Author Archive for Cafe Guys

We always like it at BoomerCafé when boomers make life seem easier, and productivity last longer. That’s what Nancy Whitney-Reiter has done with her new book, “Unplugged: How to Disconnect From the Rat Race, Have an Existential Crisis, and Find Meaning and Fulfillment.” With the erosion of ideals from our parents’ generation, this is for boomers caught in the vacuum. Here is an excerpt from a chapter entitled, “Unplugging with a Safety Net.”

If you are fortunate enough to work for a forward-thinking company, you may have the option of a corporate sponsored sabbatical. According to the Society for Human Resource Management, the percentage of companies offering some type of sabbatical is growing, both for paid and unpaid leave.

Begin with the End in Mind
Before you even set foot out the door, you need to have a re-entry strategy. The most difficult thing about going on a corporate sabbatical is the shock of coming back. That said, if you are allowed eight weeks, be sure you return home no later than day one of week seven. You will need some adjustment time to catch up on bills and correspondence and confront personal landmines before you will able to handle professional challenges. Continued

Popularity: 23% [?]

Who said vigorous exercise doesn’t matter, especially among baby boomers?! When we get old enough for a few gray hairs, exercise becomes even more important. For BoomerCafé co-founder and executive editor Greg Dobbs, regular and demanding rides on his bicycle have actually saved his life.

There are century bike rides each summer in Colorado. “Century” means, a hundred … as in, a hundred miles. But by the time you’re anywhere near the hundred mile mark, especially on century rides in a state where the altitude of mountain roads rises into the quintuple digits, you’re counting not just every mile but every single foot, which is why I’ll go to pains to point out, the total mileage usually comes out to more like 102, 103 … I remember one that ended up at 108 miles.
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There are some who say, our generation of boomers is the last generation to really understand ethics. But others say, we’re the ones who corrupted them. Author William Charland has a story for BoomerCafé about ethics in the workplace — and how they pay off in ways you may not expect.

Survival skills.

Make a list of what it takes to succeed in business these days, and you might not think of ethics. As corporations merge and jobs are purged, a sense of values now sounds like a luxury. But ethics can be plenty practical. Consider the case of baby boomer Packard Brown.

Brown, 47, was a human resource manager at Pace Warehouse until last September, when he resigned over a matter of principle. Brown left the company just two weeks before it was sold to Wal-Mart and 700 jobs, including his, were eliminated. By leaving the way he did, Brown doubled the size of his severance package. Here’s his story.
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Hey, we may have two or three generations younger than us, but we can still get it on with new-fangled technology, can’t we? Of course we can, but as BoomerCafé co-founder David Henderson writes, maybe we don’t always want to.

Our generation may be getting a few gray hairs but that hasn’t slowed us from embracing new technology, like the switch in photography from film to digital. I only have one friend who is still using film. Everyone else has switched to digital.

I love digital photography, and a couple of things started me thinking recently about getting a new digital camera.

First, was the pain I endured lugging around my Nikon D70s SLR during a hiking vacation in the Swiss Alps last summer. The Nikon can capture outstanding images but feels like a brick on a strap that’s slung over your shoulder. Who needs that weight during a long hike? Give me something lightweight that takes superb photos.

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Like so many of us, David & Veronica James are experiencing the collision of baby boomer with empty nester. How to cope? Veronica calls it her “Dirty Little Secret” … but she tells us!

David and I have one chick left in the nest. He graduates from high school in June. And I am marking the days. I keep a gigantic calendar and mark a red X each day. For my son’s sake (and to avoid horrified looks from house guests), I keep the calendar between the mattresses of my bed.

I’m fully aware how bad this looks, so I will explain myself. I LOVE MY KIDS! Good, now I’ve got that out! But,when June rolls around, I will have spent almost twenty five years of my life raising them. I deserve this dirty little secret.

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Some of us boomers, even before we knew what generation we were part of, feared milestone birthdays. 20, the end of childhood; 30, the end of youth; 40, the beginning of middle age; 50, just a decade til 60! But writer Cindy La Ferle has shared with BoomerCafé a letter she just wrote to a friend turning 50. It’s all about the good things.

Dear D.:

Your 50th is coming up this month. Rather than send you a bunch of black balloons and one of those dumb cards with a joke about adult diapers, I’m writing you a letter with some advice. I offer it with a full heart and the seasoned experience of someone who’s all of three years older than you are.

There’s no denying that 50 is a landmark birthday. A turning point. The Big One. Over the next few weeks, you’ll be paying more attention to the mirror in your bathroom. Reading your face like a road map, you’ll scrutinize your eyelids and check the skin around your cheekbones. You might notice, for the first time, a couple of age spots that can’t quite pass as freckles. You’ll wonder if your jaw line isn’t as sharp as it used to be.

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Popularity: 37% [?]