Baby Boomers News, Reviews, & Observations

Light at the End

Even though the surface is a little rough it’ll give you traction so keep going.

There’s light at the end.

Will Remnants of Hurricane Ike get my AR town this time, too?

I’m heading back home tomorrow. I left town a week before the onslaught of torrential, flooding rain from Hurricane Gustav overwhelmed my AR town last week. Will I be walking into another such onslaught of torrential rain and floods from Hurricane Ike? I dunno, but I am mentally prepared at least to grab what I’ve gotta and get the heck outta dodge if need be.

Of course, my concern isn’t nearly as great as those who are in for a direct hit from Hurrican Ike. I’ll definitely be keeping those less fortunate than myself in my prayers. How dreadful to have to deal with the force of Mother Nature.

Although I wasn’t anywhere near the Gulf of Mexico at the time, I’ll NEVER forget Hurricane Camille. We were traveling to vacation in torrential rain when that one hit years ago and moved inland. My parents actually had won one of those free 3 days/2 nights weekend vacations to Biloxi, MS that very weekend. Needless to say, we spent those free days and nights in Nashville and Chattanooga, TN.

I’m very thankful that my home sits on a high ridge with lots of rock and gravel as that’s what helped to spare us from any flooding issues. The power was out for a bit, but thankfully not long enough to create a mess in the deep freeze to deal with when I return tomorrow. My neighbors took care of the tree that was about to fall across the driveway. Bless them!

Hope, on the other hand, will probably be running right back INTO it again. She’s a storm chaser. Loves the excitement and adventure. Yes, she called me a couple of Fridays ago as I was heading west on I-70 out of St. Louis to NE Kansas to let me know I shouldn’t feel bad that I was going to miss seeing her in St. Louis that weekend because she was going hurricane chasing! Fool (j/k, Hope!) went STRAIGHT FOR IT…LOL! Got there then turned around and raced ahead of it to get out of the way…LOL! Me thinks she likes playing chicken with Mother Nature, don’t you? Naw, truth be known, she went to be there for her Mom and help her get the heck outta dodge. That’s the mark of a good daughter…h/t to Hope.

Hey, Hope, you out there? Meet me at my house this weekend. We’ll watch from there…we can get away faster if need be. Bet the road out won’t be as packed.

Where Did the Summer Go?

I think I missed it this year. I stayed indoors way too much this time. Now here I sit on the porch watching a lite misty rain wash away some of it. There’s still plenty of greenery, but the temperature is only in the 60’s.

I want to go back and be able to enjoy some more sun rays. I want to go back and spend more time doing the summer things we usually do with family and friends. It all slipped away too fast this year. Whizzed right on by before I realized it.

Promising myself that won’t happen again.

Wishing You Had a Quiet, Peaceful, Park Like Setting to Live & Work In?

Here it is ready to welcome you to a place of serenity. Nine point six acres m/l of blissful peace and quiet in a scenic park-like setting less than 10 minutes from small southern town USA.

It’s the perfect place to build your dream home and use the existing home for business or hobby quarters. Add a garden. How about a barn to board your horses? Need a cabin for the kids and grandkids when they come to visit? You have plenty of room for it here either close to your main dream home or maybe over the hill and in the woods to preserve the privacy of both.

Only 20-30 minutes from watersports such as boating, swimming, and skiing. Fishing and camping nearby make for a quick getaway weekend of fun for the whole family. Fine dining, shopping, and best of all…

…some of the most relaxing spa centers providing an exquisite spa experience that will take you away from it ALL. How can you possibly resist having this experience nearby for such a small investment?

Natural Thermal Hot Springs

The first federally protected area in the nation’s history, Hot Springs National Park Arkansas features amazing 147° thermal water, rich history and beautiful architecture. Enjoy gorgeous Arkansas hiking trails in the Ouachita Mountains, tour the historic Fordyce Bathhouse and Visitor’s Center, or enjoy a relaxing Hot Springs spa - all in the historic downtown area.

…of Hot Springs, Arkansas, America’s first resort. Enjoy it all on your choice of Lake Hamilton, Lake Catherine, or Lake Ouachita.

Prefer white water rafting, kayaking, and rafting? Well, it’s here, too, and even closer than Hot Springs, the Spa City. It’s right here in Hot Springs County, Arkansas from Remmel Dam to I-30 here at Malvern.

The beautiful scenery of Hot Spring County and the water flowing gracefully down Ouachita River make the trip here worthwhile. The average Arkansas whitewater rafting or kayaking river tends to be a bit easier to master than those in other states, so don’t forget that quite a few of the sections here are pretty easy. No matter if you’re whitewater rafting or kayaking this area has a large number of paddling spots. The Remmel Dam to I-30 at Malvern section of Ouachita River in Hot Spring County is 6 miles long and is rated by American Whitewater as a
class I-II section.

Low cost of living and perfect for retirees or anybody desiring to have enough space for outdoor hobbies or operating a business from home. The reliable broadband cable internet service provides the connection to the world you need to operate your business in a rural setting away from all the hustle and bustle of urban living.

Plenty of wildlife to observe and enjoy including a resident black squirrel who scampers from tree to tree gathering his winter stash of hickory nuts abundant on the property. Deer or turkey hunt? Just park on the front porch and save the time and money spent on deer camp.

Are you an adventurous foodie? You’ll have an opportunity to try the infamous poke salit aka poke salad and pokeweed, made famous by Tony Joe White of Poke Salad Annie fame, if you’re brave enough to be really adventurous. Muscadine grapevines grace the property every few years as well. Tame them, plant more, and start your own muscadine winery.

So little an investment will get you a place with so much potential. You CAN affordably live in serene, tranquil surroundings with plenty of recreational ammenities nearby so what are you waiting for? Head on over to Howard Real Estate of Malvern, Arkansas and give Harmony Tidwell a call today to make this piece of heaven on earth your home as soon as possible.

Quicken Home and Business 2009 Now Available

Quicken Home and Business Software makes it simple to manage all your personal and home business finances in one place— so you can see how you’re doing overall.

* Bring your personal and home based business accounts— credit cards, brokerages, online banks— together1
* Never miss a bill— stay on top of bills due and paid
* Identify potential deductions and track deductible expenses like mileage and office supplies
* Maximize tax deductions— categorize expenses as business or personal
* Monitor profit and loss and overall business performance in the Business Center

*Online services require Internet access and are subject to change. Services vary among participating financial institutions or other parties and may be subject to application approval, additional terms, conditions and fees. More than 6,122 participating financial institutions as of 05/21/08

Time for a Rockin’ Rrrrrrrrr-oad Trip!

√-Truck filled up with go-juice
√-Bags packed with make-me-look-good stuff & ready to load
√-Camera batteries charged
√-Camera and battery charger packed & ready to capture every smile coming its way
√-Dunkin Donuts coffee, filters, and Nestles non-dairy creamer packed & ready to liven me up when the grandkids drag me
outta the bed early in the a.m. (Mamaw’s been doin’ the night shift again for months now)
√-Sonic locations noted in memory for Raspberry Tea & Diet Cherry Coke stops along the way
√-Fan packed…GOTTA have my fan
√-Laptop and accessories packed & ready to load
√-Blackberry charger packed & ready to load
√-CB Radio setup in truck - gotta know what’s goin’ on up ahead & whether or not Smoky’s hidin’ ‘hind the bushes, ya know

and last but DEFINITELY not least….

√-iPod loaded up with 50’s, 60’s, 70’s, & 80’s music for a ROCKIN’ Road Trip! (Yes, Daughter, Mom stills rocks when she’s rollin’. C-ya Tuesday, Baby Girl! )

ANOTHER New Tech Toy for Boomers

UPDATE - I’m updating this to let you know how I did this without having to listen to the audio. First, if you wish, you can follow me at www.Utterz.com/angelagb or, if you don’t want to follow me, just go to www.utterz.com. From Utterz.com you can follow others and use it to crosspost to your blog or social networks of which you are a member. To setup any of those options, click on the Apps & Widgets tab on the top of the website and select Crosspost.

I’m planning to use it for mobile blogging. I looked into some other methods of mobile blogging this past week and none of the options I found worked well for me. I think this one will because you can post text, audio, video, and pictures to your blog via the Crossposting feature using your smartphone. It seems rather easy to do once you get it setup.

It appears to be fairly new so be patient and give ‘em some time to perfect it.

Mobile post sent by angelagb using Utterz. Replies. mp3

Report Gas Prices in Your Neighborhood

I’ve just added a Gas Buddy page to the blog so we can all report and stay on top of the gas prices in our own neighborhoods. Enter your zip code in the “Search” box at the top of the map to find the gas prices in your area.

Hurry! Run on over there and report the gas prices in your neighborhood. Who knows? If we get lucky maybe we’ll spark a gas price war and be instrumental in bringing these outrageous prices DOWN to affordable levels for everybody. Spread the link!

ATTENTION Baby Boomer News Reviews & Observations Email Subscribers

Just a quick post to let you all know I will be moving email subscribers over to my new email list service with Aweber. Those of you that are currently subscribed via the Feedburner email subscription will receive a notification via email from my new email list service. You will need to confirm your subscription by clicking a link that will be provided in the first email message you receive from the new email list service.

In an effort to give you time to receive this blog post in your email, I won’t be sending out the email requesting you subscribe to the new service until Saturday, 8/23/2008. Please watch for it in your inbox.

As soon as I receive notification of your confirmation I will remove your email subscription from the old service at Feedburner.com.

I hope you will confirm your subscription because I will miss you if you don’t.

Cool Baby Boomer Scooters Scoot to Commute on Their Scooters

Now say that post title fast three times. Hey! Pretty good! At least you still have the coordination to do that. Add that to your list of things for which you’re grateful today.

Then you can add that there are some benefits to to rising gas prices after all. One being that you now have an excuse to go buy a new toy that will also serve as a new means of transportation for your daily commute.

One baby boomer couple in North Little Rock, Arkansas has taken the plunge which they consider to be an investment of sorts. A list of their returns reveals a range of different types of benefits that provide a rather decent ROI:

A major boost in mpg - going from roughly 20 mpg to 115 mpg
A cost of 3¢ per mile as opposed to 25¢ per mile
Another way to enjoy a pleasant drive with your spouse/significant other
You’re now known as “cool scooters” by the youngsters, IOW you’re hip, green, modern, and oh soooo 21st century

Check out the video of the NLR, AR scooter couple featured on KATV and maybe you’ll be encouraged to become a “cool scooter boomer”, too.