More Mountains to Climb!

 

Exactly three years ago we set out to create an “aging smart” blog for baby boomers and…here we are 160 posts later!  It’s been a great journey for our brains and for our souls.  Hopefully, it’s been fun and thought-provoking for you as well.

We have learned a lot, laughed a lot, made a lot of mistakes, met a lot of fabulous people…and shared all of this with you. However, we have decided that today would be a good day to move on from our weekly blog and set off on new adventures, and to climb some new mountains.  boomersRI will continue to exist and you may see an occasional post when we get fired up about something, but we have decided to take a sabbatical of sorts and use the time to see how we can best tackle challenges still facing boomers.

So, thank you for being a part of our last three years and. . . stay tuned.  We will keep you updated on future “aging smart” projects via email and Facebook.  And, please continue to inform us about all issues and concerns related to . . . baby boomers !

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nyik, attla, qanuk . . . aka “snow”

“The Eskimos had fifty-two names for snow because it was important to them:  there ought to be as many for love. ”  Margaret Atwood   

Can you guess what this is?

(We guess that Rhode Islanders have many, many names for snow right now . . . )

 

 

 

Do We Get Enough Vitamin D?

Another cold and snowy day–ouch!!   Where is our sun?  Such is life in RI nowadays–and a good time to talk about…Vitamin D!  Do we get enough Vitamin D here in RI?  Probably not.  It is difficult to get enough Vitamin D in our diet alone and here in New England we probably do not get enough from the sun, especially if we use sunscreen as we should.   We old-ish folk also have thinner skin and may not be able to process Vitamin D as well as we used to–sigh!  So, what to do?  Easiest course of action is to have your Vitamin D levels checked at your next physical and talk with your physician about how to go from there.

To learn a little more about the importance of getting enough Vitamin D,  click on About Vitamin D and remember,” ..the sun will come out tomorrow…”  Feel free to sing it out!

“…those were the days, my friend. I thought they’d never end…”

Acid Reflux–An Occasional Annoyance Or A Serious Health Problem?

Unfortunately, baby boomers experience increasing gastrointestinal problems as we age.  Dang!  Yes, we know those blankety-blank discomforts:  gas, bloating, indigestion, diarrhea, constipation . . . heartburn.

Some of you may be acquainted with Acid Reflux or GER (Gastroesophageal Reflux), a condition that occurs when stomach contents flow back up into the esophagus–it is pretty common and can often be controlled by a few changes in diet and lifestyle–one might view it as an occasional annoyance from having had too much coffee, too many fried foods or eating something too spicy.  Some Tums or Maalox and you’re as good as new.  

However, if you experience acid reflux symptoms more than twice a week for three weeks or more, then you may have GERD (Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease), a  chronic, more serious form of GER, and you should see your health care provider because over time GERD can lead to serious health problems. Diagnosis, monitoring and treatment can mean the difference between chronic problems and smooth sailing.

Baby boomers are not necessarily at a higher risk for heartburn, but gaining weight . . . which often happens as we age . . .  can increase the risk!  Some of the factors that can put us at high risk are obesity, smoking, pregnancy (pretty sure boomers don’t have to worry about this one!), asthma and family history (about 30 to 40 percent of reflux cases  may actually be due to  genetic factors.)

Men, take note:  Studies show that GERD is more common in men than women and that men are less willing to seek help when they experience symptoms of heartburn/acid reflux.  (This could help explain why four times as many men die of esophageal cancer than women.)

For the definition, causes, symptoms, treatment and just about anything else you need to know about GER or GERD, click on NIDDK.   Don’t ignore chronic symptoms–there is help out there.   

If you’re doing this, it’s probaby time to see your doctor…

   

 

 

Friendship

Recently a friend offered to join me for a lecture that I was attending just because she knew that I was having a bad day–nothing dire, just one of those days we all have. I was taken aback and very moved by this offer from the heart. I don’t think that she had any particular interest in the lecture but she had an interest in my well-being –how beautiful is that.  As we age we experience many hurdles that need to be overcome–having a friend walk beside us makes everything okay.  Thank you good friend–you know who you are.

 

CSI RI

 

RISCL Director Dennis Hilliard showing us the ropes

Looking for an interesting and fun way to spend a couple of hours during these long winter months?  Visit CSI RI, better known as the RI State Crime Laboratory (RISCL) located at 220 Fogarty Hall, 41 Lower College Rd, Kingston, RI. Director Dennis Hilliard offers tours for up to ten individuals by appointment only; he is just a wealth of information and it is very evident in the first five minutes that he just loves what he does.  We, along with our husbands, recently toured the crime lab and although it doesn’t quite operate like the television versions that we are all so addicted to (except for Connie who had never even heard of the shows), the RISCL gets the job done–in real time.

The RISCL has a staff of nine full-time employees and some of its responsibilities include:

•    Fingerprint analysis which involves development and comparison identification       of fingerprints through the AFIS data base.
•   Firearms and tool marks identification.
•  “Trace” Analysis which includes items such as hairs, fibers, soil, paint, gunshot       residue, ignitable liquids.
•   Training investigators in CSI (crime scene investigation) methods
  

  IBIS–used for firearm related identification

As is so often  the case, the lab is understaffed and underfunded so there is a backlog of work, of course. (The backlog for fingerprints is 6 months and for firearms it’s a year and a half!) The crime lab staff are URI employees, unusual in that crime lab employees are usually tied to law enforcement.  Also, the crime lab takes evidence only from law enforcement and their biggest customer is….. you guessed it–good old Providence.

If you want to learn how real crime labs  “follow the evidence”, contact Director Hilliard at 401-874-2893 or dch@uri.edu and set up a tour.  Learn about the “Beast”, AFIS,IBIS, ALS and the role that the crime lab played back in 1997 in the Dr. King/James Earl Ray case.  You can even get your fingerprints taken–if you dare!

Connie dusting her own fingerprints

If taking a tour is not your thing but you do want to learn more , just click on RI State Crime Laboratory for a much more detailed explanation of what the lab offers–we cannot even come close to describing all of the services they provide.

a mock crime scene

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Movies For Grown-Ups”

Can’t remember which 2014 movies you meant to rent or stream?  You know . . . those well-reviewed movies that appeal to our “age range?”

 

AARP has a site called Movies For Grownups on which they review new movie releases as well as favorites from the past that they feel appeal to boomers  or “grownups”.  They even have a list of 100 must-see movies as well as a hall of fame list.  So many choices!!!  To view their picks for the best films and performances for 2014, click on 2015 Movies For Grownups Awards .

It is, after all,  only the beginning of February and it looks like we have a lot more snow days ahead so go ahead and explore these sites so that the next time your favorite weatherman sounds the alarm you’ll be  ready to settle in with some hot chocolate or a nice glass of  wine and “enjoy the show”!

 

 

 

a little bit of culinary humor

Over the past few years we have all gotten an inkling that Connie pretty much would rather do anything than cook.  When I decided to make pork pies for the holidays using Connie’s family recipe, I noticed that Connie had not included her recipe for pork gravy. I asked her for the recipe and this is what she sent to me:

Start with a trip to Dave’s.  Proceed to the canned goods aisle.  Purchase a can or jar of pork gravy.  Heat and serve!

Ya gotta love it!

Connie demonstrating how to make pork gravy

Let’s Talk Trash!

 

Looking for a unique way to spend a couple of hours???  Take a tour of what we Rhode Islanders lovingly call the Johnston landfill–it is quite the place!  Every day some 400 trash trucks roll into the landfill , each carrying approximately 10 tons of trash–that is 4000 tons of trash per day!!!

Operated by the RI Resource Recovery Corp (RIRRC) under guidelines set forth by the feds, the state and Johnston itself, it is a huge operation and includes the actual landfill as well as the Materials Recycling Facility.   Located at 65 Shun Pike, in Johnston on 1,000 acres of land, only 250 acres are for active trash– the rest acts as a buffer zone between the landfill and the surrounding areas of Johnston, keeping everyone happy for the most part.

Mt Trashmore–a lot higher than the photo shows…

We recently took the tour and were impressed to say the least.  The tour includes a look at the landfill itself, taking visitors on a short ride up a very high mountain (okay, hill) nicknamed Mt. Trashmore by employees. There is also a film and a presentation on the do’s and don’t’s of recycling  as well as a visit to the piece-de-resistance, the Materials Recycling Facility, known as MRF.  MRF is a state of the art “technological marvel” that  sorts and separates our recyclables so that we don’t have to and it also prepares them so that they can be sold as raw materials for new products.

a small section of the Materials Recycling Center

The landfill is almost full and no RI town wants one “in their backyard” so we need to slow down the trash load and increase the recyclables.  Right now approximately 95 recycling

uhm…who is the tour guide?

trucks, each carrying 6 tons of recyclables, pay a visit to the center each day–that’s almost 570 tons!– not bad but we can do better.  Consider taking this free tour to learn what happens to our trash and recyclables and what we as individuals can do to slow the tide. In addition to being good for the environment, recycling is good for our pocketbooks.  All 39 cities and towns in RI deposit their trash at the landfill paying approximately $320 per truckload.  When the recyclables are processed and sold to markets around the world, each town receives a share in the monies earned based on how much they recycle–less trash and more recycling translates into hard cash–it’s a no  brainer, for sure.

Organic grade compost for sale at RIRRC

For anyone interested in stepping up their efforts to recycle even further, the RIRRC offers information on home composting and sells a basic composting bin for $40.  For those of us who do not compost, they also sell organic grade compost for our gardens but you have to pick it up.

To learn more about the RIRRC  including services offered, location and directions, programs available to schools, etc. click on RIRRC. To book a tour, go to Tours at  RIRRC  If you cannot take a tour, you can see a virtual tour of MRF by clicking on Recycle Together RI–it’s worth a look!

RECYCLE, REUSE, RENEW

 

How We Met

We often get asked if we are sisters or how we met.  So here is our history,  . . . at least this is what we can remember:

 

A September 1980 Pawtuxet Valley Times article promoting a League of Women Voters event.

Almost 35 years ago, we were both active members of the League of Women Voters and…we clicked as did our husbands and children.  It’s been a great ride ever since!  During our first year in the League, we even ran as candidates to become delegates to the Democratic National Conventional for Jimmy Carter.  We didn’t win but we learned a lot about politics in RI.  Who knew? Thank you League of Women Voters!!!