We pass time. Kill time. Waste time. Fill time. Lose time. Time flies. Time stands still. How do we perceive time? Time perception refers to our subjective experience of the passage of time, or our perceived duration of events. Unlike our senses – sight, hearing, taste, smell, touch – time cannot be perceived directly. Our brain […]
FUN FACTS FRIDAYS: VARIA
The dozen facts in this second post of the FFF series come compliments of readers Glen and Ian, as well as an entertaining website and elsewhere. The age difference between President Trump and his wife, Melania, is 24 years, the same as that of President Macron of France and his wife, Brigitte Trogneux, his senior by two […]
FUN FACTS FRIDAYS: IDIOMS
Occasionally on Fridays I will post facts for our interest or amusement. To begin the series, I examine the little known origins of a dozen idioms still used in everyday conversation to explain different situations in a few words. Make the grade: reach the required standard, measure up. The word grade is short for “gradient”, and […]
NEVER TOO LATE TO BE INTERESTING
A few decades ago at a national conference of the Canadian Council for the Advancement of Education, I served as a mentor to an eager young woman, new to her job in Development at Concordia University. “Be an interesting person,” I told her. “In our profession, we will meet people of all ages, from different […]
THE NEWCOMER
Adding another voice to Sunset Years: guest writer Linda Richardson outlines one strategy in her retirement transition. When my husband and I retired and moved to Victoria BC in May, 2014, I knew I would miss family members, great neighbours and dear friends. What I really didn’t think about was how I would replace those […]
THE RELOCATION PROJECT III
“The danger is that in this move toward new horizons and far directions, I may lose what I have now, and not find anything except loneliness.” Sylvia Plath We left Lennoxville when people were sorry to say goodbye to us — and we to them — but our timing of moving to Vancouver in 2012 turned […]
THE RELOCATION PROJECT II
Relocating from a town in the Eastern Townships of Quebec to Canada’s third largest city constitutes an expensive undertaking. Even though Glen and I intended to move into a small condo, the difference between the equity from the sale of our house in Lennoxville and the amount required to buy a place in Vancouver would be huge. Fortune intervened in […]
THE RELOCATION PROJECT I
To move, or not to move — that is the question, when contemplating retirement. Sixty-four percent of Americans say they’ll probably move at least once in retirement, citing reasons such as proximity to family (29%), reduction in home expenses (26%) and change in health (17%) or marital (12%) status. In a study of Canadians, 57% […]
A HOUSE ALONE IS NOT A HOME
Home is a name, a word, it is a strong one; stronger than magician ever spoke, or spirit ever answered to, in the strongest conjuration.” Charles Dickens I’ve struggled with the notion of ‘home’ ever since leaving mine in Edmonton AB at age 18. For a decade I sampled cities and towns, even the backwoods […]
SENIORS’ DISCOUNTS OR BUSINESS AS USUAL?
“Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.” So said Mark Twain in the 19th century and yet, in the 21st century, age matters. We mark milestones, such as mine reached today: age 65. Officially a senior. Retirement used to be mandatory when we became seniors. Since 2006 (later in some provinces), […]