I am, as we all are, sensitive to, and saddened by, the incredible numbers of people who have lost their jobs due to the current economic climate. It is heartening to see how corporate America, as well as our government, are stepping up to the plate to alleviate, when they can, the burdens of unemployment, with thoughtfulness and sensitivity.

Pzifer, the giant pharmaceutical company, decided that they, too, were going to participate. They created a program to continue filling prescriptions, at no charge to the individual or family, for at least a year, upon proof of a loss of employment coupled with other factors.

The  effect is twofold.  Pzifer  gets to keep its 'brand', top of mind for their consumer, and the consumers' hopefully, will remain loyal to the brand when they can afford to begin making their own purchases.

Why then, my memo to the Publicist?

Let's think about this. The publicists' day is spent writing press releases, helping duck any negative bullets, putting a bit of polish/spin on any messy situation,
promoting the company, the brand, as the situation dictates. Arguably, it is a relatively high pressure position. After all, this
person is charged with tip toeing through the land mines of controversy
and public opinion.

So then, what was this person thinking about when they created this headline and put it out to the media? Of all the myriad drugs in Pzifers portfolio….Free Lipator, Viagra other drugs for jobless seemed to me, to be a tad off on the sensitivity meter, adding insult to injury…and forgive me for not stating the obvious.

A day for reflection, I think, not to be aMusing.

Here's the download.

Lush green verdant countrysides, deep sparkling waters, balmy weather. Usually the inhabitants are  found in clusters, laughing and chatting. It seems that spending time alone is frowned upon. It appears that those in the community who eat a handful of nuts, four to five times a week (about 2 ounces at a time) live three to four years longer. If you like nuts, I guess this is a plus. Everyone, really just about everyone, is apparently very very happy.

It has such an idyllic sounding name, too. The Blue Zones. There are at
least four communities to choose from. Sardinia (where, I want you to
know, they have the highest number of, I believe, available elderly gentlemen. Sadly, most are
sheepherders), Costa Rica's Nicoya Peninsula, Okinawa, Japan and lastly
Lima Loma, California.

And get this, you live much longer there. I mean, we are talking well into your 90's. And for those of you who are thinking, yeah sure, this stuff is documented.

There's a hitch though.

I'm pretty certain that you had to be born there to fall into the longevity group. Oh, your parents and your grandparents probably needed to be locals, too. In order to join the Linda Loma groups you need to be a Seventh Day Adventist. There is marginal indoor plumbing, and manual labor is expected.

Scientists have been spending time researching these communities to try to understand what accounts for the populations' longevity and happiness.  Dan Buettner, an author and adventurist Can Blue Zones Turn Back the Biological Clock, and incredibly handsome, by the way, continues his explorations to unearth additional Blue Zone communities.

Wondering if he needs an assistant, I might write him. I can take notes, eat nuts, check out the locals, count smiles, take pictures. Wanna join?

"What's your sign?"

I cringe when that question is asked. But, I dutifully answer. "Capricorn" I say. Then I wait, prepared for the ensuing download of what that might mean. And it comes. "Oh", they say,"that explains why you are"….smart, funny, angry, moody, anxious, neurotic, whatever.  "Yup," say I, "that describes me." I smile dutifully at the information about why I am, who I am, what I am, all based upon moons and stars and other planets that were in a certain alignment the very second of the day and year  I was born.

Cohousing?

Remember the hippie communes that proliferated in the 60's?

My vague vague recollection, it was the 60's after all, was that a group of people cohabited in one large house, sharing cooking, cleaning, and in same cases, it has been said, each other.

Cohousing, it appears, has some of the same ideology of the  hippie communal life with a few variations that have made it attractive to many, including Boomers. The distinction is that each family or individual has their own fully functional home. Within the community there are separate facilities for communal cooking and dining as well as other communal activities.  This NY Times article "raising the roof" gives a tad more information.

I like it.

While there is a tiny bit of me that thinks this feels suspiciously like a precursor to assisted living,  if we subscribe to the "its not the destination but the journey" adage, it seems that it is a really cool concept.

Thoughts?

Well, those are two words that I have not used to describe how I go about making my decisions for sometime now. Down, up, up, down, I mean really.

Gotta love the advice of friends.

"When you're feeling the effects of gravity," said Gloria, "stand on your head."

This article was a hoot. Ideas & Trends: Throne Occupied; Try a Comfy Recliner. Prince Charles, the author tells us, has recently turned 60. So, amongst and between other monikers, his latest handle is Boomer.

King, apparently and alas, still eludes him.

The basic gist of the article, as I interpreted it, was while Charles has been the brunt of jokes for the better part of his life, wiling away his time gardening, puttering and christening ships, the best is yet to come. After all, at some point, unless his mother out lives him, he will be King. Just think, a new career
when he is in his 70's, or 80's. As the author of the article, Ms. Pennebaker so aptly puts it, "do you have bigger plans for your own 80th birthday than a coronation?"

So this got me thinking.

As I consider what the ensuing years are going to look like for me, I'm pretty certain that a coronation doesn't seem to be in the cards. Unless, of course, that Prince does come.

So I did a little exploration of who were the delayed (nice term, don't you think) achievers.

In the fast food world we have Colonel Sanders (KFC) and Ray Kroc (McDonalds).  Artists and scientists, Grandma Moses, Darwin (who wrote his first book in his fifties) to name a few.

I am pretty realistic about my latent talents.

Maybe I could be Clara Pella. She was in her 70's, I believe, when she achieved immortality by uttering the line "Where's the Beef?" 

Okay, maybe not.

But I'm working on it. Pretty clear a comfy recliner is not part of my plan.