Boomer Woman Blog

24 November 2008

Green Cheese in the Economic Downturn

Green collar jobs are promised and that means relief for unemployed Americans, with the usual delays between intention and implementation. For a short and informal analysis of the green (eco-friendly) aspects of the bailout, see Jon Pophma's Green Pork: The Kind We Like (from October 2008). Obama has indicated a commitment to job creation that goes beyond what campaigns thought would be needed just a few months ago—and with emphasis on green.

Who can go after those jobs? The folks who will be available a year or two from now, of course. But an important consideration will be the willingness of the unemployed to join those industries, giving up strong affinity with the industries they have left. Most baby boomers have formed an identity with career or company, and that's what makes lay-offs so traumatic and re-employment sometimes delayed. It's too easy to say, "If they want a job, they'll adjust."

I like Spencer Johnson's explanation of change models. His 1998 book Who Moved My Cheese? was popular for years (and is still available) and doesn't dismiss out of hand the difficulty some people have accepting change. The book's characters (mice) respond to change (cheese that has been moved by forces beyond mouse control) in ways that are suspiciously human (ranging from denial to resistance to acceptance).

For the unemployed who can overcome resistance to changing industries, there may be a green Christmas...in a year or two.

Who Moved My Cheese?: An Amazing Way to Deal with Change in Your Work and in Your Life

© 2008 Mary Bold, PhD, CFLE. The content of this blog or related web sites created by Mary Bold (www.marybold.com, www.boldproductions.com, College Intern Blog) is not under any circumstances to be regarded as professional, legal, financial, or medical advice. Or education advice. Or marital advice. Or even a tip.

23 November 2008

Online Communication: Making Boomers Sharper and Even Smarter

Money magazine offers a pretty cute warning about age-proofing yourself at work: by behaving more like younger employeers who are presumably less likely to make the layoff list. The magazine's key behaviors for boomers to adopt: texting, contributing to wikis, twittering, and blogging. (A wise warning is included that blogging requires commitment to a schedule, so an alternative is to subscribe to many blogs.)

I like the list. But there's more here than just image-making. Learning new technologies doesn't just make us appear young—it makes us sharper, even smarter. So, regardless of purpose to compete with younger colleagues, here are my added comments:

Texting is worth every boomer's attention. Here's what makes it do-able: moving from alpha-numeric keys of a cell phone to dedicated letter keys of an iPhone, Blackberry, or similar keyboard-enhanced phone. Visit several cell phone stores and actually type on the keyboards. After you select the one that fits your fingers best, take time to experiment with settings such as audible clicks on/off. All these choices are highly personal and can move the experience from irritating to rewarding.

Wiki-writing takes a shift in thinking from sole authorship of a document to shared authoring with people you barely (or never) know. In some workplaces, wikis work very well (documenting processes, for example) and in others, a wiki dies after the novelty wears off. For the boomer who needs to make the shift in thinking, I recommend a personal use first: set up a Google Document or an Adobe buzzword file with a friend or relative to track something specific (such as a vacation plan). When you make the shift to shared online authorship, you'll appreciate not having to keep track of versions of a file on your hard drive and not having to attach files to emails to move them across the country.

Twittering and blogging are the short and long of posting news and thoughts to a public space. They surely now influence how we communicate every other way, too. Of high interest to me: how information that is blogged becomes part of a silent conversation that may never be mentioned in any other setting but nevertheless becomes part of a shared history with a friend or relative. Then, just to complicate the matter, the blogger may assume that information communicated electronically has been read and digested—while it hasn't been.

22 November 2008

Market Rally Aside... Aisles are Empty

News of a market rally was welcome yesterday but in early evening I had this stark view of a super store. I was there to pick up solar Christmas lights. About three couples my age were there picking up similarly small packages. It was a sober reminder that a little Wall Street news is just... a little news.

On a brighter note, my bookstore was bustling. I located two copies of The House at Sugar Beach and enjoyed huge savings thanks to coupons that landed in my email Inbox the day before. The clerk commented, "You have them, too! I've been getting these all day."

Now, here's my own testimony: these were the first emailed coupons I have ever printed out and taken to a store. That says a lot about baby boomers' reaction to the current economic climate, and also a little something about how retailers can stimulate sales in the near future.

21 November 2008

Personal Technology: Replacement iPhone

Thank you for your inquiries. You felt my pain. Image at left is iPod, not iPhone, but the reason will be apparent shortly.

Last weekend I dropped my iPhone on the tile floor of the kitchen. It was an impressive drop. I waited a while before turning on the phone but I wasn't surprised when I was met with a messy screen. I was lucky that the phone still worked, but the display was highly unreliable and some screens were simply unreadable.

So, I went to the Apple store and made my first Genius Bar appointment. Um. Five hours in the future. The concierge (yes, I said concierge) offered immediate appointment with a sales associate but that would mean a replacement cost of $399. The more likely "accidental damage" replacement possible at the Genius Bar, she advised, would be $199. So, then, I went back to the Apple store five hours later.

My assigned Genius was sympathetic and set about an examination. He commented that this severe a display problem would normally be accompanied by a dent or at least a scratch on the phone. This phone looked perfect. Was it possible that the display problem came at some other time than the drop on the floor? "No," I assured him, "it was a definite thud. And the next time I turned on the phone, the display was messed up."

The Genius was not persuaded. "I think the case would show signs of external damage, too." I really did not know how to explain to the Genius any better than I had, and, in truth, I began to distrust his Genius status.

Then, he made a stroke of Genius: "I'm going to replace this phone at no cost. I'm very sorry you've had this experience with your iPhone."

Um. OK.

So, I did what any boomer-aged woman would do at that point. I went over to the iPod table and picked out a stunning black Nano for my niece as a holiday gift. (It's OK. I'd bet money that this teenager is not reading my middle-aged blog.)

20 November 2008

Rushing Christmas

You will find no horrified rant about people who rush Christmas, here. This year, I am one of the rushers. I do like an extended holiday season although I typically wait until Thanksgiving to decorate if only to avoid criticism. This year, the tree will go up early, not out of special celebration but out of necessity. This week is the week the labor is available to hang lights and erect the tree.

Yes, I said erect. I resisted artificial trees until we moved to the dome. But with a 30' ceiling, how can a person resist a 14' tree? And who wouldn't prefer manhandling a fake tree at that height?

There was one year with an even more artificial tree: Christmas at a lodge in Williamsburg required ingenuity. Katy and Ethan were charged with getting a tree that year. They projected the image above on the wall of the hotel room and, yes, we opened gifts under it.

19 November 2008

Layaway's Comeback for the Financial Crunch

There was a day when shoppers did not need schooling in layaway. (Sears' new ad explains it in 3 steps, as layaway makes a comeback for the financial crunch holidays.) That is, boomers grew up with the concept of paying for a product before taking it home, and then we invented credit cards, which might be called the takeaway model. Purchase, take home, use, and hope the object has a lifetime longer than the payments.

Buying on credit wasn't really invented by boomers, of course. For centuries, farmers and ranchers lived on credit—with the farm co-op and the mercantile waiting patiently for payment. In those days, merchants knew that money would come after harvest or market. Mortgages were sometimes handled the same way, except "harvest" meant you'd have the money someday after an elder died. What did you think "bought the farm" meant?

Layaway came in and out of fashion and today it carries a connotation of having bad credit (hence the requirement to pay for an item in full before taking it home) and that reputation probably hastened layaway's demise after credit cards became common. But the reputation doesn't tell the real story. I grew up knowing that:

layaway permitted me to choose a particular item that might not be available a few months later because store shelves were stocked differently in those days,
layaway gave me a safe place to put my money because bank accounts for children were rare in those days,
and layaway was my way of keeping my money committed so that family members could not claim it. (It was an unusual household: all available money was to be spent as quickly as possible but debt was honored. And my layaway commitment was viewed as a debt that I had to tend.)

If I consider those childhood experiences from the 1960s, I can project what layaway must have meant to adults, especially women who might never open a bank account. A favorite fabric could be put on reserve. The store's cash register was safer than a coffee can for saving money. And by taking extra money to the store every week, a woman could prevent anyone else from squandering it.

Layaway was direct money management. And that's probably what it is today. My guess is that most of the people who are reviving layaway have credit cards in their wallets. They are choosing a different model that is more deliberate and more concrete. And just may help get them get through the holidays.

18 November 2008

The Plant Has Died

The Schefflera has died. I know its name only because a neighbor in my last town exclaimed, "You are keeping a Schefflera alive?"

And I didn't actually learn the name that day but my sister later explained it slowly to me. I don't remember how I came to acquire the plant but I came to know it well. The Schefflera served as the only plant that lived with us year after year. (Sorry, Carol. The little bamboo plants didn't make it.)

Friends and relatives know me for my affection toward dead things. I have lots of twigs and vines in the house. Dried grasses. You get the idea. Pretty things that need no tending.

Except for the Schefflera. The one that confounded my neighbor. My secret to its long life was watering it only when I remembered. This meant it could go for weeks (sometimes even months) without attention. Pruning? Are you kidding? I picked up dropped leaves when I noticed them. That's usually when it would occur to me to add water to the planter.

That plant lasted 11 years.

17 November 2008

Thanksgiving: Timing the Turkey

Whew. The video did NOT run for 2 hours. I really didn't think it would but I couldn't resist checking out the turkey-cooking video advertised in my email from Tom Thumb. (Video was 3.5 minutes.)

And even though I figured it was the turkey that takes 2 hours, not the video, I was curious as to why it would take only 2 hours to cook a bird.

Hang onto your hat. The recommended oven temperature is 475 degrees.

When did that become acceptable? The video also advised placing a meat thermometer all the way down to the bone. When did that become acceptable?

OK. So, maybe I don't keep up with the culinary arts. Maybe I don't actually have a meat thermometer anymore. And the video lady also had an oven thermometer, which I certainly have never had. Well, as long as we're itemizing, I also don't have the V-shaped rack needed for this roasting instruction. Nor the kosher salt. Nor the pepper.

I have olive oil. And the video.

16 November 2008

Not my best month for personal technology

What would you do if your teenager dropped a 3-month-old iPhone on the tile floor?

How about your dear 55-year-old friend?

15 November 2008

Boomers and Their Shopping Malls

Just about 10 years ago, shopping ranked as the number 1 American pastime on vacations. As the economic picture grows bleaker, we can expect that both of those concepts (shopping and vacations) will undergo change.

As a baby boomer, I have a clear memory of my first shopping mall, which we determined to be the enclosed set of shops distinguished from a shopping center, which was an open-air set of shops. Today, the words run together and some very high-end malls would have been called shopping centers in my Arkansas hometown.

Well, if malls are as old as I am, it should be no surprise that some will fall into disrepair (much like me...) and even close their doors. A couple of months ago I visited the Mall of America in Minneapolis, and I'm glad I saw it pre-economic-disaster. If I were to visit now, I would have another lens: how long a dry spell can this Mall withstand? Instead, my memory is one of a bustling mall with an amusement center in its middle and an aquarium in its basement.

National reports indicate that shopping patterns are already changing and retailers are bracing for a depressed holiday season. Will shopping real estate soon reflect these patterns?

We can track that on a web site called deadmalls.com, which is the work of two retail historians. (I am educated: I was not aware of this term before this week.) Contributors to the web site permit a wide range of reports from around the country.

14 November 2008

Boomers on a Budget: What to Cut (and Not)

I am very, very reluctant to share with you my philosophy about budgeting in the economic downturn. We can all share tips about budgeting, but who is to say that a philosophy about these matters is worthy of discussion? (I'm the kind of teacher who resists grading a student's philosophy. In practical terms, my reluctance means that almost all students receive "full points" when I review a philosophy in a portfolio assignment).

So, in as short a span as possible, I'll address my personal philosophy about what to cut (and not) as the economy continues to falter. Here it is: try to minimize the impact on people who serve you.

The carhop at Sonic still gets a tip.
The house cleaner keeps me as a client.
The hairdresser schedule remains intact.

I visited with the hairdresser this week and we discussed the impact of the economy on her business. October was bad. Lots of canceled appointments, especially for hair coloring. November is better and predictive of a typical holiday season. But she is not looking forward to January.

With humor and assurance that I was making no such proposal, I told her about a blog I read recently: the blogger quit going to her regular hairdresser and instead located a stylist (via craigslist) who was willing to barter services. The exchange was hair coloring for closet organizing, both being accomplished at the hairdresser's home. My own hairdresser shook her head. "Not good. She's cutting into her bill-paying income. What's she going to say to her bank? I don't have money for this month's house mortgage, but the house has really clean closets."

13 November 2008

The Other MLS: Mass Layoff Statistics

Most boomers recognize MLS as the Multiple Listing Service used in real estate. We now learn another meaning of the abbreviation: Mass Layoff Statistics, a state and federal data collection effort published on the web site of the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics.

This employment-focused MLS doesn't publish the names of companies laying off employees but it does disclose the stats surrounding the loss of jobs when more than 50 workers file for unemployment insurance (UI) in a 5-week period. The statistic becomes "extended mass layoff" when 50 separated workers are documented past 31 days.

The MLS pages contrast with news accounts that name companies, quote executives, and tie the layoff statistics to quarterly financial reports. While the confidential and anonymous nature of MLS withholds identifying data, that's not necessarily a bad thing. Even anonymous stories carry a punch.

Today, Tom Bold heard from a friend who is part of a layoff announced without warning. This friend's employer had a larger layoff in early 2008 (10% of the workforce at that point) and says this one can be smaller (4% of the current workforce). Of course, if you're part of a layoff, there is little consolation in it being a single-digit-percentage layoff. How will Tom's friend fare? His severance package is literally half of what it would have been if he had been included in the earlier and larger layoff. His layoff will be immediate whereas the earlier layoff group had several months' warning. And with rising unemployment this fall, his chances for a new job are probably lower today than they would have been earlier in 2008.

12 November 2008

Air Travel: Business & Y Fares

flyertalk.com has more talk than you can imagine, mostly about flying but with a few ancillary discussions on other travel topics, too. I meandered into a forum for British Airways customers and learned about how classes of flying are interpreted by business travelers during an economic downturn.

Many companies are flatly ruling that only Y airfare will be booked during the downturn. (Y=economy class)
Most forum participants (may not be the same as most employees) acknowledge that everyone must help to cut costs and therefore are flying Y.
Some forum participants suggest that if one were smart enough to negotiate a J travel policy when accepting the job, one should insist on it being honored. (J=business class)
And a couple of strong voices reply that such behavior just might land one on the next-layoff list.

11 November 2008

Boomers Traveling: Sharing Car Space

The Bolds driving their smallest car (smallest ever, not just currently) for a road trip means making comparison between compact and full-sized van, compact and SUV, and compact and mini-van. The full-sized van offered a full-sized bed in the back but, of course, the gas mileage was about 14 miles/gallon. The SUV provided some stretch-out space and mileage was in the low 20s, but its only real superiority was in its cup holders.

For best of most worlds, I liked the mini-van for travel: gas mileage in the mid-20s, enough stretch-out space for sleeping, and room enough to move between seats easily (my favorite feature).

So, here we are in the Prius. Not a good car for sleeping. Not the best cup holders. Certainly not good for moving between seats. But gas mileage of 48 to 52 miles/gallon.

On the last trip across half the country, I decided to create as good a riding space as possible. I called it the mini-mini-van. Sitting in the larger half of the split back-seat, I arranged travel bags and pillows so that I could lounge comfortably with a fair number of technology toys within reach. I pushed the passenger-side front seat forward and removed its head rest. This permitted full view of the road ahead. From the back seat I also gained full view of the instrument panel, thereby able to advise Tom on his speed and gas tank level any time I darn well felt like it.

10 November 2008

Boomers Traveling: Sharing Food

Actually, it's pretty big news when Tom and I travel together, let alone share food on the road but this month presented us with opportunity to drive together from Florida to Texas. In 38 years of travel we've packed picnics, stopped for restaurant meals, and mostly just done drive-through.

In my current cost-cutting efforts (I have to say "my" because Tom has always been the on-the-cheap travel eater) I was impressed at Tom's find for 2008: the footlong sub that is obviously large enough to share. He was surprised when the promotion extended past summer, but was pleased to introduce me to it in our November travel.

Of course, there is a challenge to the shared footlong: agreement on the sub components.

09 November 2008

A bird and his cage

No question about it. This bird at Caribe Royale in Orlando spends more time out of his cage than in.

In fact, when the handler next walked by, he failed to coax the bird in, so ended up just closing the door and leaving the bird on top of the cage.

By the next day, the bird was inside the cage and I wondered why.

(Guests at the resort can often be seen and heard trying to capture the bird's attention and start a conversation.)

08 November 2008

Air Travel: Too Many Empty Seats

I'm like most travelers my age: I cheer when I find an empty seat next to me on a plane. But as this photo indicates, some flights today have too many empty seats.

For perhaps 5 years, I saw nothing but full and over-full flights—routinely. In 2008 (to date), I have been on at least 4 flights with "elbow room," meaning I've had an empty seat next to me. And on 2 flights, now, I've seen more than half of seats on the plane empty. Half of my flights this year have been full but I don't recall that any of them were over-sold.

As a flight attendant said to me on the plane seen above, "I enjoy a light flight but I'd rather see my company making money."

By the way, the plane was heading to Orlando. In 22 years of flying in and out of Orlando, I have never seen a flight less than full, until this week.

07 November 2008

Personal Technology: Ballroom Dialing

This week I attended a technology conference in Florida (sponsored by Sloan-C) on online learning. Like many conferences today, the event included most meals. That's a great way to (a) keep your attendees in the meeting space, (b) help your attendees keep their expenses down, (c) give something to vendors to sponsor.

And that's how I came to be in a ballroom for dinner (sponsored by TaskStream) with at least 800 or 900 people. The entertainment was a mentalist (Michael Anthony) with the requisite number of astounding feats.

For me, the highlight of the evening was the mentalist's request that the audience locate a participant from afar for his next astounding feat. He said, "we'll do this by cell phone." And easily 500 people whipped out their cell phones and started dialing.

I had never been in such a setting. Hundreds of people willing to call their... lifelines? The way this worked in the ballroom is that one fellow held up his phone to signify connection and the mentalist called him up to the stage. And then the cell phone was put on "speaker" and held up to a microphone and the mentalist proceeded to accomplish an astounding feat with a woman in her bed in Ohio.

My point is this: at least 500 people not only had their cell phones at the ready, but were happy to utilize them for the entertainer's task. It was an amazing group activity in a ballroom.

(No, I didn't dial out.)

06 November 2008

Boomerater in Beta

This is a basic recommendation for Boomerater, which promises "Recommendations & Advice by Boomers for Boomers." I like the idea of it. I like the tone it's trying to establish. There's just not a bustling about it yet. The web publisher wisely labels the website as beta, which gives hope for things to come.

Building online community (and the advertising relationships needed to support the community) should be easier. At least that's the impression from the successful web communities. But baby boomers are more accustomed to receiving community (we were trained on mass media produced by professionals) than creating it (Woodstock and Summer of Love were not daily events, after all).

05 November 2008

Boomer Ed: Student-Faculty Relations

Part 6 in a 6-part series on Boomers going back to school during the economic downturn.

In my own middle-age years I was both student and professor, so I offer the following relationship tips from both perspectives.

Sucking up. No matter how good an actor you are, professors are better. Insincere sucking up is spotted immediately by faculty members and then they talk about you (but without letting you know they're on to you). If you don't sincerely like the professor, better just to be polite and skip the suck-up.

Worrying about appearing to suck up. This is actually the more realistic situation and one that prompts sympathy from the faculty. You may feel awkward in paying a compliment to the professor because it sounds as though you are sucking up. Well, most adults can sort out the fulsome praise from the genuine (just as you can), so my advice is to go ahead and utter the compliment.

Complaining. If you have a reason for a comment, then you're not complaining. Ask yourself the simple question, "If I were teaching this course, would I want to hear this comment?" Almost all instructors, almost all the time, welcome students' input about the course.

Demanding. Most professors bristle at demands, whether they be for grades, extensions, special allowances. Middle-age, returning students are sometimes in professional careers in which they routinely make demands on employees. It's easy to carry that expectation into the classroom. And it's easy for professors to resent that expectation. "Special allowances" may not always sound demanding (to the student) but they come across that way to the professor. A recent one in my memory: a student approached me before class to say, "I'll miss most of class tonight. I need to get to the cleaners before they close."

Feigning familiarity with faculty. When this comes up, it's almost always a student calling a professor by first name in front of fellow students, but with a formal title in privacy. The game probably relates to "social comparison" whereby the student seeks to elevate his position in the eyes of peers. I've ever only seen it backfire, with students and faculty alike eventually mocking the pompous student (but with no discussion between students and faculty).

Enjoying genuine friendship with faculty. But the above scenario does not mean that students and faculty cannot form real friendships. Interestingly, when they do, it's almost always marked by the student calling a professor by formal title in front of fellow students, but by first name in privacy.

On the matter of titles. Usually, titles of Dr. and Professor reflect a local campus culture. Especially if faculty teach in an undergraduate program, they may refer to each other as Dr. X and Dr. Y, even when students are not around. In short, the titles become ingrained in daily habit.