25 JAN 07: A SONNY FUTURE
Have you received any mail from Georgia's Governor lately? I did this week - and it was quite a surprise, because I didn't donate a penny to Sonny Perdue's reelection campaign.
I had no idea why Governor Perdue would send me a letter on official state stationery -- and at first I thought it was a form I'd need for my taxes. But a short letter from the governor was inside, saying he was introducing a new program called "Own Your Future." This was also a surprise, because it did NOT give Mr. Perdue's secrets to buying land.
The real point of "Own Your Future" is to encourage people older than 45 to plan for long-term care. So I guess this letter means from now on, no one will tell me I have my whole life in front of me.
The Governor's letter suggests Own Your Future is a combination state-federal project. But the logo of the Department of Health and Human Services is all over it. After all, if Georgia can't afford to pay for PeachCare, how can it afford all the retirees fleeing here from Florida?
In fact, the online information about Own Your Future is part of a federal web site. But the home page asks if I heard about the campaign through a letter from my Governor. This smells like a conspiracy to me - but then again, we still have a Republican President for at least two more years.
The letter from Governor Perdue explains long-term care in terms of needing help for "such routine tasks as bathing or dressing." I had trouble dressing way back in my high school years -- because my classmates made fun of my multi-colored sneakers a lot.
The Governor makes a good point when he writes many people fail to plan adequately for long-term care. A pamphlet with the letter warns long-term care expenses can be "very expensive." I never realized some nursing homes could be in cahoots with oil companies....
The Own Your Future letter urges me to write, call or go online to order a free long-term care planning kit. The kit includes an "audio CD" about preparing for the future - which has me wondering how visionary this campaign is. A good number of older people still haven't moved beyond cassette tapes.
The more I think about long-term care planning, the more guilty I become. I was offered a free burial plot years ago, and took a cemetery up on it. But that was in College Park, where I don't live anymore - and for all I know, future growth near the Atlanta Airport may have my plot under a hotel basement.
I also took advantage of a couple of offers for "accidental death insurance." They were free $1,000 policies -- and they were offered by Rich's Department Stores and SouthTrust Bank. I'm not even sure $1,000 would cover a trip down from Kansas City for my older brother to pick up my casket.
I bought a "Will Workshop" CD-Rom a couple of years ago and started filling in the boxes and lines. But then my old computer crashed and died. If I can outlive a hard drive, is this will kit really necessary?
It IS necessary, of course - but the Will Workshop made me stop and think at the section on disposing of personal possessions. You should I trust with certain valuable items? Who in my family would grasp the significance of my souvenir Columbus Riverdragons mini-basketball - which only needs one right signature to become an eBay treasure?
It's dangerous to put off updating your will, since no one really knows when (ahem) it will take effect. But my last version from the early 1990's gives money to a church congregation which I don't think exists anymore - and to a woman in California who would have to explain to her husband and two children why I would have "surprised" her like this when she was single.
E-MAIL UPDATE: Now from someone older to someone younger....
Remember the young boy kidnapped from the bus stop in MO.?...I pass by a little one waiting alone,in the dark,at the edge of woods...MCSD says they can't correct bus stops..The lonely little kid told me the bus stops at the end of his driveway at a stop sign ,but the driver said he can't open the doors..He has to follow "orders" so, the little guy has to walk down a dark st with dogs barking at him,stand on a corner that backs up to woods and wait and wait in the dark...I wish every parent who has this problem would call RIchard Curry ,director of transportation ,at MCSD..He's in the book under MCSD..
I would wish something else for this boy - that a parent would be with him at the bus stop, or at least within eyesight. You'd think a working mom or dad's employer or supervisor would understand, and allow a few extra minutes in the morning for this. Just shorten their lunch hour to match what school children have.
(The idea of parents watching children at bus stops could require a bold move for some modern families. They actually would have to meet their neighbors, and try to work together with them.)
Oh, those streets with barking dogs! I used to walk with care around them when I was young - and my bus stop was one block from my house. I didn't know which one to root for one day, when several from around the neighborhood swarmed together for an after-school fight. But I fear some junior high school bullies quietly took notes on it.
Speaking of standing outside in the dark, let's review some Wednesday news headlines....
+ WRBL reported Uptown Columbus Inc. wants to end all outdoor music on Broadway at midnight. Any "whistling in the dark" would be left to business owners and investors.
+ Columbus Police announced the arrest of Ricky Carter on charges of breaking into 47 cars. You'd think someone with this sort of habit could find gainful employment - maybe inspecting trade-ins at a used car lot.
+ A Georgia Senate committee chair proposed putting Seth Harp's proposal on Sunday alcohol sales in a "summer study committee." There's nothing quite like studying alcohol during summertime - at the lake, in the backyard, next to a grill....
+ Georgia collared Kentucky in men's college basketball, winning 78-69 in overtime. But Kentucky still leads the all-time series 106 games to 22 - so maybe Bulldog Coach Dennis Felton can turn this win into a lifetime contract.
+ But Georgia Tech lost at Maryland 80-65. The Yellowjackets have lost 16 games in a row on the road - which is embarrassing, because not even the Atlanta Hawks do that anymore.
+ Instant Message to anyone selling satellite or cable TV sports packages: Sorry. Wednesday night I tuned in to Kentucky-Georgia, Georgia Southwestern-Columbus State, Vanderbilt-L.S.U., Tennessee-Mississippi, Florida-Mississippi State, Ohio State-Northwestern, Illinois-Chicago-Wisconsin-Green Bay, Missouri-Colorado, Pittsburgh-Cincinnati, Virginia-North Carolina State, DePaul-Georgetown AND hockey's All-Star Game. It's called AM radio.
BURKARD'S BEST BETS: Gas falls to $2.01 a gallon at Summit, 22nd Avenue and Victory Drive.... Chips Ahoy cookies for one dollar a box at Walgreens.... FREE dirt, if the Civic Center staff will tell you where they put it after the monster trucks left town....
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