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Kapok Aging and Caregiver Resources: Checklist for Elderly Living Alone – What to Look for When You Visit
By Angelica Herrera Venson, DrPH, MPH
The following excerpt is reprinted with permission from Kapok Aging and Caregiver Resources.
Many seniors live alone without any problems. However, this isn’t always the case. Aging brings with it many challenges and a person’s ability to care for themselves may decrease over time, to the point that living alone becomes dangerous.
This is why it’s so important for you to have a checklist for elderly living alone. Adult children can use such a checklist to make sure their aging parents are still doing well and taking care of themselves.
A good checklist will highlight critical areas for you to keep an eye on, ones that you can look at discreetly. For example, a fridge full of out-of-date food may suggest memory issues. If the senior appears to be eating some of this out-of-date food, their health may be even more at risk.
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Savvy Senior: Can COVID-19 Cause Shingles?
By Jim Miller
Dear Savvy Senior,
How effective is the shingles vaccine and what is the CDC recommendation for getting it? My older brother and sister, both in their fifties, got COVID a few months back followed by shingles. Do you know if there is a connection between these viruses, and would the shingles vaccine have protected them?
Scared of Shingles
Dear Scared,
Great question! Many healthcare professionals across the country have been urging their older patients to get the shingles vaccine (in addition to the COVID-19 vaccinations) during the pandemic because getting COVID-19 can increase your chances of developing shingles. And the more severe case of COVID you get, the greater your risk for shingles.
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And the Winners Are: 5 Lucky Entrants Win a Copy of ‘Cupid Shot Me’!
Congratulations to Raj, Terri, Andrea, Lawrence, and Kirsten. Each of them has won a paperback edition of the recently-released ‘Cupid Shot Me: Valentine Tales of Love, Mystery & Suspense (A Queer Mystery Anthology Book 1).’ The anthology includes my own ‘Paper Hearts: A Marshall James Thriller.’ Winners were selected at random and notified March 1. Want a chance to win the next giveaway? Subscribe and the chance is yours!
About ‘Paper Hearts’
It’s now or never, as Marshall decides to search for the love of his life thirty years after he’d been told they were finished forever. Mac McElroy was an LAPD homicide detective back when Marshall lived in Hollywood and trouble came calling for him once, twice, three times over. The third time was not the charm: it nearly got Marshall killed, and it put their love on ice for the next three decades. Will he find Mac? Is Mac even still alive? And exactly what happened that Valentine’s Day, 1992, when it all came crashing down? Find out in ‘Paper Hearts.’
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The Twist Podcast #185: Florida Takes the Hate Cake, Day Tripping Treasures, the Gen Z Zone, and This Week’s Headlines
Join co-hosts Mark McNease and Rick Rose as we shed a tear for Florida’s LGBTQ kids, praise the pleasures of day tripping, give props to Gen Z, and scan the week in headlines. Twist Top picks and our listicles, too!
Enjoy The Twist on Libsyn, iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Amazon Music, and TheTwistPodcast.com.
Copyright 2021 MadeMark Publishing
Join Mark’s email list for updates, podcasts, giveaways, and his monthly newsletter! Reach us at: TheTwist @ TheTwistPodcast.com
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The Weekly Readlines February 22
The Weekly Readlines (rhymes with headlines!) offers news you can use every Wednesday morning. You can view the archives here. And coming this spring: an audio edition of the Readlines. Fasten your headphones!
BIG CUP: THE WEEK’S TOP STORIES First the good news: the Trump crime family inched closer to indictment on racketeering charges, with the organization’s accounting firm cutting and running. That may be it for an otherwise bleak news cycle.
Vladimir Putin “recognized” two separatist regions of Ukraine, in preparation for what everyone assumes will be a full scale invasion of the sovereign nation.
Taking this week’s hate cake, Florida’s sure-to-pass Don’t Say Gay Bill includes an amendment requiring schools to out LGBTQ students to their parents, with a “harm exemption” removed. So much for saving the children.
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On the Map: A Day Trip to Chester, NJ
By Mark McNease
On the Map is a travelogue of places, restaurants and landscapes for your travel considerations. Sometimes near, sometimes far, always interesting.
My husband Frank and I have been enjoying day trips for several years now, especially since we moved to our New Jersey house full-time almost five years ago. And while we also like to take short two night getaways, which have fit well into my three-day-off weekly schedule, there’s a lot to be said for just getting in the car—or on a bus or train—and exploring towns and destinations that have you back by dinner.
This past Wednesday we headed to a city just an hour’s drive away: Chester, NJ. We found a town that’s perfect for short-term exploring and meeting friendly locals. This isn’t always the case, by the way. Heading off into the unknown for an afternoon means risking that you may not be so thrilled with the place when you get there, but that’s part of the fun. A surprise is what you’re looking for when it’s somewhere you’ve never been.
Chester is a borough in Morris County, New Jersey. As of the 2010 Census, the population was 1,649, not counting tourists and day trippers! Chester is completely surrounded by Chester Township, making it part of 21 pairs of “doughnut towns” in the state, where one municipality entirely surrounds another. The borough’s name is derived from the township, which was named for Chestershire in England. (Wikipedia)
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Savvy Senior: Do I Have to File Income Tax Returns This Year?
Shared from LGBTSr.com
By Jim Miller
Dear Savvy Senior,
What is the IRS standard tax deduction for 2021? I didn’t file a tax return last tax year (2020) because I lost my job and my income in March due to COVID. But I got a part-time job in 2021 and am wondering if I made enough money that requires me to file this year.
Part-Time Retiree
Dear Retiree,
Whether or not you are required to file a federal income tax return this year depends not only on how much you earned last year (in 2021), but also the source of that income, as well as your age and your filing status.
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Q Audiobooks: Where to Find Free Audiobook Codes
Welcome to the return of Q Audiobooks, a regular feature offering audiobooks of interest for the LGBTQ+ listener.
As someone who has published 12 audiobooks, I understand the attraction of providing free download codes for audiobook fans and the authors and narrators who keep them listening. I’ve given away well over 1,000 audiobook codes over the ten years I’ve been making audiobook editions available for my books, and I have two sites to recommend. I’ve used both of them to great effect, and if you search “LGBTQ” you’ll even find a lot of the audiobooks in your favorite not-so-mainstream genres. Codes are specific to each book and can only be redeemed at ACX/Audible links provided when you get the code (US or UK), or on the Authors Direct app if you’re getting a code from Findaway Voices.
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The Twist Podcast #184: Truckers Got Talent, Rams Take the Ring, Texas Toasted, and the Week in Headlines
Join co-hosts Mark McNease and Rick Rose as we slam the brakes on the trucker caravan craze, check our emotional states post-Super Bowl, gaze aghast at the Texas voting fiasco, and scan the week in headlines. Twist Top picks and our listicles, too!
Enjoy The Twist on Libsyn, iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Amazon Music, and TheTwistPodcast.com.
Copyright 2021 MadeMark Publishing
Join Mark’s email list for updates, podcasts, giveaways, and his monthly newsletter! Reach us at: TheTwist @ TheTwistPodcast.com
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Valentine’s Day eBook Sale! ‘Cupid Shot Me: Valentine Tales of Love, Mystery & Suspense’ Just $2.99 on Kindle
It’s a one-day-only sale on Kindle for ‘Cupid Shot Me: Valentine Tales of Love, Mystery & Suspense (A Queer Mystery Anthology Book 1).’ Show yourself or someone you love a little murder for this special day! The anthology includes my own ‘Paper Hearts: A Marshall James Thriller,’ along with 10 other short stories from some of the best writers in the genre. (You can read about my story here.)
Eleven award-winning queer authors come together to spin tales of murder, horror, and suspense all during a Valentine’s Day you won’t soon forget!
From the Introduction by Michael Nava, celebrated author of the Henry Rios mysteries:
The stories in Cupid Shot Me fall somewhere between the classic Richard Rodgers tune “My Funny Valentine” and the gangland Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre. You’ll find bushels of red roses but some may be lethal, and watch what you eat at that romantic dinner because that exquisite morsel on your fork may be poisoned. You’ll definitely want the bomb squad to inspect that enormous box of chocolates before you open it.
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Enter to Win One of 5 Paperback Editions of ‘Cupid Shot Me’ Mystery Anthology (Ends March 1)
Enter to win one of 5 paperback editions of the just-released ‘Cupid Shot Me: Valentine Tales of Love, Mystery & Suspense (A Queer Mystery Anthology Book 1).’ The anthology includes my own ‘Paper Hearts: A Marshall James Thriller.’ Winners will be selected and notified March 1! Only ships within the U.S.
About ‘Paper Hearts’
It’s now or never, as Marshall decides to search for the love of his life thirty years after he’d been told they were finished forever. Mac McElroy was an LAPD homicide detective back when Marshall lived in Hollywood and trouble came calling for him once, twice, three times over. The third time was not the charm: it nearly got Marshall killed, and it put their love on ice for the next three decades. Will he find Mac? Is Mac even still alive? And exactly what happened that Valentine’s Day, 1992, when it all came crashing down? Find out in ‘Paper Hearts.’
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Mark McNease Mysteries Podcast #35: 6 Chapter Sample of ‘Black Cat White Paws: A Maggie Dahl Mystery,’ Narrated by Holly Palance
Welcome to the first Mark McNease Mysteries Podcast of 2022! I’m finishing up the second mystery in the Maggie Dahl series, ‘Open Secrets,’ and should have that out by the spring. In the meantime, enjoy a 6 chapter audiobook sample of the first book. ‘Black Cat White Paws‘ was narrated by the fabulous Holly Palance, and if I decide to do an audiobook of the new one, she’s the only choice for it. You can hear my interview with Holly on the One Thing or Another podcast HERE.
In Black Cat White Paws, recently widowed Maggie Dahl finds herself faced with challenges on all fronts: life alone in a new town, running a business she and her husband had dreamed of and started together, and now pursuing a killer. Her sister, Gerri, moves from Philadelphia to Lambertville, New Jersey, to support her sister and start a new life of her own. Together, the women search for a murderer, helped in critical ways by their neighbor’s cat. A black cat with white paws. A cat whose independence sets it all in motion and sees it through to the end.
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The Twist Podcast #183: Pence Pulls the Pin, Active Shooter Highlights, Super Bowl Funday, and the Week in Headlines
Join co-hosts Mark McNease and Rick Rose as we give props to former VP Pence, weigh in on the new workplace norm (look! it’s an active shooter!), dish up the Super Bowl, and scan the headlines. Twist Top picks and our listicles, too!
Enjoy The Twist on Libsyn, iTunes, Stitcher, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Amazon Music, and TheTwistPodcast.com.
Copyright 2021 MadeMark Publishing
Join Mark’s email list for updates, podcasts, giveaways, and his monthly newsletter! Reach us at: TheTwist @ TheTwistPodcast.com