Intergenerational Cross-Pollination

One aspect of education and elder care of particular interest is the trend of inter-generational learning and living.  As families are delayed due to educational and career goals, or live apart from extended family members, the opportunity to interact with grandparents on a regular basis also diminishes.

Physical, mental, social and emotional benefits are documented on both sides of the age bracket in those who are involved in these opportunities.  Elders afflicted with Alzheimer's draw on past child nurturing skills to relate to an infant again and find long hidden skills that still exist.  Children developing new patterns of speech share the same obstacles as folks relearning speech after strokes. Their shared experiences and developing trust with each other trains children not to be fearful of differently abled persons, aging and even death.

In the course of researching the to illustrate and documented benefits, I stumbled on co-housing.  A collective group of individuals sharing living space so that as the adults age in place, resources and relationships are already established to delay or eliminate the need to transition to nurisng home or elder care.  Young families are enriched with the presence of elder perspective, insight and sharing crafts and hobbies of previous generations. Child care in exchange for meal preparation, the possibilities for bartering levels of care abound.

Golden Girls episodes of my formative years came to mind with a same-sex couple raising their family across the courtyard and more folks from all walks of life and cultures rounding out the melting potluck.  The blessing of growing up less than three miles from my maternal grandparents is one of the highlights of my youth.  Whether involved in church projects, craft projects, house keeping or bookkeeping for their auto repair business, we were always welcome in their home.  Our grandfather was a mechanic and took each of the grandchildren fishing - or as we called it, eating snacks in the rowboat on a lake. After his death, our grandmother excelled in all the right ways indulging our passions, teaching sewing and sponsoring craft projects, making costumes, teaching the value of elbow grease and sharing cooking expertise. She had the opportunity to love and enjoy her two great grandsons for five and eight years spending much time on hands and knees playing Hot Wheels.  When she died after spending much time entertaining my young sons and we were choosing remembrances, I chose her cookie jar and cast iron pot for spaghetti. 

Daycare for my nephew is provided by his maternal grandparents twice a week.  The constant interaction in his development and daily care has created a bond and connection that matters to his social experiences.  It provides my parents with structure in their retirement, a schedule to adhere to and purpose, which is important at any age and stage in development.  The second nephew will be emerging any day and while they consider whether they are too old to maintain the pace of a preschooler and an infant, the draw of seeing those important milestones will keep them in yoga class maintaining flexibility to lift those hefty bundles and rise from floor play for another Ring Around the Rosie before all fall down for a nap.

Even today, many of my richest friendships are with women 10-35 years my senior.  They offer a sense of life with no filters, no presumption and a level of honesty that women my own age long for but can't yet achieve.  These are the ladies I want to be when I grow up.  And these are the types of programs I want to see integrated in senior housing when I get there.  Be the change you want to see in the world was never more real than it is right now.  Today, don't put it off.  Research how to make a small step in the right direction.  You don't have to embrace the values of those in power - rebel, revolt and make your own reality. Can I integrate one or both of these concepts in the retirement community in which I work?  Hard to tell, but I know who to talk to to raise awareness that it is working in other areas and contacts for each step of the way to bring it to fruition.  Someone somewhere had the vision to bring hospice care to the residents and we are darn close to accepting our first patients and gathering our team to provide compassionate care to families at end of life. 

Providence Mt. St. Vincent -  the nursing home with a preschool at heart - 
http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2016/01/the-preschool-inside-a-nursing-home/424827/

Intergenerational housing article:
http://www.aarp.org/home-garden/housing/info-03-2011/intergenerational-cohousing-for-all-ages.html

Is our Election Process a Broken Rube Goldberg Machine?

Remember making a Rube Goldberg device in middle school?  Hated that assignment, when the boys had it...

Remember the commercial from a few years back where car parts essentially assemble themselves? Mesmerizing and admirable in its precision... which is why I posted above.  One, it goes with the whirlygig theme and is oddly transfixing and meditative, and two, it illustrates an interesting point about elections.  Our vote, as we have seen recently, doesn't elect the president, but directs our electoral college vote to that 270 majority needed to win.  Third party voters and write-in candidates may have seen their vote as a mandate to elect anyone but the two main candidates, when in reality, it did nothing to prevent the travesty of a Trump presidency - heretofore referred to as TP for the amusement with a 12 year old level of scatological humor. But that's a whole nother story.

A Rube Goldberg machine is a contraption that through a series calculated events, movements and orchestrations achieves a goal at the end of the process, not unlike the election process.  The popular vote is supposed to cast the electoral vote in the direction of the candidate to gain a majority of 270 votes in the electoral college.  When we lose sight of that goal, it's just a Rube Goldberg machine that didn't hit the mark, or the marbles spilled, the dominoes were not aligned or the fire didn't burn through the rope to release the pulley.

The electoral college was established to ensure that votes from states with greater population did not hold more weight than votes from lesser populated areas.  Electoral votes are determined by how many representatives we have in Congress and the Senate.  Has this approach outlived its usefulness?  Is it time to do away with the electoral college and develop a better system. There are numerous opinions and reasons for each side; but not until we have a suitable replacement.  Same with Obama care.  Is it perfect, no.  Should it be repealed and abolished?  Not until we have a better workable solution to put in place.  Reinventing the wheel has no place in politics or health care.

So, the question remains, where do we go from here?  Would Canada or Mexico annex WA, OR and CA as New Canada/Northern Mexico?  Should we secede and form our own union? What do we call it Caloreton?  Washregfornia? Orlifton?   Do we invite Bernie Sanders to lead us and each send 5 representatives for legislative body?  The advantage would be we have coastal access, legalized weed and same sex marriage.  The down side is we have TP for a neighbor.  Build another wall?  What people don't realize about a wall is that it impedes relationships, exchange of goods and services and all that is walled in may not all be good; all that is walled out may not be all bad.  Long story short, USA would be a better ally than enemy.  We have a few months to develop coping skills and tons of jokes.

To go in another direction, on the plus side, Faux news will have fodder to report EVERY GIVEN DAY of the next 3 months; the next 4 years and beyond.  For those that thrive on that kind of journalism, you have the full smorgasboard coming 24/7.  I'm using my cable to tune in to the Daily Show on a more regular basis.The plan to use military to support and reinforce our decaying infrastructure at home a point I can support.  If road crews were integrated with military forces to complete projects - in no way would it take 4 months to complete simple route revisions. 

Many who are shattered, chagrined and disgruntled at the result are committing to assisting immigrants through the legal channels to remain in the US in the interim.  Contributions to Planned Parenthood are on the rise and the call to build trust, care and console each other to brace for what is to come is strong.  The destructive behaviors, hate, racism and division of the past 16 months can't be undone, repaired or retracted.  Those holes remain, but what we do with that knowledge can be our balm, our mantra, our pledge to support and uphold the Constitution of the United States against whose who might not hold that goal quite so much in priority to their own agendas.

Did you see how hard 8 years weathered and aged Obama?  He's a relatively fit guy who gave up smoking to better be fit to serve on a daily basis.  How is Mr. Cheeto going to weather the stress of the oval office?  Judging BMI and skin tone alone, the outlook doesn't bode well.  So essentially we are one blocked artery away from a Pence presidency, and that, my friends is truly a whole nother story.

If interested in researching the move to disband the electoral college:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/11/9/1594792/-The-surprisingly-realistic-path-to-eliminating-the-Electoral-College-by-2020

HR Incentivizing - Hookers and Blow?

Last week I received an invitation to a meeting by our HR department.  Nope, it wasn't that kind of a meeting and I didn't have to fill a jar.  Which is a good thing since I live in Washington.  But a whole nother story.

This email was inviting employees from every decade and demographic to a meeting about how our company should be incentivizing employees for longevity and superior service.  Utilizing Massey's value development theory that what motivates each generation is vastly different things. The objective of the meeting is to have each demographic team come up with three things that would motivate their team to excel at work.  And for this opportunity we'll be away from our desks two hours mid-morning and spend the rest of the day in a furious attempt to catch up on the amassed voice mails, emails and tasks.

What's wrong with the old model called salary or "We show up, work and you pay us?"
I'm a simple girl.  Keep it simple and don't make me do dog and pony shows. My first thought was,
"How do I get out of this gig?"  Then, I remembered what my spouse with an eternally 12yo mentality would say, "Hookers and Blow!"  That should do it!  Might be a career limiting move; but would also get people talking about the subject with other employees and get some push behind the campaign.

Could you imagine the level of productivity of employees motivated by hookers and blow?  Endless work shifts followed by a "8 seconds at the Mustang Ranch". The cost in L&I might make a dent in profits, but the new business partners and clientele would surely work out the kinks.

Since I've worked for companies who tried bad ideas for work rewards, I have some experience with the lamest of morale-building ideas.

Employee engagement activities - where people who don't like each other and don't want to be social are forced after hours to be with people they don't like and be social or even competitive. Agony.

The raffle ticket game where people go the extra mile in ways they should but normally don't all for a paper raffle ticket.  "I put my wrapper in the garbage, give me a ticket."

Fake moola to purchase company swag.  Eh, wrong, especially since company swag had the name of a funeral home on it.

Wellness bucks to buy products at discount when I worked for a sporting goods retailer.  Completely waterproof head to toe including undergarments in 14 months.

Writing SMILE notes to one another for team points for giving or receiving.  So eventually notes become "Thanks! For Making Our Team Great! from someone who is not even on your team...

Earning points on a competitive on the wall graph... where everyone can witness your underachievement and lack of giving any 1/2 of any expletive.

Then, wouldn't you know I'd get an idea I just couldn't get rid of about this concept.
There is a fish market right down the street from work and fish restaurants all up and down our community. Hookers...
Fish and chips gift cards - with a vegan option
Promotional swag with velcro attaching the ends.
Fly fishing expedition for sports enthusiasts or fly tying class for artsy folks.

Blow could entail any number of blowing activities that could build some kid-like fun into the day.
Bubbles on the campus in spring would be enlightening.
Chewing gum puts a little flavor in your day.
Slide whistle could go in the office emergency kit.
Punching balloons, beach balls, pool toys, sex toys... but I digress...

Then I realized that the company I work for is never going to even consider this avenue:
Because, 1) I work in a retirement community, so the residents might not respond well to a campaign to reward employees with vices, nor visits from the vice squad.
2) We manage home health and hospice, so the concept of drugs and illicit sex wouldn't fly.
And, most importantly,
3) It is run by a conservative religious organization.  So take my fabulous idea and run with it, HR departments of depraved, profit-mongering caverns of mind-sucking boredom.  I've been in a few of those myself and the urge to cut off your wrist to escape passes after a bump in SSRIs or 4 years of therapy.

I'll be writing my next blog with a Troll doll with a #2 lead pencil up its posterior, that I got saving paper clips for 8 months to make a long enough chain...