Well the Mayans say the world will end this year, and if you believe this, do let me know, as I have a bargain buy or two for you. Most notably the London Bridge.

Otherwise it seems we might brace ourselves for another volatile year of world drama.

Without the use of a crystal ball, we can however, forecast  upheavals continuing in the  Middle East and Africa for those long suffering people, European financial crisis flare ups,  a troubled stock exchange and pension impacts, extreme weather events, extremist fundamentalist violence, continued personnel losses in the war in Afghanistan and more Julia vs Tony nonsense .

A  repeat of 2011 I would suggest.

That said, where else would you want to be, than here in Terra Australis, way down south of the world, surrounded by oceans and with no common borders with anyone?  A place where the care of a football players crucial ligament, [described in the third person], gets more on-going coverage than an earthquake or  tsunami elsewhere else in the world!

Happy New Year to all Greypathers

Twitter, GoogleX, Facebook, Skype, Linked in, Ipad, Ipod, Iphone, Tablet, Bluetooth, Android, X Box, G Mail, apps, convergence and more, seem to litter the wordscape of the developed world now.

Does anyone have an over-arching and simple explanation of what it’s all about and where it’s all headed, for we poor seniors?

If you do, then please mail us with a comprehensible explanation and we will put  it up on line for all to consult...

  It could be a sort of modern day oracular pronouncement perhaps!

STOP PRESS. As at 19th January we now have such an explanation kindly supplied by Graham N. It can be found under the SOCIAL tab on this page

I recently had a sad request from a lonely older lady who sought to share with another, and it reminded me to consider, "How can anyone in Australia, who is entirely pension dependent, live on a single pension of $14 000 per year? $270 a week?"

Not really much point in asking that question here though as none of those people will be able to afford the internet anyway.

First and foremost we humans need food and shelter, followed by companionship, stimulation, activity and not the least, hope.

I would like people to respond here with ideas as to how our less fortunate comrades might survive and make some sort of life on such a pittance.

If anyone does have any ideas, I would be pleased to consolidate them and pass them on through our various associations.

What do Berlin, Madrid, Rome, London New York, Melbourne, Sydney and more cities have in common this week? Well for one thing, they have people on the march against what they see as their governments and corporate organisations greed, and the lack of a fair distribution of their societies wealth.

Is this, as yet, a token revolt, or is it a much deeper movement, yet to mature? Only time will tell.

Are these events also part of the current revolt of so many Muslim peoples against their oppression and lack of democracy?

Is the ‘worm turning’, as they say?

As an ancient Chinese admonition to their enemies says, “May you live in interesting times”.

We certainly do that!

I have just read a long letter from an irate voter. He wrote to both leaders, imploring them to lift their game and to focus not on raw politics, where such antics demean us all, but what is best for the country.

He was a migrant himself, and was very strongly against accommodating the lifestyle and beliefs of any person or minority group who do not wish to move towards the Australian core belief systems of egalitarianism, a fair go, mateship and a helping hand.

Tolerance can only go so far, he felt.

It was a long and comprehensive letter and while some of it was uncomfortable for me and my own beliefs, he made many compelling points.

As I have said before, we seniors need to both speak up and vote with our heads, not our hearts.

The way we vote, the nation goes.

Not wishing to look too old fashioned, I just changed over to a new mobile with touch screen, many applications etc. It’s called an android system.

To begin with the manual had only a few pages and in diabolically small print. The manual's coverage was about everything but the basics!

It took three lots of skilled advice for someone to work out how to delete old calls and texts.

I couldn’t hear any calls as it’s default set up was to have the ring tone off.

The touch screen loves to set a letter off before you actually touch it, and usually the wrong one.

I couldn’t answer calls as it didn’t tell me that that was one thing you don’t tap/touch, instead you drag a finger across the screen to answer calls. (Couldn't find that in the manual either).

They were asking $39 extra for a simple rubber cover for it! (I'm inclined to drop things these days :-)

I could fill this front page with angst! *%$#@?!

Has anyone been in the same boat?

After many gratuitous comments from me, like twitter is for twits, (no prize for originality here), I was prevailed upon to give it a try and then make informed comment. (Fair call).

My convincer was a very skilled seminar convener who got most of his good ideas from twits from his carefuly selected peer group of conveners around the world.

Twits are very short messages limited to 140 characters.

So, I am now giving it a go with the username coastcare75. I already have two  followers of my tweets, one an ex PM (!) and the other a village idiot (!). Not a raging success so far, but I'm still curious.

So, if you are into it, or would like to give it a go, (its free), just go to https://twitter.com/#!/  sign up, and if you then follow my twits on coastal & marine volunteering, ageing stuff and philosophy of a sort, we can see just how it works, and its value or otherwise perhaps,  to we seniors.

Be kind through, as I am struggling here to get with it.... [Two months later and it seems to have been worth the effort]

Today technology is overwhelming us. Change is accelerating .

As seniors, we can to some extent duck down out of sight, but a complete head in the sand approach, is becoming increasingly impossible.

 A cashless society  seems to be on the way, all embracing  cards are looming, cheques are being flagged as soon to go, the Government is soon  to  stop printing 5c coins, and more people bank and pay their bills on line, than don’t, these days.

 On the more positive side for we greys perhaps, technology, in particular the recent exciting medical developments, are delivering us much healthier lives.

 Technology also brings us things like free Skype video calls, and provides us with the virtual reality of electronic communities like our greypath forums…

 So, I think we should hang in there, take on what we can, stay one step behind the pack, and enjoy the ride as best we can.

I am very pleased to be able to bring to you all, this compassionate series of 5 videos on matters of ageing and elder abuse.

There are lessons here for all of we ageing, and even if  you are not directly effected, you may well know someone who might benefit from watching these scenarios.

They have been prepared by the Uniting Church in NSW, and the production is a great credit to them.  

Click here for the video link

Mail me and I will pass on any requests