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88-Year-Old Waitress Gives Tips on Her Secret to Success

CitizenSugar — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 00:00:51 -0700

If it's Monday-morning-back-to-work time and you're just not feeling it, consider this gal for inspiration: at 88-years-old, Rosie Donaghey is still slinging hash. That is waiting tables — and her gig isn't necessitated by the economy. Rosie’s been working as a waitress since she was in her 70s when she first applied for a job as a waitress. Since then, this fiery lady has become her restaurant’s main attraction.

When at 70 she first applied for a waitress position, the manager thought Rosie was asking for her daughter or granddaughter — but was persuaded into hiring her. Though that restaurant eventually went out of business that same manager moved to another establishment and immediately brought Rosie to work there. Some customers only come in when Rosie's working, Tuesdays and Wednesdays 11 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Although Rosie collects Social Security and has the support of her three surviving children should she need it, she still continues working. What does she do with the money? Those that know her think it all goes into the church basket — she never misses a Mass either in person or on TV. As for the service, the restaurant manager said of Donaghey: “She’s a little bit of a spitfire ... She always tries to order for you. You ask for a burger well done and she says, ‘I’ll have it cremated.’ “

Over 90 Percent of Nursing Homes Violate Safety Standards

LibertySugar — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 15:45:00 -0700

While senior centers spice themselves up for baby boomers, nursing homes often provide dangerous conditions for their residents. About 1.5 million Americans live in the nation’s 15,000 nursing homes, and life can be scary and void of dignity for this vulnerable population. In a report issued Monday, a federal investigator identified violations in over 90 percent of US nursing homes, finding that for-profit institutions are more likely to have problems. Some red flags included:

Violations included infected bedsores, medication mix-ups, poor nutrition, and abuse and neglect.
Seventeen percent of homes had deficiencies that caused actual harm or immediate jeopardy.
Thirty-nine percent of patient complaints were substantiated.
The investigator said the homes “have systematically failed to provide staff in sufficient numbers and with appropriate clinical expertise.”
Some homes billed Medicare and Medicaid for services that “were not provided, or were so wholly deficient that they amounted to no care at all.”

What can be done? To find out,

McCain Attends 50th Reunion and My Exclusive Age Research

CitizenSugar — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 10:00:35 -0700

John McCain is heading to the Naval Academy for his 50th class reunion this weekend. By that complicated math, you can figure it means he graduated in 1958. McCain will definitely be attending the football game this afternoon between Navy and Rutgers.

The pending reunion and longtime, er, awareness of McCain's age led me to conduct a highly scientific opinion poll of his relative fitness to serve among those who might best know: my grandpa's table mates at his retirement home. To see the pretty surprising results of this survey over soup,

Old Is Great If You're Not Sushi! Japan's Record Centenarians

CitizenSugar — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 10:01:51 -0700

Well, if there's no other reason to live to the ripe young age of 100, in Japan you get a silver cup and a congrats card from the prime minister if you do. I hope he's bought those suckers in bulk because almost 20,000 Japanese are set to turn 100 this year alone. And they'll have many, many friends in their 5-k age class — there are already 36,276 centenarians in Japan, up a whopping 4,000 since last year. The UN projects that by 2050 there will be almost a million people over 100 in Japan alone. That's 100 gabillion birthdays between them, believe me, I did the math.

Those birthdays almost all warranted pink birthday hats, too — 86 percent of the century club are women. The oldest gal is 113 years old and lives on the island of Okinawa, the oldest man is 112 and likes to write in his diary in the evening. Oh, I want to matchmake these two. The reasons for the good long lives: healthy diet, good medical care, and strong communities — and exercise. Sounds like an easy recipe, right?

Source

How Old Is Too Old? Should Medicare Shell Out for Over 100s?

CitizenSugar — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 11:00:15 -0700

Seen a lot of sliver foxes running around lately? That's because the population of folks in the US over 100 has nearly doubled since 2000. If the candle-blowing continues like this, within 40 years, it could exceed one million. A million people over 100. Slate has a piece examining the cause and effect of great medical care — people live longer, and consequently require more and more care for many years longer than the Medicare system was equipped to handle — like one woman who received a $35,000 pacemaker the month before her 100th birthday.

Living long is fantastic, but it raises a question: Would the health care money be better spent on younger patients? The piece makes the argument that health is like wealth. Some people are blessed with it, and some aren't — and it floats this theory:

Just as some people have enough money, others have had enough time. If you make it to 100 and can fund your own surgery, that's terrific. But Medicare should focus its resources on people who haven't been as lucky as you. Living to 99 is no tragedy. It's a blessing.

Should there be an age consideration for patients to receive spendy medical procedures for those who've lived good, long lives?

Source

How to Help Meal Delivery Programs Hit by Food, Fuel Costs

CitizenSugar — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 14:30:23 -0700

It's easy to see the economic toll on food and fuel in our own everyday lives — but the effect is trickling down past commuters and bargain shoppers to silver citizens who rely on meal delivery programs to survive. Advocates for the elderly nationwide are concerned that many seniors are going or will go hungry soon — and blame the 20 percent increase in fuel and food prices over the past year, as well as leveling or reduced government subsidies and a failing economy.

According to the Meals on Wheels Association of America, nearly 60 percent of the 5,000 programs have lost volunteers, most of whom say they can no longer afford gas. This has resulted in the elimination or consolidation of entire routes and nearly 38 percent are now serving frozen instead of hot meals. Another 30 percent are reducing personal visits from five to one day per week. To see how some states are fighting back, and what you can do to help,