NANSENSE by Nancy K. Kincaid

As time goes by, I like to think that I continue to learn new things. Just recently, I had one of those AH-HA moments of knowledge, that will hopefully enrich my life and the lives of others. I must stop arguing. The need to be right, all or most of the time, is just unnecessary. And, although insisting on being right may make us feel good, it does nothing for the person or persons you disagree with. Let me give you an example. We know several couples, where one or the other of the spouses constantly corrects everything the other says. When one spouse says that an incident occurred five years ago, the other says, actually it was six. Or, this or that happened in Houston, and the other one says, no, it was in Dallas. Who cares? What difference does it make? Let it go, folks! Detail, unless it involves money or life and death issues, is insignificant. Stop, and just look at the bigger picture. I'm going to work at this one. I know I am guilty of nitpicking on details. It just doe

Don't you just love birthday parties? We might not like the idea of adding a year to our ages, but most of us like birthday parties. Cake, ice cream and possibly champagne? Party favors, balloons and old friends One of my duties involves making arrangements for events and parties. Often the adult children and grandchildren, of our elderly residents, want to schedule a birthday party for their relatives. Super! Occasionally relatives will want to schedule a surprise party for a relative. Not so super! No, I tell them. Grandma, who is turning 90, will not want a surprise party. She will want to know about the party in advance, so she can have her hair and nails done. She'll want to have a new dress for the occasion, or at least a new pair of sneakers! Grandpa will feel the same way. He loves routine and wants to know in advance exactly what is going to happen. Don't mess with his routine or his nap schedule.. What's more, dear relatives, older folks hate surprises.

My new mantra involves my legs, my arms, my brain and actually, my whole person. Because, I do a lot of walking from apartment to apartment, all day long, I fear that I might possible wear myself out, one of these days. Therefore, in order to save wear and tear on my body, I have vowed to "work smart". So, after I clock in each morning, I say to myself, "work smart", as I pick up my keys, my appointment books and walk to my desk in one fell swoop. When I leave for the day, I try to remember to take my keys, my books, and my other stuff with me (making one trip), as I head to clock out. If I need to step outside, I repeat my mantra, "work smart", and take my keys, my fob and my walkie talkie with me, before I head to the door. My changed "manta life" has been going on for about three weeks now, and I cannot tell whether it is making a difference in my physical well-being or not. However, repeating my mantra has kept me focused. I am forgetti

It is 2017. It is the age of cell phones, cordless razors, cordless vacuums, cordless mouses, cordless toothbrushes, etc., etc. So why then, are we still allowing ourselves to become tangled up in electric cords? In the last three months, I have been in countless hospital and rehab rooms. In every one of those rooms, there have been TV remotes, phones, and nursing call buttons. Every one of those items have had big long thick cords. And, those cords have caused a myriad of problems. Why do patients need all of those cords? My remote at home doesn't need a cord! Are hospitals afraid patients will swipe their ugly remotes and take them home? I think not. Almost everyone has a cell phone these days. Let the patients use their own cell phones to make calls. And call buttons should be built into the beds. Hospitals listen up. Get rid of those cords. Moving the bed up and down, gets all those cords tangled in the bed's mechanism. The cords get tangled in the wheels of wheelchai