Hi Melody,

Good work checking that out. Always seems to be something new that people are working on.

I know there are hand controls that people use for their vehicles. As far as I know, they work great.

Thanks,
Kitt

I love to learn stuff. I am 58 years young, use an IPOD, I have a windows xp media center and I make videos and send them to friends and family.

But most of my friends in my age bracket, not only don't know how to use a computer, they still can't program a vcr.

Someone just told me to get a blackberry and do text messaging.

I said to them this morning "who on earth would I text message, people I know can't even use the remote".

mel

Hi Mel,

That's a good one. I know what you are saying as far as most people that age don't even know how to use the remote I do have an elderly friend, 88, and would you believe she is emailing me and others quite regularly. She is great!!

I think I have you beat in the age department. I believe I read that you are 59 I am 64 Surely, I do not consider myself old - but I guess I'm getting there and sometimes I feel like it too

Have a great day!

Kitt

Never gonna happen. I mean, I turn 59 on November 4th. For the first time in my life, I can wear the color yellow, wear pretty skirts, wear tank tops and no one looks at me twice about it.

Do you know how it feels to go on a bus, stand up and see a space between two people and know you can't fit in that space?

I did this all my life.

Now, because this has affected me all my life, I still won't try and fit between two people (even though I can) but the other day, I got the thrill of my life.

I was the first of many people to get on a bus. I sat down and another person sat on the other end of the seat, so there was a blank seat between us.

As the other people began to get on the bus, (there were plenty of empty seats with no one sitting on either side, a lady got on, and sat right down between me and the other person.

I just sat there and said to myself. "gee, she could have taken any of the empty seats but she saw that she had room and she sat between me and the other person.

You tell yourselves these things because in the past, when I got on a bus, and there was an empty seat between two regular size people, I would look at the empy seat and some one would say "don't even think about it, you won't fit". This actually happened to me. So to this day, I will never sit between two people. It's all in the head.

I'm just happy to put on pretty skirts and bangles and earrings and whatever and go out and enjoy life!!!

Oh, and this is for all my lady friends on these boards. Have I got an idea for you!!

I have lots of earrings. I mean lots. Chains also. I went on ebay and saw about buying an earring stand. Well, they range from nine bucks up to sixty. I said "wait a minute, I'll make my own". I went to a fabric store and bought a half a yard of lace. ( a wide piece by the way. Cost me fifty cents.

I then went home, took the end of the piece of lace and wrapped it around a plastic hanger from my closet. I glue gunned the lace over the hanger.
so when you hang up the thing you have a nice piece of lace hanging off of a hanger. The lace has thousands of eyelets (or holes) right?

Well, I sorted out all my jewelry , and hooked the earrings on the lace. I put 30 pairs of earrings on this thing. I then took my chains and fastened them on one end of the hanger and my bracelets on the other end. I could not believe how efficient this thing is. All my jewelry is in one place, No more messy jewelry boxes. I was so impressed with this thing that I brought it around the corner to show my friend and twenty people stopped me in the street saying, "oh are you selling this'. I laughed and said "no, I just made this for fifty cents and it holds all my jewelry.

If anybody wants me to send them a picture of what this looks like, just message me and I'll show you.

you can make this in 5 seconds and hang it on a hook on your wall or in your closet. I hung mine on the wall next to my full length mirror. Imagine getting up and getting dressed and not saying anymore "Oh where are my stupid earrings and chain?"

you've gotta see this. It's adorable.

sorry to go off topic but what the hell, this board is different anyway.

Melody

Hi Melody,

Well, I don't consider myself "old" but it does make one think. I perhaps have only around 20 years left or so. That sounds funny but true. But, maybe not, since I come from a long lived family

I can only imagine where you are coming from with that seat situation on a bus. It is something how things just stick in your mind and a person never seems to get rid of the feeling no matter what it is. I can think of things in my school years that still stick with me.

Your jewelry holder sounds really neat What an idea and there you have everything all together and no more boxes as you say. I know mine is a mess Many boxes of it and never really know where stuff is. Oh well.

Have a great rest of the day

Kitt

I'm telling you, it's so easy, you can do it in one minute.

Get a half a yard of any kind of lace. Wrap one end around a hanger and glue gun it.

Hang the hanger on a hook.

Get all your earrings and stuff. Just stick the earrings in the eyelets and take your chains and necklaces and open the at the clasp, put them on the hanger (at one end) and reclose them. They can't fall off either. Do the same at the other end with your bracelets (the one's that open and close).

And hangers have a two little hooks on the tops (at least mine does).
I just put all my rings on these.

So I will say that 95% of my jewelry is right in front of me on my wall. And if you secure the earrings correctly, (with the posts on the backs), when you have to travel, you just lay it in your luggage, and when you get to where you want to go, you just open your suitcase, take it out, hang it up. Now many of my earrings are the kind that just slide in my pierced ears and hang over in the back. They don't have any backs. These are the easiest thing to put on this earring hanger thingee. You just pop the earrings into the eyelets. I mean, what on earth is simpler than this thing???

I'll bet Joy Mangano (ever hear of her?), will invent a similar thing and charge $49.99 on Home Shopping.

mel

Hi,

No can't say as I've heard of her but I would bet too anyway that she would charge plenty for it. Thank you for telling me how to make it. It sounds super Some of my earrings have the backs on them and others are like you described.

By the way, I didn't mean to imply that I am old I meant that at times I feel old when I'm not feeling so swell - hehehe It does happen.

Take care,

Kitt

Kitt.

My friend around the corner turned 74 today. She's a widow. We all sit on her porch in the evening and talk and shoot the breeze. She lost her husband 8 years ago and has never been the same.

I recently took a photo of her and me together on the porch. I put that photo in a beautiful picture frame and put it in a gift bag and brought it over and they made cake and coffee in the backyard. She absolutely adored it. Seems all her lady friends have passed on!!!

Want to know what she said when I gave her the gift? She said "and I thought I would never have another friend!!!

After the party, I said to her "guess where we are going now? and she said "i'm going in and I'm going to bed" I said "oh no".

(there is a feast (a big giant bazaar with music, food, rides, etc.) that starts at the end of her block and runs for 12 blocks or so.

She hasn't been to a feast in over 10 years. She just sits in her house or on the porch. I told her "we are going to the feast". She said "we are????" I said "yup, you are getting out of your comfort zone on your birthday". I gently walked with her through the crowds over to the earring racks and there she stood amazed looking at the thousands of earrings for sale. We walked a bit to a stand that sold clothing for dogs (she has a dog she adores). We only stayed 15 minutes or so but for those 15 minutes, she got off her porch and took a walk. I walked her home and came home myself.

No one has to get old anymore as long as people have friends, family (if you're lucky to have them) and people who care.

Thats the creed I try to live by.

take care,Melody

we ALL should be about!
It's waay too easy to get/be isolated. We must, and must help others push, punch and blast outside that 'Circle of Comfort'. Life is far better.
When we give, we get-and far more in return. I surely never keep track of the interest!

Good thoughts ALWAYS! - j

Dahlek:

But what do you do when you are the only person who thinks this way.

I have a son who I haven't seen in over 4 years. He became a compulsive gambler, lives 3000 miles away,has this personality disorder, that disorder, but manages to be very self sufficient, exist in his own vacuum and be on welfare. He says that life owes him. He was in an accident at age 14 that left him with scars on his forehad. They have faded now but of course that can scar you emotionally and mentally.

so I was thinking yesterday, maybe I should be loving (how much more loving I could be, I have no idea), and understanding. So I wrote him and gently asked how his depression was going. He's on all sorts of meds for anxiety and depression but he has to control everything and everybody in his surroundings. That's how most compuslive gamblers are. I belong to Gamanon and have learned MUCH from that organization.

So I wrote him a nice e-mail, not preachy or anything but from an interested mom (just like I've been doing for over 4 years).

This is what he wrote me just now.

"Scars are still there, but thats the least of my problems. I hate life because luife sucks. If life was so great then I would not be depressed. Life sucked way before I went into the window and it stills sucks.

Love
Frank"

------------------------------------------------------------------------

So what can a mom do when she has a son who talks like this all the time. He's in therapy, has case managers who he can go to and I speak to them but they have never met a case like my son. They know he has been diagnosed with Aspergers disorder but they never saw a case like him.

I could have let this destroy me but I have to survive and take care of Alan. I was a mom for 25 years but I can't be a mommy any more. My son told me a long time ago, he would come home as long as he doesn't have to work and we could take care of him. You don't want to know what my response to him was!!!

Sorry to go off the neuropathy topic but you guys give such great advice and once in a while it's nice to talk about other stuff. I promise not to stray any more.

Melody