From Betty Lewis.

Recently I attended a Victorian Environment Friends Network 13th
Biennial Conference at Grantville in Victoria.

It was the first time I had attended a Friend’s conference and
thoroughly enjoyed the three days. We met some very interesting people,
and listened to some really interesting informative talks, and managed
to do a bit of exploring in the area.

Grantville is on the road to Phillip Island so it is an historical area,
with Churchill Island and French Island both in close proximity.

I was surprised to learn just how many Friends groups there are around
Victoria approx 1000, up from only 1 in 1985.

Friends groups come under Department of Sustainability and Environment.

The work they do in clearing, weeding, and reclaiming neglected parks,
roadside verges, bay side reserves, various small creeks. large creeks,
small lakes, large lakes, and wet lands, is enormous and really valuable
for this State of Victoria.

I was impressed with the involvement and activities of all these Friends
groups, but unfortunately right now, I don’t have the spare time to get
involved, but maybe at a later date.

Most councils are reliant on the Friends networks to keep them informed
as to just what is happening around the state, the suburbs, bayside, and
bushland areas, with the clearing and re vegetation programs, but also
keeping track of the numbers of various birds, and animals, that abound
in the different areas.

That is not to say that all councils or Parks Victoria cooperate re
various requests that Friends put in for works or money for different
projects, but they always listen and are sympathetic to the proposed
projects.

Most of the people at the conference were seniors, and come from all
walks of life ,and they all share the love of the outdoors , and are
passionate about the flora and fauna and of course the making of new
friends.

Every suburb and country town seems to have a Friends group, and all
meet at different times and days, so if the thought of being involved
with all the different activities that Friends groups enjoy , and have
the time, even if its only counting the special birds or animals that
you notice in your area , do contact the Friends Network for details of
the Secretary and phone number for all information

.Just type in “ Victorian Environment Friends Network” then click on
Friends information, up will come a long list of all Friends Groups in
the different area’s with contact details listed.
 

What with our Superannuation and other investments taking a nosedive, some of us seniors are possibly stuck on a shelf wondering what  can be done do about this situation.

Like a fellow I spoke to.He said " I wouldn't mind going back to work but I'm too old, too slow, too forgetful,I'm not strong enough and beside Companies don't like hiring old blokes these days.'

Fortunately I was able to tell him this is not true,not only do you have a right to work if you want to, there are also companies out there who are keen to hire you.

Example, I interviewed Martin O'Shanassey CEO of Newspoll, Australia's major opinion pollsters who told me that his company wants to hire seniors.

He said 'We have found seniors to be confident,mature and reliable workers, which is why we have sixty plus interviewers out of a total of two hundred working for us. We did think thay they may have trouble adjusting to the computers but they have worked out okay.'

He added 'We are still hiring.'

So there you are.If you want a challenge or want to do something different like interviewing people then here is one possibility.

And who knows, you may enjoy it!

regards

Andy Youngman

Our doctors and nurses are  keen to help us healthy, they are admirable people but with the best intentions aren't we sometimes given more drugs than we actually need?

Reason I say this is because recently a lovely lady  told me a harrowing story . She had been in a bad accident and lost her leg .Fortunately, prompt treatment by doctors saved her life.

After the operation this patient recovered quickly and as she is

a lively soul she was soon cracking jokes,entertaining patients with her stories,she was doing fine.

However one day a doctor noted she looked sad,asked if she wanted help. My friend said "No I'm just a little sad,thinking about my leg, but I really am okay." The doctor promptly prescribed an anti depressant. She objected strongly but the doctor was insistent, so she obeyed.In her words ' In hospital you take your pills.'My friend was annoyed, she told me that  the antidepressant was extremely potent and it took her two years to wean herself off it.

 Which makes me think. Two years is a long time to have to get off a drug one did not want in the first place.Patient's do have a right of choice especially with drugs with serious side effects and medical staff should respect this right.

Something to think about.

Andy Youngman

I may have trouble remembering what I had for breakfast, but I vividly recall some of the things I did when I was very young. One very strong memory is of a time I walked over the crest of a hill and saw my future home in the valley below. My sister had taken me for a walk to have a look at it before we moved house.Both my older sister and I remember this incident very well indeed, and I was just five years old.

However the other day when I mentioned another childhood memory   to a nurse  she pooh poohred the idea,told me it was impossible for any senior to remember childhood details. I ignored her comment because I know what she said was not true.

 But it got me thinking,I wonder how many seniors have had a similar experience?
I wonder how many other seniors have felt intimidated because they have had someone sneer at them when the recounted childhood memories? I don't think this is right, in my views it is a form of discrimination to imply that older citizens can only have memory lapses not memory recalls.

 Actually remembering past incidents is a fun thing to do. Isn't it fun to discuss childhood , schoolday memories with brothers,sisters and long term friends?

In my view the more time you spend talking about childhood times the more you will remember, can be quite surprising. Also in my view it is an excellent idea to write down your memories if only so you can have your experiences madew available to your children and your children's children.

regards

Andy

Personally, I think elders are entitled to more dignity and respect. We all deserve a medal. Why? Well, all of us seniors have survived longer than these kids aged forty or younger.

 We all got through tough times and survived. In the 30's, Depression didn't mean ' I feel miserable,please look after me.'

It meant the Economy is bad, you probably had no job or had fears of losing one. You had trouble getting enough food to go on the table.Some of us had to exist on bread,dripping,stewed tea leaves. The good thing is, we didn't have to worry about Losing weight or hiring dieticians.Anyone who survived this time deserves a medal.

 We had to survive long working hours and short shopping times.

We had to learn how to protect ourselves.Some of us  got beaten by bullies and  it hurt, but we learned to run or hide or fight back.

 When we were punished mostly we realized we had deserved it.

We won and we lost and  sometimes we learned from our mistakes and tried to do better next time. We didn't have to blame someone else.

 And we knew that we had to work hard and look after our kids and we did not usually expect  repayment apart from the joy of raising them and seeing them do well.

 Aren't these the attributes of heroes? Too right.

 So we deserve recognition. We deserve to be able to forget that we forget,sometimes.

 We deserve to be able to ignore the fact we can't race across pedestrian crossings.

  We deserve a medal for all we have done.Making it to our Age is an achievement,an amazing achievement.

We all deserve a medal! Don't you agree?

He has silver hair,wrinkles and he is a candidate for a top managerial job.

But the word is that he was a POW, had cancer,forgets things getting weaker, slower. But the other candidate for this job is younger,intelligent and funny.

The word is,The old bloke is over the hill,he is too old for the job.

Probably heard this refrain before. It is occurring again,this time because the Republican candidate Mr McCain for the job of  President of the USA is 72 years old.

Well this line of attack is just Discrimination akin to Racism Bigotry.Sexism.

 Not acceptable. McCain has already shown he is tough enough to handle this challenging job. He has the right to be judged on his vision,his message,his leadership. His age is irrelevant.

Andy Youngman

I heard the horn blast and wondered what was going on. I looked down the road,saw an elderly lady struggling to negotiate a pedestrian crossing. The lights had just gone red and someone was blasting his horn. The lady puffed and panted as she tried to speed up.

. Made me think how  hard it is to get across these pedestrian crossings,you have to walk quickly to make it in the short time allowed.

 Also really undignified. Why is it that the Roads and Traffic Authority can't allow seniors and the disabled the time to get across these crossings at a comfortable pace?

Actually this violates the UN Declaration on Human Rights Article 1. " All human beings are born freeand equal in dignity and rights. "

Strange that the government we elect to protect our rights, breaks them don't  you think?

Andy Youngman 

Hello,my name is Andy Youngman and I am your new guest blogger. I would like to say hello and tell you a little about myself.

Mostly what I like to do is help people.

 Example,after leaving school one of my first jobs was as a fruit picker in Tasmania. I  was hitchhiking and got a lift from a raspberry farmer in desperate need of pickers. I was happy to help him out. Wasn't too bad,most of the raspberrries went into the bin, but a lot fed the birds.

Afterwards, landed in Melbourne, got a fill in job and for exercise took up boxing in a local gym.One of the volunteer supervisors told me he wanted to manage professional boxers and he asked me to join his group. I did this to help out and I agreed to a fight in the Melbourne stadium . Fortunately  the ref stopped the fight in the second round because my opponent was exhausted from hitting me. That ended my boxing career.

 Then I  got into something I was good at, Human Rights campaigning. Did some good things.e.g. I helped some Muslims get an okay to build their mosque.Helped get some involuntary patients out of a hospital because they did not need to be there.Got some repressive laws changed. That sort of thing.

 So that's  what I used to do. However as I am now a senior  I retired recently and am now interested in doing something for other seniors subjected to abuses of their human rights. If you know of any such instance please contact me. 

Andy