Through the Eyes of a Daydreamer's Daughter

Things I would teach myself if I could go back to my youth and give me a lecture: avoid possessions as much as possible to travel light and free--only acquire things that are really really wanted after waiting to see if they'd be forgotten with the passing of time--only acquire the best to be found even if it means waiting longer--always pay cash. A friend has promised me the location of a place to sell some of my junk and I do plan to take her up on it when she gets back to town next month. There are things I own that will pain me to part with but I shall part with them. I own too much and the excess feels more and more like an anchor around my neck rather than wealth.

I started writing this blog to talk about lifestyle issues of the aging Baby Boomers. So why have I been writing so much about the economic issue of cheap labor? Cheap labor impacts the lives of aging Boomers more than most other Americans. Employers are eager to dump Boomers whose experience in the workforce results in them being more expensive than younger workers. Boomers age also raises the cost of health insurance for all the employees at companies that provide health insurance. The new health insurance reform does nothing to protect the jobs of aging Boomers. Companies that don't opt for paying the penalty instead of offering health insurance will be more eager to dump the older workers. The current economy is a great excuse for layoffs. Most employers no longer offer pensions. Government jobs that promised generous pensions may renege on that offer. Many Americans talk about working until they drop and save little or no money for the future. Now the option of...

In theory seniors should benefit most from the presence of Illegal Aliens in America. We need low cost caregivers: first to care for our parents so that we can continue to work, later--should we live long enough--to take care of us. No one works cheaper than Illegal Aliens. The problem is that you get what you pay for. I've had close contact with Illegal Aliens in more than one setting, but most of all I had contact with dozens of illegals in my mother's nursing home. When my mother first entered the nursing home, the staff were citizens in all the colors of America or, in the case of nurses, temporary guest workers from around the world. My family had problems with the nursing home management that I'll leave for another posting, but the original staff included some definite nominees for sainthood. That staff held difficult, draining, exhausting, dirty and sometimes stinky jobs and those staffers did those jobs with dedication and skill. Then new owners...

Caryn, an Australian acquaintance, put these words of wisdom on her Facebook Wall and I've fallen in love with them: "Don't make someone a priority if all you are to them is an option." Acquaintance is a word all of us should probably use more often to describe the majority of our relationships. The word friendship should be reserved for warm, supportive, reliable, mutual relationships. Friendship should mean something more than just anyone who usually answers the phone when it is your name on the caller Id.

There is no country on the face of the earth that doesn’t have an illegal alien problem. No matter how impoverished and miserable life may be in a poor nation, someone is standing on one of its borders seeing greener grass on the other side of that imaginary line. Refugees are not illegal aliens. A refugee is fleeing from darkness to live in the light at any cost. Illegal aliens leave behind life in the light expecting a big payoff in return for years spent hiding in darkness. Some countries treat illegal entry as a far more serious crime than the United States has. Until very recently Mexico had draconian jail terms for illegal aliens. U.S. citizens who entered Mexico to work generally could not get jobs and could be jailed for trying. Illegals entering Mexico from Central America were either tortured, raped or slaughtered or received prison terms. Only recently has Mexico lightened up a little on the required prison sentences for Americans, presumably because American...

America has many different kinds of temporary guest worker visa programs. There's even a separate visa for models and actors.  I don't think there is a cap on how many famous models and actors can enter America to work, but there is a limit for all the other occupations. And it is a good thing there is a limit because once a person enters the United States on a temporary guest worker visa, the federal government does nothing to insure that person will ever leave after the visa and its legal extensions run out. A few guest workers apply for green cards after enough time passes, but most just stay around as illegals to make more money to send home. Most guest workers are not interested in becoming immigrants. They simply want to keep working in America until they have accumulated as much money as they believe they need to start their real life: as rich young retirees in their homelands. Working here is their get-rich-quick scheme.   Many count...