From the monthly archives:

November 2008

Long Life Tips

After 55 shared 9 tips for living a long and happy life today. So in the spirit of the Thanksgiving Holiday I’d like to share their post with you.

Here’s the first 3 tips…

1) 80% Rule (stop eating when you’re 80% full)

2) Plant-Power (more veggies, less protein and processed foods)

3) Red Wine (consistency and moderation)

And just click on the link for the remaining tips on long life from the folks at After 55.

I hope you have a nice holiday.

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Expired Food and Botulism

I was having a conversation with a friend of mind recently about an email that goes around every so often regarding expiration dates of food items.

 

 

She told me she had bought a bottle of a well known brand name salad dressing at a major chain grocery store on the same day that she was using it.

 

That evening she was fixing a salad for dinner and when she opened the salad dressing it made a slight fizzle sound. Other than that, it appeared alright.

 

She did what we often do and tasted the dressing before adding it to the salad. Then the phone rang and she sat the bottle down.

 

After talking on the phone for a short time, she started to feel muscle weakness, difficulty speaking and swallowing.

 

She knew enough to call 911.

 

My friend had a very serious form of botulism and came very close to death.

 

Come to find out this salad dressing had an expiration date of over a year from when she bought it.

 

In Donna’s case she did not give it a thought because she just bought it.

 

I was always cautious with food and expiration dates. Now I not only go through my refrigerator and pantry often, I also make extra sure I check dates while shopping.

 

Donna is doing fine now,it took awhile for her to recover. We both agree taking a little extra time to check dates is worth it, your life may depend on it.

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Holiday Donation Scams -Watch Out

This time of year my mail box is full of mail asking for donations.
 
Food pantries seem to be big this year among the charity solicitations.
One recent direct mailer said that local businesses have come through as well as the government has increased its subsidies, HOWEVER, they still need cash donations.
Seems a little suspicious to me.
Now I am not saying any of this is not true.
But I am saying to be aware as this time of year brings a lot of these requests into our homes.
As a senior we often are taken in because we want to give back .
This site has some tips to watch for holiday donation scams. So check the web and check out the source before opening your check book.
 
  
 

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Medicare d and the other Medicare abc’s

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I read an advertisement for a Medicare plan the other day.

 

There are alot of these ads right now because  this is an open enrollment period.

 

Between now and Dec. 31st 2008 you can stay with your plan or switch.

 

I really had to work at getting a clear picture of all this.

 

Part A helps cover inpatient care in hospitals, as well as skilled nursing facility,

hospice and home health care.

 

Part B helps cover doctor’s service and outpatient care and some preventive services.

 

An example of this would be colorectal cancer screenings, bone density test, Lab services and the like.

 

Part D offers prescription drug coverage to everyone with Medicare.

 

There are two ways to get Part D .

1. Medicare prescription  Drug  plans.

2. Medicare Advantage plans.

 

Sounds pretty simple, well its not, also the pharase “helps pay” is used often.That’s exactly what it does - it helps.

 

I found that being with an HMO, namely Kaiser, and joining their Senior Advantage

program worked the best for me.

 

I was already with Kaiser before I turned 65 so alot of the work was already taken care of. They send me a update once a year and it is easy to understand.

 

I’ll have another example of this mess in a future post.

 

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