Panda Picks-Seniors Work on the Net!

We seniors remember the good ‘ol days when there were 4 TV channels to provide us with entertainment.  Of course we were still working so we didn’t have that muc h TV  time.  But now, we rely on the computer to fill our quiet times with entertainment.  So ya wanna go satellite and give yourself lots of choices?

We could become couch potates and entertain ourselves with 120 - 295  satellite channels, sports from around the world and lots of good music.  Certainly we could find a good movie with  HBO, Cinemax, Starz or Showtime. 

There certainly are choices as to how much and what kind of TV we can watch.  Go here to pick a package at a price you can afford: free TV choices

Now for the good news, there are no set up or equiptment charges. Dish network has everything you want at a price you can afford.

Seniors can use the internet to get connected to Satellite.  Just go to http://www.freetvchoices.net or call toll free 1-877-296-2792 promo code US-DN-37021.

Panda Picks the services of Dish Network so let’s hang a dish on the roof and get virtually every channel available on the planet on a senior budget.

Can’t find that tv guide and someone threw out the newspaper?  That channel changer gives you a headache.  Now Seniors can go on line to find out what is on T.V.

I googled tv listings and several options came up. What a surprise to find that there is a T.V. Guide on line

Specific subjects like sports I found when I scrolled down among the choices and found sport listings.

Are you interested in programs that are green planet  friendly?  Go here  Insert your zip code and choose your provider and there you are. They provide the station number available for your area and specific provider.

Panda picked the computer as another option for finding tv listings. On line searching by googling the options is just another method we can use.

Panda Lady

I recently found a blog discussion on the Moken people  where I learned about a  primitive culture, who have no  word  for time. Their nomad life style is based on no time to be anywhere and no time lines to meet. What a concept for retirees. Someone comes to visit you wouldn’t shoo them off nor would we schedule activites for particular day. The culture is well  documented in books by Jacques Ivanoff.
A recent documentary about the Moken “sea gypsies” aired on 60 minutes pointed out that they also do not have a word for” when”. Without words for” time” and “when” the Moken would have no concept of age. That too is an interesting concept for us to consider. Unencumbered by thoughts of aging and how long we have to spend with our children/grandchildren or what is the life expectancy of our situation how would we live?  Would we watch less stock market reports, accumulate more wealth, collect things for the future, put off fun things to do? The list is endless once we put aside “when”; when I ……..then I will do XXXX.

How old would you be if you did not know your age? Would you still be working because you enjoyed it or did you retire because that was expected of you?  I know people who are still working at 70 or 90 because they do not let age dictate their working activities.

 Do we accept dementia because it is affecting someone 85? I know people older than that who just graduated from college, writting books, creating great works etc. Dementia is not a part of aging as are many other ailments we accept as common to aging.  They are illness common to aging. Should we allow age to affect our acceptance of physical and mental decline?

It seems that those not concerned with age send messages to their body that they want to continue being active. If we constantly remind ourselves that we should not do certain things because of our age, we have sent messages of discouragement that keep us from seeking  desires. Joe Paterno, age 81, Penn State football coach  of 50 years is a good example of allowing interests to dictate our lifestyle rather  than allowing age to slow us down.

Does your cronological age dictate your actions? Would you like to start a new career? How about enrolling in a college course? What would you do if you did not have “when” or “time” in your vocabulary like the Moken? Can we stop time if we don’t allow time to stop us?

Panda picked  the subject of timelessness so that we are not controlled by a birthcertificate or held back  by time.  May we remember memories of the past but keep on building new memories.

Panda Lady

Seniors take advantage of reading devices when necessary. Love to read, but having trouble holding a book and turning pages? Love to read but the eyes are not co-operating? Reading and traveling are a great way to get away. All challenges are covered when you say hello to the New Kindle.

Slim: Just over 1/3 of an inch, as thin as most magazines

Lightweight: At 10.2 ounces, lighter than a typical paperback

Wireless: 3G wireless lets you download books right from your Kindle, anytime, anywhere; no monthly fees, service plans, or hunting for Wi-Fi hotspots

Books in Under 60 Seconds: Get books delivered in less than 60 seconds; no PC required

Improved Display: Reads like real paper; now boasts 16 shades of gray for clear text and even crisper images

Longer Battery Life: 25% longer battery life; read for days without recharging

More Storage: Take your library with you; holds over 1,500 books

Faster Page Turns: 20% faster page turns

Read-to-Me: With the new Text-to-Speech feature, Kindle can read every book, blog, magazine, and newspaper out loud to you

Large Selection: Over 230,000 books plus U.S. and international newspapers, magazines, and blogs available

Low Book Prices: New York Times Best Sellers and New Releases $9.99, unless marked otherwise
It’s exciting to introduce Amazon Kindle 2, the next generation wireless reading device. With a sleek and thin design that makes Kindle 2 as thin as a typical magazine and lighter than a paperpack, the new Kindle has seven times more storage and now holds over 1,500 books. It has a longer battery life and faster page turns. An advanced display provides even crisper images and clearer text for an improved book-like reading experience. And Kindle 2 even reads to you, with “Read to Me”, our new Text to Speech feature.
With Kindle 2 we kept everything readers love about the original Kindle—the convenience of reading what you want, when you want it, the immediacy of getting a book wirelessly delivered in less than 60 seconds, and Kindle’s ability to “disappear” in your hands so you can get lost in the author’s words. We’re also excited to announce that the Kindle Store has over 230,000 ebooks available.

GO HERE      This is Panda ’s Pick for today. Kindle 2  is available for pre-order starting today for $359 at  and will ship later this month . There is a wide variety of Kindle accessories available, including new covers from Cole Haan, Patagonia, and Belkin and more.

Panda Lady

We seniors, altho still learning so many skills , are not idiots when it comes to all this new technology. We are just on the learning curve. So let’s learn a new tech  word to defend ourselves.

When you seek support and you have it explained to you that it was an ID-10-T issue be aware that you are being snurkered.  So wise up and read that code again. .. IDIOT.

Remind the technologist that you were wise enough to choose them as the source of professional help and congratulate them that they still have employment.  Without wise people like us who seek their assistance they would be unemployed.

Another bit of advise.  When told to “click on any key“, be aware that there is no  key on your keyboard labeled “Any Key”.  They are telling you to choose a  key and click on it.  There now you won’t hear “took care of that Id-10-T issue”.

Seniors go on line to use affirmations to make those changes in our lifestyle so important to us. Do you need to exercise, lose weight, give up a habit, make decisions, then use affirmations to provide the wisdom and strength to carry through.

Subconscious affirmations are mentioned   on Awake 200.com.
“The conscious mind primarily functions with the left side of your brain and the subconscious mind through the right side. Each side of your brain, also known as hemispheres control different actions and responses. The left side is responsible for more rationalized and logical behavior such as thinking, where the right side is more imaginative and expressive with feelings and emotions.”
The article continues “The conscious mind discriminates what we want to believe and accept. ” In other words it can talk us out of affirmations. This site suggests that the subconscious mind will allow thoughts to be accepted if we hear them in our sleep. This is a good article to read to understand how our mind controls our positive affirmations.

Reading affirmations: Whether you wish to read a whole book or one line quotes, what we read affects our thinking. How often you read and for what length of time will seal the affirmations in your mind and actions.

Writing: Gems for friends.com     gives this explanation. Simply sit down at a table and write what you would like in your life 15 times every day. An example is: “I am healthy, happy, wise and free”. When you are done know that the universe is taking care of it.”

Some people will take that writing and tuck it into a revered place, such as their bible, or some other place of respect. Don’t just toss it into the junk drawer. That means that you are disrespectful of your thoughts.

Throw away the negative by writing down the statement and burning, throwing in trash, or flush it down the toilet.  Replace the negative with the positive written statements.
Affirmations while walking.
“As I walked, I crafted my affirmation today, and noticed that as I said it to myself, my stride changed. I walked taller, more confidently, more powerfully. I want that all the time!” Valorie’s Link Blog .

Affirmations change our physical well being as our brain convinces our body of our worth.

Singing affirmations I had the experience of singing an affirmation as I walked, singing just one song over and over.  As I sang I picked up courage and strength  completing a 7 mile walk in the dark and through a dangerous part of town.

Choosing Friends Ever think about why we reject and accept friendships. Those who affirm our worth are welcomed into our circle of friends. Those who would pull us down or defeat our goals are pushed aside. Choose friends on line who build you up and who you can give a boost  so that we can lose those pounds, build muscles, write that book or whatever we wish to attain.

Panda Picked affirmations as a great method to keep us positive and always growing  as we age.  Whether you want to read one liners or find books on affirmations, go on line for your reading materials, walk or run while you repeat your affirmations, look on line for great places where you can enjoy nature. We seniors can even put on that tape recorder and do it while we take that famous afternoon nap. Skype, on line communities and other messenger services provide us with on line friends who affirm our worth when we can’t leave the house.

Panda Lady

We seniors know the effects of good food , exhilarating exercise, and prescribed medicine to maintain good health. Consider music as the good food, exercise, and medicine for all that ales you.

 As we age, we seniors look for alternative ways to prevent and heal or at least deal with the effects of aging. Google the words brain, music and healing to do your own research. The fewer medicines we take, the less chance we have of getting dangerous reactions to bad combinations.

By the way, Happy 100th Birthday to  George Beverly Shea, Feb. 1, 2009, evangelist singer for Billy Graham. Mr. Shea holds the world record for singing in person to the most people ever. The text  reads: “George Beverly Shea of Canada has sung to the most people during his career  on every continent in front of 220 million people, since first becoming the soloist for gospel preacher Billy Graham in 1943 on the radio show “Songs in The Night”.”

Panda Picked Music as a natural alternative form of healing.  Try it and post your comments here.

Panda Lady

 

 

Seniors like to reminisce about past experiences in our lives.  We like to look at old pictures, brochures, letters and postcards which remind us of vacations. 

Inauguration Day 2009 was a special day of remembering and reflecting on a most wonderful experience I had in  Washington D.C. May 2007.  I spent 3 weeks in D C as a volunteer at a guest house  as a volunteer doing cooking, gardening and cleaning. This had it benefits as visiting the nations capitol for a couple of days as a tourist would be quite expensive let alone staying for 3 weeks.  Each day, after finishing tasks, I loaded up my fanny pack with water, camera,  cell phone, sunglasses,  business card of  the house (served as my ID), a  D C map as well as some quick snacks. Putting on my best walking shoes I took off on daily adventures as a tourist.

For 69 cents I could buy a ticket to use anytime during my excursion including the return trip.  So for that small price I could travel to  the government buildings, zoo, museums, mall, and monuments usually walking upon bus arrival in the mall/ capitol area.   Because of the extended time in Washington D.C. I was able to spend lengthy times at any point of interest even returning to the same locations  more than once to soak in more information.  I could sit and walk  in  gardens with no concern for time.  The volunteer position included room and board as well as providing companion volunteers who knew of great places not to be missed.  Several times, I even went with house guests adding to the camaraderie. At evening tea time we shared our adventures so I kept finding more places to visit.

The volunteer experience was great because I could be a tourist with or without companions, and  people  at the guest house to report to if I had  problems.  Expense wise, this was a life saver.  I could never have afforded 3 weeks in Washington and take note, visitors can visit most places of interest for free which is great for retirees. 

Tues. Jan 22, 2009, Inauguration Day  was a day of reflection for me as  watched the proceedings on T.V. I remembered warm late afternoons and early evenings walking along Pennsylania Ave in D. C.  I was  able to recognize the buildings and understood the turns the parade was taking.  I remembered sitting on benches to rest and reflecting on all the presidents that had traveled down that road.  The capitol dome was ever present in view as I walked up and down this most famous Ave.  Of course being a baby boomer I envisioned the tradegies played out on Pennsylvia Ave where mourners gathered to say a final farewell. I could enjoy the  slim crowd of weary tourists as the day was coming to an end. 

I could have turned off the heat yesterday, put on my winter coat, opened the doors and windows to  feel like I was there to witness this part of this  historic day.   Perhaps I will return to Washington some day and now add a new memory of Pennsylvania Ave.  Yes, I wish I had been there but I think I saw more in the comfort of my living room.   

Now Pesident Obama asks us to get involved.  Perhaps I will find somewhere interesting to give of my time whether here at home or by traveling to another location.  It might be an obcure place or it could be a place like Washing D.C.  where I can re-live memories for days and years to come.

Panda picked reminiscing about volunteer experiences to remind us that we create valuable memories while doing service to mankind.  As Obama said “….there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task”. 

We baby boomers have as retirees, time to give, talents to share, memories to make.  Where would you like to serve? What part can you play in the call to serve our nation and its people as a volunteer?

Panda Lady

We seniors find e-mails to be the easiest and most fun part of being on line and using the internet. We send notes to each other like pen pals including those famous Soccer Mom humorous and inspirational e-mails. We soon learned not to open “attachments” to protect our PC. Those typing skills we learned in high school on clunky typewriters were put to use in a way we never dreamed they would be used. The keys had different names than we were used to but we soon learned how to use them; enter, alt. esc. control etc. We had to learn them while my grandchildren used all the buttons with ease and they haven’t even sat through high school typing class. Best of all was the way one could correct, move ahead, erase, cut and paste and no restrictions on how many copies we could send. Wow multiple e-mails could be sent and no carbon paper needed. And need I mention spell check.

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We had to learn a new vocabulary: spam, e-mail, files. signature lines, etc. We built our e-mail list and made files. Not easy tasks but we so enjoyed the new communication system that we typed away, forwarded e-mails, and collected addresses. The computer became a prominent fixture as we used it like the telephone, receiving and answering messages. It was like a super toy allowing us to talk to grandchildren in far off towns, connecting us to people across the world we had never met. Sending and receiving humors u-tubes made us the masters of humor to enlighten each others lives.

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Sun. Jan. 11, 2009 an interesting story appeared in my local hometown newspaper, The Lima News. A story printed there shared how local resident, Marilyn Williams used e-mail to collaborate in the writing of a book.. She told how her mother had dreamed of being a published author but it never happened.  Barbara Bailey Caspersen, Marilyn’s sister took the idea and joined forces with her sister to create a book “No Time for Tears” (The story of Anna). Barbara felt she was being helped along by her mother, but needed some assistance from her sister..

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Of course the two ladies could talk on the phone and at times met to discuss the script.  With Williams in Lima, Ohio and sister Barbara Bailey Caspersen of Hamilton Ontario, Canada discussions could take place but it was the opportunity to send e-mails where they could share ideas on the script that allowed for instant feedback on the project.. It took two years to finish.  The option of using e-mails was a solution that worked out so well that another book “Moving Mountains” has been completed and Williams thinks it will be available by June.

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From our 50th high school reunion this past summer, the class of ‘58 connected in this unique manner. During those 50 years we only met in person 3 times and rarely communicated with our fellow classmates. Now, just for fun, we can chat about the old days and brag about happenings in our lives. We can inform each other of crises and share prayers of concern.  E-mail gave us this opportunity to connect and become re-acquainted.
Panda Picked e-mails as one of the neat reasons we seniors like to be on-line.  Ideas are shared as when we wrote letters but the instant feedback allows for a flow of communications in such a way that we can carry on a conversation. E-mails add to our lives because they are fun and informative, and ever so easy to add to our daily routine when we master their use.
How do you use e-mails?

Panda Lady

                           Hotels  for     D O G      V A C A T I O N S

Seniors traveling like to include their furry four legged family members. Often this presents the question of where can we lodge for the night and include the whole family. The answer is to look for Doggie Hotels, where people can stay too.

Seniors go on line to Bring Fido site,  and use the “Where To stay” search in the center of the page.  Once you have read the reviews from other pet owners, checked out the maps for locations, know the regulations and prices,  you can register your reservation on the right side menu.  While there click on the dog house (motel), fire hydrant (play), and dog bone (dog friendly restaurants).  Hotels, bed and breaksfasts, campgrounds and motels from around the room welcome you and your dog.

Plan Fido’s vacation before you leave home so that everyone can enjoy the family vacation.  Use  Bring Fido  site for information on all your needs from dog sitters, restaurants, leash free recreation, vets, flight information,  doggie events, etc.  Everything you need for a hassle free vacation is found on Bring Fido.

Panda Picked Bring Fido.com as the recommended site for planning pet friendly vacations anywhere in the world. This is a no cost site based on the experiences of other dog owners. Don’t leave home without Fido. By the way your photo’s of your dog on vacation and your ratings of the services you used will  assist others using on line searchers for traveling with dogs.

Panda Lady