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The Savvy Senior: 2020 Census Offers Temporary Jobs Ideally Suited for Retirees
By Jim MillerDear Savvy Senior,
The U.S. Census Bureau is in the process of recruiting thousands of workers for temporary jobs to help collect valuable data for the 2020 Census, and retirees are ideal candidates. Can you write a column to get the word out? Thanks for your help!
Census Recruiter
Dear Recruiter,
I’m happy to oblige, and I agree. This once-a-decade job opportunity is a great fit for retirees that have some free time on their hands who wouldn’t mind earning some extra income while helping the community.
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Sue Katz: One Day Mid-Cape Cod Loop Without Walking Much
Sue Katz By Sue Katz
Reprinted with permission from Sue Katz’s Consenting Adult blogIt’s hard to be on vacation when your bad knee conspires with your tendinitis-afflicted feet to keep you from walking more than a block or so at a time. What to do?
We started out from the exceedingly comfortable Hyannis Harbor Motel, and walked one block along the Harbor to fuel up with a fulsome brunch at the Black Cat Tavern. Besides the classic breakfast, the hamburgers are stupendous. A conversation with the knowledgeable manager, Paul Crosby, who was born and bred in the area, led to him sketching out the perfect car trip for us.
We first headed for the Chatham Lighthouse (above) where there is an exquisite look-out parking area overlooking a white sand beach. We had luck: the sky was blue and the sun was shining, so only some sand bars separated the identically sparkling azure water and sky.
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The Savvy Senior: Air Travel for Older Passengers
By Jim Miller
Dear Savvy Senior,
My son is getting his PhD next month and I would like to fly my parents in from across the country for his graduation, but I have some concerns about the flights. My dad is 82 and has trouble walking long distances and uses an oxygen tank for his COPD. What airport or airline services are available to help elderly passengers?
Proud Mother
Dear Proud,
Flying across the country can be exhausting for anyone, but for seniors with health issues or physical limitations it can be extremely challenging. Here are a few flying tips and a number of resources that can help.
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The Savvy Senior: Finding Health Insurance Before Medicare Kicks In
By Jim Miller
Dear Savvy Senior,
I will be retiring in a few months and need to get some health insurance for my wife and me until we can enroll in Medicare. What are my options?
About to Retire
Dear About,
There are several places early retirees can find health insurance coverage before Medicare kicks in, but the best option for you and your wife will depend on your income level and your health care needs. Here’s where to look.
Government Marketplace
If your yearly income falls below the 400 percent poverty level after you retire, the Affordable Care Act (ACA aka Obamacare) marketplace is probably your best option for getting health coverage because of the premium subsidies they offer, which will reduce the amount you’ll have to pay for a policy.
ACA health insurance is major medical insurance that covers essential health benefits with no annual or lifetime coverage maximums. And they can’t charge you more or deny you coverage because of a pre-existing health condition.
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The Savvy Senior: Trikes for Grown-Ups
By Jim MillerSDear Savvy Senior,
What can you tell me about three-wheeled bicycles? I’m 65 years old and would like to start cycling again but I have some occasional balance problems and don’t trust myself on a two-wheeler. What can you recommend?
Ready to Ride
Dear Ready,
Three-wheeled bikes – also known as adult trikes – are a great cycling option for older adults, especially those who have concerns with their balance or stamina. Here’s what you should know, along with some tips to help you shop for one.
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Lee Lynch’s Amazon Trail: Femmes and Their Gadgets
Photo by Sue Hardesty By Lee Lynch
The Amazon TrailI have the patience to write a novel, but not to read directions. Especially when something comes along like the OBD2 which, she had to explain to me, is an automotive onboard diagnostic tool.
It’s a shame, the things they don’t teach us at Butch School. In the Femme Gadgets class, I learned the basics of eyelash brushes and powdering noses and hoop, stud, drop, climber, and jacket earrings. The femme who has been cutting my hair for about twenty years was today appropriately made up and earring-ed, her own hair mostly blue with a complementary green streak along the part. She obviously has great fun with her various girly tools.
But that’s not what she was all excited about. It was Vector, her Kickstarter miniature robot. Vector is not without its useful functions, but is mainly an adorable, irresistible gadget that has learned to say her name.
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Review: Sue Katz on ‘Alleged Lesbian Activities’ at Jacques Cabaret (Boston)
Sue Katz The following is reprinted with permission from Sue Katz: Consenting Adult
By Sue Katz
The New Orleans-based ensemble Last Call brought Alleged Lesbian Activities to Boston thanks to our incomparable The Theatre Offensive. This production asks: What happened to all the lesbian bars? And examines what our lives were like back when the underground bars – sleazy, criminal, and too often raided – were the only venues where we could gather.
Alleged Lesbian Activities drew sell-out crowds for five performances at Jacques Cabaret, a dive bar in what used to be known as Boston’s Combat Zone when it was surrounded by other queer bars, topless joints, and the sex trade in the ‘50s and ‘60s. I remember it well because I ‘grew up’ as a baby dyke in Jacques from the late ‘60s. At age 22, I met one of the great loves of my life in that bar, after secretly slipping her a copy of Lavender Vision, one of the first gay liberation publications of the new movement, put out by my collective. I haven’t been back there since the 1970s. -
One Thing or Another: Chew On That
By Mark McNeaseIt’s always One Thing or Another… a lighthearted look at aging, life, and the absurdities of it all.
“You can miss the color of someone’s eyes, or the shape of their nose, but a grin with no teeth dares you to ignore it.”
You know you’re getting older when half your teeth have abandoned you, leaving your mouth like homeowners who’ve found a better neighborhood. You want them to stay. You offer incentives (“No more sugar, I promise!”), but they leave anyway, wiggling their way from the root up until they either fall out or get pulled out by a dentist who’s been lecturing you for ten years to use an electric toothbrush.
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The Savvy Senior: How SSI Can Help Low-Income Seniors and the Disabled
By Jim Miller
Dear Savvy Senior,
What can you tell me about the Supplemental Security Income program and what are the eligibility requirements? My father is very low-income, so I’m wondering if this is something he may qualify for.
Searching Daughter
Dear Searching,
Supplemental Security Income (or SSI) is a program administered by the Social Security Administration that provides monthly cash benefits to people that are disabled or over 65 based on financial need. Currently, more than 8 million people are receiving SSI benefits. Here’s what you should know.
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Grace Anne Stevens: Maybe, Just Maybe, Change is Happening
Grace Anne Stevens By Grace Anne Stevens
A few weeks ago, I had one of those head colds that just would not seem to go away. I was congested and had a sore throat that had some ebb and flow to it. I thought I was getting better and then… my face turned a shade of red that would have made Santa a bit envious.
After a few days, I made my way to the ER and was admitted with an infection called Cellulitis. Although I had never heard of this before, I quickly learned that this is a staph infection and required IV antibiotics.
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One Thing or Another: Chew On That
By Mark McNeaseIt’s always One Thing or Another… a lighthearted look at aging, life, and the absurdities of it all.
“You can miss the color of someone’s eyes, or the shape of their nose, but a grin with no teeth dares you to ignore it.”
You know you’re getting older when half your teeth have abandoned you, leaving your mouth like homeowners who’ve found a better neighborhood. You want them to stay. You offer incentives (“No more sugar, I promise!”), but they leave anyway, wiggling their way from the root up until they either fall out or get pulled out by a dentist who’s been lecturing you for ten years to use an electric toothbrush.
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The Savvy Senior: Finding Health Insurance Before Medicare Kicks In
By Jim Miller
Dear Savvy Senior,
I will be retiring in a few months and need to get some health insurance for my wife and me until we can enroll in Medicare. What are my options?
About to Retire
Dear About,
There are several places early retirees can find health insurance coverage before Medicare kicks in, but the best option for you and your wife will depend on your income level and your health care needs. Here’s where to look.
Government Marketplace
If your yearly income falls below the 400 percent poverty level after you retire, the Affordable Care Act (ACA aka Obamacare) marketplace is probably your best option for getting health coverage because of the premium subsidies they offer, which will reduce the amount you’ll have to pay for a policy.
ACA health insurance is major medical insurance that covers essential health benefits with no annual or lifetime coverage maximums. And they can’t charge you more or deny you coverage because of a pre-existing health condition.
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Book Review: When Brooklyn Was Queer, by Hugh Ryan
By Terri Schlichenmeyer
The Bookworm Sez“When Brooklyn Was Queer” by Hugh Ryan
c.2019, St. Martin’s Press
$29.99 / $38.99 Canada 308 pagesYour city sure has changed.
Landmarks were destroyed, the skyline is different, and streets are shifted in a way that feels same-not-same. It’s like having dinner with a relative you met once, when you were nine: as in “When Brooklyn Was Queer” by Hugh Ryan, everything and nothing is familiar.
Once upon a time, Brooklyn was little more than farms and fields.