Happy Anniversary!

One year ago today—11/1/11—I officially retired. At least, I retired from the full-time, work-a-day, prosper that career, chase the gold ring world. Then, just three weeks later I was commanding a 15-passenger bus at our local airport a couple days each week. In January, I began a 20-hour-per-week gig in a tiny marketing research office and I'm still working both of those jobs.

Bottom Line:  I'm loving it!

Retirement most certainly does not mean solitude, a good book, daily long naps, a rocking chair, and nothing more...at least not for this guy. Both of my part-time endeavors put me in touch with people; people make life interesting, fun and worthwhile. Make no mistake, I covet my "alone time", but that time should be somewhat limited. Interacting with family, friends and others helps to enhance daily life, instills positive thinking, and keeps the old grey matter a bit more sharp—use it or lose it, they say!

So, beginning year two of this new phase of my life I'm happy to say I see no reason for changing a thing. Damn the torpedoes; full speed ahead! After all, the day will come when I won't have a choice about available activities. That day, hopefully, will be postponed by staying active, social and engaged with the fascinating world around me and all that it's inhabitants have to offer.

Yup, There's an App for THAT!

Driving downtown to work this week, I was listening to my favorite News/Talk/Weather station (yeah, I'm an old guy; we do that, ya know!) and they mentioned the latest and greatest smart phone app that was recently released. This one really sounded interesting to me because, well, as I said I'm an old guy and we never stray far from an available Men's Room!

The app is called (are you ready for this?) RunPee. It was developed because, as their web site states, movie theaters don't have pause buttons. From their web site:

The RunPee app is primarily here to help you enjoy your movie going experience by telling you the best times to Run and Pee without missing anything important. The RunPee family – Dan, Mom and Sis – see each wide release movie that comes out on opening day. We watch for 3-5 minute spans in the movie where nothing really exciting, or funny, or important happens. (Obviously this can be next to impossible for really good movies but we do our best. )

We start looking for peetimes about 30 minutes into the movie and we stop when there’s only 20-30 minutes left in the movie. For short movies of about 90 minutes there may only be one peetime. But for movies over 2 hours there may be 2-3 peetimes. 

Each peetime has a synopses of what happens. So if you do need to run and pee then you’ll be able to come back to the theater knowing exactly what happened while you were taking care of business.

How cool is that?!!? We all know there are spots of boredom in most movies and this app will suggest when those are coming so you can...run and pee! The app sends a vibration to your smart phone to alert you while not bothering your neighbors.

Head to their web page to, if nothing else, watch what happens to the heading on the page; pretty cute. You'll find it at RunPee.com.

Grow Older and Meet New Friends

I've found it quite interesting that, as I age, I've been introduced to quite a number of new "friends":

• No more doctor specializing in Family Practice; now I see an Internist, one specializing in Internal Medicine and all that can go wrong in there when one crosses the magical age 50 threshold. 
• A routine dentist visit every six months or so is no longer sufficient. Introducing the Periodontist: a super dentist with dozens of ways to keep those teeth healthy and attached to your jawbone...for a price at least 50% higher than a regular dentist. 
• Oh, let us not forget my personal favorite, the Gastroenterologist. You know, the one that says "drink two gallons of this delicious mixture, wait for the multiple explosions, then come see me in the morning so I can do amazing things with this ten-foot long flexible tube while watching TV". Good times!
• Being (at one time) of fair hair and skin, and since melanoma was instrumental in Mom's death, I make an annual trek to a Dermatologist. He looks me over from head to toe and pronounces me as ugly as the year before. 
• I remember my first pair of bifocal glasses and how walking down a flight of stairs was akin to stepping off the edge of the earth. I got used to it, though, just as my Optometrist insisted I eventually would. 
• I have Type 2 Diabetes to thank for my occasional visits to a Podiatrist to make sure my feet are hanging in there. Actually, I've come to believe those appointments are simply a way for a man to receive a pedicure without taking all the ribbing from his macho buddies. 
• Three years ago a little "hmm, that shouldn't be there" thing appeared near my bladder and prostate. Enter the Urologist who removed the (later to be determined malignant) growth, and threw in a Roto-Rooter procedure at minimal additional charge. Now I get to visit him each year for a "look-see" to be sure nothing else has appeared. Amazingly, he does ALL this through...well, let's just say an incision wasn't necessary.
• And finally, my Internist recommended a daily additive to morning coffee which helps me to remember above (or below) all else:  fiber is our friend. 

So, as you can see, aging has expanded my circle of friends nicely. Hey, young folks...enjoy the friends you have now. The bunch detailed above are not nearly as much fun. 

Film Length

Are films getting longer and longer? 

I ask because as I get older, the following quote takes on

more and more importance and understanding:

The length of a film should be directly related to the endurance of the human bladder.

Alfred Hitchcock