The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide

Best wishes on Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Over the years, I’ve written more than a dozen articles for Martin Luther King Jr. Day. They included his most famous quotes, how a day to celebrate King was finally approved, and how it’s a day of service, not a day off.

But one of ones I liked the best was on King’s commitment to eliminating poverty. I found it when I did research on what were King’s thoughts about consumers. In his last book, “Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?” written in 1967, King said programs to improve housing and education and to offer counseling to families were sporadically funded and uncoordinated. And, in addition, he said such programs are indirect. Each seeks to solve poverty by first solving something else.

King supported a guaranteed income for all Americans in his book.

Baby boomers enjoying the New Year and making plans for 2020

Last week, I was fortunate to be able to attend a conference in San Diego on women’s history. Sponsored by the National Women’s History Alliance, an organization that promotes women’s history, the conference featured discussions on how to plan activities to celebrate the 100^th anniversary this year of women getting the vote in 1920.

The Washington delegation offered a presentation on “From Bloomers to Short Shorts: A Brief History of the Right to Wear Pants.” I portrayed Fay Fuller, who, in 1890, was the first known woman to climb Mount Rainier.

Boomer bloggers in the Best of Boomer Blogs are also writing about what’s up for 2020:

Tom at Sightings Over Sixty came across several new state rankings for retirement in 2020. So this week he puts them all together and gives us the highlights and the low lights about retirement meccas from Hawaii to Florida to Vermont. Check out "Best States to Retire In – 2020" to see if your state made the Top Ten Best List, or Top Ten Worst list.

For the New Year, Jennifer Koshak of Unfold and Begin writes about trying new things. Whether it’s eating at a new restaurant, starting a new job, or buying a new pair of shoes, we’ve all tried new things in our lives. It’s part of life and it’s part of growing up. But sometimes, when we're about to start something new, we become unsure and let fear creep in. Koshak discusses why it's important to try new things in “When Was the Last Time You Tried Something New.”

Carol Cassara of A Healing Spirit has a tip if learning is on your list of 2020 resolutions. Cassara was relieved to know that yoga can be practiced without having to contort one's body in unnatural (or natural) poses. She tells us we don't have to use our body at all to be a yogi in “How Can You Practice Karma Yoga.”

Meryl Baer of Six Decades and Counting began the New Year by traveling once again. Baer spent a lot of time on the road the past two weeks not driving, or rather not necessarily moving along. Her trip began with a bit of a problem at the airport, as she recounts in this week’s post, "Winter Brea(down – Almost)."

For the New Year, Rebecca Olkowski with BabyBoomster.com has updated her best online exercise programs for women over 50 as she’s found some new and exciting programs you can enjoy from the comfort of your home. 

Laurie Stone of Musings, Rants & Scribbles, on the other hand, tell us about an activity that she admits to liking throughout the year. She eavesdrops sometimes. She tries not to, but can’t help it. And her favorite place for eavesdropping is her local java joint. She's there for lunch an embarrassing amount of time. (O.K., almost every day). She brings her laptop and works. But here’s the interesting thing. Fascinating insights can be gleaned by “accidentally” listening into the following groups…

This is the Best of Boomer Blogs #632. Click on the links to read these great articles. And, be sure to join in the conversations. Boomer bloggers love to hear from readers.

Copyright 2020, Rita R. Robison, Consumer and Personal Finance Journalist

Guide to getting bargains throughout the year

It’s January and it’s a famous month for getting lots of items on sale. However, every month of the year usually offers bargains.

Here’s information from DealNews, a website listing bargains, so you can make a plan for saving throughout the year:

January

Gym memberships, white sales with deals on bedding and towels, winter clothing especially winter coats, fitness equipment, spring travel, holiday décor

February

Winter apparel, home goods, television sets, non-traditional Valentine’s Day gifts

March

Chocolate, frozen food, St. Patrick’s Day food, cruises, gift cards, luggage

Milk bottles made by Libbey Glass recalled due to laceration hazard

Libbey Glass is recalling about 44,300 33.5 oz. milk bottles.

The bottles can break unexpectedly during use, posing a laceration hazard. No incidents or injuries have been reported.

This recall involves Libbey Glass 33.5 oz. milk bottles. They’re clear colorless glass bottles with no markings that measure about 8½ inches in height by 3¼ inches in width at the base. The recalled bottles can be identified by their original packaging – bottle cartons with item No. 92129 and manufacturing dates of either August 15, 2019, or August 31, 2019. If your establishment received these bottles after August 15, 2019, contact your distributor to determine if you received affected bottles.

Libby sold the recalled bottles to various foodservice distributors including Edward Don & Co. and The Wasserstrom Co. for about $2 per bottle.

Online grocery retailers heavily promote unhealthy foods, analysis shows

Online grocery platforms often undermine Americans’ efforts to eat well, according to a review of retailers’ promotions, pricing, placement, and delivery by the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a consumer advocacy group. More than half of food and beverage promotions on online retailers’ home pages and search result pages were for unhealthy products, and more than three-quarters of the food- and beverage-related emails that retailers sent promoted unhealthy products.

The center evaluated the practices of six national retailers operating in the Washington, D.C., area: Amazon Prime Now, FreshDirect, Peapod (Ahold Delhaize), Safeway, Target, and Walmart Grocery. (The latter two weren’t delivering in the District of Columbia during the early 2019 study period, so weren’t included in the ordering and delivery parts of the assessment.)

The center’s researchers created two customer accounts and collected promotional data on each retailer’s home page, and promotional, pricing, and search result data on each retailer’s search result pages for five staple products: milk, bread, cereal, drinks, and chicken. The researchers also scored the quality of the produce delivered.

Consumers, businesses need to reject single-use food packaging, group says

Consumers overlook the environmental impact of food packaging, an analysis by FoodPrint, an organization that studies food production practices, reports.

“If concern about climate change, the environment, or your personal health are motivating factors for you when it comes to deciding what you eat, it’s important to realize that those same issues are factors when it comes to food packaging,” Jerusha Klemperer, director of FoodPrint, said.

Klemperer said massive environmental issues occur with the way food packaging is made and with how much consumers use and throw away, adding dangerous materials also are present in food packaging.

Baby boomers greet the New Year and decade

Another year came and went and the New Year begins. In addition, another decade begins . . . perhaps. Does the new decade begin in 2020 or does the old decade end in 2020? A difference of opinion exists on that question.

Despite this decade debate, baby boomer bloggers are keeping on writing. Their topics include:

• How to assess if you really know your facts.
• A visit to the Museum of Illusions in Los Angeles.
• When a blogger’s mom turned 95.
• How Blue Apron, a home-delivered “fresh ingredients” service, turned into a disaster.
• The top consumer stories of 2019.
• How you can find the light, be the light, and shine it for others.
• How to create a portable vision board.

Jennifer Koshak of Unfold and Begin writes about these articles on the Best of Boomer Blogs #630. Click here to get the links to the articles. And be sure to join in the conversations. Boomer bloggers love to hear from readers.

Copyright 2020, Rita R. Robison, Consumer and Personal Finance Journalist

Top consumer stories for 2019

As usual, most of the end-of-the-year, round-up articles are about national issues or corporations. If consumers are mentioned, it’s usually about how they’re responding to some corporation.

For the most part, it’s been a grim year for consumers. With the Trump administration that is so probusiness and anti-consumer, the not much is happening for consumers that's positive.

1. President Donald Trump is impeached.

We have a president who puts his personal interests above the public interest. He tried to bribe the Ukrainian president to get him to investigate a political rival. As a result, he’s been impeached by the U.S. House of Representatives. This is incredible.

How a percentage of the American can support Trump is a great mystery to me. He and his administration announce anti-consumer proposals almost daily.

In addition, we have a president who lies. Since he was elected, Trump has told more than 15,000 false or misleading claims. In 2019, he’s said that the U.S. economy today is the best in history, he passed the biggest tax cut in history, the U.S. has lost money on trade deficits, article II of the Constitution lets him do whatever he wants, windmills cause cancer, and toilet flushes are up. All are untrue.

2. Consumer rights and programs are under continual attack from President Trump and his administration.

The Republican conservatives want to reduce the size of government and give corporations more power. Almost daily, we read about how the Trump administration has done it or is planning to do it. Some examples include:

• The Trump administration’s decision to roll back light bulb standards will cost consumers billions.
• The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s rule speeding up pork lines and reducing inspectors endangers the lives and safety of consumers and workers. 
• Corporations keep breaking the law due to declining federal prosecutions.
• The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and seven states launch an “innovation network” that will approve new, risky financial products and protect them from enforcement.
• The CFPB fails consumers by not carrying out the payday lending rule.
• Fewer children’s products were recalled in 2018.
• Under Trump, enforcement of consumer financial laws drops sharply, especially in areas with the highest complaints.

The list goes on and on. Government regulations and programs help consumers. Reducing the size of government and slashing consumer regulations just helps corporations make more profits at the expense of consumers.

Hard-boiled eggs from Almark Foods’ Gainesville plant are being recalled due to link to listeria outbreak

Almark Foods is recalling bulk, fresh hard-boiled eggs that were produced by its plant in Gainesville, Georgia, due to a multistate outbreak of Listeria monocytogenes infections linked to the eggs, the company announced Friday.

Seven people infected with the outbreak strain of Listeria monocytogenes have been reported in five states – Florida, Maine, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Texas, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Four were hospitalized, with one death occurring in Texas.

The illnesses occurred between April 2017 and Nov. 12, 2019.

Yes, boomers are doing O.K.

Carol Cassara of A Healing Spirit is still a Beatles fan, and, all these years later when she hears one of their songs, she’s instantly transported back to the 1960s. An image of a van, like the one in the photo, which was popular at the time, does the same thing. She just goes there.

Cassara also thinks about the 1960s when she reads posts by her favorite boomer bloggers. Some of their latest articles include:

• The most memorable Christmas.
• How to make Polish Sauerkraut Soup.
• The top three challenges to expect from “gray” divorce, divorce when couples are age 50 and older.
• A narrow escape on the freeway when a box truck veered off the highway toward the center median, then careened back onto it.
• How to plan goals for 2020 and beyond.
• The new, frozen Asian desserts.

Cassara writes about these articles in the Best of Boomer Blogs #627. Click here to get the links to the articles. And, be sure to join in the conversations. Boomer bloggers appreciate hearing from readers. It makes their day.

Copyright 2019, Rita R. Robison, Consumer and Personal Finance Journalist