Still Clickin

After I retired and my wife and I followed our children, and especially our grandchildren, across the country to another ocean, we kept encountering new issues that we had to face and decisions we had to make. Looking for some guidance, on the Internet and at the library, I was unable to find any cohesive guide. What I did find was rarely pragmatic and never authored by those with any experience in the matter, i.e. the senior citizens themselves.

In response to that lack, I built wikisenior.com as a technical infrastructure on which other seniors could add their thoughts. Unlike a blog, a wiki is an Internet format specifically built for the collaboration of many people. Wikipedia.org was not the first wiki site, but it is the most famous. However, there are many wiki sites throughout the Internet, and their support of collaboration make them popular at research facilities and universities. Each wiki requires a core technician to maintain the structure, but all the collaborating authors are considered to be equal.

Acting as the core technician has become my ‘volunteer day job’. I wrote a rough framework for a number of articles to get the process started, with the idea that people would be more comfortable adding to an article that had been started rather than facing a blank screen.

Next, I started this blog with the idea that it could be used to promote the wiki. To promote an Internet site, you must make the site known to the search engines, e.g. Google and Yahoo. Since the search engines use different algorithms for blogs, it makes sense to complement any site with a blog.

Initially, I took the easy path toward blogging by using a blog service, e.g. Blogger, WordPress, and TypePad. They are slick and efficient, but they are not tightly coupled to the wiki site. This site, using the WordPress software, is tightly bound to the wiki, acting as an independent facet of the wiki site itself.

Unlike a wiki, blogs are authored by one central author, with appended comments from readers offering the only expansion of the author’s views. Some blogs are really a treasure, but I know I have not achieved that level here. Fundamentally, I’m trying to ask the questions. I’m looking for the wisdom of my fellow seniors for the answers. I hope to find those answers at wikisenior.com.

Hope you like this new format. Please let me know if you find any ‘oops’ issues.

It is easy to get that feeling of “deja vu all over again” when you revisit a decision you made in the past. Looking at this blog with new eyes, I suddenly realized that I should have pursued the self-hosting route from the very start. That was my initial inclination, but I waffled since a Blogger site was so much easier to launch.

Changing from Blogger to self-hosting is not trivial and should not be done casually. As I experienced the process, there were a number of steps. I list them here in the event that they may be of some help to others.

The steps include:

• evaluating the options - Changing a blog location will not endear you to the search engines. The history they have established with your address will be lost, and your readers will have be to guided to find you. Blogger is NOT happy with double postings, so you have to leave them in place, at least for awhile.
• choosing the blog software - There are about three dozen different blog software packages out there for self-hosting, but WordPress and LiveJournal are the ones you hear the most about. WordPress seems to be the clear leader, and the price (free) fit the budget.
• choosing the hosting provider - There are hundreds of these at various price points. As in most things, you seem to get what you pay for. I was already very pleased with the host I was using, so I just installed the blog on a sub-domain.
• declaring the administrator - WordPress installs quite easily. When you declare yourself the administrator, you realize that you have a bit more control than previously. To tailor your settings, log in as the administrator and enter the title, description, clock time, date, etc. as you would with a blog service.
• choosing your look and feel - One control aspect is that you can pick from hundreds of free themes/templates/skins to refine the look and feel of your blog. While selecting, stick with those that offer the features you need. The theme chosen for Still Clickin offered 3 columns, an attractive color palate, right sidebar, adsense ready, image support, widget ready, fixed width, and (SEO) search engine optimization. The copyright display was not intrusive.
• making the final adjustments - Check the overall results of your choices and perform any necessary fine tuning. Once you are pleased, click the “write” button and start creating your first post.

Once you have launched, you may want to continue the fine tuning. The reality is, that as a self-hosting blog author, you have the control and the option.

Good luck!

Instinctively, we all measure time. We measure it by the sun. We measure it by the moon. We measure it by the seasons. We measure it by the holidays.

As we get older, we also seem to measure it by more personal memories, e.g. when Charlotte was in middle school or when George worked at ABC Company.

Lately, I had a laugh when I noticed myself using a new time measurement, Costco Time. Warehouse stores sell LARGE packages. Once those packages reach home, we downsize the packaging to a smaller container and slowly use the contents. But after awhile, even those LARGE packages dwindle. It becomes time for a return trip to stock up on the inventory.

I have never really focused too carefully upon the intervals of paper towels (c. six weeks) or tooth paste (c. six months), but coffee filters caught my attention. The smallest container of coffee filters that I have ever found at Costco contains 700 individual filters. For our homestead, that means that two years have passed since we last purchased that item. That is quite an interval of time, and I started to review all of the things that have happened since the Costco Time of our last coffee filter purchase.

A new granddaughter, the loss of some dear friends, a new car, a new house, a new website, a new blog, a few tests, a few operations, a few trips, many wonderful times with family and friends, and hopefully, a bit of ruminating wisdom gained while sipping a couple thousand cups of warm, comforting coffee. That’s just the tip of the iceberg. I won’t get more personal, but the coffee filter interval of Costco Time made me sit up and take notice.

I’m now questioning what I will achieve during this next package of filters. I do know that I will think about it every time I make a new pot of coffee. I like the fact that the coffee filter interval of Costco Time is sufficiently long to negate excuses. It will challenge me to set new goals and benchmarks. Who knows what those goals will bring, but each cup will remind me of my commitment.

Costco Time. Who would have thought???

NB. Click below to make a comment. If you would prefer to make an enhancement to the original article, please go to wikiSenior and click on edit.

Downsizing has cut our available space nearly in half. It brings with it the profound benefit of simplifying the demands of everyday living, but it also forces you to discard some accumulated mementos. We had saved a number of cards from friends and relatives over the years, and it became obvious that it was now time to discard them. Looking at them one last time brought back many memories, however, and gave me the opportunity to remember and cherish a special kind a person, the Christmas Card Friend.

Over the years, everyone gains Christmas (or Holiday) Card Friends. We first meet them while on vacation, or on a business assignment, or in the neighborhood before they move away. Something about their personality clicks with our own, and we develop a strong tie. When the holiday season rolls around, we feel compelled to include them on our annual list. They reciprocate, and the tradition begins.

Then life intervenes. Things change. People move. And usually, we stop sending and receiving the cards after a polite two or three years. . . except for the select few, the Christmas Card Friends.

It’s puzzling, but we feel a distinct need not to cut the cord with those special people. We just can’t let go. We responded to their sense of humor, their insights, their style, and their charm. We realize that their friendship is still important to us, and its loss would diminish us. We want to know that they are well.

Some send newsletters. Others, just short notes. But the connection, however brief, is made. We honor that connection over the years by actually calling and sharing a dinner when we are passing through their neighborhood, sending clippings from the local paper about items we know they would like to see, or emailing photos of the new grandchild, just to brag.

Today’s generation has their Facebook and MySpace postings, but I’m rather partial to Christmas Card Friends. It’s a bigger, more personal commitment than the click of a mouse. And when you’re downsizing, you can relive each season all over again.

Thank you, my Christmas Card Friends. Thanks for your faithfulness over the years. I cherished all your comments, and am waiting to hear about the latest updates next December.

NB. Click below to make a comment. If you would prefer to make an enhancement to the original article, please go to wikiSenior and click on edit.

Lately, the news media has started to highlight the idea of selling your collected “stuff” over the Internet as a way for seniors to realize some additional revenue. This variation on the traditional garage/yard sale does have some definite positive aspects. Obviously, it also has some negatives, which you should be aware of before posting your item.

The very first thing you need for Internet Retailing is access to a digital camera. One picture truly does tell a thousand words. Without a photo, nothing will sell near its value.

The three most popular sites for selling items on the Internet are -

1. Craigslist.org, which is targeted at given localities and is entirely free for 99% of its postings. This is the site to use if you are selling something that you don’t want to, or can’t, ship. However, a craigslist.org posting can specify that the item will be shipped and include a charge for that service. Craigslist.org transactions are typically cash deals. Your posted price is the sale price.
2. Ebay.com, which is targeted by country and charges a fee for every posting. Ebay has many more categories for your items, but you are charged for each posting in each category. Although it is not usual, an eBay listing can specify that the item must be picked up by the buyer. Ebay.com transactions are generally credit card deals, and you normally are using their credit card service, PayPal.com, which entails a fee of about 3% of the sale price. You also must define multiple prices for the item, i.e. an initial price at which the item will be first listed, and a minimum price, which is the least amount at which you will sell the item.
3. Amazon.com, which permits you to open your own store. It can establish an Internet retail “presence” for your ongoing transactions.

Positives -

• Using the Internet, you are able to reach a much wider audience than any garage sale will ever deliver.
• You have the facility to change your listing at any time while it is published.
• Anonymity is maintained throughout the selling process. Once a sale is agreed to, however, the buyer and seller typically identify themselves.
• These services involve no (craigslist.org) or small (eBay.com) costs.

Negatives -

• With many Internet sales venues, it will be necessary to pack and ship your items. The cost of this activity might be greater than you suspect. To be safe, you have to assemble your packing materials, weigh your items, and determine your actual shipping costs before you post the sale.
• You need to do some research on prices to establish a good, fair price. Pretend you are trying to buy the item and search for any similar items for sale. This can be difficult for unusual items, but it is required if you are going to be successful.
• If your items are used, remember that “beauty is in the eye of the beholder”. If you want your item to sell, you have to identify a price that will be attractive to a buyer. If this is less than the value of the item to you, don’t sell it!

Internet retailing is something of an adventure. In a real, but limited way, you are opening your own store. If you love it, you may become an amazon.com e-tailer. If not, you will at least clean out a corner of the attic.

NB. Click below to make a comment. If you would prefer to make an enhancement to the original article, please go to wikiSenior and click on edit.