The purposes of this Association are to:

  • The purposes of this Association are to:
  • A. Promote and protect the interests, rights, and welfare of the retired educators of the Stevens Point area in conjunction with the Wisconsin Retired Educators’ Association (WREA).
  • B. Monitor and work to improve the benefits for retired educators and other members of the Wisconsin Retirement System (WRS).
  • C. Encourage Association members to maintain membership in the Wisconsin Retired Educators’ Association (WREA).
  • D. Develop working relationships with local service organizations whose main emphasis is on aging groups and with organizations sharing goals similar to those of the Association.
  • E. Inform Association members about and advocate for educational and other relevant societal issues.
  • F. Inform members of activities in the area provided for senior citizens.
  • G. Encourage Association members to be active participants in community affairs on an individual basis.

Sunday, December 20, 2020

Countdown: 30 days


 

 

 

Unless there's a coup...


I fantasize T being dragged from the White House by Secret Service agents like an unruly, drunk airline passenger "escorted" off a plane.

Wednesday, December 16, 2020

Some hopeful words from Margaret Atwood

 She's quoted in an article written by Hugh Delehany in AARP Bulletin:

What gives you hope now?

"I'm hopeful about young people because they're taking an interest in the future of the planet.  And I'm also hopeful about America, at a time when some Americans are not, because I don't think it's over for America yet.  I think America is an ornery and diverse enough place that it would be very hard to get everybody to line up and do some kind or weird salute, even though the country has had a fascist undercurrent since the 1930s or so.  I'm counting on Americans' crankiness and orneriness to keep things from going too far in either extreme."


 

I like that; crankiness and orneriness.  We certainly are that. 

Tuesday, December 8, 2020

Love/Hate my Computers

I'm on my third week of trying to sort out my computers after sort of being hacked (no one succeeded in getting through.)  The more I try to fix things, the more messed up it becomes.  I had hoped that my computer geek nephew could rescue me, but the app we use to enable him to take over my computer won't run on my current OS system.  When I tried to upgrade the system, my laptop doesn't have enough memory, and my desktop is too old to upgrade.

I also keep loosing my Blogger (Google) editing access to this blog.  I've somehow reconnected three times now, and I hope it sticks.  As not-so-great as I have been at maintaining this blog, the thought of recreating it is too much. (POST SCRIPT: I finally realized that I have access to two Google accounts, and our blog is under the SPARTA google account run by Jack.  My apologies to Jack if this caused him any problems.)

It looks like my best way out of this is to get over to Best Buy and get a new MacBook Pro WITH LOTS OF MEMORY.  You'll never regret paying more for more memory.  I'll see if I can get anything for my 2013 iMac Pro desktop, my mom's 2011 iMac desktop, and my 2015 MacBook Pro. 


I was wondering what to do with my Christmas money.  I'm soooo glad I'm a Mac person so I can spend three times as much money.  Oh, well, too late to change now.  It's a little like religion;  you're kind of stuck with the computer theology you've embraced.   


Tips from the Treasurer: Charity List

Years ago, I realized that I had given more than I had planned to several of the charities I support.  Many of these NFPs (Not-For-Profits) send out multiple mailings, some even monthly.  I wasn't keeping track.  

Now I save all the renewal letters,  sit down in January,  and write checks (or go online) to most of the organizations I donate to.  I have a spread sheet that lists all the organizations.  The list includes the donations I've made in the past, this year's donation, the check number, and the date.  There's a section for monetary donations to NFPs and a section for in-kind donations (food donations, Goodwill, mileage for volunteer work, school supplies).  

There's a third section for non-tax deductible donations.  This would include organizations that work for political causes: Greenpeace, political parties, ACLU, WREA, SPARTA.

The rules for getting credit on your taxes have changed, but that's only one reason to keep track of your giving.  The bigger one for me is that I give what I budgeted.  That doesn't preclude me from giving extra as the year progresses, but just helps me keep track of what I've given so far.

This list is updated as the year moves forward.  Some people prefer to do this at year's end, when many organizations are trying to balance their budgets.  They can also count the donations on the current year's taxes.

It's a good idea to run the charities you support through Charity Navigator 



Charity Navigator does an excellent job of reporting which organizations are utilizing your money most effectively.  For example, Doctors Without Borders has earned 4 stars, and has a 93.5 out of 100 score for financial  and accountability/transparency.  Charity Navigator offers a great deal of data on each organization it rates.