At my age I have witnessed several cases where the dear departed left messy situations behind them -- situations that led to strife among the heirs. The basic prevention is to have an updated will, of course.  I am going in this afternoon to update mine.  I was surprised at the number of items I want to change in my 2002 will.

 

But wills are pretty much confined to disposition of assets and funeral arrangements. They by no means instruct the executor of the estate about all the ongoing details of a life that require attention. So, I have taken things a step further and have written a document titled "Pete's Disability Or Estate Settlement Info." It contains instructions regarding the following:

 

-- Who to notify upon my death

-- Bank accounts with account numbers

-- Description of my insurance including life and long-term disability

-- Document location information. This tells where I keep my personal business info and Lustig Co. info

-- Listing of credit cards to be cancelled and location of cards

-- Living will location

-- Telephone accounts - with whom, billing info and account termination instructions

-- Instructions in case of long-term disability - and number of insurance policy covering this

-- What to do about my business if I am disabled to the extent that I can't close it down

-- What to do with residual funds in my accounts (this is also covered in the will)

-- Disposition of automobile (also in the will)

-- Disposition of my business equipment

-- Location of my safe deposit box

-- Veteran's burial benefit note

 

There are other items, but this may start you thinking about what you would want in such a document.

 

This is the final courtesy one can render to those who have to clean up after you depart. I know I don't want to leave a mess for my son, who will be executor, and Penny. Maybe this will help to alleviate the business of closure.

 

We really dig these Maxine cartoons. Here is a sampling.  I find that they can be purchased on eBay.

It is an interesting coincidence (see my previous posting on drug costs) that there was a story is this morning's paper about Wal-Mart reducing generic drug prices in Florida.  They are running a test program there in which 291 generic drugs will be sold at $4 for a month's supply. The drugs involved provide treatment for conditions ranging from allergies to high blood pressure.

 

The article goes on to note: "Selling generic drugs at prices that don't offer much if any profit margin could serve two purposes for Walmart.  It could draw customers away from big pharmacy chains to Wal-Mart stores that offer a much wider array of products. It could also help Wal-Mart with an image problem stemming from its policies on health insurance for employees.

 

Wal-Mart store officials said the reduced prices represent a saving to customers of up to 70% on some items."

 

The test will be launched today at 65 Wal-Mart and Sam's Club  pharmacies in the Tampa Bay area and will be expanded to the entire state in January.

 

Whatever their motivations for doing this, it has to be a good thing for those who are being destroyed by high drug prices.

 

 

The cost of prescriptions has become a gigantic concern for many of us. By "us" I mean baby boomers and older. But this surely is not news.

 

Penny is one who is not yet eligible for medicare and her private health plan offers prescription coverage at a prohibitive cost. So she has no coverage.  A while back she had a health episode that put her in the hospital where she was examined by a range of specialists.  Each of them gave her prescriptions and she wound up with 18 of them. Her primary physician at the time didn't seem to recognize that there was somethign wrong with this. He is NOT her physician any more.

 

But the challenge then was to figure out how to afford all of this medication. Our first ploy was to order through Candian pharmacies. We did this through an Illinois state-sponsored program. It did save her thousands of dollars and there is nothing wrong with these drugs.  The pharmacies had been checked out by Illinois state officials and are legitimate.

 

But still the charges were so humongous we had to put them on a credit card.  The balance ballooned alarmingly.

 

Then we found her a different primary physician. He noted that she was taking four different medications for high blood pressure. Of course, he recognized it as overkill and got her back to one.  There was a similar situation with other drugs.  So her drug list was cut down greatly.

 

Then Penny began to drop other of her drugs and there were no ill effects. Today she only takes about four drugs.  She has checked with her doctor and he is pleased about it.

 

It was too late in the game when we discovered that some of the drug manufacturers will provide their products at discounts - or even free - to those who can't live without them and who can't afford them. Being blind and broke would have qualified her.

 

But then she would have been continuing drugs she didn't need.

 

We have since found that there are savings in pill splitting. Instead of getting 10 mg tablets, you get 20 mg tabs and use a cutter to split them. The cost for 20 mg is very little more than the cost for 10 mg.  We have learned that the cost of the ingredients in the pills is little more for for the double dose.

 

By the way, the Veteran's Administration knows this and when I started getting my  prespcriptions through them the first thing they did was give me a splitter so they could save money by ordering the larger dosage.

 

I haven't even taken a look at the new Medicare drug programs - don't need them.  But most baby boomers are  not eligible for Medicare, so those program are of no help.

 

In the final analysis, there has to be a better way to provide us with medications - without undue financial burden. May we should have the VA take over the drug companies.  They would surely know how to make medicine available at lower cost.

I have written about my "Granddaughter", Kat.  She is known to many of us through her blog, written under the alias "Kit Kat." I have put the word granddaughter in quotes because she had told me that she lost her grandparents at an early age and has really never had the grandparental connect. She asked if I could be her "adoptive" grandpa.  My answer was, "Yes, I am honored."

 

So now she has the grandfather connection and whatever benefits that bestows. Today she is working with me for Marcos in his e-newsletter business. She is doing writing, which has been her aspiration, and her first effort was a big winner with the client.

 

This has made me think about the whole grandparent thing. I have four grandchildren and two great grand children. My grandchildren have brought so much to my life. After my late wife passed away, my oldest granddaughter, Katie, came down to Florida to stay with me for a summer. This was just after she graduated from high school. She said she wanted to get away from her home for a while and think about her future. But I think she was there to help fill the huge empty space left by the loss of my wife.

 

My grandson, Henry, was always there to help me when I moved to Bloomington from Florida. He would pick me up at the airport on my trips back and forth.  He helped me work on my apartment in Bloomington.  Grandson Joe was a never-ending source of new information.  He is, by nature and education, a philosopher.  My granddaughter Hellie has always brought warmth and love to me.

 

I am so sorry that I do not have much interaction with my great grandchildren. They are very young and live in Tennessee. I don't think that they really understand who I am or my relationship to them.  But somewhere along the line, they will.

 

So, everything they say about the joys of being a grandparent is true. It's one of the blessings of late life.

On September 1 I did a posting about King Tom's blog (If I Were King).  He responded by saying that what I had to say meant more to him than the Best of Spaces recognition.  Now, less than two weeks later he is gone.  Died in his sleep.  We are shocked and saddened.  Tom brought a lot of joy to those who were in touch with him. I miss him already.

 

So, tonight, on our date night out, Penny and I are going to hoist one for Tom.  Here's to you fella!

Jacob, age 92, and Rebecca, age 89 live in Florida.  They are all excited about their decision to get married. They go for a stroll to discuss the wedding and on the way they pass a Walgreens drugstore.

 

Jacob suggests they go in .  He addresses the man behind the counter: "Are you the manager?" The pharmacist answers yes.

 

Jacob tells him, "We're about to get married.  Do you have heart medication?"

 

Pharmacist: "Of course we do."

 

Jacob: "How about medicine for circulation?"

 

Pharmacist: "All kinds."

 

Jacob: "Medicine for rheumatism and scoliosis?"

 

Pharmacist: "Definitely."

 

Jacob:  'How about Viagra?"

 

Pharmacist: "Of course."

 

Jacob: "Medicines for memory problems, arthritis, jaundice?"

 

Pharmacist: "Yes, a large variety.  The works."

 

Jacob:  "How about vitamins, sleeping pills, Geritol, antidotes for Parkinson's disease?"

 

Pharmacist: "Absolutely."

 

Jacob: 'You sell wheelchairs and walkers?"

 

Pharmacist: "All speeds and sizes."

 

Jacob: "Ok. We want to use this store as our Bridal Registry."

 

 

Nothing does more for my spirits than doing productive things and being appreciated for it. It's a good bet that a lot of you feel exactly the same way.

 

But as one ages, the window of opportunity to do productive things can narrow. It isn't that we can't do a lot of things - it's that others think we can't.  The perception of diminished capacity, I call it. 

 

With this prelude, I want to report that I feel like one very fortunate late lifer.  The main focus of this feeling is my client (virtual partner) Marcos in Miami. Marcos has a growing business of doing e-newsletters for companies and  public organizations.  I have been working with him since he started his company four years ago. A friend suggested to him that I could give him support and guidance and he brought me into the picture.

 

Marcos is an exceptionally bright and energetic person and his drive and enthusiasm charges me up. But the great thing about working with him is that we do a lot of brainstorming together which is mentally stimulating. Another great thing is that he is a winner and being with him in this enterprise does wonders for my morale.

 

Let's see, so far this week I have worked with him on the content for an e-newsletter for Neighbors 4 Neighbors, edited text for the Florida Engineers Society, created a rationale for that justifies his higher prices, prepared an RFP form for a prospective client, strategized about the growth of his business - and bunch of other things. Now, that's what I call making a significant contribution.

 

And, boy, does it feel good!

 

I always feel like I have to end these personal experience vignettes with a moral. In this case it is, find someone who needs what you know and can do - and get with him or her.  For free, if there is no base for compensation. You'll get your reward in satusfaction - and if you are lucky, as I have been, the compensation will come along later.

 

 

The current issue of AARP, The Magazine has an article "A Wish For The Ages."  In this article is a report of a recent study of Baby Boomers. They, of course are  now in the 60-year age bracket and this study is about their attitiudes toward life and the future. Here is the gist of it:

 

"Perhaps the most significant finding of the study is not what we wish for as we march into our 60's, but how happy we are with what we have done and who we are. An extraordinary majority of those surveyed (77 percent) are satisfied with their lives. And an even larger number look forward to the coming years with confidence (85 percent), hope (86 percent) and a large measure of excitement (70 percent).

 

We've Come A Long Way,Baby. But it's evident that we believe we still have a long way to go."

 

Way to go folks!  Having a positive outlook can actually make things come out better.

 

 

 

 

If there is a more amusing and interesting blog than http://ifiwereking.spaces.live.com/ I would sure like to know about it. The King who reigns over this blog is K.T. (Tom) who has made his life a true adventure.  He recently went to China and married a woman he courted over the Internet. He is now going through all the paperwork to get her into the U.S.A.  He is a rabid garage sale shopper and finds some incredible buys that he shows in his blog. He travels around the U.S. to visit friends and attend reunions. During these trips there is a lot of visiting of taverns and drinking of beer. His blog is a melange of personal stories, jokes and sports stuff. And he posts frequently.

 

If you want to have a lot of fun go visit King Tom.