Hate typing your email messages?

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I took a one semester typing course in high school, hunt and pecked my way through college and had a secretary type my business correspondence and reports.When personal computers became popular (yes, I’m over fifty) I boned up on my hunt and peck skills.Pecking out email messages takes too much time and abbreviated IM and text messaging loses the beauty of the language.I want to send a lot of words quickly and easily.

Solution #1

I’m a bit of a techy, so I didn’t mind trying Dragon Naturally Speaking by Nuance.This is Speech Recognition Software.You speak into a microphone and the software translates your words to text in whatever email or word processing program you have open (WINDOWS based only). If you have to have the written word, this is the way to go.Version 10 allows you to produce a fairly accurate document probably three times as fast as you could type it. Downside:It takes a little practice to use it, the cheapest package is $99 and it requires a decent amount of computer resources. If you want to crank out written reports, articles or email messages, get this software.

But I don’t need to send written email messages. I don’t want to worry about spelling and punctuation and dangling participles. I’m a night owl.I just want to tell my friends and family all the exciting things going on in my life without waking them up at 2am with a phone call.

Solution #2

So why not send them a voice recording? When I was a kid, separated lovers or families with soldiers overseas recorded voice messages on cassette tapes and mailed them back and forth! I know how funny that sounds but there was no  email and long distance phone calls were very expensive. If you already have a computer, a headset or free standing microphone, and can send email messages, you can make and attach voice messages for FREE.

This could be a great present to give your parents, senior friends, yourself or anyone who hates to type email messages.

Here are the steps for setting up on a PC with WINDOWS XP.

What you need:

A Microphone  – I use a headset but it is really best for most people to have a free -standing mike that can easily be positioned in front of the user but not blocking the keyboard.Remind the user that holding or touching the mike while they are recording will cause noise on the final output.

Software – Audacity free download here:/http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

Audacity does not save directly to mp3 files without this small script:  download Lame from here: http://audacity.sourceforge.net/help/faq?s=install&i=lame-mp3 and place the unzipped files in the audacity directory.

Install the Audacity software and make sure the Lame folder is inside the Audacity folder.

Place an Audacity shortcut on the desktop

Add a folder in MY DOCUMENTS called My Recordings

Insert the pink microphone plug into the pink microphone jack on your computer or speakers.

To Record Voice Message

Open the Audacity software.Test the microphone by clicking on the small red circle RECORD button (3rd button from left). You should see the signal line bounce up and down as you speak.

Stop the recording by pressing the red square STOP button (5th button)

Click on the X to close the test (don’t save).

If you didn’t see the bouncing signal line, check the WINDOWS volume control to make sure “Input” is not muted.

Start your first recording by selecting NEW under the FILE menu.

Begin recording by clicking on the small red circle RECORD button.

You can pause by pressing the PAUSE button (two vertical lines  4th button)

Restart by pressing the PAUSE button again.

Stop the recording by pressing the red square STOP button.

You can listen to it if you want by rewinding to start (1st button) and

then press play (2nd button)

Click FILE, Export As mp3Enter a file name and save it to the My Recordings folder that you made in the My Documents folder..When you click on SAVE, a box will appear.You can fill in the info if you want to but it is not necessary.

Click on OK.The file will be saved.

If you attach the file to an email message, it would be polite to tell the recipient that an Audio file is attached. If you mention a lot of websites in your recording, it would be nice to list the hyperlinked sites in your message so that the reader can click on them while listening to your recording.

HAVE SOME FUN!

Record what you know about your family tree and send it to the genealogist in the family.Get the oldest members of the family to record stories about their childhood for future generations.Record all those recipes you have been meaning to write down, record instructions for house-sitters, record Holiday greetings or start that personal journal that you could never get around to typing.

 

Working Retirement

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Ok, I’m taking a call while I’m on top of a ladder at home. I like working. Is that such a bad thing?
Rick Ladder

I’ve had people tell me that I’m going to die young because I work too hard. Now that I could retire, they tell me the secret to living to a ripe old age is to get up every morning and go to work. This is exactly why you have to listen to yourself. You know what is good for you. You know what feels good. You are now in your second adult life…Don’t blow it!! Your focus should be on YOU. If for some reason you can’t get past some old tape that says this is wrong or selfish, remember, THE BEST WAY TO MAKE THE PEOPLE AROUND YOU HAPPY IS TO MAKE YOURSELF HAPPY FIRST!

 

RickJoin Us Now

Traveling with retired grandparents

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The worst sunburn I ever got was when my grandparents took me to a Florida beach when I was 9 years old. All I remember now is lying spread eagled on the motel room bed, not wanting anything (including the sheet) to touch my bright red skin.

I can’t say that traveling with my grandparents was a great time. Even in retirement, my grandfather was not anxious to have “fun”.? Driving from Dayton, Ohio to Florida, we would pass the factory outlets for towels and quilts in Tennessee , the wooden bowls in Georgia and the alligator farms in Florida. My grandmother kept asking to stop at every one; my grandfather just kept on driving. Some people just never learn how to have fun.

Every grandparent I know, says they love their grandchildren. But let’s face it, some people are just not “kid friendly”. These are usually the people with white carpet in their den and expensive figurines on their coffee table. Compare these people with the ones laughing and singing while they wipe the peanut butter and jelly off the leather seats of their new car.

You have forty or more years of life experiences. You are now beginning your second adult life. You have made retirement plans or you have followed my “Smart Person’s Guide to a Great Retirement” and intend to make the next thirty years the very best of your life. But if you are never rolling on the floor, laughing and singing with your grandkids, you are cheating yourself as well as your grandkids. Stop and think about the type of memories they will have of you when you are gone. Sure, you can shower them with presents and spoil them all you like, but tell them stories, tell them about your favorite places, where you grew up and how you had to walk five miles to school, uphill both ways in freezing blizzards. 🙂 Teach them something special that you know how to do. Magic tricks, knitting, woodworking, how to tie a tie or catch a fish, how to make money on the Internet…these are the things they will remember about you. Let their parents teach them how write a thank you card or have good table manners. Your job is to teach them how to love life by being a passionate, caring & grateful, fun loving grandparent.

If you are the type of person who has read this far, then you probably don’t need this last piece of advice. Never say anything bad about your grandkid’s parents in front of them. If you were a good example for your kids, then your grandkids will probably turn out just fine.

Rick

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What Memory Loss?

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“I can’t find where I parked my truck.Oh, I forgot, I drove the car today.”Sound familiar?

I have been scanning thousands of pages about how the memory works and what happens when you start to lose it.Of course, I’m really looking for ideas to help all of us over 43 keep or improve the memory that we currently have.You know I’m not a doctor so please consult your physician before starting any health related program.

I’ve tried to filter out the scams, the unreasonable, the unavailable and the impractical.Here are some of my conclusions:

Some “non-medical” authors will try to tell you that the only reason your memory gets worse with age is because you don’t use it as much and if you just concentrate a little more and pay more attention to what you are doing, you won’t lose your memory.My common sense, observation and the medical professionals think that is a bunch of horse manure.

According to a “Scientific American” article in January 2008, “a lessened supply of new nerve cells” in the aging mind could trigger short term memory loss.Scientist don’t know for sure.This is where my practical, Capricorn mind kicks in.I really don’t care what causes memory loss in aging humans.I just want to know how to prevent it from happening to me.

So this is the great part…even though we don’t know for an absolute certainty what causes it, we do know several things that can prevent it!And if you have already started losing your memory, you can possibly regain and even improve it!I love finding solutions to problems.

Those of you following “The Smart Person’s Guide to a Great Retirement” are probably already enjoying the kind of lifestyle that supports a healthy memory.Some of the daily living choices that support a healthy brain and enhance memory are:

Seven to eight hours of sleep per night.

Proper nutrition with the right supplements and fats (did you know that quality dark chocolate and even a little caffeine can help?)

Aerobic exercise

Eliminating stress

Good brain stimulation (beyond working crossword puzzles.)

And if you want to go beyond the average “good memory”, there are proven systems to dramatically improve your memory and learning speed.

All of these healthy choices help more than just your memory. Clearer thinking, better balance, better sex and more energy for everything you do can be welcomed side benefits. If you want to learn more about how your memory works and what you can do to improve it, check out this program: Over 43 Memory    This is a paid program but it offers quite a bit of training and information.

Rick

Get even more help and practical advice as a member of www.addedyears.com (Please, tell all your ‘over 40’ friends about us.)

Student Loans – Consolidate!

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Just a quick comment.? Being a busy Baby Boomer, we tend to skim through the mail and throw most of it in the trash or recycle.? You have probably received some offers to consolidate your student loans.? If you have multiple student loans for yourself or your children, make sure you consolidate them before the student gets out of school! I have used “NelNet” (http://www.nelnet.com) and save quite a bit of money.? Look at it now while interest rates are low.? Look for special savings for on-time payments and/or other incentives.

RickJoin Us Now

What Is Your Passion?

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This area is so big I need your help to catalog the Major Headings. You have seen the HEALTH, WEALTH and RELATIONSHIP areas. I hope they have helped you reach the point where you have the time and energy to immerse yourself in your “passion”.  Golf, cooking, travel, woodworking, painting, gardening, mentoring, sky diving, restoring antique cars, scrapbooking, gambling, astrology or ballroom dancing – any of these could be huge, full time websites. But I want to know what my readers want. I am trying to make this your “one-stop site”. You can save time and computer “clutter” with one click to this site.

So tell me what you do for fun and fulfillment. When do you feel so focussed and “in the zone” that you don’t notice the time passing? Let me know and I will invite others to share their knowledge and experiences with you.

Just add a comment to the this POST.

Bedroom rut? Rejuvenate your sex life.

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We all have our little routines, ruts and boring habits.We accept them because they generally fall into our comfort zone and might help us through our daily chores.You probably take the same route into work every day because it is efficient, and you don’t really have to think about it.I personally think that any rut we fall into promotes a dullness in our brain.

So, you are in a long term relationship and have settled into a regular love making session with your partner.It is comfortable and you both leave the bedroom satisfied.Wow. Sound as exciting as having Thanksgiving dinner in a school cafeteria.Even if that is okay with you, how long can it be until you or your partner get restless or bored?If you want to keep the sexual desire burning brightly, you have to nurture your passion for each other.This may come naturally to you or you may have to put forth a little more effort.Growing prize winning orchids may take more effort than great roses but either one will whither and die without the proper amount of light & water, food & trimming.The same is true in your sex life.Here are some ideas to help keep the spark alive.

1. Change your routine! I know we are not teenagers but when was the last time you made love on the living room floor or couch? How about outside or in the car? You probably have a routine pattern that you go through once you are in bed with your partner.When you feel yourself starting this ritual, stop, make a little change. If you are healthy and have sex two or three times a week, every session doesn’t have to be different. Sometimes a spontaneous caveman “quickie” can be exciting to you and your partner but don’t make it a habit.

2. Make time for your encounters. We are all very busy and never seem to have the time we want to do anything for ourselves.If you have to, schedule time for your love making like a date or business meeting.Allow time to wind down.Take a shower or bubble bath with your partner or exchange massages before having sex. In addition to giving you time to relax, your anticipation has time to build.

3. Speaking of anticipation…Your sexual excitement begins in your brain. If you have a “date” tonight, start to build some excitement in the morning. Put on a different perfume or cologne.Wear your sexy underwear.If you live with your partner, put a love note in their lunch box or purse, bring their coffee to them in the bathroom while they get ready for breakfast. Do one of your partner’s normal morning chores for them (make the bed, take out the trash, etc.) Don’t forget to give them a very passionate goodbye kiss.

4. Take it slow.Passion doesn’t have to be the rip-off the clothes throw you against the wall type of lovemaking you sometimes see in the movies.Again, change your routine.Play footsies at the dinner table, both of you wash the dishes ? topless, slowly undress your partner, kissing and touching them lightly without grabbing and groping.After showering, massaged her feet or give his temples and jaws a relaxing rub.Scented candles, music, warmed massage lotions or oils can all add to your building anticipation. Enjoy the journey not just the destination.

5. Try different positions. Granted you might not be as flexible as you once were. Yoga can be a great help in that area. But still, health issues or other physical problems can make your formerly favorite lovemaking positions uncomfortable or even impossible. If arthritis is a problem, try side-to-side positions, which relieve any need to support yourself or accommodate your partner’s weight. Sitting positions let you vary the depth of penetration while giving you additional support (especially if you place the chair against a wall). If a man has trouble maintaining an erection, he may want to try lying on top of his partner with his legs outside hers so that she can further stimulate his penis by squeezing her thighs together.

6. Enjoy the “afterglow” of lovemaking by holding each other or simply falling asleep together (don’t forget to put out the candles!)One more word of advice,sometimes one partner goes to a lot of effort to prepare a fantastic session only to find out that their partner doesn’t feel good or has a big problem on their mind.The wise person, doesn’t mention anything about the session preparation and simply comforts their partner in a non-sexual loving way.

Of course, entire books have been written on this subject and you can find new tips in most any of them. My best advice is to watch and listen to your partner for clues as to what makes them excited.And of course, stay out of the ruts.

Retirement Plan? What if I live forever?

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According to the July, 2007 issue of the Harvard Health Letter, the average life expectancy in the United States is 77.6 years, compared with 75.4 in 1990.Furthermore, old age begets older age. Today, a 65-year-old American man can expect to live to 81.6; if he reaches the age of 85, he can expect to live to see 90. Women still outlive men, although the gap is closing, but the same demographic pattern holds. Old age adds to life expectancy.

We accept that we will live longer than our parents.Some of us commit to making our retirement much better than the one our parents had.But even the innovative Baby Boomers tend to think along the same lines as previous generations when it comes to retirement plans.Make a lot of money, quit working, have some fun, play golf, travel, play with the grandkids then get sick, go to a nursing home and wait to die.I know, it’s a depressing thought.

Why do we think this way?Because we assume we are going to get older and die.Why?Because that is the way it has always been.WOW! Try that reasoning in a corporate boardroom and see how fast you can lose your executive parking space.

So what are the alternatives?No one wants to live forever if they are going to be feeble, bedridden or mentally impaired.But what if the “new 150 years old” was like the old 70 years old?If you have any passion for living, that idea might look pretty inviting.

Right away you assume there are thousands of scientists in the world working hard to find a way to keep you alive and kicking for the next hundred years…at least that is what maverick genius, Aubrey de Grey, assumed.He was a high tech computer and artificial intelligence PhD when he married a geneticist.Intrigued by her work, he decided to go to Cambridge and get a PhD in biology and then rub elbows with the world’s foremost scientists in the area of aging. *

Surely, he was going to find a solution to his mortality was just around the corner.But guess what?No one was even looking for a way to defy old age and death.The scientists he met were looking for the elusive and mostly theoretical “whys”.De Grey didn’t care why he was going to get old and die.He wanted to see the engineer’s approach; here is a problem, find a solution.He was very upset that the biologists just accepted the fact that aging is responsible for the deaths of 100,000 people every single day.

In his 262 page “Ending Aging”, De Grey states that aging should be treated as a disease and everyone’s focus should be on curing it. A $20,000 prize was offered to the molecular biologist who could prove De Grey’s theory was wrong. It was snatched up by a group of scientists who submitted the rebuttal.At first, De Grey was ridiculed and treated like a heretic (Galileo comes to mind).Then the M.I.T. Technology Review stepped in to examine the challenge made to De Grey’s plan.After the challenge was studied, the M.I.T. Technology Review determined it had no scientific validity (talk about shutting up the arrogant loudmouths).

Since the absolution, De Grey has become a celebrity of sorts and has drawn attention and contributions to his Methuselah Foundation. This attention may cause a few geniuses to look for a solution to his problem.What does that mean to you and me?It means you shouldn’t use your parent’s retirement guide.Be creative, think of the possibilities.Who knows, in thirty years or less, you may have a heart attack that is treated by injecting tiny nano-machines into your bloodstream.The next morning, you wake up with the circulatory system of a teenager and an entire “second adult life” ahead of you!What shape would your life be in if you had planned on being dead?

1.Get out of your rut and imagine the possibilities

2.Plan to have a constant flow of passive income.

3.Use all of your life experience to improve the next the next thirty years (learn from your mistakes).

4.Get serious about taking care of your mind and body (at least until the nano-machines are available).

5.Dump the negative and grab the positive.Hang out with people who are younger, smarter and richer.Keep your mouth shut, watch, listen and learn.

6.It is time to prioritize your needs.You can best help the ones you care about by loving and improving yourself first.

7.Maintain your focus.Everything you do should contribute to a measurable improvement in your:Physical Health, Mental Health, Bank Account or Love and Sex Life.

If your idea of fun is sitting on the couch, eating nachos and watching ball games all weekend, you are probably not reading this article.My point is, most of us live sheltered lives and our youth disappears while we try to figure out what to do with ourselves.Now there is a real possibility that we can have a great “second adult life”.Some smart Baby Boomers see this as a fantastic opportunity, a rare “second chance” and plan to milk it to the max.It may take an attitude adjustment, a new outlook, and definitely a new retirement plan but you have the same opportunity; grab it or watch it disappear.

* Source:

“The Week”, a division of Dennis Publishing, November 16, 2007Volume 7, pg 52″Mr. Immortality”.

Forced to Retire at age ??

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Are you familiar with the issue of forced retirement for commercial airline pilots? There are many details influencing opinions in this particular industry (like how different airlines compensate their pilots).

But how about in general? Should someone or some group be forced to retire simply because of there age? If an airline pilot is required to retire at 60 or 65 or 70, should a bus driver or cabbie face the same requirement? What if the exceptional 65 year old passes competency tests that his mediocre 35 year old co-worker couldn’t pass? Obviously, anytime we put ourselves or our families in the care of public employees, we want to feel like we are going to be safe. Would you feel safer if you knew the person controlling your destiny was 30 vs. 70? Does experience override the faster/stronger physical abilities of youth?

Post your comments or experiences.

Health Insurance before Medicare

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I always want to keep the site on an upbeat tempo without ever starting to moan and groan about aches and pains. Why? Because I do believe in the “Law of Attraction”. However, I am also a very practical person. Just because I plan on being healthy forever, doesn’t mean that I don’t have health insurance.

Bob Moos of the Dallas Morning News wrote this article, reporting on the issues facing older Baby Boomers who are no longer covered by an employer or group health insurance plan, but are too young to qualify for Medicare coverage.

It seems some entrepreneurs will be finding opportunities with those of us who get caught in this situation. On the other hand, options today are limited.