I retired in 1999 at the age of 59, so I've had a quarter century of bliss.  But more about that later. Then there is Bette Nash.  She passed away last month at the age of 88.  She was an avid New York Yankees fan, and last lived at a retirement community in New Hampshire. Was born in 1935. Hired in 1957 by Eastern Air Lines as a legal secretary, but attended its charm school and became a stewardess in 1958, the year I graduated from high school. Kept working as a flight attendant through her marriage to James Nash in 1973, and had a son, who has suffered from Down syndrome.  She continued working. Switched to Trump Shuttle in 1989 after Eastern's shuttle and 17 aircraft were sold to Donald Trump. But, as most of Trump's enterprises fizzled, including this one, she moved to U.S. Airways Shuttle, which became American Airlines Shuttle in 2015 when those companies merged. Honored by American Airlines for 60 years of service , given diamond earrings by chairman CE...

Today,  December 21, is the shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere , which makes it the longest day of the year for places below the equator.  The winter solstice occurs at 10:27 PM ET.  Some countries celebrate this day: Iranians celebrate Yalda, meaning birth or rebirth.  Something to do with the sun god Mithra.  Families gather to eat, drink, read poetry through the night and welcome the sunrise. It's called Dongzhi in China, meaning winter's arrival.  Again, family time, with a hearty meal of glutinous rice balls or dumplings. The Native American Hopi tribe in the Southwest has a Soyal ceremony lasting up to 16 days.  A time for prayer and purification. Japan has Toji, a custom involving taking a hot bath with yuzu, a citrus fruit, and eating kabocha, winter squash, plus foods that contain the "n" sound, like udon.  Why?  Brings good luck. In a  July posting , I said: FAT? SKINNY? NORMAL? APPARENTLY, NO EFFECT ON LONGEVI...

There will be two postings today, the one below, and another on HOW TO USE THIS BLOG SITE.   There has been a sudden jump in number of readers/day, so that other posting will explain how to use this blog site. I keep posting on what I eat and do because "friends" seem to most enjoy these articles.  Travel is also an interest area, but that will mostly come next year when I go on a couple of around the world adventures.  Here is flavor of one I took in 2013,  My Ultimate Global Adventure :  51 days mostly on Star Alliance in first class:  Honolulu - San Francisco - Sydney- Bangkok - Tokyo - Osaka - Awaji Island - Hiroshima - Tokyo - Matsumoto - Tokyo - Nikko - Tokyo - Seoul - Shanghai - Beijing - Frankfurt - DC - Denver - San Francisco - Napa Valley - Sea Ranch - Mendocino - San Francisco - Honolulu:  35,354 miles by air. I start by referring to two  Star Advertiser  features on their ExtraHealth page yesterday. First, Mehmet Oz and Mike Roize...