Meet Our New Editorial Intern, Fred the Night Watchman – You Get to Decide If He Stays or Not
Since this is a holiday week our entire staff decided to take time off so publishing was left to our night watchman Fred (see, Survivor Syndrome, October 22, 2010).
He’s been asking for more responsibilities, so besides letting him sweep the floors we let him intern in the news department after hours . He’s been writing the “Snapshots” on the Boomer News Headlines Page, and since no one else wanted to do anything this week we’re letting him post some of his “snapshots” as an article called “News Briefs,” which explains the illustration. We let him do his own specs for the illustrator but are having serious second thoughts about that.
If people like this column we may keep it as a weekly feature. If not, Fred is back to night watchman and sweeping. You can’t be too nice to editorial interns or they will get uppity and start asking to be reimbursed for office supplies and our lunches. So if you like Fred’s work, let us know. If we hear nothing, well, sorry Fred…
What’s Going On…Nov 16-23, 2010
Jobs & No Jobs
Snapshot: Still no relief for baby boomers in the job market – except apparently in Tampa Bay, home to a lot of back-office insurance company jobs – hurry before they’re outsourced to India; the latest job trend? if you can’t find a paying job work for free as an intern – somebody’s getting a good deal, wonder who.
Lifestyle
Snapshot: a new survey on sex shows boomers are not happy with their sex lives but consider themselves experts at sex – somebody’s not giving the whole story; there’s a growing controversy over what age we should give up the car keys – didn’t we just settle that with dad?; apparently the biggest users of mobile phones are boomers – considering how many there are of us is that really surprising?
Health
Snapshot: November is National Alzheimer’s Month – it was October but everyone forgot so it was pushed back; experts report that boomers may need glasses to drive at night and may feel aches and pains from exercise – we need “experts” to figure that out?; boomers are starting to move into the medicare system – so we can probably expect major cutbacks in the system now.
Politics & Government
Snapshot: A nostalgic look back at protests of the 60’s – sure, we all miss seeing tanks in the street; the White House is looking at social security cuts as one of many suggestions to cut government spending – um, could we start saving by not bailing out Wall St. and the car industry instead? ; November 22nd was the 47th anniversary of the assassination of JFK – it was mentioned in a blog we found, did the mainstream media have the day off?
Entertainment & Fun
Snapshot: iTunes is doing a land office business selling Beatles tunes (which are remarkably like “songs”) – you may think you already own their music but try to find a record player to play it on; Google TV gets bad marks from the NYT and WSJ – is it just jealousy? ; Winster sets up a social site with online games – “Mostly for Morons?” .
Retiring Thoughts
Snapshot: the debate on raising the retirement age rages on – want to see it go away? insist it be made retroactive; many boomers are expected to keep working past retirement age due to lack of savings – what? retirement isn’t something that just happens? we want to write to our senator about that; financial planners are knocking each other down trying to get to retirement funds of the boomers – boy are they in for a surprise or what?
Money Matters
Snapshot: mortgage refinancing and reverse mortgages gain in popularity – now you can sell your house to yourself for a hefty fee to the bank; insurance companies want you to ask, “how much expensive life insurance do I need? – well technically, none if you’re not around; boomers are the “sandwich” generation caught between caring for elders and kids slow to launch – wait, we thought we were the most selfish generation ever?
Business & Economy
Snapshot: boomers are buying businesses and a lot of them fail – of course it’s age-related right? nothing to do with the economy right? ; retailers remain cautious in their forecasts – we’re not sure why since the parking lots of most malls seem full all the time; people are cutting back on their cable tv services – is it the recession or that even with 800 channels there’s still nothing worth watching? (Except for Top Gear of course)
People, Places & Things
Snapshot: China is becoming a major consumer nation – does that mean they will buy all the American stuff they manufacture there? ; one author finds the girls in Thailand are not as touchy about his age as in the US – wonder what his wife thinks about that; a travel center lists five vacation spots for boomers to rest and find quiet – considering the economy we have to guess they are the bedroom, the bathroom, the attic, the basement and the garage?
Opinions
Snapshot: boomer bashing seems to be a popular trend in some media – and they seem to think we actually care what they’re ranting about; debate continues on raising the retirement age to save social security – is it possible that if they hadn’t used SS money for other things there wouldn’t be such a problem today? – “Mr. Kotter, I’m so confused” (Vinnie Barbarino).
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