Are pot-blocking seniors starting to waffle?
As we approach the end of national Medical Marijuana Week, it seems like a reasonable time to review where older people stand on this issue and the larger matter of a more comprehensive legalization. The research shows what you already know: on pot, people seem to have difficulty making...
The problem is that everything will hurt you
If you lift weights you can rupture an aneurysm. If you sit calmly at work or at home, you risk increased coronary disease (which is why some people insist on saying that “sitting is the new smoking”). If you run or play volleyball, you can damage your knees. There...
French equestrian village for old horse people is simultaneously encouraging and disturbing
The Villages Group, which develops and operates retirement communities in locations around the world, has announced that it will build France’s first equestrian village. It will be “aimed at buyers in the over 50 age range who want to live in a community with sporting and outdoor activities.” While horseback riding is...
Stubborn old sailor won’t admit defeat
If it is true that a sailor’s survival often depends on iron resolve, and if it is true that old men are inherently stubborn, then no one should be surprised by 84-year-old Tom Corogin. Last month, the Ohio native was rescued from the vast, empty Pacific after “broken rigging...
Our Super Bowl tribute to love and sex
About 30 percent of Baby Boomers are single, and many of you rely on internet dating sites to make connections (in fact seniors’ use of such sites is growing at twice the rate of other age groups). So it seems likely that you’ll be interested in Match.com’s annual...
Mahjong can wait (till I finish my intervals)
A retirement community in South Carolina is forming a triathlon team. And by triathlon, they don’t mean some hokum bocce-croquet-cribbage contest (which could be fun, OK, but it’s not a triathlon). This event comprises a respectable 350-yard swim, 13-mile bike and 3.1-mile run/walk. Retirement communities used to...
Can seniors run barefoot? Should they?
Running barefoot combines the joys of being naked (at least on your lowest extremities) and not paying for expensive footwear (although most of the major shoe companies have introduced poorly identified “five-finger” shoes, some of which cost $150 or more). And then there is this other joy: If you read...
We take your point: let the old birds fly
This probably doesn’t count as an exposé because, well, no one tries to hide it. But the story in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal is nevertheless shocking and appalling. The Journal reports that the “fastest-growing population in federal and state prisons are those 55 and older,” and the cost...
Saturday hash comes early: January 26, 2012
The idea behind these assemblages of random snippets is that they are supposed to accumulate over the week and then we chuck them out on the weekend, when we’re rather be doing something else. But sometimes the bucket gets filled early, and great news doesn’t necessary keep. So… These are...
Rabbit hole for cyclists
The internet is a rabbit hole, which is its blessing and its curse. You stumble across a link, and fall headlong into a world you never knew existed. A new reality opens up; hours disappear. It can begin with a simple Google Alert that points to an article in...
You need a cool million to retire or you don’t
Here’s another myth-busting article on retirement planning. Or, more accurately, the headline claims it is a myth-busting article, busting the myth that you need a million bucks to retire. (Is this a myth? Maybe. We see other stories that refer to it. But we find it unlikely that the million-dollar...
Old people: not as drunk as the young but hornier than you think
The Centers for Disease Control has release a report of American drinking habits that “astounded” researchers. Note that word: researchers don’t normally admit it when they are astounded, unless it’s by something enchanting, like a new species or subatomic particle. When you say you are astounded by human behavior that...
