Get On Board!

If you go to http://www.change.gov, you can enter your e-mail address at the upper right corner and be part of President-Elect Barack Obama's transition to the White House.

You can find out what is going on and even apply for a job.

In an AP article this morning, it is stated that Peter Daou who ran Internet Operations for Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign said that her campaign's Web outreach was limited by the fact that older people and lower-income people--demographic groups most supportive of the former first lady--weren't using the Internet for communications. 

It is indicated that Barack Obama will have to find ways to reach these people.

Now, I am a senior and Hubby & I and many of my friends definitely use the Internet for communicating every day! 

I can understand the comment about lower-income people and some seniors not using the internet.

I want to encourage everyone to go to this website and learn exactly what is being done to make changes before January 20th so if there is a crisis, President Barack Obama will be ready to act. 

For anyone who is discouraged over the results of the election, you need to get over that and move on. Many of us have contributed over the years to the Negro College Fund and have been encouraging African-Americans to become educated.

Well, Barack Obama is educated and so is his wife. He thinks extremely quickly and well on his feet, and has a sense of humor about his background. He knows who he is and where he came from. He has no misconceptions or delusions about that.

By using the Internet, he collected his campaign money - $5 by $5 and had money left over to buy time at the beginning of the World Series! You gotta love this!

If you are a senior and are reading this, then you already have computer smarts. Keep working at this and upgrade to DSL, if you have not already. (Everything is quicker and easier with DSL.) Encourage your senior friends to learn how to navigate the Internet. Some are already communicating via e-mail to family.  There are courses targeted to seniors at community colleges but perhaps it is time for retirement communities to have their own courses and help centers. 

We are in tough times that will require more than the fundamental wits used in the 30s such as having a back-up of canned goods in the  cupboards. (In hurricane country, we have those cans ready anyway!)

We need to speak up and write letters and be part of the government. We need a lot more than a few bandages to fix the economy this time!

The CEOs and executives who have - and apparently still are - lived live to the fullest extent at the expense of their stockholders need to be held accountable. If you read accounts of how these people are living and the property they own, you can see that limits must be imposed.

I think the bonus and packages (for entering and leaving a company) these people have been receiving are obscene. Surely some of you reading this agree with me, so I will go one step further and say what follows. If you have any investments such as stocks, bonds and/or mutual funds, then in reality you are "the boss" of the company where the CEO and other executives work. So, you do have a say. Write a letter to the company! If you are near where their annual meeting is held, attend it! Many companies now have meetings online - go there!

I hear sometimes about the American Way and control over companies would not be the American Way. 

Well, when companies ask the American Government to bail them out - or simply put, "Give us some money, we are out of money", then it becomes the American Way to tell them, 

You will have to pull your act together or you will be out of business!" (Think about a teenager going to his parents for some more money and you have the idea!)

I will not go any further, because I usually stay away from writing things to get people upset, but let me wind this down by saying:

Do you want the "American Way" (lots of freedom to make all of us broke) or do you want a good life where you have enough money to pay your bills, including a fine education for your children and their children so you can retire in peace and not have to watch the business channel on an hourly basis?

www.change.gov

This is Martha . . . please leave a message!

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Technology for Seniors

Just because you are a senior, it does not mean you can’t be savvy about high tech.

Granted, some of today’s technology can be intrusive, and even annoying. Part of that has to do with how people use computers and cell phones.

Let’s all agree on some things. At a table in the middle of a fine restaurant is not the place for an animated cell phone conversation. And if your cell phone rings in the middle of the Pastor’s sermon, maybe you need to know how to set it to silent!

Many of us complain that the younger generation does not communicate well and perhaps that is our own fault because we are not keeping up with current technology.

I personally do not like multi-tasking but I certainly can get back to someone pretty quickly if I am driving when the phone sounds. So, just leave me a message or text me!

Texting is worthwhile learning. We have a grandson in Los Angeles and when the quake was announced the other day, I texted to see how he was doing. When an answer did not come back, I left a voice message. Turning on my phone the next morning, I saw a message saying they were fine but did not receive the message right away, because of the quake. That made me feel good that he was fine and there was one less thing to worry about.

Our granddaughter here in Texas is on the go all the time, so it is more convenient for her to answer a quick text than an actual call.

Some of my friends will easily update me via text although they might not be in a situation to have an actual phone conversation. It is convenient!

Most seniors I know can navigate their way around a computer. There are several places to learn about computer programs and especially e-mail is nice to understand. E-mail helps you to keep in touch with people anywhere and to even send and receive photos.

E-mail used to be a little less invasive and not so annoying when we first used it in the 1990s. If you are receiving a lot of spam (unwanted messages), think about using an additional web-based e-mail program from Google or Yahoo. Don’t give out your primary address to anyone other than your special friends.

Try to remember that not everyone wants to read every joke or political comment you receive and think twice before you forward. When you receive things you do not want, don’t obsess about it! Just hit the highly effective device call the Delete Button!

We also use our computers for doing business, reading news, playing games, checking weather, printing photographs, writing letters, finding information and generally keeping in touch. We would be lost without them!

Let’s not forget digital cameras. We can take better, crisper photos that can be placed in a computer program and used in many different applications. Start with one-time use digital cameras and switch to something more sophisticated later.

Of course, many seniors have had their hearing vastly enhanced with digital hearing aids. So, perhaps seniors are more with high tech than we think!