Going on a cruise is quite an adventure, I learned as a first-time cruise goer in late March. It was a seven-day cruise to the Caribbean with stops in Jamaica, Grand Cayman Island, Costa Maya, Mexico, and Cozumel, Mexico.
The purpose of the cruise was to celebrate my sister’s 80th birthday. My niece arranged the cruise, so all I had to is get out my credit card and pay. And pay I did.
Since it’s an expensive and time-consuming endeavor, here are tips to help you have the best cruise possible:
Decide where you want to go.
The possibilities are endless, with a cruise industry expanding its offerings to serve 28.5 million passengers a year. Once an unusual sight, you now see cruise ships in many major ports. The Caribbean, Alaska, and the Mediterranean are the most popular destinations.
While my baby boomer colleagues were busy writing articles at home, I was on a seven-day cruise in the Caribbean. It was fantastic. The weather was good, the food fantastic, the excursions interesting, and the seas not too heavy. I’ll be writing about how to pick out a cruise and top tips for first-time cruise goers. So, stay tuned.
Meanwhile, my fellow boomer bloggers were writing about:
Spring through photos.
The secret of retirement.
The greater meaning of the hard things that have happened in people’s lives.
Why granny pods are becoming popular with baby boomers.
How to find your rhythm and flow.
The problems women are experiencing from breast implants.
Jennifer Koshak of Unfold and Begin writes about these articles in the Best of Boomer Blogs #589. 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 2019, Rita R. Robison, Personal Finance Writer
Why am I writing about this when spring is approaching? Because winter coats are on sale now and it’s a good time to get a bargain.
I like long, warm wool coats, especially red ones. My niece brought the coat in the photo as a present for me. It fits perfectly. I get lots of compliments on it. However, I’m looking for a new one to have when my red coat wears out. Today I saw a cobalt blue coat at Macy’s. What was remarkable was that it had a hood. I liked it a lot, but it wasn’t long enough and it didn’t fit snugly around my neck.
Every year I write about the Academy-Award nominated movies and evaluate them for violence, ageism, sexism, and diversity. The results this year? Movies are more diverse, but still too violent. And more films are needed where women and older adults are the leads.
While I’ve spent hours this week finishing up my marathon movie watching, my baby boomer writing friends are continuing to write great articles such as the following:
Travel is high on Meryl Baer of Six Decades and Counting’s list of favorite things to do. Her latest adventure found her on a South American adventure. Although not a professional photographer, she enjoys taking photos of the sights. In this week’s post, she shares photos of some of the natural wonders of the Southern Hemisphere.
Tom Sightings at Sightings Over Sixty has been snowbirding in Charleston, South Carolina, for the month of February, where the weather isn’t tropical, but more like April or May in the north. In his post this week he takes us on a tour of the city from the vantage point of its historic harbor. So hop aboard “Sightings of Charleston” to see . . . what else, the sights.
Carol Cassara at A Healing Spirit wonders why some people don’t get the message no matter how obvious it is. Such was the case at a recent lecture, after which some of the attendees acted out in ways directly opposed to the message of the lecture. Cassara offers a helpful way to view tone-deaf people in “What Tone Deaf People Are Really Telling You.”
Laura Lee Carter of the Adventures of the New Old Farts writes that growing up a boomer wasn’t as easy as many today think. Most boomers are under serious financial strain today, worrying more often than their parents did about money, and suffering stress-related illnesses as a result. Boomers are also feeling financially stretched because they’re supporting both their children and their aging parents. More than half of boomers still provide financial support to at least one adult child. See “Boomers: Not the American Generation Who Has Had It So Easy as You Think” for details.
This is the Best of Boomer Blogs #585. Be sure and take a look at our boomer group’s articles this week. And, do join in the conversations. Boomer bloggers love to hear from readers.
Copyright 2019, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist
3M is recalling about 395,000 Scotch thermal laminators in the United and an addition 130 in in Canada.
The plastic enclosure can overheat, posing a burn hazard.
3M has received 10 reports of the laminators overheating and causing deformation of the bottom of the plastic enclosures. No injuries have been reported.
Like many people, I enjoy watching the Olympics. However, I've got too much to do to sit for hours in front of the television.
That's why I decided to get caught up on organizing my photos while watching the Olympics. It's worked very well. I organized all the albums in the photo. However, what I organized were the brochures, thank you letters, and tourist information such as which wineries we visited and what we tasted. For 2015, I've ordered copies of my best photos and identified them on the back of the photos. For 2016 and 2017, I have to finishing getting copies of my best photos into a digital file then have them printed out. I have the photos, probably 500, for 2015, but I need to put them in the archival sleeves. It's going to be a time consuming task.
This would be a good stopping place for me now, and make the switch to working on my taxes. However, tax preparation isn't nearly as much fun. I especially enjoyed looking at the all the information I brought back from my Australian trip during mu album organization.
Since I hurt my back, a compression fracture, I've been resting and recovering at home. Maybe since I'm taking it easy, I'll get more work done on my photos and get my taxes done as well.
Copyright 2018, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist
Fujifilm is recalling about 270,000 power adapter wall plugs sold with Fujifilm digital cameras in the United States and about 24,000 in Canada.
The wall plugs can crack, break, or detach and remain in the wall and expose live electrical contacts, posing a shock hazard. No incidents or injuries have been reported.
This recall involves AC-5VF power adapter wall plugs sold with Fujifilm digital camera models XP90, XP95, XP120, XP125, X-A3, and X-A10. The digital cameras were sold in a variety of colors.
I’m a big fan of Apple’s customer service. It’s almost always good, unlike most other companies especially Comcast.
Last night, I had an upsetting experience when I talked to an Apple employee named Jesse.
For the last six weeks, I’ve been working on getting my Apple computers in better shape. I have a desktop I bought in 2010 and a laptop for travel that I bought a couple of years ago. Both had hard drives nearly full because I take hundreds of photos as a photojournalist.
Having nude photos of yourself put on the internet without your permission is extremely upsetting. One woman said photos of her were posted by an ex-boyfriend, not once, but twice, and included her name, her job, and the city she lives in.
To avoid being a victim of revenge porn, take these steps suggested by DMCA.com.
Don’t take any photos or yourself or have others take them if you’re nude or partially dressed. That includes videos, too.
Don’t send nude photos or partially nude photos of yourself to anyone. Cell phones and laptops can be easily stolen or hacked.
When I lived in Sydney, Australia, in the late 1960s, the population was 11 million. Now, it’s 24 million
The purpose of my recent two-week vacation was to visit the places I lived and worked in Sydney and to visit a city I hadn’t been to, Perth.
Here’s what I learned during my vacation:
1. Sydney is a bustling, dynamic city. With a population of 2.5 million in 1967, its population is now approaching 5 million. We saw a lot of construction underway, but one resident told us the economy is slowing down. We did see some high-rise buildings with rusting steel frames, indicating that, although they’d been started, their construction had been abandoned.
2. The Sydney Opera House is fantastic. We enjoyed Beethoven’s First Symphony performed by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra Fellows, student performers who are receiving training from the orchestra.
3. The public transportation is Sydney is wonderful. We used trains and buses for most of our trips to old neighborhoods and workplaces. I wish we had a similar system in the Seattle area.
