SRA E-MAIL NEWSLETTER*
Issue # 46
September 2006

Ron Violette-Editor

This will be the last e-mail newsletter this year from the upper Midwest (Minnesota\Wisconsin).  It has been a good summer.  My health has been great, and I thank all of you who expressed concern.  Fishing has been good, and except for a very few hot days the weather has been very good.  One of the tough things to get used to in Minnesota is speaking in Minnesotaese.  One has to become adjusted to ending most sentences in then.  I am really not up here long enough to pick it up then.

UPCOMING SRA EVENTS  —  Much is in the near future.

1.  October 16 Getty Tour: This is the original Getty and houses antiquities from Greece, Rome, etc.  There is a limit of 30 people for the tour.  The first 30 to submit their reservations and checks to cover the bus fare ($18.50) to Dick Martin will get to take this trip.  Please contact Dick at: 3585 Tacoma Ave., LA, 90065-1725.  Checks should be payable to: USC SRA.  Buses will leave USC in front of the Gerontology Building at 10:30 a.m. on October 16.

2.  On October 31 or November 1 you will receive a call from a member of the Retiree Community to find out how you are and to see if you have any information to share about ways we can be of more help to our colleagues.  This will also be a follow-up to a mailing you will receive asking for support of the Emeriti Center.  Our dues support SRA activities.  The Emeriti Center gets a modest budget from the Provost and relies on support from those it serves to fund many of the programs and activities of the Center and the College.  Please contribute what you are able.  No contribution is too small.  Every bit is appreciated.

3.  December 11, 2006 ---11:30 check in.
The promised tour of the Galen Center has been re-scheduled as part of our Holiday Celebration.  We will meet at the Galen Center for music, food, and the tours.  All members of SRA, RFA, Emeriti Center College and the Emeriti Center are invited to join together to celebrate the holidays.  Get to know members from all the parts of our Retiree Community.

4.  Medicare Part D: ---- Be sure to complete the survey form asking questions about experiences with the first year using the new Medicare D (prescription) plan.  If you and/or your spouse/partner used the plan, please participate.  Names will not be used in the publishing of results, but are necessary to know who filled out the survey to avoid duplication.  Results of the survey will be shared at the “Medicare D Review” meeting.  The meeting will be held in the Gerontology Auditorium on October 24 at 10:00 a.m.  There will be experts available to discuss what they have learned and to answer questions from those attending.  (If you wish to receive it again, please let Len Wines know at <len@winesland.net>.)

5.  Hope you received your Retiree Community Newsletter in the mail last week.  If you did not, please contact Carole Gustin with name and address.

Also, if you receive this newsletter, but did not receive a notice by e-mail for the September 11 program, please contact Carole.  We need to keep all our e-mail files up to date.

HOPEFULLY HELPFUL TIPS

NEW OLDIES TV NETWORK  Be looking for a new cable network called Retirement Living (“TV Finally Grows Up”).  (Check Google.)  This network has been designed for people 62 and older.  Programming will air initially on the East Coast in September.  A nationwide roll out will follow soon thereafter.

GENERAL HEALTH SEARCH SITES  -  As I expect most of you know, there are many sites on the Internet that will give you health advice.  Some of it apparently is very old information, so you must be careful.  Here are some that you should be able to trust:

1.  Healthline: <http://www.healthline.com>.  This site uses a new technology to conduct its own search of top Web-based health sites.  It is in the development stage, but on its home page you can choose among 200 disease-specific channels.

2.  WebMD: <http://www.webmd.com>.  This site has provided trustworthy disease-related information in an easy-to-use format for a long time.

3.  MayoClinic: <http://www.mayoclinic.com>.  No need to tell you more about this site except to say it is good.

4.  If you still can’t find what you are looking for, try the Medical Library Association’s Consumer and Patient Health Information Section at <http://www.caphis.mlanet.org/consumer>.  At this site, you can link to “The CAPHIS Top 100.”  This is a list of Web sites that are sorted for seniors, men’s health, women’s health, and drugs.  (Kiplinger’s Retirement Report, August 2006, page 11).

RETURN ON CASH  If you’re looking for the best returns on cash, you can compare interest rates at <http://www.BestCashCow.com>.  You can find the best rates for savings accounts, certificates of deposit, money market accounts, and bonds.  (Kiplinger’s Retirement Report, September 2006, page 12).

HYBRID AUTO TAX CREDIT  Last month I suggested you should hurry to buy that hybrid auto if you wanted a tax break.  If you have done that, don’t bother looking for a separate line on Form 1040.  There isn’t one.  You need to calculate the credit on Form 8910 and then enter the amount on line 55c of the 1040.  (Kiplinger’s Retirement Report, September 2006, page 12).

DRUGS FROM CANADA  If you get your prescription drugs from Canada, you may want to check the AARP Bulletin, September 2006, page 12.  It gives a lot of information on problems apparently caused by the US Government in getting these drugs.  More information than can reasonably be covered in this rag.

SOME NOT USEFUL INFORMATION:
You know you are from Wisconsin when.........

* Your whole family, and the pastor, wear green and gold to church on Sunday.  (For you uninformed, green and gold are the colors of the three-time Super Bowl Champion Green Bay Packers.)

* Traveling coast to coast means going from La Crosse to Milwaukee.

* You consider Madison exotic.

* Formal wear is blue jeans and a baseball cap.

* You design your Halloween costumes to fit over a snowsuit.

* Your sexy lingerie is tube socks and a flannel nightie.

* You find 0 degrees a little chilly.

* Exhibitionists just describe themselves much of the year.

* There is no such thing as lunch.  There is breakfast, dinner, and supper.

(There are hundreds more of these but this is enough.  Wisconsin is really a great place, most of the year then.)

PLEASE NOTE: If you know someone who would like to receive this newsletter, have him or her send an e-mail to Len Wines at <len@winesland.net> asking to be added to the list.  After you are on the list, you will remain on it until you unsubscribe.  To do that, simply send an e-mail to Len at <len@winesland.net> with the word UNSUBSCRIBE SRA in the Subject.

*The content of this Email Newsletter is for the information of the members of the USC SRA.  It is not a University of Southern California official publication.  There is no intent to promote any particular product or point of view.  Personal decisions regarding health, finance, exercise, or other matters should be made after consulting with the reader’s own professional advisors.