Today Is Your Day Boomer

Today is your day Boomer! A big smile on my face and ready to go! That's me, three months after hip replacement surgery and finishing physiotherapy, I venture out today....for the first time...to the wacky world of pickleball! Thumbs up from my surgeon and physiotherapist allow me to do this, with one provision: work into any sport slowly. So, I raise my racquet today and step forth into "all-level social" p-ball with mostly Boomers and seniors lining up against me. I will step trepidately on the court with mixed feelings: happy to be back, but somewhat worried about my new hip. It is perfect, I am pain free, I feel great, but....there is always the "mental" aspect of returning from injury or surgery. Will I get hurt again, will I have to return for re-constructive surgery, can I still play? All valid questions...to be answered today. But I have done it before, coming back from valve surgery, broken ribs, a torn hamstring, a partiially-torn achilles, fro...

Today is your day Boomer! Boomers, more news about the fastest-growing sport in North America....pickleball! I play regularly, when not injured or recovering from hip surgery, and I am one of about 14,000 members of Pickleball B.C., the provincial organization that regulates and promotes play in our province. And women outnumber men in our sport: "The average age of our members is 61.45 years. The gender breakdown is 55% female, 44% male, and 1% other." (The Kitchen) So, women Boomers dominate this sport! And who is ready for more competition? "The Nanaimo Pickleball Club will coordinate resources and work with the 55+ BC Games Society and the local Host Committee to organize what they hope will be the best ever 55+ BC Games Pickleball event. They expect up to 350 players to take part, out of a total of 3,000 participants in the Games across all 25 sports." Boomers, make plans? Nanaimo, in early September! Cheers Pickleheads!!

Today is your day Boomer ! He is hard to recognize because he is 83 and we mostly remember his youth...but he is Paul Simon(the guy on the left in this picture) and he has been in the news for two reasons recently: Simon performed on the big SNL anniversary show and he revealed a last concert tour with dates in Vancouver and Toronto this summer! Boomers...we know Simon, perhaps more than Art Garfunkel, his pop-singing buddy from the 1960s. Simon had a great solo career after their breakup in 1970 with singles like Kodachrome and Love Me Like A Rock. But what about Garfunkel? I did some research....and, actually, he has done okay too. According to Wikipedia, Art has "one top 10 hit, three top 20 hits, six top 40 hits, 14 Adult Contemporary top 30 singles, five Adult Contemporary number ones, two UK number ones and a People's Choice Award. Through his solo and collaborative work, Garfunkel has earned eight Grammy Awards, including a Lifetime Achievement Award. In 1990, he and ...

Today is your day Boomer! She is a Boomer and she is selling her Tesla! 63-year-old singer Sheryl Crow says enough is enough: "My parents always said… you are who you hang out with. There comes a time when you have to decide who you are willing to align with." Great story and, of course, a slap in the face to Elon Musk, the automaker who is seeing his Tesla car sales plummet in North America. Why? Because he is the face of massive government wokforce cuts in America and a defender of extreme-right political movements(ie. Germany). But this next protest story is even better. Quebecer Alain Roy is selling his two Teslas and is cancelling his cybertruck order! On top of that, he has dumped his two U.S. television stream services: Amazon Prime and Netflix and has cancelled his Costco membership...another American company. Boomers...this guy is serious about sending a BIG message to both Musk and Trump. What are you doing!?

Today is your day Boomer! "Let's fly our flag with pride. Let's show the world that we are proud of our history and proud of our country!" A big, influencing statement from five of our former prime ministers-Joe Clark, Kim Campbell, Jean Chrétien, Paul Martin and Stephen Harper-as they say we should celebrate and show our true nationalism today....Flag Day in Canada, as we honour the 60th anniversary of our maple leaf, red and white design. What else do the PM's say: "We've had our share of battles in the past. But we all agree on one thing: Canada, the true north, strong and free, the best country in the world, is worth celebrating and fighting for." This, of course, flies in the face of President Trump who has stated numerous times...seriously...that Canada should join the United States. No...we say...emphatically, no, no, no, NO!!! So, show your sense of pride today Boomers, and fly any-size Canadian flag! In your face Donald!

Today is your day Boomer! It is the "last straw" Mr. Trump. I guess it is fairly minor compared to your other atrocious major actions like tariffs, invasion threats, Gaza resorts, and gender division.....but it is actually a BIG global concern. The president has passed an order allowing plastic straws back into federal government buildings in the U.S., effectively reversing paper straw laws that the Biden administration put into place! Donald....here are facts about the harmful effects of plastic: (1)Around the world, the equivalent of one garbage truck of plastic enters the ocean every minute from a range of sources, including plastic bags, toothbrushes, bottles, food packaging and more. (2)As those materials break down in the environment, microplastics are turning up in the stomachs of fish, birds and other animals, as well as in human blood and tissue. (3)More than 90% of plastic products are derived from fossil fuels such as oil and natural gas, and millions of tons o...

Today is your day Boomer! Hey Boomers, we collect a whole lot of money from pensions....public and private. For example, I have my teachers pension, plus CPP and OAS. But...have you accessed all of yours? I mean, maybe some smaller ones from years gone by that you have forgotten about? According to cbc.ca, "National Institute on Ageing says 200K Ontarians have up to $3.6 billion in unclaimed pension funds." What? This is just one province....3.6 billion. Imagine what the number is for all 10 provinces and 3 territories!? So why is there all this unclaimed pension money? One pension plan administrator says "We have, in my view today in the private sector, a system in Canada that is very fragmented, where you have a lot of mini-pensions with different employers. And a lot of the onus on the individual." And many of these seniors are in their 90's and 100's and don't realize they are eligible for these payouts...or just don't remember from various...

Today is your day Boomer! Boomers, we are part of a great nation....officially around since 1867. We are second biggest in the world in size, we sport 40 million people, we are very diverse, we rule the world....not in guns....but in hockey and maple syrup, and we are very friendly! This "tariff war" with Mr. Trump is awful; it will have a big economic impact on us, but....we will adapt, we will survive. And already I am seeing a new trend. Just a few years ago, the Ottawa truckers' protest divided our nation. It was long and bitter, and the feelings are only slowly fading away. But now, we have a new enemy: Dictator Don and his cronies are "tariffizing" us and Canadians are coming together again in defiance! BUY CANADIAN is everywhere....and as our movement grows, our patriotism gathers strength, our pride is pumped-up! Donald, you are actually doing Canada a big favour; we will stand tall against you, together...again!!!

Today is your day Boomer! Ready for a big barbequed steak tonight Boomers? Or maybe a plateful of tasty ribs on Superbowl Sunday? Check that thought with this reality check: you definitely will live longer if you cut back on red meat consumption! According to cbc.ca, a new study states that men will live ONE YEAR longer if you reduce meat chomping by 25-50%. For women...it is 6 months. And that's because men eat more meat than women. The study was big, almost 14,000 Canadians and "what would happen if those people substituted 25 to 50 per cent of the red and processed meat they were already consuming with plant-based proteins, but didn't change their poultry, fish or seafood intake, since beef has the highest environmental impact." So....the bottom line is this: medical experts recommend a planetary health diet — a plant-based diet rich in fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts and whole grains, with small amounts of meat, dairy and fish, similar to what is recommended b...