Consumer warning!

 OK, a consumer warning. I use Word and Excel. Microsoft365 Personal is what I have had all this time.  I've had an annual licence for years. I paid $79/year since 2020. They sent me a message saying that since they've had extra costs, in terms of developing AI, extra storage costs, and 'new innovations,' they are raising the price to $115/year. I don't need 1 TB of secure cloud storage! 

Apparently, it is not just me!

I've used Apple products at home since the 1990s. It took them years to develop Word for Macs. I always used Clarisworks, which was more user friendly. Here are the two of us on the laptop. 

Jo and I in 2009!

I went online to see if there was a less expensive plan, and couldn't find one. The webpage provides a live chat option, which I took. Someone named Queen, said there is a Microsoft365 Classic plan for the price I've been paying. She said I'd lose all this new stuff, and I had to explain that I am retired! 

Who knew? It's not up to them to let me know unless I ask. 

Lesson learned. 

Playing on his iPad,
while waiting to do a Zoom visit with his Ottawa specialist.

In March, 2002, during student-led
parent conferences in my portable.

There is no new normal in our relationship with the US. I am comforted by the fact that last time he was elected, a lot of his Executive orders were taken to court and rescinded. 

We are in a weird situation. Parliament is prorogued (sort of suspended) and they will come back March 24th, presumably for the opposition parties to call for an election.

Then, there is Musk. He is interfering in our upcoming election. Mark Carney is one of the people running for leadership of the Liberal Party. 

Out back this morning, there were 3 deer sleeping under the white pine tree. There is one sitting behind the one that just stood up. The one on the right had its head down, tucked in.

It was a bit of a shock looking at the temperature. It was -20℃ this morning. 

We'll see what we get up to today. I refilled bird feeders yesterday, but it was really cold. Joe fetched groceries for us, and gave the car a run. You can't let it sit in the garage. The cold is really bad for batteries! 

Tell me about your hobbies!

Renaissance, my retired teacher's magazine asked us to answer these questions:

Setting the camera timer I took my photo

Have you made new friends through your hobby or does your hobby give you much needed time to yourself?
What motivated you to start this pastime? 
How has your hobby affected or changed your everyday life?

I wrote about Michele in my book.
Being her friend helped me be a better hospice volunteer,
and caring for my parents helped me figure out
what a good death might be.

My hobbies are all integrated into one hobby: blogging. When I moved to Muskoka, to care for my dying mother, I began a blog to let my adult children know what I was up to. This led to the book I wrote about my journey, . The blogging morphed into some new projects: how to take better photos, writing every day, and connecting with friends far away.


I write a blog on healthcare, this one on living in cottage country, and another on teaching. As a volunteer, I do the blogs for Habitat for Humanity Muskoka and Habitat NCR. I enjoy gardening, crafts, touring our local festivals for daycations, and photographing my world as a hobby. Learning how to integrate technology into my teaching, my students and I planned out what we wanted to do and how to accomplish it. We created personal web pages, documenting our classwork, and this was a fabulously creative endeavour. We thrived on it.

Recently I gave a speech at the
Heart of Hastings Hospice AGM!

My book

During the time when my parents were really ill, it helped to connect with others who were caregiving, as well as the friends and teachers I left behind.

I ended up having Skype chats with family, and others dealing with dying family members. I wrote about bullying, and helping kids deal with death and dying. Recently, I did a Skype video for TVOntario on poverty and healthcare. Promoting local fundraising opportunities helps give back to the community.

Blogging, as a retiree, has opened up a whole new world for me. I have honed my computer skills, begun to use Twitter to influence and educate

I blogged about my kids/grandkids camping!
We Skyped when I lived far away in Muskoka.

others about teaching and healthcare. The popularity of my blog page has led to various interviews, guest spots on radio, and people anxious to read my opinions on politics, healthcare, and Canadian issues. I often get requests for information, resources or help for those caring for loved ones, or those teaching.

I was interviewed for a TV show:
 TVO's Why Poverty.
  Dr. Brian Goldman, interviewing me for his White Coat, Black Art radio show. What a thrill!

Engaging Baby Boomers and Seniors through Social Media

Baby Boomers (post WW II; 1946 - 1955, or 1966 in Canada.) After the vets came home, there was a population boom. These are people with pensions, work histories, and women who began to work as a matter of choice or necessity, outside their homes.

You know the myths, that seniors are not on-line, and don't use computers!

This slide show, below, does provide some insight for those youngsters who think we don't know a mouse from a mole!
What bothers me is that we are not the target audience for many advertisers, despite being pretty sedentary evenings, unlike our younger folks.
We have the disposable income to spend, yet they do not target TV or radio shows to our generation.

I began using computers at work in 1989! My late mother, born 1945, learned to use a computer at work, when she was 40 years old, in order to publish their weekly newsletter for the Rotary Club of Toronto. I was so proud of her!

My friends in long-term care use them. A skill they learned in their 80s and 90s!

My late Aunt Lillian (Forsyth), Uncle Fred,
Marion, who died at age 16 in the 40s.

'Timmie is down the well!'

This slideshow is a publication of AARP, American Association of Retired Persons, which is a US-based lobby group. They survive on big bucks from those of us with disposable income.
The Canadian equivalent, CARP, does similar lobbying here in Canada.

Engaging Baby Boomers & Seniors through Social Media from Care2Team