How’s your memory? A few people I’m close with are dealing with early-onset dementia and late-onset dementia. A woman in her 60s, a guy who is almost 70, and my Mom who is in her late 80s. It’s a really difficult thing to see. People that were completely independent a few years ago who are now unable to function on the most everyday of things. … Continue reading Dementia Risk & Prevention
I saw this chart in the March issue of Kiplinger’s recently. It shows what topics retired people are most interested in learning about. I guess I’m not the only one focused on history. The last few years have been a big focus on America 250 history for me. It looks like history is the favorite of most retired folks … There isn’t much difference between … Continue reading What Are You Learning?
We had a lovely Mother’s Day yesterday with my Mom and 2 of my 3 brothers. Our son & his girlfriend also came over, so there was 8 of us for a nice brunch. The flowering crabapple trees in our neighborhood were in full bloom to mark the occasion. It is so nice to get family together. In addition to Mother’s Day, we went on … Continue reading Keep Your Friends & Family Close
A few years ago, I went golfing with the Retired Men’s Club members of our church. Since I was a relatively new retiree – and much younger than the average club member – I asked them to share with me one piece of retirement wisdom on each hole. Related: Life After FIRE – Fitting In The only two pieces of advice that I still remember … Continue reading “Find A Young Doctor”
About a week ago, I got this provocative fortune in a cookie at a Chinese restaurant. It’s not often that you get interesting admonitions from Panda Express, but this one got us talking. My wife and I couldn’t think of many things that we had done that were “scary” over the last 5-10 years (a blue moon is once every 30 months, on average). … Continue reading Scary Fortune
Have you heard about the “U” shaped happiness curve? It’s the output of psychology research across ages. It suggests that people are happiest when they are younger, lose some of that happiness in middle-age, and then get it back as they get older. Here’s a plot of the curve, with the colors representing 7 different studies of happiness by age. There has been a lot … Continue reading Happiness “U”-Curve
Audiobooks are apparently having a big surge in popularity. Ten years ago, only 15% of Americans had listened to an audiobook, but now it’s over 50%. Revenue for audiobooks has exploded over +300% over the same period, driven by new streaming options. I’m a bit late to the trend. I’ve written before about my (mostly failed) strategies to overcome my ADHD and read more books … Continue reading Dropping Into Audiobooks
I continue to be a bit obsessed with learning about air conditioning, since our central air unit went out in our vacation place in Florida last week. We’re back home in Minnesota now, and have had a few hot days here, too. Our air conditioning is happily chugging along, set at about 72° – day and night. I know people who keep it much warmer … Continue reading Air Conditioning & Energy Costs
I ran across this chart from Business Insider this week and thought I would share it. I’m not sure the actual veracity of the research that went into the “according to science” claim, but it seems reasonable. I have heard before that “life satisfaction” is U-shaped. It’s high when you are young (listed here as 23 years old) and again when you are older (69 … Continue reading Peak Performance …
I just left the eye doctor after having a ‘Capsulotomy’. It’s a 30 second procedure to clear up some cloudiness from the Refractive Lens Exchange surgery I had done 3 years ago. Related: The Eyes Have It Given today’s visit, I thought it would be a good time to provide an update on lens exchange. In sort, it is an amazing (but expensive) procedure. For … Continue reading Looking Back at Lens Exchange
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