago ? Not at all like today ! They get mine at the library for 25 to 50 cents each.
Someone could make a fortune if they could come up with something new that the seniors could do every day. And seniors' food !

 
William...

I don't know if you're asking (???) or telling (!!!) us that seniors such as yourself want more to do, howsomeever, I thought I'd toss a few ideas off the top of m'head your way.

What about...

• Other reading material... a daily newspaper or a weekly magazines like The Week ( http://www.theweek.com/home )... think of it as a weekly Reader's Digest of news magazines, newspapers, etc. You can try four issues for free from this website: https://secure.palmcoastd.com/pcd/eSv?iMagId=061DG&i4Ky=IDD6.
  
  
• Puzzles... crossword, jigsaw, sudoku, word search, etc.. They have large-print versions if eyesight is an issue; you can pick up magazines with nothing but puzzles in 'em at your local drug store or supermarket.. Puzzle solving helps keep the brain cells active, gives you a sense of accomplishment and can help pass MANY hours!
  
  
• Birds... Has Bill put up some bird feeders near a window where you can watch 'em? A book on birds local to your area and a cheap pair of binoculars (try a pawn shop for these) and you can spend time checking off the birds you see and learning their habits. Keep a notebook and write down which birds come by with what bird food, and see if you can attract new birds with different feeds. Oh, and in the spring/summer, you can hang some hummingbird feeders and mebbe a bat house, too.
  
  
• Online games... Pogo.com ( http://pogo.com ) has a megaskajillion games you can play online, with other folks or against a computer. Every game has a 'How To Play' tutorial, as well as 'Tips & Strategies,' and other info pertinent to the game.
            Pogo.com has card games (bridge, canasta, euchre, solitaire, pinochle, gin, spades, cribbage, etc.), board games (dominoes, monopoly, trivial pursuit, checkers, chess, backgammon, etc.), word games (bookworm, scrabble, word search, hangman, flip words, crosswords, etc.), puzzles (jigsaws [yes! online jigsaw puzzles !], astropop, bejeweled, sudoku ), casino games (roulette, slots, keno, 21, poker, dice, etc.)... and tons of other games.
            You can play a lot of games for free on Pogo.com, but you can play ALLLLLLL of them with a year's subscription for $39.99.
  
  
• Online Library... There's a web site called NetLibray.com ( http://netlibrary.com ) where, IF your local library is a member (I just looked "you" up and the Orion Township Public Library does offer access to NetLibrary! ), you can download all sorts of audio books onto your computer for free... then you just double-click the book's icon and Voilà!, the book is read to you. I'll listen to a book when I'm doing something else, like needlework or beading or folding clothes. You could do a jigsaw puzzle while the book is read to you, or prepare your breakfast/lunch (turn your speakers up!), or some other sort of mindless activity you might engage in.
            NetLibrary.com has thousands of e-books available in all sorts of fiction and non-fiction categories. You can check out up to ten books at a time, and you can "keep" each book for 20 days; at the end of the 20 days, the license to hear the book (that's downloaded with the book) expires and you can't hear it anymore until you "check-out" the book again by downloading it again.

Let us know if this is the sort of reply you were looking for.

*CJ

Dear & So Nice CJ -

I really wasn't looking for anything except people writing something. Something to get most all of us " doing something ! " Howsome( who so ever ), you are doing just that, Dear One. I'll have you know that I have jotted down two of your computer thingamabobs. And I will be checking on - both of them !
Dunka Shownee

quote:

Originally posted by William:
Dear & So Nice CJ -

I really wasn't looking for anything except people writing something. Something to get most all of us " doing something ! "

I've done a lotta reading re: the Civil War era and the life/times of those who lived through it... not just the soldiers who left their homes to fight, but those who stayed home, too.

Their days were VERY full... water carried from pumps/streams, wood for fireplaces/stoves needing to be chopped/stacked/carried, wash needed to be done by hand, babies birthed & cared for without benefit of drugs/bottles/videos/disposable diapers (which leads us back to that "wash needed to be done by hand" thing again ), food gardens (as compared to ornamental gardens) needed tending, lots of time spent tending livestock of one kind or another, the making of clothes and home goods by hand, cooking, both for the day and for the long-term and usually included hunting, even the act of emptying/cleaning chamber pots... gawd, the list of chores necessary for pure survival was endless.

If one was lucky, there was a primary wage earner AND a stay-at-home spouse and some household help, but oft times that wasn't the case and many had to scratch out an existence most of us would consider barbaric. No heating pads, no muscle relaxants, no hot baths to sink into, no electricity... even a slight injury of an adult could seriously compromise/jeopardize the family.

Evening entertainment? Books were incredibly scarce to all but a fortunate few. No electricity meant burning precious candles or oil in order to stay up much past dark. Neighbors might be close by, or could be hours or more away by horse, or worse, by foot. So usually the evenings were spent doing evening-like chores and going to bed... after a day like they had, I don't know how they stayed up until the kids were in bed.

quote:

Howsome( who so ever ), you are doing just that, Dear One. I'll have you know that I have jotted down two of your computer thingamabobs. And I will be checking on - both of them !
Dunka Shownee

Then I'm glad I took the time to reply... try Pogo.com first.

*CJ

Dear CJ,

Inventions - how did they find the time to think ?

quote:

Originally posted by William:
Dear CJ,

Inventions - how did they find the time to think ?

Well now, I'm not sure.

Except for the brutality of the physical labor --not to mention childbirth and other medical needs-- I would imagine that the work wasn't very demanding "brain-wise," ya' know? Kinda like some jobs today, right?

I mean, after one learned a task like chopping wood or baking or milking or gardening or tending the fields, it doesn't take a whole lotta brain cells to keep doing it, right?

Thus I think inventions were "thought of" in those days... just like they're thought of these days.

*CJ

Dear CJ -

I'd bet some inventions began with, " There's gotts be a better way ! "

 
I'm sure it was, William.

"Necessity is the mother of invention." and all that, ya' know?

*CJ

Dear CJ -

Who might have said that ? or Who might NOT have said it ?

quote:

Originally posted by William:
Dear CJ -

Who might have said that ? or Who might NOT have said it ?

Various individuals have used that phrase, or one like it, but I believe Plato is the originator.

Plato (427 BC-347 BC)... "Necessity, who is the mother of invention."

Jonathan Swift... "Necessity is the mother of invention."

Sir Walter Scott... "Necessity--thou best of peacemakers, As well as surest prompter of invention."

and there's always David Rockefeller's use of the quote... "If necessity is the mother of invention, discontent is the father of progress."

As to whom might not have said it... I'd say that would have to be the many who're okay with the status quo, either do to fear of change, or laziness, or some other reason.

Who do YOU think might NOT have said it??

*CJ

Richard Franck... "Art imitates nature, and necessity is the mother of invention."

Jonathan Schattke... "Necessity is the mother of invention, it is true -- but it's father is creativity, and knowledge is the midwife."

Dear CJ,

That answer is super easy. How about our present president ? On an original thought he ranks ( Is there a spot below zero ? ) quite a distance below that zero ! Thinking about him, he is quite apply named though he needs a prefix such as one meaning ' A Bush's mind has never awakened. '

 
William...

I certainly agree our current president ranks at least -17 (maybe even lower) on the scale of original thought, unless of course said original thought would benefit him or his friends, such as our current Vice President, or help grind down (even further) those who can least afford to have a boot heel on them, their families and their few remaining safety nets.

*CJ

I would rate George on a scale of 0 to 10, but I'd have to use the <1 fractions.

=
Missies CJ & Kathe,

mr. Dark Ebony Chaney, the president's VP, won't be able to spend his billions upon billions of war deaths down below where is will be going.

I happen to have a great interest in the political and economic matters of today. I often read columns from various newpaper websites (I used to print them, but my bosses have stopped such a practice! ).

I still keep them on my workplace computer and read them as often as I can (between calls).

 
An excellent way to keep current on issues AND keep those brain cells chug-chug-chugging along, Michael.

Toss in a puzzle or two each day and your brain will love ya' for it.

*CJ

Dear CJ -

I enjoy this right here and it causes me to both wonder and think.