Turning Your Hobbies Into Profits

Posted by Peter on May 20, 2013 in Health, Interesting Links, New Career Fields | 0 comments

Stop the presses! From the New York Times we learn that retirement age folks (we'll just call them Goldenboomers!) are, as the Ewing Kauffman Foundation has noted “,… are starting business at the fastest clip of any age group. Its index of Entrepreneurial Activity, released in April, found the share of businesses started entrepreneurs from the ages of 55 to 64 was 23 percent last year, up from 14 percent in 1996 and higher than the 20-34-year age group.” Find out more here to learn about how to better connect yourself and some pitfalls to be aware of! Read More

The Global Buckets Solution

Posted by Peter on May 20, 2013 in Austerity Measures, farming, Interesting Links, International | 0 comments

I had a chance today, to weed the yard. And the garden. And the front yard. It took me about six hours to make most things look okay. Not nice, not great. Just okay. There is plenty more to do. I point this out because it is normal for people to spend so much time in their gardens. What if, however there is a way to be able to garden with less effort involved along with “on-demand” watering for your veggies and no (okay, hardly) any weeding? Thanks to VC and her husband MC who pointed me in a very interesting direction. Take a look at how a “Global Bucket” is put together. Chances are you have the parts in your house right now. Then there is a version of the “Global Bucket” that ups the ante….Made from one 55 gallon drum ( @225 liters) with the top third cut off. By putting the two parts together with a common wick allows the plants to get water, while saving the water from evaporating. Easy to build, easy to use and the result is phenomenal. Take a look at these two projects. Each can be adapted in areas of the world where water resources are tight and a supply of surplus drums might be available. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXEgJXec_Zk Read More

30 Gorgeous Eco-Friendly Hotels

Posted by Peter on May 19, 2013 in Companies going the extra distance, International, Travel | 0 comments

30 Gorgeous Eco-Friendly Hotels It seems that more now than ever before, we are changing how we go on vacations. While a particular segment of the goldenboomers demographic will always enjoy shipboard cruising, more people are looking for and enjoying “green” vacations. Google the words “Green Hotel Architects” and you will pull up 19 million hits. Travelocity includes a “Green Hotel Directory.” Older hotels are being retrofitted into LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) award winning designs. Locations that used to be considered so far off the grid are now using their isolation as selling points. Global hotel chains are creating new “Green Initiatives.” Yes, going green is good for the bottom line on a variety of levels. Here are thirty eco-friendly hotels found around the world. Thanks to Mashable.com, you can let your inner green traveler roam! Read More

Cleveland and memories

Posted by Peter on May 12, 2013 in Commentary | 0 comments

I am sure you have heard by now about the three young women (and one child) who gained their freedom after having been kept in sexual captivity for up to eleven years. And what I will tell you is no way minimizing what they went through. There are many baby boomers who have experienced sexual trauma brought on by our parents. Thankfully most of us have not gone through the hell that these women have. But it is a hell, nonetheless. This commentary is a result of a discussion with a staff member where I work and my realization (I have been coming to that conclusion over many years) that more than ever I understand how sexual trauma has impacted my life. My story is not an unusual one. My father (or sperm donor as we call him) liked little children. His predilection was towards little girls (my sibling) but there may have been attempts to molest me. Ultimately, he used me as blackmail to get what he wanted from my sibling. (“Do what I tell you or your brother gets beat up.”) Altogether I was abused for about ten years. My sibling for about twelve. At age sixteen I was given an opportunity to escape that world of beatings as well as the emotional minefields that marked our daily lives. My mother and I traveled from safe house to safe house, fleeing to Germany. There I was packed off to a farm on the Danish border. This in case he would come looking for us, and knowing what his rages were like, it was a safe place in case Mother was attacked. I am fifty-five now, and have spent my life looking over my shoulder, hearing voices in the back of my mind that were as derogatory as can be imagined. I knew from an early age that I had no value, no future. While that is inherently wrong, I still hear that voice more times than I should. Up to this point, I have never lived up to the potential that is mine. I spend extra time at work, work elsewhere as a volunteer only because I have to prove that I am capable of being a member of humanity. Friends were not part of my life, acquaintances perhaps, but trusting someone is difficult. I fit the profile of those with PTSD, yet have a hard time dealing with that idea, because I think those who were in combat are worthy of PTSD. Something I am not worthy of…. My wife has had to listen to my nightmares. In our married life, she has found me whimpering, buried under the blankets at the foot of the bed, escaping the dark figure that invaded my mind in the stillness of the night. Once, within the last few years she has had been frightened by me, as I was punching out a pillow in the middle of the night telling him to take this punch, and then that punch. At least I was able to finally defend myself, albeit much too late. He is dead now, a cause for celebration. His new family (notably as far from us as my sib and I could get-he on the east coast and the two of us less than sixty miles from the Pacific ocean) never knew him (as far as we know) as we did. In his obituary he never mentioned his original family, just the name of his mother and father, Otto and Johanna Marquardt. The reason I bring this up is that the co-worker brought up some points….I don’t find much to laugh at, yet try to make others laugh. I don’t see the early morning sunrise as beautiful, only that it is. I don’t find much joy in the simple things, perhaps because I think I am always trying to keep busy. Maybe it is a tactic to ignore that which needs to be dealt with. I have sought therapy, but have never been comfortable with the therapists. Even as I write this, I tremble. Why, I don’t really understand. The articles from Cleveland mention what the women went through. Some of it sounds all too familiar. I realize that what I went through is on a different level from what these women went through, but some similarities exist however. Perhaps it is why I have such a strong desire to help those who are hurting (whether it is due to aging or due to violence) and to inform and publicize efforts that are being done globally to help those who have gone through this particular hell. I write this because I am curious how others (who may have similar backgrounds) are impacted by what happened in Cleveland. Memories are strange wisps of mental smoke. Usually they are far in the distance; sometimes they come back and clog our heads. Cleveland has brought back a lot of smoke… There are many baby boomers and goldenboomers who have had similar experiences. It is not too late to address why we fell numb, disconnected and mired in emotional quicksand at times. I am told there are some really pretty sunrises and sunsets. That life can be euphoric. At times I can sense that. Meanwhile we put on our clothes, smile when asked if we are okay, and reply in the affirmative. Then we keep on going, because that is all we can do. I wish you well. Read More

Due to major software issues this site will be inoperable for the time being.

Posted by Peter on May 11, 2013 in Health | 0 comments

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Moving forward….

Posted by Peter on May 6, 2013 in Commentary | 0 comments

It has been a long time since I have been active with Goldenboomers.com. Presumably it will be a while longer until I get online with the site due to a number of factors. I started to shoot videos for the Goldenboomers.com YouTube channel. Yes, I have had one for a number of years but never really used it. There are two forgettable films there….fortunately, one can assume that I will get better with more practice. While that may be true (knock wood) the software I purchased recently decided that it didn’t like the age of my laptop. Pinnacle 16 Ultimate sells itself as a top movie editing software. My laptop meets or exceeds all the basic needs for the software, but it basically freezes up every time try to open it. Two weeks later, and I am out the money, and still cannot use the new addition to Goldenboomers.com as well as having issues with the laptop as well. So it goes. By now I have posted @ 270 links. Frankly after the emotional stressors my family has been through over the last months, I also didn’t want to deal with anything other than family. To some degree, I have enjoyed not being online and connected. Honestly I needed this break from Goldenboomers International. Staying off line has been a huge vacation for me. Normally I spend three + hours per day (seven days a week) working on the project. I think that I just overloaded! Not to worry, I have been here before. Face it, after 14 years, Goldenboomers.com is still on my mind every day. The fact that I barely have available computers has made the task harder. Next weekend, I hope to solve the computer issues. Splitting the work up between two computers will hopefully bring me back to an even keel. Speaking of next weekend, our sons will be getting their Eagle Award, which is the highest award that a young man can get at the end of their youth Boy Scout “career.” They had some major issues with receiving this award because they are not in line with the Boy Scouts of America policy of forbidding gays within this otherwise worthwhile group. Attitudes are changing, however. They requested and were given permission to wear legal pride patches. For that, their mother and I are proud. To them it is more important to have good character at this stage of the game then it is to worry about the orientation of a young man. So we move forward. It is after all, all that we can do right? I will be here and will continue. Sometimes the potholes on the street of life are daunting. It does take time to drive out of them! Read More

Seniors? Forgeddiboutit!

Posted by Peter on Apr 11, 2013 in Health | 0 comments

Forget “Seniors,” and forget “aging in place.” How do you feel about that? Do those terms box us in and put is in a negative state? Personally I agree that we are using names to describe our demographic that are, woefully short of the ideal. We are already changing how the world sees us. Read on! “The more we listen to consumers, the more we realize we still have so much to learn from them.” That’s the mantra of ProMatura, a global market research and advisory firm specializing in 55+ consumers and their housing, products and services. President and CEO Margaret Wylde, PhD, has her fingers firmly on the pulse of the booming demographic. She spoke with Long-Term Living Editor-in-Chief Patricia Sheehan in advance of her keynote address at the Environments for Aging Conference, to be held April 6-9 in New Orleans. Sheehan: Describe the current senior housing landscape. Wylde: First off, we must get rid of the term ‘‘seniors.” And I hate the term “aging in place.” What people want is to “live in place.” They’re not thinking about their aging process. They just want a really well-designed house and that well-designed house will work for anyone of any age. It’s like “universal design.” But the problem with universal design [UD] is many think it’s for people with disabilities. UD should just be incredibly great design that is well-thought-out and is just smart. It shouldn’t be a separate category. Sheehan: So what do you suggest as an alternative to “seniors”? Wylde: People! Or 55-plus works. When you use the term “senior” you are ascribing an adjective to people. When you use the term “older” or “elder” those adjectives mostly have negative connotations. I’m not making this up—it’s well documented. So why would we call a whole type of housing product by a negative adjective and expect people to want to live there? Do you want to live in senior housing? Read More