Presto! How to Email a Non-Techie
April 30, 2008
How many of you have parents or grandparents who just don’t, won’t or can’t learn the computer technology needed to connect them to email? Well HP, the tech giant has solved the problem with creation of the HP Printing Mailbox. It works with a service called Presto and allows you to send email, documents and photos from your camera and cellphone to a loved one who doesn’t do email.
Whatever you send comes out of the HP Mailbox at a scheduled time in a single sheet ready for the recipient to pick-up and read. Here’s a recent testimonial:
It is a remarkable product that lets anyone receive email and attached photos, or PDF documents without the hassle and expense of a computer or Internet connection. It’s easy to set up and simple to use. All you need is an existing phone line and electrical outlet. Now our whole family can send Mom email and photos that are transformed into beautiful, full-color printouts. Messages are printed automatically, so all she has to do is pick them up off of the Printing Mailbox, read and enjoy!
It sounds so user-friendly I almost want one myself. You can even subscribe to a variety of magazine articles at no extra charge that will be delivered at the specified time you program into the mailbox. And there’s not a lot of maintenance involved beyond the periodic ink cartridge and paper.
This could be a great gift for seniors or anyone else who’s a non-techie that you want to stay in touch with. The mailbox itself is around $150 and the Presto service about $10/month. Although this isn’t cheap, it’s a thoughtful gift from a tech-savvy family to a loved one. And consider that as Mother’s and Father’s Days roll around, this might be the gift the whole family can chip in on to bring a smile every day to the non-techie they love.
What Fresh Hell Is This? - The Diabolical Dad in Austria
April 29, 2008
The third “What Fresh Hell Is This” award goes to the diabolical dad in Austria who imprisoned his daughter and made her a victim of incest for nearly a quarter of a century. And that is turning out to be only the tip of the iceberg of crimes committed by the man now known as “Josef F” as DNA tests confirmed that he fathered 7 children with his daughter. If you need details, there’s enough news coverage out there to meet all of your needs. But suffice it to say that he wrecked massive and unbelievable devastation on his own family in ways that defy all comprehension.
I remember meeting a woman years ago, who was in a class I taught on genealogy. When we got to the point of filling out the pedigree or generation chart, she was stumped. After class, this woman came up to me and said:
My father is my grandfather and my mother is my aunt.
Even though I’m pretty knowledgeable about genealogy and family history, I confess I was stumped too. But as we talked further, it became painfully clear that my student was the daughter of an incest victim. I was stunned and saddened as my student shared the circumstances of her birth and how her father/grandfather ended up going to prison for his crime. I remembered hearing the pain in her voice as she related her family’s terrible story.
As I read the story of the awful situation in Austria, I wondered how my former student has fared over the years. Although she and her mother weren’t held captive in a basement cell like the family in Austria, I imagine that the stain of incest can be its own lifelong prison.
I’m saying a prayer for them all.
“What Fresh Hell Is This” Award - Vertigo
April 25, 2008
The 2nd “What Fresh Hell Is This” award goes to my ongoing case of vertigo. As I wrote last week, I somehow have contracted BPPV - benign paroxysmal positional vertigo. This bugger of an inner ear condition hasn’t responded to the weird set of exercises my doctor prescribed. So yesterday, dizzier than ever (all right hold the funny comments), I headed back to Dr. Z’s office after pleading for an appointment before the weekend.
When Dr. Z came in, he lowered the chair back and told me he wanted me to lay back quickly. With Dr. Z supporting me, I leaned back and the room began to spin at warp speed. I remember gripping the chair as if to hold on for dear life while Dr. Z watched my eyes looking for something that tells him that the vertigo is worse. He found it. With that confirmation, Dr. Z brought out the little gizmo that vibrates your head to shake runaway little calcium rocks floating around in the inner ear canal back into the right place. Of course, this is my lay-patient interpretation of yet another bizarre treatment of my vertigo.
Then the nurse brought a cervical collar in for me to wear to restrict my head movement for a week. My first thought was “what fresh hell is this”? But upon further reflection, I said bring on anything that will get rid of the spinning in my head. So here I sit writing this post with my collar on and my dizziness reduced either by the treatment and/or the low dose of Valium Dr. Z said would help. In either case, I can concentrate again.
Has anyone else had an experience with trying to get rid of vertigo?
What You Don’t Know About Alzheimer’s Disease
April 8, 2008
For years what I knew about Alzheimer’s could fit on the head of a pin. I didn’t really understand how this disease ravages a brain. I even remember joking about Alzheimer’s and using the phrase “a little touch of Al” to describe a moment of forgetfulness. But now with a mother and best friend afflicted with this dreadful degenerative disease, there’s little room to be flip and uninformed.
I found that you don’t know what you don’t know about Alzheimer’s until you know. The New York Times article on the symptoms, diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease is one of the best resources I’ve seen recently that can provide a baseline of knowledge about the disease. Please read this article if you know someone afflicted with Alzheimer’s — or even if you don’t. You may learn something that will help someone down the road. And because the incidence of Alzheimer’s will continue to increase as we 78 million Baby Boomers age, that someone just might be you.
What Happens When Something Happens to a Caregiver?
April 8, 2008
My coaching colleague, Mary provides homecare for her elderly mother who has Alzheimer’s. Mary is a wealth of information on the caregiver experience and recently let me know about a special kind of jewelry for caregivers.
The caregiver’s ID bracelet is to be worn by those who provide caregiving in case anything happens to them. If you know any caregivers, pass this along or better yet, send them the bracelet as a way to say “I’m thinking of you and all you do”.
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Karen - Midlife Coach
