grow older better

Author: Lynn Dorman, Ph.D.

  • Sports

    I have been a sports-nut since I was a kid.

    Grew up with a father who was Yankee fan as he had grown up near the Stadium in the Bronx. My friends rooted for the Brooklyn Dodgers as their parents were from Brooklyn. In retrospect I don’t recall anyone rooting for the NY Giants –also a Bronx team.

    So I was Yankee fan – especially in the Dodgers-Yankees World Series days. The radio was on for all games that were available. [It was the old AM only days you know.]

    By the time I got to college, I was tired of the Yankees winning all the time and so I stopped paying attention to baseball.

    I was a Boston Celtics fan as long as I can remember. Bob Cousey had lived in my neighborhood and gone to my high school – so that’s the team we heard about.

    After I moved to Boston, I still did not pay attention to baseball but instead got hooked on football. [Hard to imagine but I have seen every Super Bowl!]

    In the late 60’s I got back to baseball and became the Red Sox fan I am today and – ditto the Patriots.

    Some say I have addled my brain on all this sports stuff f- first on the radio then on TV…but every year that a team I like is in the World Series – I watch every playoff and series game. Other years I sort of watch to see if the game is a good one….but will turn off the TV if it gets lop sided. [I know it’s hypocritical to love lop sided when you are the winning lop…..but I never said I was not a hypocrite ☺ ]

    In the “real” world I have seen the Orioles “live” the most of any team – since a friend and I took our kids to the old Memorial Stadium a lot – couldn’t beat 2 buck Mondays. And at one of those I caught a home run ball hit by the visiting team!

    After the O’s moved to Camden Yards it got too “tony.” Kids seemed to annoy those D.C. lobbyists in their fancy seats and we were no longer welcomed. It really was no longer fun to be at a game so we stopped our regular outings to see the O’s. At least when I watch on TV – I can scream and cheer without “the look” coming my way!

    This has been a nerve wracking week with the Sox having to win 3 games in a row. But my friends, son and I managed to keep watching by calling each other to say how worried we were that the Sox would blow it. And then came last night’s outcome!!! The Sox will play in the World Series!

    glyconutrients, healthy aging, growing older, aging, nutrition, exercise, eating properly,

  • A confession [of sorts]

    You know I love the effects of my exercising – and I suggest that we all need more exercise…

    Well – like most people, when I get busy, “official” exercising is the first thing I start skipping.

    So – when September rolled around and I got busy – I stopped going to my cycling classes. I did do that long kayak trip I wrote about and still did yoga at home – and of course went up and down the ramp several times a day and my dog got extra long walks….but my aerobic conditioning took a back seat.

    In October I had a long talk with me and forced myself to start back to the cycling classes. Much to my own amazement and joy – I kept up as much as I usually did – which is not ever 100% as I have 30-40 years on most in the class including the instructor : – ).

    I’m not sure it was a good thing for me to learn that I could take off a month with few repercussions – so I have promised myself I won’t do that again. It’s too chancy. Besides ski season is approaching and the legs and heart need to be in great shape for Mt. Hood.

    glyconutrients, healthy aging, growing older, aging, nutrition, exercise, eating properly,

  • Good news; Bad news day

    Good news

    Simple blood test could predict Alzheimer’s risk
    Mon Oct 15, 2007 11:39am EDT

    By Julie Steenhuysen

    CHICAGO (Reuters) – Researchers have developed a simple blood test that may be able to predict whether mild lapses of memory could be an early sign of Alzheimer’s disease.

    In a study published on Sunday in the journal Nature Medicine, an international team of researchers describe 18 cell-signaling, or communication, proteins found in blood that predicted with 90 percent accuracy whether a person would develop Alzheimer’s disease.

    Bad news

    Depressed at work? Get a new career
    Sun Oct 14, 2007 5:26pm EDT

    WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Child care workers, home health care aides and other people who provide personal services have the highest rates of depression among U.S. workers, according to a new survey to be published on Monday.

    It found that 10.8 percent of personal care and service workers and 10.3 percent of food preparation and serving workers — both usually low-paying jobs — experienced one or more major depressive episodes in the past year.

    It’s good that we may be able to predict Alzheimer’s early – but unless we also figure out better how to treat it or avoid it – I am not sure I’d like to know if my memory lapses are an early signal – what if they aren’t?

    I found out last year that I have some odd white spots in my brain – they are usually related to MS and other conditions but I was told by the neurologist not to worry as it turns out that more people have these than they used to think…and since I bike and ski I certainly have no balance problems…

    But now that I know they are there? I have a nagging something in my head about them.

    And the depression? It seems to be more prevalent in those professions where we find more women – care giver careers.
    Are women more depressed or do these profession tend to appeal to those who get depressed?

    Lots of questions that need answering.

    In the meanwhile if you are depressed – see someone to find out why – it may be situational..

    or as the news said – get a new career…

    If you have read other of my posts – that’s a great idea for many reasons –

    glyconutrients, healthy aging, growing older, aging, nutrition, exercise, eating properly,

  • The Friday scam laugh – an "honest" scammer

    Edited from an email I just got – wow if I believed all these scammers – I’d have enough money to pay off the USA Federal Debt, support whole communities and still have billions left for me : – ) – and that’s just in the past few months!

    My name is Mr.MORONIKE ADAMS

    [ yes Ike is a moron]

    I am compelled to seek your indulgence and active participation in a well thought out scheme for you to act as the NEXT OF KIN

    [but the scheme is not so well thought out – doesn’t moron Ike know he is not alone anymore in using this scam?]

    Should my proposal apeal to you,and upon the receipt of your reply, I can obtain and manipulate all vital document neccessary for a sucessful transfer of the fund into your bank account.I will also send you a detailed information about the transaction.

    [Misspellings are a dead give away that no real banker is involved and yes moron Ike is admitting to manipulating all documents so if there is a criminal/legal problem – you have no defense as you have agreed to cooperate]

    I will not fail to bring to your notice that this transaction is 100% risk free and that you should not entertain any fear as all modalities for fund transfer can be finalized within 14 banking days, after you apply …..

    [risk free to moron Ike – not you – a careful shading of the truth….]

    glyconutrients, healthy aging, growing older, aging, nutrition, exercise, eating properly,

  • Holidays?

    Does anyone celebrate holidays anymore or have they just become part of a 3-day-weekend – for? SALES!

    Not that I am a big fan of Columbus Day – but it used to be on October 12th and it used to be a day where most things were closed. Now it’s only the day after the fat Sunday paper announces all the SALES you can go to on Monday…

    Maybe because it’s what I grew up with – but I liked it when holidays were celebrated on their “real” dates. Have an occasional week day off from school or work was sort of fun. It varied from year to year and broke up the week in a nice way – or at least it did for me.

    When I lived in Boston, there were Boston-only holidays so one got a day off in every month except August if I recall correctly. But now even those are Mondays – like April 19th…it’s permanently a Monday no matter when the 19th actually is.

    Makes it easier to plan for the marathon and make it a 3-day-vacation for the crowds that come to watch and/or run.

    And yes, I went to Costco yesterday as I needed a few staples and there were the Christmas trees – all lit up! Wonder where [they will find room for all the Halloween and Thanksgiving “stuff?”

    Think I have mentioned this before but – I’ll repeat. Again when I was a kid I worked at SS Kresge’s at the seasonal counter. Yes back when sales people were behind counters running their own registers….] We did school related items from mid-August to mid September. I sort of forget what came next but then we did Halloween til November – then Thanksgiving and only after Thanksgiving did we put out Christmas/winter related items and then end of year sales and so on. And when there were no special days, we did cookies, snacks, linens or whatever needed the extra space. Seems so quaint now. And back then I could add rapidly in my head as the registers only rang up the total sale – it did not do the adding – and then we also had a tax box for the NYC sales tax! Now I am so computer/calculator addicted I’m not so sure I could do that arithmetic in my head anymore : – (

    But progress in the form of computers? and word processing programs? Love it – I am a 2-3 finger typist and have to look at the keyboard as I type. So I live with spell checkers…they catch most of my typos….and I cut and past or click rather than type….

    Ah – progress is a mixed thing and guess it will always be so.

    We will continue to get advancing holiday seasons, 3-day-weekends, ad laden Sunday papers and the message to buy! But we will also keep getting advances in technology. It’s life – enjoy it…

    [but what will be the reaction when the 4th of July or December 25th become the “nearest Monday?”]

    glyconutrients, healthy aging, growing older, aging, nutrition, exercise, eating properly,