Seniors Site

I know you guys knew I love books. They are my solace, my escape, when things get tough. They are my friends, giving me advices where I need them and of course, they give me unbiased opinion of  things that are happening and those that are yet to come. If there is one thing I won’t be able to live without, it would be books, good books, that is.

I have had my fair share of bad books too. In my honest opinion, I am quite disappointed with writers today. They sprout like mushrooms but just a few make good stories. If you are not careful enough and you just buy whatever is the hype, you are bound to be disappointed and not to mention, a few, precious bucks down the drain. I, myself, and speaking for my age bracket, I sometimes find myself going back to classics – those written way before us as I find them refreshing and more insightful. Of course, it is a great plus to be getting them legally for free from most ebook sites. Amazon for one has vast collection of free ebooks you can download and read on your Kindle, computer and even your mobile phone (NOTE: a certain amount of techiness applies). Another favorite of mine is Project Gutenburg which offers ebooks in different formats.

For list, the only authority I seek guidance from is The New York Times as their list is always good. However, they have this “100 best novel of all time” list that I kept going back to when I ran out of good books to read, I renamed it as my 100 best novels I should read at least once in my lifetime and it never failed me:

1. “Ulysses,” James Joyce
2. “The Great Gatsby,” F. Scott Fitzgerald
3. “A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man,” James Joyce
4. “Lolita,” Vladimir Nabokov
5. “Brave New World,” Aldous Huxley
6. “The Sound and the Fury,” William Faulkner
7. “Catch-22,” Joseph Heller
8. “Darkness at Noon,” Arthur Koestler
9. “Sons and Lovers,” D. H. Lawrence
10. “The Grapes of Wrath,” John Steinbeck
11. “Under the Volcano,” Malcolm Lowry
12. “The Way of All Flesh,” Samuel Butler
13. “1984,” George Orwell
14. “I, Claudius,” Robert Graves
15. “To the Lighthouse,” Virginia Woolf
16. “An American Tragedy,” Theodore Dreiser
17. “The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter,” Carson McCullers
18. “Slaughterhouse Five,” Kurt Vonnegut
19. “Invisible Man,” Ralph Ellison
20. “Native Son,” Richard Wright
21. “Henderson the Rain King,” Saul Bellow
22. “Appointment in Samarra,” John O’ Hara
23. “U.S.A.” (trilogy), John Dos Passos
24. “Winesburg, Ohio,” Sherwood Anderson
25. “A Passage to India,” E. M. Forster
26. “The Wings of the Dove,” Henry James
27. “The Ambassadors,” Henry James
28. “Tender Is the Night,” F. Scott Fitzgerald
29. “The Studs Lonigan Trilogy,” James T. Farrell
30. “The Good Soldier,” Ford Madox Ford
31. “Animal Farm,” George Orwell
32. “The Golden Bowl,” Henry James
33. “Sister Carrie,” Theodore Dreiser
34. “A Handful of Dust,” Evelyn Waugh
35. “As I Lay Dying,” William Faulkner
36. “All the King’s Men,” Robert Penn Warren
37. “The Bridge of San Luis Rey,” Thornton Wilder
38. “Howards End,” E. M. Forster
39. “Go Tell It on the Mountain,” James Baldwin
40. “The Heart of the Matter,” Graham Greene
41. “Lord of the Flies,” William Golding
42. “Deliverance,” James Dickey
43. “A Dance to the Music of Time” (series), Anthony Powell
44. “Point Counter Point,” Aldous Huxley
45. “The Sun Also Rises,” Ernest Hemingway
46. “The Secret Agent,” Joseph Conrad
47. “Nostromo,” Joseph Conrad
48. “The Rainbow,” D. H. Lawrence
49. “Women in Love,” D. H. Lawrence
50. “Tropic of Cancer,” Henry Miller
51. “The Naked and the Dead,” Norman Mailer
52. “Portnoy’s Complaint,” Philip Roth
53. “Pale Fire,” Vladimir Nabokov
54. “Light in August,” William Faulkner
55. “On the Road,” Jack Kerouac
56. “The Maltese Falcon,” Dashiell Hammett
57. “Parade’s End,” Ford Madox Ford
58. “The Age of Innocence,” Edith Wharton
59. “Zuleika Dobson,” Max Beerbohm
60. “The Moviegoer,” Walker Percy
61. “Death Comes to the Archbishop,” Willa Cather
62. “From Here to Eternity,” James Jones
63. “The Wapshot Chronicles,” John Cheever
64. “The Catcher in the Rye,” J. D. Salinger
65. “A Clockwork Orange,” Anthony Burgess
66. “Of Human Bondage,” W. Somerset Maugham
67. “Heart of Darkness,” Joseph Conrad
68. “Main Street,” Sinclair Lewis
69. “The House of Mirth,” Edith Wharton
70. “The Alexandria Quartet,” Lawrence Durrell
71. “A High Wind in Jamaica,” Richard Hughes
72. “A House for Ms. Biswas,” V. S. Naipaul
73. “The Day of the Locust,” Nathaniel West
74. “A Farewell to Arms,” Ernest Hemingway
75. “Scoop,” Evelyn Waugh
76. “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie,” Muriel Spark
77. “Finnegans Wake,” James Joyce
78. “Kim,” Rudyard Kipling
79. “A Room With a View,” E. M. Forster
80. “Brideshead Revisited,” Evelyn Waugh
81. “The Adventures of Augie March,” Saul Bellow
82. “Angle of Repose,” Wallace Stegner
83. “A Bend in the River,” V. S. Naipaul
84. “The Death of the Heart,” Elizabeth Bowen
85. “Lord Jim,” Joseph Conrad
86. “Ragtime,” E. L. Doctorow
87. “The Old Wives’ Tale,” Arnold Bennett
88. “The Call of the Wild,” Jack London
89. “Loving,” Henry Green
90. “Midnight’s Children,” Salman Rushdie
91. “Tobacco Road,” Erskine Caldwell
92. “Ironweed,” William Kennedy
93. “The Magus,” John Fowles
94. “Wide Sargasso Sea,” Jean Rhys
95. “Under the Net,” Iris Murdoch
96. “Sophie’s Choice,” William Styron
97. “The Sheltering Sky,” Paul Bowles
98. “The Postman Always Rings Twice,” James M. Cain
99. “The Ginger Man,” J. P. Donleavy
100. “The Magnificent Ambersons,” Booth Tarkington

I just love the notion that seniors are now moving forward even after retiring from fulltime work.  It’s not all about money, you know. However, I must admit that money plays a really huge part on why seniors are now opting to work even after retirement. Whether it’s trying to make life a little more comfortable or perhaps make yourself a bit busier as retired life can be boring, you just need to let the world know what you’re doing and what’s keeping you busy nowadays. Our lesson for today is about advertising and how to do it if you are on a tight budget because, well, admit it, life is tough these days.
The beauty of today’s technology is that it enabled people from all over the world to connect—and I am not speaking of the internet alone. It certainly broadened our horizons and made a lot of things possible, like say, running your business straight from home. Just imagine 20 or 30 years ago when putting up a website is not possible to just about anyone—now it is, and it won’t take you a week to get it up and running either, shopping carts and all. So just imagine the opportunities it opened for us seniors who no longer wish to be cutting throats with younger ones in the workforce. However, you still  need to exert a little effort and be really creative to be able to make your cause known without having to spend a lot of money. Here are some handy ideas seniors can use to advertise their products, services and even causes even if on a shoestring budget.
·         Use your network. Word of mouth is the strongest form of advertisement and given the time you have lived on the face of the earth, you probably have hundreds of friends and that is not even counting the ones you forgot about. If you are to do this, it is best to categorize your friends—even if that doesn’t sound right—and determine if they are “buyers” or “sellers”. Either way, you’ll still be able to use them to advertise your stuff for free.
·         Choose your battles wisely. Remember that not all battle fields are worth fighting on. There are those that are just not worth your time and effort. One good example is social networking. If you wish to use social networking sites to advertise your products, better be in the popular ones only or at the very least, those in-line with the product you are selling. Just imagine if you are spending one hour a day on say, MySpace, and all your friends and buyers are on Facebook, then your one hour just went to waste.
·         Be the expert. If you are the “go-to” person, they will surely be knocking at your door everytime they need advice on related things. Your business will grow and many people will come to know you just because you know how things work thus promote your product just because it is associated with you.

I won’t even dare say that seniors are computer illiterate and wouldn’t know the difference between a computer mouse and a house rat because that will definitely contradict the study that shows boomers to be the fastest growing group in terms of new Facebook users. Interesting right? Well, I am not surprised as I have 3 fellow bloggers well on their 60s and about 50% of my class in middle school are my Facebook friends, about half of that number is actively engaged in Twitter and some can even be found dabbling on other online activities. My ancient neighbor-friend even plays online games against his grandchildren! That alone will tell you that seniors are indeed catching up, if not one step ahead.
True, most of these seniors require help getting their way around online but you have to give it to them too; contrary to popular notion, they are not resistant to learning. For “still-hesitant seniors”, do take note that you are not doing it just because it’s the “in” thing to do but you have to learn it in order for you to stay connected—and staying connected is quite important. Quite frankly, this is how the world works now, you just have to go with the flow.
Here are some of the easiest ways to connect online:
•    Facebook. Why not? Everybody knows Facebook—even the dog next door has one and if you add them today you’ll probably be lucky enough to know when he’s pooping or where he’s heading to poop. If the dog can feed you information about their personal life through Facebook—even those you don’t really want to know—then why can’t you?
•    Twitter. The beauty of Twitter is its simplicity which suits older people to a T. Aside from that, it has a very wide audience which will help seniors find their friends easier than any other social networking sites. I would like to think of Twitter as a “mini press release” site since you can find the freshest news from your favorite celebrity down to your favorite news station.
•    Emails. I’m a big fan of letters. I can still remember back when I was a kid, I used to sit on the porch waiting for the mailman to arrive and deliver my grandma’s letter for me. I would know the days when to expect it and my grandma never failed, not even once. When emails came, I was a tad disappointed but overtime I have learned to like them—although I still prefer the handwritten-in-paper kind.
•    Skype. Skype became popular because of its ability to combine two major communication means into one place, along with 101 fun things to do with Skype at a lesser price, some none at all! You can now throw away your home phone, along with that video phone because Skype can do these things for you without the cost. Chat with your friends anytime you want, talk with your kids all you want, call an emergency conference with your business associates anywhere you want (since you can install Skype on your smartphones too) –possibilities are limitless.

Who says seniors need to go out there, to a place called jungle, with wild animals fiercely competing for a coveted position, just to get a job? Do you still have what it takes to land a job considering the fact that you might injure yourself in doing so? Kudos to those who still have it in them—the fighting spirit, but for those seniors who have already thrown their hands up in despair, why not try finding a job online?

I am a fierce advocate of work-at-home jobs for seniors. Why? Because I believe this is the most suitable job for an aging body like mine. You work on your free time, you can choose the type of work you want to work on and find another if and when you get bored with it, you make new friends, you can work from virtually anywhere in the world—even bringing it with you while vacationing, you can work part-time now and fulltime tomorrow, you manage your workload and top of everything else, you get paid good no matter what your level of expertise is. It’s all there—enjoy your retirement and still have extra money to spend.

However, online job hunting can be tricky primarily because it is not commonly done. I find that for seniors, online job hunting would be their last resort. They rather have themselves applying for a job in WalMart than exploring the many possibilities of work-at-home jobs. Few brave seniors admit that it is the complexity of computers that repel them from using it in the first place. Before you start on anything else, bear in mind that you should not be overwhelmed by the computer as it will only do what you ask it to do. Below are some simple online job hunting tips you may apply on your newfound endeavor:

•    Start with your strongest point. This should be your strongest skill—do take note of the word skill since most jobs found online don’t require diplomas and degrees, just skills. Are you good in writing articles? Or perhaps you have a knack for organizing stuff into spreadsheets and documents. Or maybe you have basic knowledge of social media networks? This is the only way you can enter the online job arena sure-footed.
•    Do a resume makeover. When looking for online jobs, make sure your resume fits perfectly. Online jobs don’t require you to be a multi-talented individual, in fact, your expertise is more important than you being able to do 101 things in a day. Sell your strongest point and you’ll be fine.
•    Be active and interact well. The only way you can sell yourself out there is to actually be out there. Join social networking sites, forums, discussions, in other words, be “in the know”.
•    Blog about your work. You may not be selling like hot pancakes now but soon you’ll be. Meanwhile, you can entertain yourself by blogging about your work or building a website where people can read about you and contact you if interested.
•    Join job marketplaces. These websites will allow you to post your resume for jobs and apply for jobs you are interested in—for a fee, of course.

I bet there was a time in your life when you went in early for a doctor’s appointment only to be greeted by an awfully long line of people waiting to be called. Or perhaps that time when you just would like to have your prescription refilled and the doc’s secretary put you on the waiting lounge for God-only-knows how long, seated on that totally-unkind-to-your-back kind of plastic bucket chair! This is exactly what your virtual doctor would like to eliminate when they put up a way for you to contact them without having to actually go to their offices and see them in person.

Virtual doctors are real doctors by the way, and they are your real doctors who have your records and whose offices you visit for consultation. Please don’t be fooled by websites claiming they are your virtual doctors as most of these websites are just reference sites wherein you can search an illness or condition and they will spew out definition, causes, suggested treatments and whatnot. In other words, they may be reviewed by real doctors but they are not specifically written for your condition. One good thing to remember when looking for a virtual doctor is that they are in a “group site”, meaning there will be a group of doctors who you can contact on that site:  specific doctors with names—your doctor’s name. Better yet, ask your own doctor if he or she is doing virtual services and ask for a step-by-step procedure on how to contact your doctor online. Another thing to consider when trying to contact a real, live virtual doctor is that they too have fees which you have to pay while a reference site won’t have any.

What started as an experimental way of getting medical services into far flung areas is now a path more and more doctors are starting to brave—and they never regret a single day they did since the convenience seems to be working both ways. Once all set and settled, your doctor will be able to make quick diagnoses on your health status in cases of emergency. It is indeed a faster–and might also be the cheapest—way for seniors to contact their doctors. For caregivers who experienced having to drive their seniors to and fro their doctors, especially seniors with mobility problems, well, virtual doctors are a dream since they don’t even have to go out of the house anymore or try to sound right when asked to describe a condition.

By using a webcam, the patient can now show their conditions to their doctors and get the right diagnosis and of course, the right course of action for the condition instead of second-guessing what’s wrong just because it is too inconvenient for you to travel to the doctor’s office. Although the wait could be anywhere between 30 minutes to an hour, seniors who already tried virtual doctors guarantee that the wait is much bearable than having to line up 20 minutes in an office without anything to do other than wait.

Don’t get me wrong, this old lady loves computing life to death! My computer’s the first thing I greet in the morning and it happens to be the only thing that sends me off to bed every night! I won’t even know where I’ll be without my computer or at the very least, a gadget to connect me to the rest of the world a.k.a the internet. When I’m home doing my usual chores, it’s my desktop computer; when traveling, it’s my laptop; when on the move, it’s the smartphone. Guilty as charged, my digital life has indeed taken over me and I’d be lost without it.

Facebook, Twitter, forums, emails.. name it, I’m absolutely on it however, in my attempt to “automate” my life with these tools, I found out that I actually lose half a day just to keep these accounts active. Not a really productive way to live your life right? Plus, with a senior like me whose brain is easily confused especially with all those fine prints, it is important that we maintain some semblance of order or we lose our sanity. So take it from me, you need a good time management plan, the ability to organize and the will to resist the temptation of checking your accounts every other minute.

To clear away the clutter that has become your digital life, here are some simple and very doable ways to do so. Best of all, you’ll be able to get most out of your digital life:

•    Switch to web-based email service such as Gmail or if you don’t want to lose that dignified look of a domain-based email address, have it diverted to a web-based one. This way you’ll have backup copies of your emails if and when your computer crashes. Moreover, web-based email services are easier to use than a domain-based one.
•    Use filters and folders to keep your inbox clean. It’s hard enough that you have to scroll down—and further down–just to find an email sent to you 5 days ago, especially if you’re subscribed to a hundred mailing lists, what more if the email thread has branched out from one recipient to another then back to you? By using folders and filters, you’ll be able to break your inbox down to categories and deal with it from there. Call it micromanaging with style.
•    Set aside a time for it. As for me, I have installed a handy timer so I can monitor how long I have been in a site or if I’m already wasting too much time checking, reading and commenting on everyone’s Facebook posts. This way you’ll be able to stick with your time plan and finish your tasks on time.
•    Log out and be off. This one is harder than you think. Do you think you can really get your mind off those threads you’ve been following and focus all your attention to your work instead? Of course no, but you have to do it anyway.
•    Get your lists in order. Notice how social networks have adapted the concept of lists? It’s an attempt to centralize your computing life and also a way to prevent a person for creating multiple accounts. As for you, lists are a way to organize your people and interact with them the way you should be.

To kick-start the New Year, we are off to discussing one of my favorite subjects:  online store. Online stores are really simple in principle and it works both ways for sellers and consumers however, it can get really confusing setting up one since there are about thousands of “e-commerce gurus” out there claiming to have the “secret formula” to your online store success. We, seniors, should not be fooled by this. In truth, you really have to personally get down and dirty there, create your own methods and marketing tactics, study your market response, be known—all by yourself. No shortcuts, no tricks.

The advantage we, seniors, have over our younger contemporaries is that we have all the time in the world especially those who have already retired from work and of course, the kind of network we already have which we can use to work to our advantage. While this may sound “all-you” work, below is a simple step by step procedure on how to setup an online store:

RESEARCH

A background check—and a double check—just to make sure you got everything covered. The best way to enter the e-commerce arena and compete in it is to have a product which you sell in a wholesale price. That means, you should either be manufacturing the products yourself or you have a reliable supplier who marks his products down in half. You might want to check out few good domain names while you’re at it. Domain names are your website’s personal identification name. Good if you’ll be able to get your store’s name or you will have to settle with something really close to it.

SET UP

You’ll need a domain name, web host and a good CMS or content management system. Your domain name will help identify you apart from other websites while a web host is the backbone of your website since it allows other people to view your website. The CMS, on the other hand will make it easier for you to manage your website without getting too technical. All of which you have to pay either one time or monthly.

CONTENT

Put your content together. There should be pictures, product description and prices. To get an idea on how it should be, Google-search a couple of competitor sites and learn from their success. BE really observant of the way their clients interact with the seller as it might also be your key to success.

PAYMENT METHOD

This is the most important of them all. Ecommerce sites today are made more interactive and automated. Bear in mind that you are fighting for customers and you must give them the convenience they truly deserve. Your website should be able to accept payments without your customers having to wait for your email or response. Check with your CMS as most of them offers tie-ups with third party payment processors.

SHIPPING OPTIONS

Ecommerce sites run on shipping since orders can come from different parts of the world. It is important to have a reliable shipping company for your store’s needs. Get quotes from several local shippers and decide from there. You may have to get an account from shipping companies to qualify for discounts.

Your senior may not be aware yet of how a computer can change the way they live their lives or they are not ready for it just yet which will explain the resistance you are most likely to encounter when discussing a computer with a senior, especially those who never had any experience with it whatsoever. As a caregiver, you probably know how important a computer is to a household, let alone to a senior with physical and mental limitations. However, lack of education must be the root cause of this problem.

It is important for your senior to know the benefits of having a computer and learning how to use one. I personally encountered a senior who believes that a computer is only used for typing documents, like you would on a typewriter but in different fonts. Some who went a little farther than that will tell you that they are using the computer for the already-installed games in the system like Solitaire and Minesweeper. Surely you know a computer is much more than that!

To have your senior acquainted with a computer or allow you to have one near them, start by explaining that a computer is not only an entertainment device, it is more of a tool which can help them with their everyday lives and still keep a certain level of independence while doing so. With a computer, it is possible to play with it, work with it, even run a business with it without ever leaving their homes. Like any other tool, it needs someone to run it and to be able to run it, he or she will have to learn how.

At this point, your senior may be having some doubts since a computer can be so intimidating to a newbie. To alleviate their fears, it is important to point out that it’s okay to take it slow. Teach your senior how to surf the internet, and how to find educational videos if they need some help while you’re not around. Almost everything under the sun nowadays is documented on YouTube. Tell them that the more they get used to working with computers, the more they’ll discover its rewards.

One of the computer’s greatest gift is the ability to connect with people even to those who are far from where you are. To a senior, it means a lot as generally, they have a strong urge to stay connected with their family and loved ones. Let them discover the beauty of live video chats and social networking sites, but remind them about safety measures they have to practice in and around these sites.

Gone are the days when you go from one company to another just to apply for mobile and internet plans. Back then, these two come in separates. Two plans, two bills, two different services. For a person who works departmentalized, this is a good thing since you’ll be able to fix a thing without doing any changes on the other one. However, as technology advances, so does these plans and quite confusingly, the birth of techie lingo which complicates a senior’s mind.

Nonetheless, communication is important to seniors and although most of us hate changes, we’re forced to live with them. Knowing how to navigate your way through this will even save you pennies and at the same time, suit your needs perfectly. So, in an attempt to somehow lessen the burden, here is a handy guide for seniors who are looking for the right mobile and internet plans to use:

•    Bundles. Telecommunication companies are now offering services by the bundle. In a bundle, you are most likely to have a cable TV, internet connection and home phone line. With bundles, seniors will just have to pay one bill for all services, saving you time and energy when paying. You’ll notice too that you cut cost dramatically as compared to having 3 separate bills.
•    Don’t be fooled by “super fast, super big capacity” internet connection. Telecommunication companies are selling plans according to speed. While it is tempting to pay for the fastest one, notice the difference on how much you’ll be paying. In reality, you don’t have to pay for the fastest one, unless you plan to download movies and play hardcore online games all day long, since the cheapest one is reliable enough for your needs. You can upgrade any time anyway.
•    Go for VoIP and online calls. If you are to choose between a home phone and an internet connection, do get the latter as it can be used for calling home phones as well. VoIP or Voice Over Internet  Protocol is the newest technology created for making phone calls over the internet. For me it’s designed to replace your home phone whether they admit it or not! Not only VoIP calls are more convenient but also cheaper—you can even make calls for free!
•    Dialup, broadband or ADSL? If the internet connection will be used by multiple users within the area, you’re better off with an ADSL however, if there will be one computer terminal for an internet connection, your best bet would be a broadband. Throw dialup out the window, you won’t be needing this.
•    Mobile plan or just prepaid. Mobile phone companies are now offering phones that can be reloaded with credits when needed but can still be called when it doesn’t have one. These two have their own pros and cons. Choose the right one depending on your needs.

I’m not good at haggling but dangle a freebie in front of my face and I’m all yours! Well, I firmly believe that the best things in life are for free and if it doesn’t hurt anybody then why not? In this post, you’ll find my journey to satisfying my never ending craving for books. Not the buy-me-and-stack-me-at-one-corner-of-your-house-for-dust-to-eat-me kind. Now that I have my ebook reader with me, the next most logical question must be, “where to get those ebooks?”  In my case, I don’t need any more pushing; I surfed the internet for ebooks for free ones as well as paid ones seconds after I placed my order for the ebook reader itself!

First off, ebooks are electric books or digital books. Literally, they are books published in digital form to be read on computers and other digital devices. A device that is designed specifically for an ebook is an ebook reader. With an ebook reader, you can adjust font sizes as well as the brightness of the “pages” depending on your eyes’ preferences. Nonetheless, an ebook can be read using mobile phones that support certain types of format.

When looking for an ebook, make sure you are looking for the right format your ebook reader supports. Some of the most popular ones are .pdf, .html, .doc, .rtf, .txt, .mobi, .epub and .rgo. If you are using an Amazon Kindle, you should be looking for .azw format. To date, Apple and Android devices have the widest range of supported formats, in fact, the only formats they don’t support are .lrx and .wol.

So where to buy new ebooks to load up your E-readers? If you are a Kindle owner, of course you have to buy ebooks from Amazon. However, there are many ebooks you can find scattered around the internet to buy—even publishing houses are now selling digital copies over their website! All you need to do is take a peek inside your favorite book (the paper kind) and look for the publishing house’s website! For magazine collectors, magazine in digital format can also be uploaded to your E-Reader.

As mentioned earlier, not all ebooks are with tags. The beauty of having an E-Reader is you can download all the ebooks you want, paid and free! Free ebooks can also be found in legitimate sites such as Project Gutenberg. Ebooks here are classic ones such as Pride and Prejudice and Anne of Green Gables. These books were released for free because their copyright has already expired.

You might find newly released ebooks for free on P2P sites but you have to be very weary on downloading through them as it is illegal to do so. Aside from that, this is a popular way of transmitting viruses to a computer. You wouldn’t want to risk your computer’s health for just an ebook you can buy for a couple of dollars right?