Hello Gen

Gen hello are you doing good? I am inviting you to join me in this , I have came ahead quite a bit since I started a week ago! Just have a read http://bit.ly/oa852s

Style that shows is only decorating, not style. -- Sidney Lument

Sending a post via text message from my mobile. Microblogging on the go!

Migration complete!

Hello all. This blog has been moved over to the WordPress platform. All posts from this location are now available at www.GenPlusUSA.com. If you are a subscriber, there should be no interruption in your delivery, however, if you haven't been getting your daily dose of Gen Plus, just head on over to the new and improved site (www.GenPlusUSA.com) and sign up again. There is a subscription field on the upper right of the webpage. See you there!!

Transparency

Listening to Barack Obama talk about transparency in this mornings news conference rang true with my own personal efforts at reinventing the Gen Plus website. Over the past few years I received so many questions about setting up a blog or a website and so I'm doing something a bit bizarre. I'm going to be transparent about how I build my new site. Rather than unveil the "finished" product with a grand launch, I'll invite you to watch the evolution of the site!

Although I blog on Blogger, I'll be setting up the website using WordPress and if you head over to www.genplususa.com, in fact, you'll see a blank WordPress template replacing the old site. Over the next few weeks and months, you'll hopefully learn as I build it. When I first started with my first website, the process was painful! There were no pre-built databases or shopping carts and my programmer, designer and I spent months on refining and building every aspect of the site. Now, of course, you can find most anything, so the learning curve is a lot less. If you have questions along the way, I'll answer them. If you want to try to build your own site, go for it!

But as a self-taught Boomer Blogger, if I can help you learn a thing or two along the way...why not? So, here is to transparency -- even if you don't understand what I'm doing right at this point.

BBC 96

This week's BBC is up and running at So Baby Boomer, hosted by the always wonderful, John Agno. Enjoy.

Reinvention is....what?

What a week. Unemployment numbers are up...way up (6.7%) some predictions see us heading up to as much as 8% unemployment. I'm sure the actual numbers are worse. There are so many 50 plus jobseekers who won't even show up on the actuarial studies -- people who have tried for so long to find work and may have even given up. Because I've been a steadfast advocate for the 50 plus jobseeker for almost 5 years now, I truly and honestly try to look at the trends and the news AND the forecasts to see how a Boomer or 50 plusser can try to get a leg up in the world of job search. And it is mighty hard.

Back in 2004 I decided to build a job board specifically for the 50 plus market (Gen Plus), which I did, and subsequently had thousands of 50 plus jobseekers searching my sight for 50 plus-friendly employers. I had several hundred (if not thousands) of jobs posted, mostly with national companies who had openings across the country. This was in the market of the past few years, where recruiting was becoming difficult as many of the Boomers started leaving the work force and a bit of a panic ensued, looking for qualified workers with some level of business or management skill. So, my job site catered to employers specifically looking for a Boomer/50 Plus jobseeker because of a need for those skills.

Fast forward to today. High unemployment, globally, companies are laying off thousands of workers, and those companies looking to staff up having the pick of the crop of unemployed talent. Which means that a job board search will give you very slim chances (in this climate) of getting a call to come in for an interview. On top of that, as an "expert" blogger (on AllExperts.com and at Eons.com), the through themes of unemployment challenges have become very specific -- i.e. finding a job is going to require going back to the basics of networking 101.

Because of that major shift (and one that I suspect will last for many years), I've decided to temporarily retire the Gen Plus job board and reinvent my site to reflect the current needs of jobseekers.

(That is NOT the same as this blog. THIS mouthpiece will continue to speak as long as you are interested in what I have to say!)

If you head over to www.genplususa.com as of next week, you'll see a placeholder while I get the new site up and running. I decided early on that if a plan was not going to benefit the Boomer/50 plus jobseeker, then I would not continue on that path. So, bear with me as I redirect my knowledge to be more helpful to the jobseeker. I'll let you know as soon as the new site is up and running.

If the climate changes again and there is a need to ressurrect the job bank, then I will, and gladly. To the thousands of jobseekers who have trusted their career search to me, thank you.

Gen Plus Nominated for Award

It's always fun (and rewarding) to get a nomination in blogworld! So I'm very pleased to discover that my blog has been nominated on Divine Caroline! (See my new badge, visit Divine Caroline, and please vote for me! I'm very competitive and I appreciate the support.)

What the Stock Market and my Menopause may have in Common!

If you are a male reader, don't be squeamish. Read on. For my female readers, especially those of you enduring never-ending hot flashes, you'll totally get it.

For some strange reason, I haven't found the stock market crash or the ensuing ups and downs of the exchanges, or even the imploding world economy, all that hard to relate to. None of it came as a surprise. Oddly, I have found that I relate to the volatile ups and downs that each new day brings. And last night (or through the night, shall we say), I finally figured out why.

Bear with me for another minute as I explain the menopausal process in MY skin. There are two major factors at play. One: my hormones are trying, with increasing fury, to force me to drop an egg in a last gasp at fertility. My hormones don't seem to realize that I've already had the child I'm going to have and have no plans on another. However, in this valiant attempt, every month, whether the menses arrives or not, my body puts me through torture as it tries to convince my tubes to produce and drop another egg. This creates hormonal surges which in turn reek havoc on my temperature regulators...meaning...hot flashes.

Two: Hand in hand with the hormonal fluctuations are mood swings, the likes of which I've never experienced in the past, and are absolutely, passionately horrific and have brought the worst out in me...actually worse than I could have thought possible. My general demeanor is calm, patient, infinitely kind and incredibly loving. This monster that strikes out from within is cranky, crabby, mean-spirited, angry and...yes...nasty. Just as the hot flashes surge, this nastiness, the other side of Janet, surfaces in full glory as my body tries to ovulate and then, crescendoes in a PMS (Pre-Menstrual Syndrome)worthy of Hollywood.

The minute I get my period, my hormones immediately (as in within minutes) go back to normal and my true nature (or let's just say the one I'm more used to) comes back for another couple of weeks until the entire vicious cycle starts again. And may I add that you don't just hot flash for a day...no...it goes on for one or two weeks at a time...from when you "should" have ovulated, all the way through to when you "should" have had a period.

What no one tells you is that regardless of whether or not you have your period, your hormones will still cause the uproar...and riot and storm...until you no longer have eggs to potentially drop.

Which brings me to last night. For the last couple of weeks, the flashes have flashed again. Just last week, sitting at a friend's home, in the space of 30 minutes I put on and took off my sweater at least 4 or 5 times, wiped sweat off my brow and kept asking, "Is it hot in here???" Worst of all, is that when your internal temperature regulator is shot, you can get alternately very cold and very hot within minutes of each other...for hours, days, weeks at a time. (Aha...are you starting to see where I'm going with this?)

Last night was a killer night. It was about 65 in my house and when I went to sleep I was freezing. I put on a sweatshirt and socks over my summer PJs (shorts and T) and cuddled up under my covers. That was at 10 pm. 11 pm threw my covers off. 11:15 was freezing again and grabbed as much of the comforter as I could to warm up. Midnight? Boiling. Threw left leg out of the covers and arms up over my head. 1:30 am: FREEZING. Covered up again. 2:30 am: Sweat dripping down my forehead, ripped off the covers, the sweatshirt, but kept socks on. 4:00 am. Freezing once again. Put sweatshirt around me and covered up. 4:22 am: BOILING. Threw everything off except the shorts and T. Decided to call it an early day and grabbed my computer.

Covered up again and as the heat of the laptop caused, yet again, another flash, I realized that my volatility was strangely similar to the ups and downs of the STOCK MARKET. "Our economy is in the throes of MENOPAUSE!" was the big thought at 4:22 am. Of course. All the useless credit just like the eggs no longer worth anything. The readjustment of the economy to no more credit eggs is like a broken temperature regulator and the market is suffering hot flashes and cold sweats until it will rebalance at the other end. Unable to produce more offspring, but at least to make use of lessons learned...maybe?

It's 5:52, I'm suddenly cold and quite tired -- this surge is done for now. I'd say I'll be 3% up at day's end.

I'm an American-Canadian

It was an honor and a privilege to become an American citizen at the age of 45, in Los Angeles. I lived my first 36 Canadian years, in Montreal, Toronto and Ottawa. In my duality, I cherish the inherent sense of social responsibility that forms a fundamental part of the core of any Canadian, and do my best to spread that moral responsibility to others. My sister, a Canadian now living in Vancouver, British Columbia, sent this to me, today. A bit late, but an MSNBC report I hadn't seen on Canadian solidarity that was aired on Veteran's Day.

The people gathering on the bridges are not saluting their country in exactly the same way Americans do...they are saluting the individual soldiers, one by one, who lost their lives in Afghanistan and supporting, through their numbers, the remaining mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters and children.

BBC 95 is here!

I am the proud host of the Blogging Boomers Carnival this week. We are only 5 weeks away from our 100th posting of the weekly carnival and I'm wondering if that means we'll be going into syndication?? Hmmmm....

Without further ado (or posturing...hehe) here is this week's lineup:

From Wes, at Life Two, it’s Divorce Math, where no matter what the story problem, the answer always come out to one. That said, here’s a list of some of the ways to make sure one is not the loneliest number.

Ron at I Remember JFK reflects on Orson Bean: "Orson Bean was born Dallas Frederick Burrows on July 22, 1928 in Burlington, Vermont. He had a cousin you may have heard of, Calvin Coolidge. But speaking from my own perspective, he is renowned for his quick comedic style and demonstrated on various episodes of the Johnny Carson Show which I viewed as a child."

Rhea asks: "I like newspapers. Does that make me old?" Read more at The Boomer Chronicles.

From Laura Lee, Queen of The Midlife Crisis Queen: How do you keep hope alive that the partner of your dreams might be just around the corner? Music is a great solution! "Without music, life would be a mistake!" -Nietzsche

Cindy at Don't Gel Too Soon tells us that scary economic times can really - uh - scare a person.

Staying with the theme of economics, Andrea at The Baby Boomer Entrepreneur notes that Baby Boomers are closer to retirement than younger entrepreneurs. As a result, we should be planning our business exit strategy now. Here's what you need to consider in your succession plan in this two-part post Succession Planning: Do You Have An Exit Strategy For Your Business?

But what if you still need to find a job? With the U.S. jobless rate hitting 6.5% in October, and many economists thinking it could reach 8% by late 2009, many boomers are or will be looking for a mid-life career change. That is why John at SoBabyBoomer.com is offering a number of online career transition resources for the involuntary retired.

But if you are able to ignore economic woes, you might be looking for a way out of the winter weather. Heading south and wondering what to pack? Check out Fabulous after 40 for some up to date travel wardrobe tips to make you look Boomer Beautiful!

Here's one to get you thinking! Ann asks: "What do snowflakes, the lemon wedges you get in bar-bought drinks and flight attendants have in common?" Head over to Contemporary Retirement to find out.

As for me, I'd like to wish you all a very happy Thanksgiving celebration if you are a US reader. And to those of you in other countries, I'll be making a virtual place for you at my table!

What a Turkey!

Just when I breathed a sigh of relief that Sarah Palin had temporarily fallen off the media radar, I have been able to lose my appetite, once again, with her Turkey pardon interview. Good gosh. Sarah. Stop giving interviews. If you haven't seen it or heard about it yet, Palin pardons a turkey while a turkey slaughterer stands in the background grinning at the cameras while doing his job...slaughtering turkeys. Crikeys. Don't know how I'm going to eat my Thanksgiving dinner this year. Well, at least I can give thanks she didn't get into office.

It's disturbing to watch any animal get slaughtered, so if you have a weak stomach, don't watch the video (and DEFINITELY not for kids younger than about 17 or 18), but if you can handle it, the woman is more than just gaffe-prone...she's utterly clueless.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-kjM1asH-8

Blogging Boomers Carnival #94

It's that time...the Blogging Boomers Carnival is hosted this week at the "home" of one of our BBC founders...Wes Hein at Life Two! Head on over and see what Boomer bloggers have to say.

Soft music of the 50's, and 60's LIVE Stream at BroadwayandVocals.com

Ken Noble, of Baton Rouge, LA sent a message the other day regarding their newly formed online radio broadcast. I checked it out and even though it isn't the music of MY generation, I found it wonderfully soothing in the midst of the wildfire destruction in Los Angeles. Hope it lifts your spirits.

"Soft music of the 50's, and 60's LIVE Stream at BroadwayandVocals.com

The popular standards format that ran for seven months on KDDK-FM in Baton Rouge, Louisiana was recently replaced with youth oriented programming. However, a live stream of that standards show can now be heard at www.BroadwayandVocals.com .

In addition to our core artists like Frank Sinatra, Johnny Mathis, Patsy Cline, Tony Bennett, Glen Campbell, Vikki Carr, Nat King Cole, Julie Andrews, Bobby Darin, Everly Brothers, and Elvis Presley, many of the significant instrumentals of the last 50 years are included in our playlist of 2,106 recordings by 660 different artists.

Fifty-one (51) Frank Sinatra recordings are in our playlist. During the first seven days of November we have had listeners from U.S.A., Great Britain, Canada, Philippines, Australia, Mexico, Germany, Netherlands, Italy, Venezuela, Malaysia, Ireland, Croatia, Japan, Denmark, Belgium, Argentina, and Sweden. When you go to www.BroadwayandVocals.com , the music stream should start immediately."

Fires in Los Angeles

What a disaster in LA. Less than 10 miles from my home a huge part of the San Fernando Valley is experiencing an inferno. The sky is filled with ash, friends of mine are being forced to evacuate and hundreds of families are being displaced as their homes burn. My thoughts and prayers are with all of them.

BBC 93

Geez -- the Blogging Boomers Carnival is almost at 100 weekly posts! Amazing that this group would not only stick together, but find it interesting, exciting AND that we'd continue to attract new talent to our group (with a wait list!)

This week's host is a woman who is a changer in her own right. Cindy Samuels has refined the art of e-news conferences and e-media roundtables like no one else I've met in the industry. Just to give you an idea of what this unusual and creative venue is, image a press conference...but via an internet roundtable. Cindy typically invites bloggers only, as she is very attuned to the types of questions we're bound to ask, the honesty we expect from the interviewee, and the immediacy of the response to our blog posts on the interviews. It is a very powerful press conference, but relies heavily on the moderator (in this case Cindy) to keep tight virtual control while ensuring the best of the interviewee is highlighted. I've been invited to a few of her e-conferences that are Boomer related and they are always uniquely interesting.

So, head on over to Don't Gel Too Soon for this week's BBC roundtable! And take a few minutes to read some of Cindy's past blogs if you never have before. Very insightful and heartfelt.

Butter. Real Butter.

As the economic disaster continue to unfold, I find myself turning to comfort foods. I had always loved a good baked potato with sour cream, but in my late 20's I became allergic to white potato starch and also VERY lactose intolerant.

As the years have progressed, my lactose intolerance has become less severe, so I can handle yogurt, butter and harder cheeses in reasonable quantities (and even a bit of ice cream), but not milk. But I never quite found a way to really substitute the glorious satisfaction of a bite of baked potato with sour cream...until now.

But first, I have to take you with me to last summer. When I was still a corporate exec, my company flew me to London, England to train the English (and some of the European) education team. While there I had the privilege of staying in a beautiful apartment in a small countryside town, just minutes walk from the local village shops. Fresh and Easy is a new concept of grocery store in the US, but it is the Trader Joe's of England. There I was able to pick up outstanding frozen Indian dinners, real farm fresh eggs and best of all... Irish butter. I thought I was just buying butter, as I'd gotten used to it in the US. But with my first piece of toast, with just a bit of butter, I was TRANSPORTED back to the breakfasts of my youth. It was the butter I remembered. Of course, everything I could get butter on after that was literally slathered. And so went my butter experience in England.

Last week, in the doldrums over the economy, but feeling a heck of a lot more optimistic over the outcome of the election, I decided to treat myself when I saw IRISH butter in the dairy section at Trader Joe's. Twice the price of US butter, but I thought...what the heck. I had the $3.69 in cash, so I went for it.

And when I got home, I baked up a sweet potato (not allergic to those) and slathered on the Irish butter and ladled on some 2% Greek style yogurt (ALMOST as good as sour cream) and found myself in a little bit of heaven. After a 20 year absence, I was able to capture, if not exactly, then almost, the glory of a baked potato with real butter and sour cream. Ah...blessed comfort!

That one is The One.

America has spoken. Barack Obama, President -elect has broken racial barriers, voter turnout records, and shown the world that he, and his spectacular team, is capable of re-energerizing the nation. Tears in my eyes, my mother's eyes, and my daughter's eyes, as along with millions of Americans and countless viewers around the world, we witnessed history being made.

Congratulations Barack Obama. Looking forward to getting to know you.

And if you need a break after voting...BBC 92!

This week's Blogging Boomers Carnival is hosted by the Glam Girls at the always fabulous Fabulous After 40. Check it out when you need to take a break from election coverage!

Today is the Election. Go Vote.

I spent a few hours yesterday at the Obama/Biden campaign offices for the San Fernando Valley, volunteering my time and my cell phone minutes to join hundreds of other people in calling eligible voters to remind them to get out and vote. Never thought I'd take part in a political campaign in any way, and yet, there I was, going through training and making calls with other interested valley dwellers! Surprisingly, it was a lot of fun and whether those I reached were voting for McCain or Obama, they were mostly planning on exercising their right and getting out to vote.

So...forget the polls. Forget the pundits. Forget the past two years (if you can). Today is the day that counts. Exercise your right to vote and do so today. Will there be long lines? Possibly. Might you have to wait a bit? Possibly. I don't know about you, but I've waited in line for a popular movie, to get into an exclusive club, and to buy concert tickets. Today is a bit more important.

Projected numbers don't mean anything. What matters today is that your vote, the vote that belongs to you, gets cast and is counted. So, go on. Get out and vote.

BBC 91

My apologies to the wonderful Ann Harrison at Contemporary Retirement, this week's host of our Blogging Boomers Carnival. In my malaise, this week, I also forgot to post her Carnival blog! Please head on over and enjoy this past week's Boomer Blogger views of the world!