Many people spend the bulk of their lives delaying a lot of things because they’re “waiting for the right time.” Baloney! Today’s that time, unless you’ve formulated an exceptional system that can absolutely guarantee tomorrow will actually arrive and offer the ideal setting for whatever it is you’ve been delaying.

Just for a day, I’d like to have the opportunity to return to an exact date in my life that I would choose. I don’t think this is an unreasonable request given the fact that I’ve put in so much time and effort getting this far in life. All of my research concludes that we didn’t have any choice about being here in the first place so it seems equitable to receive one opportunity to take a safe, secure 24 hour round-trip excursion into our past.

It’s a fact that retirees, typically seniors, often get rejected more often than others when applying for jobs. There are some basic reasons for this occurrence, but a primary source is found in a common word-retirement. Simply mentioning the word retirement to a potential employer conjures up images of gray hair or baldness, golfing, tennis, bocce ball, bingo halls, afternoon naps, and a lack of currently relevant workplace skills. One of the greatest misunderstandings about retirement is that idleness is not doing anything when, in fact, idleness is being free to do anything you want. And wanting to rejoin the workforce on some productive level is a worthwhile objective for many retirees nowadays. However, getting employers to understand this fact is your responsibility and leading with your strong points is critical. Let’s view this in greater detail. 

Since my childhood I’ve gotten excited about the holidays because people seemed enjoyably different, more social, less negative, and, of course, I woke up and found stuff with my name on it under the Christmas tree that dad and I selected. Most of the packages contained items that I may have nonchalantly mentioned to my parents as being possible gift partialities. They often added a few great selections on their own. 

A recent survey completed by the Pew Research Center determined significant gaps in the way different generations (identified below) view the world. For instance, older folks are losing hope about the future of the country and their quality of life in general. Younger people tend to hold the notion that their best days are ahead of them and their quality of life will eventually settle into a comfortable daily routine. Here’s a quick glimpse of the generations:

You, me and everyone else has some sort of societal label whether we want it or not. The onslaught in full swing now is Baby Boomers or the “me” generation, while Yuppies, Guppies, Gen-X, Sandwich or whatever term best suits your fancy works for some people. Now we’re introduced to yet another collective incarnation called Scuppies (Socially-Conscious Upwardly-mobile Persons).

I’ve opened many conversations with my editors by sharing a local story I overheard or relating something I saw that was so remarkably stupid that I had to bounce the idea of writing about it off him/her; most of the time I’m told its okay, go for it. I’ve gained the enviable position where editors often tell me to send the column, don’t bother sharing the in between details because the story will speak for itself, or not.

While having coffee with a friend he asked me, “Why are old people so grumpy?” Why’d he ask me, I’m not old and surely not grumpy, at least not from my perspective? If anything, I’m too cheerful most of the time and focused on drawing in every ounce of life I can hold, a canister of cheeriness. He must have encountered someone recently who appeared to be my age and assumed that I might have an opinion on the subject—lucky for him I did.  

Sandefer’s response to readers

Sandefer should do more research

I never thought the day would come when we’d walk into a pharmacy with a valid, doctor written prescription and have it summarily denied as a necessary medication “just because.” In the good old days which were most likely the last time you filled a prescription, the only qualifiers for securing your physician written prescription were a current insurance card, a fistful of cash or an approved credit or debit card. What went wrong with the system?

In case you hadn’t been paying attention, men and women are becoming more dissimilar every day and this isn’t particularly good news for the guys. We’ve been confused since as far back as we can remember and here are some recent encounters with this ongoing gender phenomenon.

Curmudgeon (cur-muj’-in), n. The traditional definition refers to crusty old men who are ill natured and rude. Fortunately, I discovered a current description that highlights a modern view: dislike for pretense and duplicity and the nerve to say it with candor and clarity of thought. In fairness, defining a curmudgeon requires more insight than merely perusing a few lines in the latest version of Webster’s collegiate dictionary or an online selection. 

It seemed like only last week I was celebrating New Year’s, now the mailbox is filled with tax preparation solicitation flyers. The April deadline seems to arrive earlier each year, and that doesn’t help boost my moderately tolerable winter morale.

As many of you recall, I stopped making New Year’s resolutions years ago because, 1) I had a propensity for breaking most of them within hours after entering the newly arrived annum, and 2) by the end of the first week of the fresh year I realized I really didn’t give a rip about whether or not any of them came to fruition, so the list was tossed into the trash can and forgotten. This ideology seemed to be a valid stress reducer.

Most of you know a reasonable amount about Veterans Day. But how much do you know about an organization that was founded in 2005 in response to misguided, reprehensible protests at the funerals of fallen heroes, the Patriot Guard Riders (PGR)?

Seniors receive a perpetual barrage of information about how to eat well and live healthier, longer lives, and many advocate a healthy eating style to their friends and family.

My friend whose vehicular operating habits are material for a high school driver’s education class movie was recently pulled over by a police officer for a traffic violation. He considers his seniorly age an automatic exemption when exhibiting stupid driving behavior. This time, being a little too clever almost cost him a lot of money.

Many seniors have been out of the work force for years and because of economic pressures feel compelled to return to the workplace in order the make ends meet. However, it isn’t simply a matter of browsing the help wanted ads, making a few calls, setting up interviews and actually landing a job; that’s doable for many retirees. Things have changed in the workplace over the years, and being able to break old habits and fit in with younger coworkers may be the toughest challenge of all.

Cell phones are glued to the ears of people in every direction I look, whether they’re at the mall, in a restaurant, driving, jogging and even bicycle riding. How did people communicate without them?

My historical record confirms that I’m less than handy with most home-related repairs and potentially dangerous when it comes to installing or fixing anything related to landscape drip systems. Despite that, it’s that dry time of year when the plants in our yard require an additional amount of water delivered in an automatically time-controlled manner.

I genuinely want to believe that the majority of people are genuinely OK, basically bright, possess a reasonable amount of common sense and logic and occasionally apply it, and favor getting along with other folks. That might be the case in some parts of the real world, but living in a retirement compound is about as far away from reality as one should care to comfortably venture. Here are some examples of how reality has slipped from the grasp of a few obdurate characters.

It’s no longer possible to walk into a coffee shop and say, “I’d like a cup of coffee,” and expect to get one. This seemingly straightforward request usually evokes the response, “Which one of today’s brews and what size?” When life was simpler, there were only two options: 1) regular or 2) decaffeinated, and both of them were served in one size cup. If only it could be that easy again today.

I began shopping for a viewer-friendly sized flat-panel, high-definition television (HDTV) nearly two years ago and continue the hunt today because of lightening fast evolution and technological obsolescence. However, the most significant purchasing impediment is the price applied to something that I don’t really need. My wife reminds me of this fact every time I venture into an electronics store. I can deal with all of those obstacles; what I can’t seem to get beyond is the fine print in the warranties.