It would be nice to think green this Christmas (19, 12, 09)
Recently, Miriam and I were awarded large gift-wrapped items we had won in draws. When we opened these baskets, we discovered that in both cases, the packaging was responsible for two-thirds of the bulk. Excess paper, wrapping and stuffing provided the steroid-like huge size. How ridiculous.
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Sure-fire (and cheap) ways to spice up your relationship (05, 12, 09)
I have enjoyed great success with post-it notes. They come in a variety of colours for that special effect. Go to the grocery store and purchase the items that I mention next....
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Attention senior citizens: you better shop around (28, 11, 09)
I suppose it's a lot like the airline business. You get on an airplane, and if you ask three different people what they paid for their tickets, you likely get three different amounts.
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The trick to a long life is a sense of humour (21, 11, 09)
It's scary when you start to make the same noises as your coffee maker. You know how it gurgles and sputters and then sighs? That's Miriam and I in the morning.
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Ailing friends have imparted a doctor's worth of knowledge (14, 11, 09)
My doctor is 72 years old. I figure if I had paid more attention and taken notes, I could easily have accumulated several credits towards a medical degree. I calculate that just in the normal course of events, by visiting our friends, I could easily acquire the information required to pass any medical exam that involved ears, knees, the heart and kidney.
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Advice from someone with lots of miles under his belt (7, 11, 09)
I can advise people all day long without getting unduly tired in the process.
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Our Mens' Book Club is taking competition to a new level (31, 10, 09)
I do not remember who the culprit was who thought he was Julia Child, but somebody made chili for one of our meetings. Next, there was pizza, and then somebody baked a pie, and it escalated such that the host no longer has time to be part of the book discussion, confined to the kitchen, preparing lavish treats.
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Will the Prince of Wales stay in the Prince of Wales? (17, 10, 09)
Prince Charles and Camilla reportedly are going to visit Niagara on the Lake in November which is appropriate because if they decide to stay over at the Prince of Wales Hotel, we would have the Prince of Wales actually in the Prince of Wales.
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Grocery store shopping for dialogue (10, 10, 09)
I enjoy grocery shopping either at home or when I travel, but rarely purchase groceries.
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Alouettes' Sam 'the Rifle' passes the ball to 'Prince Hal' - that's as good as it gets (03, 10, 09)
It wasn't just Etcheverry, but the combination of Sam and Hal (Prince Hal) Patterson, his favourite receiver, who would always make the clutch catch, no matter how difficult.
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Running of the Seniors will work, and that's no bull (26, 09, 09)
"I told my family that I just had to do it," North Korean Kim Jong-il will intone. "I love to chase and scare people."
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So how do you tell when you're out of invisible ink? (19, 09, 09)
Miriam insists that I missed school the day they taught mathematical concepts such as telling time, adding and subtracting...
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Forget the diet, I've decided to eat like a sumo wrestler (12, 09, 09)
Sumo wrestlers spend their time, exercising, eating and relaxing, completely focused on the rigours of sumo preparation. I wasn't sure about exercise, but I bought into the eating and relaxing components...
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Seniors rule baseball's most important job (29, 08, 09)
Soon enough, those invigorating brisk breezes of fall will chatter into our world view with chilly air and falling leaves and, immediately, everyone's thoughts will quickly turn to the World Series...
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Perhaps city council can tap into wise elder's wisdom (22, 08, 09)
As retirees, we have an opportunity and perhaps a responsibility to be wise, to take the sum total of all of our experience and knowledge and focus it into proactive suggestions for others embarking on similar journeys.
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Edward De Bono remarked that humor is the most significant activity of the human brain. Someone else said that if you don't use it, you lose it, and mother, who frequently managed to get in the last word,
advised that laughter was the best medicine, probably because we were poor and could not afford a doctor. To help keep our collective brain power intact as we age, I invite seniors to read some of the following articles that were printed during the past nine years in my St. Catharines Standard "Over 60" newspaper column entitled, "Retired, eh?"