OT the Senior Citizens Playgroup

On 21/09/2012 5:59 PM, EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque) wrote:


Will in New Haven wrote:


Somerset Maugham or someone else was once told by a younger
acquaintance that the younger acquaintance had never learned to play
bridge. And he said "Why what do you plan to do when you are older?"

It's a great game and most of us who play it in the U.S. are older.

--
Will in New Haven

I'm not much of a card=player in any case, but I escaped Bridge
entirely. When I was in college, most of my classmat4es played it
regularly during free periods, but I spent all my own spare time in the
Conservatory practice rooms.

I'm horrible at card games, always have been (except for
Patience/Solitaire and variations on it). A lot of people, not
necessarily elderly, do like them.

--
Cheryl

"EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque)" wrote:



Christina Websell wrote:
My youngest uncle and his wife play Bridge and have a Mercedes car to make
them feel important.
Last time they came here we did a bit of birdwatching and the wife was
concerned about parking the car in case it got stolen because it ..it was a
Mercedes.
Needless to say, it didn't get stolen,and why would it?

I think I would have been insulted by the assumption that you lived in a
neighborhood where theft was likely!

Why? Does it reflect poorly on a person if they live in a neighborhood
that has a lot of crime? Most people who live in high-crime areas do so
because they can't afford to live elsewhere. Or because too many people
who are in a position to rent out or sell a dwelling are bigoted, and
won't rent/sell to people who look like ABC or don't look like XYZ. In
either case, should the renter or buyer be ashamed of that?

--
Joyce

What I look forward to, is continued immaturity, followed by death.
-- Dave Barry

Cheryl wrote:

On 21/09/2012 5:59 PM, EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque) wrote:


Will in New Haven wrote:


Somerset Maugham or someone else was once told by a younger
acquaintance that the younger acquaintance had never learned to play
bridge. And he said "Why what do you plan to do when you are older?"

It's a great game and most of us who play it in the U.S. are older.

--
Will in New Haven

I'm not much of a card=player in any case, but I escaped Bridge
entirely. When I was in college, most of my classmat4es played it
regularly during free periods, but I spent all my own spare time in the
Conservatory practice rooms.

I'm horrible at card games, always have been (except for
Patience/Solitaire and variations on it). A lot of people, not
necessarily elderly, do like them.

My whole family loves card games, except me. I don't hate them, but I
get bored easily. Also, they like different games, such as poker or
gin (apologies to anyone who knows this game by another name; unfortunately,
I don't!). I like group games like Whist or Spades. Spades is a simpler
version of Whist, which in turn is a simplified Bridge. I spent many a
Saturday night in my young adulthood downstairs with my 3 neighbors,
playing Spades in an "altered state" and munching on unhealthy food until
the wee hours.

--
Joyce

What I look forward to, is continued immaturity, followed by death.
-- Dave Barry

"MatSav" wrote in message
...

"Christina Websell" wrote in message
...

"MatSav" wrote in message
...
"Christina Websell" wrote in
message ...
So I thought I should get out more so I went along to it. We play
scrabble and dominoes and can do jigsaws if we want to, some are doing
a 1000 piece which will take them weeks as we only have two hours.
They are all nice. I was demolished at dominoes last week by a 90 yo.
I am by far the youngest there We pay £1 a week and get a meal out in
the summer and at Christmas.
I did a jigsaw last time and completed it, next week it will be playing
scrabble with them.

I never thought I would be reduced to this.

"Reduced"? REDUCED???

Although you say "they're all nice", my interpretation of your message
is that you think people who attend this type of club are in some way
not as good as the rest of the population.

Anyway, in another post, you mentioned that you liked working with older
people!

--
MatSav

You have totally misunderstood what I was saying, it's just that I was
hoping early retirement would be more exciting.

OK, my bad - sorry. Now I think I understand what you were trying to
convey. "Reduced", as in doing activities that you had previously
perceived as "things done by other people, but those things don't really
excite me."

When I say they were nice, I meant exactly that and in no way did I think
it would be interpreted in the way that you seem to have done.
I'm disappointed that you would think such a thing.

I was surprised, hence my "shouting" (in CAPS above) - because I didn't
think you would even consider anybody else to be "better" or "worse" than
yourself.

You have that right.

I'm sure that you have the greatest
respect for other people - even those you *know* to be scumbags (like your
"nasty neighbours")

Ah, no. I'm afraid I will disappoint you on this one. I loathe and detest
them.

I certainly have respect for you.

Thank you, I appreciate that.
Tweed

"dgk" wrote in message ...

On Thu, 20 Sep 2012 11:38:07 -0700, "EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque)"
wrote:



Cheryl wrote:




Well, the folks conducting some senior activities DO treat the group's
members like children - especially if they use a cane or walker, or are
otherwise physically handicapped. I remember visiting my 90 year-old
mother in Minnesota, one year, and driving her to an appointment with a
new dentist. Mom was managing very well living on her own in a six-room
house, and I lived in another state, but the dentist's nurse kept asking
ME "does she?" and "can she?" questions as though she weren't able to
answer for herself. (It's not surprising Mom got a bit annoyed at that!)


My mom mentioned that type of thing a few months back. One of my
brothers was with her and she was feeling sick so they went to the
doctor. The doctor kept talking to my brother, and my mother just
about exploded at some point. The assumption seems to be that they
don't have many marbles left. That is, of course, true in many cases
but not with my mother. Physically she is getting older but that brain
doesn't slow down.

The doctor did thank her for pointing out what he was doing and
promised to reform.
*****************

The problem with some of the older generation is a fear of arguing with
doctors. The assumption is "they went to medical school therefore they know
best". I'm not convinced.

Jill

"dgk" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 20 Sep 2012 23:46:31 +0100, "Christina Websell"
wrote:


"dgk" wrote in message
. ..
On Thu, 20 Sep 2012 01:57:38 +0100, "Christina Websell"
wrote:

So I thought I should get out more so I went along to it. We play
scrabble
and dominoes and can do jigsaws if we want to, some are doing a 1000
piece
which will take them weeks as we only have two hours.
They are all nice. I was demolished at dominoes last week by a 90 yo.
I am by far the youngest there We pay £1 a week and get a meal out in
the
summer and at Christmas.
I did a jigsaw last time and completed it, next week it will be playing
scrabble with them.

I never thought I would be reduced to this.

I can't wait to be retired. I like my job but would rather not have
one. I think I can almost afford to retire if I don't spend too much.
And I'd have more time to spend with the kitties! My plan is about 3
1/2 more years of work. I hope it works out.

I spent a week in July with my brothers, mother, and assorted kids and
cousins. We did various games, and yes, a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle.
We'd just walk by, stop for a second, put in a few more pieces, and it
was fun working with the kids and teaching them how to recognize
pieces. I wish we could spend more time together but everyone lives in
different cities so one week a year is pretty much it for a big
gathering.

But I hate having to leave the cats.

I have never regretted leaving my job, even though money is tight until my
pension kicks in July 2013.
How nice it is to ignore the alarm clock. I get up when I wake up and
it's
not 6.30 am like it was.
Boyfie has adjusted to 9 a.m before he starts moaning about starvation.

Really. Nipsy wakes me up at 5am no matter what. I have no idea how to
train him to let me sleep.

You won't like this, but keep him out of your bedroom. This will work. My
bedroom is a cat free zone as I am a bad sleeper.
Boyfie has his own bedroom and his own armchair and if he cannot sleep on
either of those overnight it's just too bad.
He does moan and wail about starvation outside my bedroom door occasionally
but since I totally ignored him at stupid o clock he seems to have stop
being a nuisance about breakfast until a reasonable time.
I took him to the vet in case there was something wrong as he seemed to have
more than a huge appetite. He had all tests known to mankind for excess
appetite. Nothing was wrong, conclusion from the vet: Greedy Boy.
I think that's spot on.
He could eat for England in Cat Olympics and he might win ;-)

"EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque)" wrote in message
m...


Christina Websell wrote:
My youngest uncle and his wife play Bridge and have a Mercedes car to
make them feel important.
Last time they came here we did a bit of birdwatching and the wife was
concerned about parking the car in case it got stolen because it ..it was
a Mercedes.
Needless to say, it didn't get stolen,and why would it?

I think I would have been insulted by the assumption that you lived in a
neighborhood where theft was likely!

I was. Their car was untouched, perfectly safe. I began to wonder
about..well..that that they'd got snobbish and self important. With their
bridge playing and Mercedes to present an image.
I am very happy with Mr F who is a small Citreon and gets me from A to B. I
see no need to pretend to anyone that I am rich.

"Debbie Wilson" wrote in message
...
Christina Websell wrote:

I looked at the Cats Protection group in my area, and there are no cats
available for rehoming so my idea of checking homes out is redundant.
I'm a bit concerned that they ask for a fifty pound donation if you adopt
a
cat as you can easily get a kitten from the newspaper adverts for 20-30.
They are pricing themselves out of the market.

Normally the donation includes the costs of vaccination, de-fleaing,
worming and microchipping, which have already been done and none of
which you are guaranteed to get if you get a kitten from an advert. Plus
it is only a suggested donation - not a fee. If you aren't able to pay
£50, you pay what you can afford.

Why not go along to one of their events (bazaar or jumble sale, etc) and
talk to one or two of the ladies to see if they need help in other
areas? Offers of help on stalls at jumble sales and open days are
usually very welcome, and it can be great fun too. Do they have a shop,
or a helpline that needs extra volunteers?


Seems there are no events to go to like that.
I guess it's good news that there are no cats available in my area for
rehoming.
I would quite liked to have been a home checker. Would have suited my
expertise..

Christina Websell wrote:

Seems there are no events to go to like that.
I guess it's good news that there are no cats available in my area for
rehoming.
I would quite liked to have been a home checker. Would have suited my
expertise..

Interesting. I looked up your local CP group on the 'Find Us' section of
cats.org.uk website and it seems they are mostly neutering-focussed:
"As we work in an area that is very well served by a number of animal
charities, our main focus is on neutering and we are very proud that our
neutering figures have steadily increased year on year. In 2011 we
neutered a total of 1,543 cats."
Which is quite an achievement, but they aren't a typical branch, it
seems.

I looked around a bit more and found:
http://www.leicesteranimalrescue.co.uk/index
and they also care for dogs, which you have years of experience with, so
would be invaluable in helping to find the right home for them. They do
home vists, according to their site, and they have a proper shelter.
They also have a charity shop and are desperate for helpers.
Worth a call?

Deb.

--
http://www.scientific-art.com

"He looked a fierce and quarrelsome cat, but claw he never would;
He only bit the ones he loved, because they tasted good." S. Greenfield

"Christina Websell" wrote in message
...


"Bastette" wrote in message
...
Christina Websell wrote:

So I thought I should get out more so I went along to it. We play
scrabble
and dominoes and can do jigsaws if we want to, some are doing a 1000
piece
which will take them weeks as we only have two hours.
They are all nice. I was demolished at dominoes last week by a 90 yo.
I am by far the youngest there We pay ?1 a week and get a meal out in
the
summer and at Christmas.
I did a jigsaw last time and completed it, next week it will be playing
scrabble with them.

I never thought I would be reduced to this.

Maybe you also need something a little more meaningful to do? I'm not
judging the activity itself, but if it feels like you're being "reduced"
to something, maybe you don't feel that whiling away your time playing
games is enough for you.

Maybe you could look into some volunteer work? Didn't you mention the
volunteers who check out the homes of people who've adopted cats from
shelters? That would still put you in contact with other people. I
don't have a personal agenda about how you spend your time, I'm just
responding to what sounded like a bit of disappointment or
dissatisfaction with the activities in the dominos-and-jigsaw group.
You wouldn't have to quit going there, just do something else as well.

Do you like reading books? Maybe there's a book group in your area?

Just some thoughts.

I looked at the Cats Protection group in my area, and there are no cats
available for rehoming so my idea of checking homes out is redundant.
I'm a bit concerned that they ask for a fifty pound donation if you adopt a
cat as you can easily get a kitten from the newspaper adverts for 20-30.
They are pricing themselves out of the market.

Tweed

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The fee here is usually $60.00 to $75.00 to adopt from a shelter. However,
all animals are given a veterinary wellness check, are brought up-to-date on
vaccinations, and they have been evaluated for suitability in types of homes
(for example, homes with small children and/or other cats and dogs). The
fee also guarantees that the cat will be spayed or neutered. Many shelters
include a deposit that will be returned after they receive proof of
neutering; some will not release the animal until *after* neutering. When I
adopted Duffy, the fee was only $25.00 even though he had been at the
shelter for several months. I asked why the fee was so low and was told
that it was because he had been previously adopted, so the fee for neutering
had already been paid. I have often told people that was the best $25.00
investment I have ever made! That fee would not even begin to cover the
cost of the care he received while he was at the shelter. Of course, a
small kitten that had only been there for a few days would not be as
expensive for the shelter to care for as Duffy was, but overall most of the
cost of maintaining the shelter comes out of local taxes and voluntary
donations.

MaryL