Worried about mentally slipping after you hit sixty? This report on aging airline pilots says that, "older pilots actually show less decline in their aviation skills over time than their younger peers."

"These findings show the advantageous effect of prior experience and specialised expertise on older adults' skilled cognitive performances," Taylor states in a press release accompanying the study. "Our discovery has broader implications beyond aviation to the... more

Continued from here, where I was giggling over bits of news.

This gives a chuckle, too: the idea and success of this program designed to get deadbeat parents to pay up on their child support. Good Parent Pay is a website that posts photos and details about Canadian parents ... all men from what... more

With February drawing to an end, it's time to cruise around my desk for all those bits and pieces of information I've been collecting for you and do some sharing. Starting off with some news that will make a lot of people happy, yet another study is showing that chocolate is good for you, and gets even better for you as you age.

A nice cup of the right kind of cocoa could hold the promise of promoting brain function as people age.

In... more

The GAARP (Gracefully Aging, Adoptive, Refined Parents) Yahoo Group is one of my favs. It's List Mistress, Cathryn, is a class act ... and a fine writer ... and setting this group up way back in 2000 was one of her many good ideas. She's just posted that GAARP is two members shy of reaching 1700 members, so I thought I'd take this opportunity to encourage all geezers to join in on the conversation that never flags.

Posters over there run the gamut ... and that's no... more

My ability to recall and recollect is renowned in certain circles. I have one of those brains that hangs on to trivia like a chihuahua on a cuff, so friends and family have used me for years as a repository of memorable moments, names, dates, relationships, locations, phone numbers, movie titles ... you name it. My first phone number was YEllowstone 5-0147 ... and it hasn't been necessary for me to keep that in my head since 1960. I can remember the names of all my teachers and a good many elementary school classmates, now all pushing sixty and lost... more

Continued from here, where I was beginning to panic a little when I remembered that I no longer have a basement ...

Have you heard of Mom Inventors, Inc.? Well, "Good Morning America" has, and they've launched their third annual Mother's of Invention Challenge along with them.

I'll admit to being a little disappointed that Frank Zappa isn't part of this, but if you have... more

One of the things we older adoptive parents hear too often is something that sounds a lot like, "Do you know how old you'll be when that kid is a teenager?"

Heh? What'd you say there, sonny? You little whipper-snapper, you!

It's funny, because I don't think I look senile ... yet ... nor do I put a horn to my ear and call people whipper-snappers, but people seem to assume that the math skills are the first thing to go.

I catch the drift, though; that whole, "How the heck can a geezer handle a teen?" business.

Well, my plan is to do it the same way I did when my now-grown kids were sprouting and I was a mere slip of a thirty-something: I'll chain them... more

It sounds to me like the American media has decided to clamp onto the "Mommy Wars" thing like a chihuahua on a cuff ... you know, SAHMs vs working mothers, duking it out over who's the better parent and just what sort of birthday party meets the present criteria in suburbia. This article is one of those blathers about blather being blather because it's blathered about ... if you get my meaning.

Basically, the topic appears... more

Many of those digging through history may now be able to trace their roots back farther than they ever expected, and some will run right into ancestors who were orphans. A new website, "Ancestors On Board", went online last week and is providing information on passengers who left Britain bound for Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, South Africa and the USA, and I've found a fascinating article... more

I've come across a few interesting links lately, and since I'm so far behind on my work today, you're getting them for a blog post. I hope you find them helpful, if not interesting. First ...

No surprise in this story out of a "A Mother-Daughter Role Modeling Summit" ... a mother's habits are a powerful role model.

Well, I should hope so.

The role that's modeled here, however, is the one that eats:

--... more