New Jersey Baby Boomer

As members of the Baby Boomer generation, most of us are finding our eyesight isn’t what it used to be.  In spite of the fact that there are surgeries to improve site, or contacts, I prefer wearing eyeglasses.

There was an article written at examiner.com that made me think about our own experience purchasing glasses online…you can read the post about eyeglasses right here, written by a man who lived in Brooklyn, NY.

This was an honest review sharing how he was able to get glasses at a low price, was pleased with the glasses, and shared honestly why the glasses could be obtained at great discounts.

We have purchased glasses from the same source, and the prices are great…the fact that there aren’t designer frames, which there aren’t…but they are very fashionable, does not matter to us…in the present economy, getting glasses at somewhere between $8 and $50 dollars without insurance is amazing.

We did find that when we made our first purchase, we forgot to give proper measurements for the glasses, and had to send them back and get another pair, working out a fair arrangment with the seller. It’s important to provide your PD (pupilary distance) number…something you have to obtain from an optometrist.

You pick your frames and arrange everything online, it takes a couple weeks for your glasses to arrive by mail. For more information, you may want to stop by and take a look at holiday eyeglasses and then browse about the site and see for yourself what you can get for a great price.

How much do you know about me, the blogger? I do have an “about me” page you can visit to get to know me better. Do you know that even though I’m a nutritionist, I love a good cup of Arabaca Bean coffee? My husband tends to be the tea drinker in the house. He works with a gentleman from China who has introduced him to green tea, and how to drink it the way they do in china. I was recently introduced to white tea, which is also a healthy tea, and will have to tell him about this one, and see if his friend has heard of it. So there’s just a little tidbit about me, and a wish for you that you have a wonderful day!

Recently I’ve been looking at other satellite dish services, in fact I did a search last Thursday to look at the details on a service I’ve seen advertised. We’ve been customers with Directv for quite a few years…I think it’s getting close to 10 years now. When I visited the site I was curious about, it was nothing like I expected, the price was a bit lower, but DirecTV’s site is so advanced by comparison…and I love the new thing they are doing with movies. We like our movies clean, with as little violence, bad language and sexual content as possible, so love the fact that for each movie you can now look at a review that gives you in detail how much of those “yucky” things will be in the movie, and even gives you discussion guide that you can use with your children after the movie. So I think we’re going to stay with what we have. As for cable, even the local papers in our part of New Jersey are complaining about the service they are receiving, and a neighbor was sharing that they have taken away many channels that he likes, so he is comparing Satellite TV services and asked what I thought of the service we are receiving…I told him that we are pleased. They do have HD too, but we haven’t given that a try yet.

As we get ready to celebrate the birthday of our Nation, only a few days after Canada celebrated their birthday, I began to think back to things that I learned in history.  When in school, I actually hated history classes, sad, I know…I think it was more because of the way it was taught than anything. A teacher who makes history come alive is a great teacher indeed, if you are left with a text book with an overwhelming number of words and a few pictures, and no intrigue in what is written, it is to me, boring.

So this boomer, over the years, has gained a great love for history in my own way.  It started out innocently as a love for historical novels…history mixed in with a bit of drama, romance, and other things that made it more interesting to read.  Then great movies that portray events in history, then stumbling on museums and historic spots while traveling, and finally, the internet provides an endless resource for researching the history of anything.

Little things intrigue me, like when a light goes on because you realize that the name of a bridge has historical significance. I remember when they built the Verrazano Narrows Bridge that reaches from Brooklyn to Staten Island, NY.  I didn’t give it much thought at the time…it made it easier to visit some relatives and it was REALLY big was all that registered to me as a child. 

The bridge itself is named after the Italian explorer, Giovanni da Verrazzano, who came and explored the NEW YORK coast under commission by France. But he also explored the New Jersey coast in the early 1600’s.  I grew up thinking that this beautiful bridge went from my State to Staten Island, but I guess the only connection that it has to NJ is the fact that the man it was named after explored the NJ coast.

A few other posts related to history you may want to visit:Thomas Edison & the Stock Market

New Jersey Women - Ann Morrow Lindbergh

New Jersey Women - Clara Barton

New Jersey Men - Death, Duel & Weehawken, NJ

I feel like doing a personal post today, no NJ history, or places to visit, or any of that, just some things that are happening in the lives of two Baby Boomers in NJ, my husband and I.

As you know if you read my blog(s), we live in a rural lake community. Because we have lived here for about 25 years, we had gained a nice bit of equity in our home. We have a mortgage still…would be nice to have that paid off, but the equity came in handy when we had a couple of emergencies and refinanced to cover the bills as well as reduce our interest.

Then when hubby joined the many who have lost their jobs at the age of 50something after working for a company for 30 years, and had to change jobs a few times in 4 years, we found that we had to dip into the equity of our home to make it by a few times.

Then to top it off, this year, the equity went down on our home along with every other home in the Nation. Yes, we still have a chunk left between what we owe and what we might get for our home if we sell it, but I’d say it’s been cut almost in half. That’s a tough pill to swallow if you’re hoping that the equity in your home was going to help you in your retirement one day. Or be something that you can leave your children.

The times are challenging ones, for sure, and there are no easy answers. They are times that can cause worry and fear, or can put us on our knees in prayer, hubby and I are doing the latter and counting of the promises that God has given us to provide all our NEEDS. Even though we live relatively simply, like many, we have our priorities a little off balance in some areas, bad habits developed when it seemed like the money would always be coming in at the same rate forever…ha! We bear some of the responsibility for where we find ourselves.

So here’s to the future, and hopes that things are going to improve, and faith to know that no matter what, we’ll be okay.

A few posts back, I was sharing with you about a job change my husband was experiencing during these economically turbulent times, about our trip to Delaware on an interview, and so on….click the “tag” under the title of this post that says “Boomer Life Changes” to find those posts.

Bottom line, hubby has found a job here in NJ, we don’t have to move, and are so thankful for this.  He finished his present job yesterday and starts the new, and hopefully more stable one, on Monday.

Also, in order to keep this blog focused more on my Boomer & New Jersey life, I’ve started a more personal blog, something I’ve wanted to do for a while, that can be just about anything in my life, my heart, my thoughts.  You’ll by clicking Claudia’s Chronicles.