To explain what is a senior move manager, you have to start with the client. I choose the story of Georgia to help explain.

Georgia is an 82 year old woman living on her own. She has been living on her own in the same apartment for the past 25 years. She is surrounded by her memories, her projects and her educational video collection. But her life has gotten more and more complicated, as she can no longer easily get around the neighborhood. A trip to the grocery store requires much planning, so it does not happen often. She finds herself eating frozen dinners and take out from the local restaurants.

Georgia made a decision to move to a senior building. This community will provide daily meals, transportation to local stores, educational discussion groups and musical concerts. She was very excited about living at the senior building. But the move itself was overwhelming. How would she begin planning? What would she do with all the stuff she would not be taking? How would she decide what to take and what to leave behind? How would everything get packed or unpacked?

The senior building recommended she bring in a senior move manager to help her with the process of moving. Together we determined what her goals were for the move. We worked in three hour sessions and systematically sorted out the apartment. Her new apartment would be smaller, so we figured out what furniture would fit in the new apartment. We found creative solutions for the use of space — the kitchen cabinets could become office supply storage, her kitchen table her desk, and the second closet a storage library for the video collection. We then began to sort through all her belongings, asking the tough questions required to determine what to keep and what to donate to charity.

A few weeks later, it was time for the move itself. My team carefully packed her belongings. We worked with the movers to get everything to the new apartment. And that afternoon, we unpacked and arranged everything as Georgia and I had planned.

That evening, Georgia was able to look around her new apartment. And she began settling into her new life with excitement and anticipation of the reasons she had decided to move. She was not focused on the process and stress of the move.

Marnie Dawson
Dawson Relocation Services

Facebook has been making a lot of changes to the way your information is used on their platform. Let’s face it (no pun intended), we aren’t prepared to stop using Facebook, so how do we keep our information secure?

Let’s take a look at some of the basic privacy settings you can control on Facebook. Begin by reviewing your privacy settings. Click on Account and then Privacy Settings in the upper right corner of your Facebook toolbar. There are currently six categories of privacy settings that you should check individually to be sure that they reflect your preferences:

1. Personal Information and Posts

• Bio and Quotations
• Birthday
• Interested In and Looking For
• Religious and Political Views
• Photo Albums
• Posts by Me
• Allow friends to post on my Wall
• Posts by Friends
• Comments on Posts

2. Contact Information

• IM Screen Name
• Mobile Phone
• Other Phone
• Current Address
• Website
• Add me as a friend
• Send me a message

3. Friends, Tags and Connections

• Friends
• Family
• Relationships
• Photos and Videos of Me
• Current City
• Hometown
• Education and Work
• Activities
• Interests
• Things I Like

4. Applications and Websites

• What you share
• What your friends can share about you
• Blocked Applications
• Ignore Application Invites
• Activity on Applications and Games Dashboards
• Instant Personalization Pilot Program

5. Search

• Facebook Search Results
• Public Search Results

6. Block List

• Block People

Applications and Websites

One section of particular note is category 4, Applications and Websites. You can edit the settings for each application or game you use. You can also restrict what information your friends can share about you.

Use Lists

One way to control who views your photos or other information is to create lists of your friends. For example, you may prefer that your colleagues at work do not have access to family photos. You can assign Friends to lists by going to the drop-down arrow next to Account on the Facebook menu and selecting Edit Friends, then clicking on All Connections in the left-hand column. Click on Create New List and choose a name for your List. Then work your way down the list of Connections, and on the right-hand side click on the drop-down arrow next to Add to List. Select the lists you wish to assign to each Connection (it can be more than one). To restrict album access to Lists go to your Photos and select Album Privacy. For each album, click on the drop-down box below the album name and select Everyone, Friends of Friends, Only Friends or Customize. Under Customize enter the name of the List you wish to assign to that album. You can change the settings for each album you create.

Wall Posts

Each time you post an update on your Wall you can choose how to share it: with Everyone, Friends of Friends, Only Friends, or Customize who can see it. Or you can go to your Privacy Settings (Accounts, Privacy Settings, Personal Information and Posts) and choose Only Friends for Posts by Me to restrict your Wall posts to be visible only to your friends. Also in this section, restricting Birthday to be visible to Only Friends may be helpful in protecting you from identity theft.

Business Page

If you have a Page for your business on Facebook, you may want to change the privacy settings to restrict access to certain personal information (family photos, etc.) to friends. Keep in mind that if your goal is to promote your business through Facebook, the general public won’t find your Page if you change all your settings to Only Friends.

Account Settings

Another set of privacy settings is under the Account drop-down menu on the Facebook toolbar. This option is Account Settings. There are seven options here, the last of which, Facebook Ads, restricts what applications can display your name or picture in ads. Note that there are two options on this page: one for third-party applications and one for Facebook ads.

Finally, remember that Facebook changes its privacy settings from time to time, and new applications are added continuously as more uses for Facebook become available, therefore, it’s a good idea to review your privacy settings periodically to make sure they are current.

Sue Boedeker
Valley Virtual Assistance
www.valley-virtual-assistance.com
Tel:1-847-380-1446

Last week our group, WISE (Women in Service Enterprises), threw a party to thank our customers and connections. With a couple of dozen members all inviting their guests, we had an interesting mix of people most of whom did not know each other. Voila! Let’s network!

Now, since about 66% of the guests were women, it might come as no surprise to you that the kind of information being exchanged as they “networked” was not necessarily the traditional “what do you do?…Here’s what I do and why I’m good at it…” What I heard instead was women making connections around their anxieties of sending children off to college, or helping their kids get jobs. Jokes about food and advice on preparing appetizers for parties. Griping about book clubs and swapping ideas for what to read next. This among people who had just met each other.

Was this a waste of networking opportunity? Experts recommend specific steps and objectives to networking. You’ve heard them: target your audience, have a dynamic “elevator speech”, get your business card in the hands of the prospect along with a promise to follow up. So should we women focus more on these steps to maximize our networking opportunities? Or maybe we need to follow our instinct and make connections first through sharing and helping on a personal level and work toward a professional connection later. In other words, maybe women would rather become friends first and then work with their friends. And maybe men would rather work with someone first, and then maybe become friends. Maybe. What do you think?

A second story about networking/ connections/ and friendships:

My college-age daughter has been fortunate to secure an internship in Durham, N.C. for the summer. But we live in Chicago. She needs to find a place to live in an unfamiliar city. We have no immediate friends or family living there. But we have LOTS of connections who might know someone.

My instinct as a networker was to get the word out far and wide. So I sat down at my computer, posted a plea on my Facebook status, and wrote an email to every person on my various distribution lists: friends, colleagues, people I’ve trained…even groups I belong to where I don’t know everyone by name. My email was brief and polite. Naturally I’ve gotten several excellent leads so far.

Meanwhile my daughter searched her 1700 “friends” on Facebook to see who goes to school in Durham or Chapel Hill. She got several dozen hits. “Great,” I said. “Some of your friends go to school there! Shoot them an email. They’ll know someone who needs to sublet for the summer.” I got back a horrified stare. “Mom, you don’t understand Facebook,” she replied. “I can’t just send random emails to people.”

Now it was my time to stare back at her. Apparently the original Facebook generation has quite a different definition of “friend.” And a limited view on the power of networking. If it had been me, I would have alerted as many of those 1700 “friends” in as quick yet polite a way as possible. But to her, she had to limit her contact to a few people who knew her well. Is this a generational thing, or again, as a female, was she honoring the friendship first (old-fashioned, actual friendship, not Facebook faux friendship) and only leveraging it as a connection when it was deeper? What do you think?

Paula McLeod
Women’s Way of Working
paulamcl@comcast.net
Paula McLeod is an experienced trainer and consultant who helps companies develop and retain female leaders through workplace transformation programs.
“Making the Working World a Better Place for Women”TM

A Picture May Not Always Be Worth a Thousand Words

Every year, bone and joint conditions or injuries account for millions of people visiting doctors’ offices, hospital outpatient or emergency departments, hospitalizations and medical procedures.

Between 1990 and 2020, the number of people over age 50 is expected to double, causing an even greater need for care. Arthritis or chronic joint symptoms affect one in three American adults, costing the United States $300 billion annually.
The Bone and Joint Decade (2002-2011) was designated: to provide better patient education, to increase public awareness of this growing burden, to increase research support and to improve diagnosis and treatment of musculoskeletal conditions and injuries.

Abnormalities that are often seen on imaging studies (CT scan, X-Ray, or MRI ) may have nothing to do with the patient’s symptoms, or the imaging study cannot be used to make a definite diagnosis. The crucial first step for any medical problem is talking to the patient, and the second step is proper clinical examination of the patient. While technology has helped in the diagnostic process, all technology has limitations and needs to be considered in light of the first two steps or, specifically, what the patient is experiencing. Let’s look at some examples.

Joint Pain: So if joint pain develops, should I have an MRI? The problem with imaging is that 60% of people over 50 years old without joint pain have a meniscus tear or torn rotator cuff present on their image. What that means is that these conditions can be present and are often not the cause of pain which leads to confusion and the potential for unnecessary treatment. An article published in the New England Journal of Medicine in September, 2008, showed that when knee MRIs were done in middle-aged and elderly persons, a cartilage tear was found in 63% of people with knee pain, BUT 60% of people in the same age group without knee pain also had a cartilage tear. The take-home message? Just because you have a cartilage tear doesn’t mean it has anything to do with your knee pain. Clinical correlation is the key.

Low Back Pain: Low back MRIs are another example of how imaging studies can potentially lead down a path of treatment that may not yield good clinical results: “65 out of 100 adults without any back pain have abnormalities such as arthritis and bulging discs.” These imaging results make early clinical correlation problematic and can lead to inaccurate associations between chronic asymptomatic findings and acute pain. 2005 paper published in Radiology argues that, in fact, acute imaging may have a negative affect on patient well-being and care. MRI imaging, they indicate, should be reserved for only the minority of patients with persistent signs and symptoms who are believed to be candidates for surgery or in whom diagnostic uncertainty remains.

It’s not that there is anything wrong with images; it’s just that a picture doesn’t tell the patient’s story. The last thing that anyone wants is to treat a radiological abnormality but end up with no relief from an underlying medical condition because the image told a different story. It’s like looking at the picture of a telephone – how do you know that it’s ringing?

Healthcare professionals can work with you to diagnose and treat you with therapy, medicine or surgery if needed. You can help yourself in other ways too. Keeping track of your symptoms in a diary—knowing the details of what you are experiencing—is invaluable to getting to the right next step. Take charge of your health. Be a knowledgeable patient!

Ela Mroz PT Dip MDT
Spinae Vitae Physical Therapy

Did you receive one of the 4 million postcards mailed out by the IRS? They wanted to let you know about one of the Health Reform provisions that are going into effect in 2010. If you employ no more than 25 full time equivalent employees during the year, pay annual wages that average no more than $50,000, and pay at least 50% of the health care premiums, you may be entitled to a credit of 35% of the premiums that you pay for your employees. Premiums paid for business owners do not qualify for the credit. The credit would be claimed on the employer’s income tax return.

In March, Congress also passed the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act (HIRE). This act creates an exemption for the employer’s share of FICA on wages paid to a qualified new employee. A qualified worker would begin work between 2/3/10 and 12/31/10 and would have to certify on Form W-11 that they were not employed more than 40 hours during the 60 days preceding the hire date. The worker cannot replace an employee who was let go unless it was for cause. The employer would be exempt from the 6.2% of social security taxes on wages up to the FICA limit of $106,800. The maximum savings would be 6.2% X $106,800= $6,621.60.

The HIRE act also includes the Temporary Tax Credit for retaining qualified new employees. For this credit the new employee must be kept on the payroll for at least 52 consecutive weeks and the wages during the second 26 weeks must be at least 80% of the wages paid during the first 26 weeks. This credit is for 6.2% of wages paid during the first 52 weeks of work, but is limited to $1,000. Because of the qualifying period, this credit would be taken by calendar year businesses on their 2011 tax return.

As always, there are complicating factors involved, such as the decision to elect out of the Temporary Social Security credit in order to qualify for the Work Opportunity Tax Credit. Consult with your tax advisor to see if any of these breaks will apply to your situation and how you can maximize them for your benefit.

Jean M. Diamond, CPA
Northfield, IL

Home value is based on more than building square footage and lot size. The intrinsic value of good urban design, landscape design, and architectural design contributes to the “WOW” factor of your home. These synergistic elements should not be overlooked when purchasing or upgrading your house. The redeeming qualities of good design and quality craftsmanship will continue to reward. As the renowned architect Mies Van Der Rohe said, “God is in the details!” Here are a few to consider.

Urban Design

• proximity to employment
• good mass transit access
  1. train stop
  2. bus stops
  3. bike routes
• curbs, street lights
• town center retail and services
  1. post office, fire station
  2. food store, restaurant
  3. dry cleaner, gas station

Landscape Design

• Curb Appeal
  1. plantings add color and anchor the house to the ground
  2. overall design should create flow throughout lot
• Mature trees can add up to 15% onto the value of your home

Architectural Design

• Welcoming porch and entry door
• Good interior room flow
• Good natural ventilation and sunlight
• Rewarding vernacular (style)
  1. Carries throughout from exterior to interior
  2. Complimentary window style and secondary buildings
• Smart use of space, bigger is not always better

Karyl Doran
Dwell Development

It’s so easy to make a mistake when you are buying a home. There is still one major factor no matter how “sad” the real estate market has been. That major factor affecting the value of a home is STILL –LOCATION!

We’ve all been beating the drum of Price…and that is very important. However, even a fabulous purchase price can not make up for a really bad location. Here’s an example—Mary and Tom have found a wonderful home in terrific condition at a fabulous, more than affordable hard to beat PRICE and with just the right amount of space for their family. HOWEVER, do they really want their little ones playing on a busy road? Not an ideal family LOCATION for sure.

Let’s talk today’s consumer focus—PRICE. Indeed, PRICE can drive the real estate market. A great purchase PRICE can make it easy to change the condition of a home. A good, updated, bells and whistles condition certainly helps sell a home. It’s common knowledge that buying a home for less money/better price allows you to change the condition.

But you can’t change the LOCATION! Be sure you have an area tour to get a true sense of price point ranges. Avoid locations that have less appeal as an investment. Remember you best “deals” are probably in compromised locations. LOCATION, the one part of a home you can’t alter. The 3 factors that affect the sale or purchase of a home are—PRICE, CONDITION and the BIG ONE—LOCATION! Hire an experienced Realtor to help you with your purchase decision including all 3 factors. It will work the very best for you now and as a future investment. The 3 favorite words—Location, Location, Location still rule!

Maureen Spriggs

As a Certified Financial Divorce Practitioner, I work with women who face the scary prospect of taking the financial reins after their divorces are final, and who often have inadequate financial resources for their retirement.

Today, women are among the world’s foremost leaders, entrepreneurs, and corporate executives. While the economic empowerment of women in the industrialized world over the past 50 years has been astonishing, women often still consider themselves the family caretaker. This means that they often put family, home, and education before saving for retirement or preserving their wealth for their heirs. Complicating matters for women is that the financial services industry has been slow to adapt to women’s economic empowerment and continues to focus its marketing efforts on men as the sole financial decision-maker in families.

One of the primary reasons that divorce can be more financially devastating for women is because they often have less earning power than their spouses due to years out of the work force raising children and having to accommodate their own careers to their husbands’. This could mean leaving a job before building up a sufficient retirement account due to a spouse’s job or career move. In addition, women usually assume the role of caregiver to aging parents, which can also result in having to leave a current job.

Then there is the longevity factor: Women tend to outlive men on average by 7 to 9 years, as any visit to a retirement or nursing home makes startlingly clear. So, women will require, on average, a decade more of adequate financial resources to see them through their elderly years, when their health and long term care costs are rising dramatically.

All women need to take steps to secure their own financial security. What this requires, first, is for women to see themselves as independent individuals who, most likely, will spend some part of their lives on their own. In families where both spouses work or if the wife’s income is the primary source, it’s even more important that she take steps to protect her family’s financial future, as well as her own.

A wise man said, “It is easy to dodge our responsibilities, but we cannot dodge the consequences of dodging our responsibilities.”

Nancy Tommaso, CFDP
Keating and Associates

Women come to the Women’s Exchange for many different reasons. Perhaps they are new to the community, or in one of life’s many transitions; perhaps they are seeking intellectual stimulation, support, or companionship in their search for answers to life’s questions. Women know intuitively that turning to other women feels good. Now, more and more studies are confirming that not only does it feel good, but it is good for your health.

It started when two women scientists, Drs. Klein & Taylor from UCLA, published a landmark study demonstrating how women’s reaction to stress differs fundamentally from men’s singular ‘fight or flight’ response. Women’s stress-produced brain chemicals encourage us to make and maintain friendships with other women, which in turn counters stress and produces a calming effect. Study after study is confirming that the time we spend in the company of other women can actually counteract the stress of everyday life. The famed Nurses’ Health Study from Harvard Medical School found that the more friends women had, the less likely they were to develop physical impairments as they aged, and the more likely they were to be leading a joyful life.

Sadly, researchers have also found that when women get overly busy the first thing they do is let go of friendships with other women. Perhaps that is one of the keys to the success of the Women’s Exchange. It provides the opportunity, and the space where women can just ‘show up’ and automatically be seated around the coffee table with other women. And, when women sit around the coffee table together their stress level is lowered and friendships are made. No muss, no fuss! Is your world becoming too busy to find and maintain friendships? Give the Women’s Exchange a try.

Temporomandibular Joint and Muscle Disorders known as TMJD affects almost 35 million people! That is more than 10% of the population.

TMJ- refers to the joints that are seated in front of your ear that allow the movement of your lower jaw bone (your mandible). It allow for up and down, side to side and forward and backwards motions. Your jaw bone is responsible for your ability to eat, swallow, speak and make facial expressions.
The most common presentation of TMJ difficulties is pain in the jaw or surrounding area. Some people also complain of:

Neck and/or shoulder pain
Migraines or chronic headaches
Jaw muscle stiffness
Limited movement or locking of the jaw
Painful clicking, popping or grating with jaw movement
A change in the way ones “bite” feels
Ringing in the ears or ear pain
Dizziness or vision problems

TMJ disorders can be difficult to diagnose and there are no standard tests that correctly diagnose all TMJ conditions

There are no TMJ treatments that are grounded in scientific research. Dental appliances can be very helpful but do not address the cause of the problem.

CranioSacral therapy believes that TMJ dysfunctions are usually secondary or tertiary to other problems in the whole person.

The problem may lie in the craniosacral, nervous, musculoskeletal, myofacscial or masticatory stystem.

These are problems that are addressed by craniosacral therapists who are trained to evaluate restrictions in the craniosacral system. Craniosacral therapy uses your body’s natural self-corrective abilities to improve your internal functioning and strengthen your ability to heal.

Patricia Berg-Drazin, CST
Luminessence CranioSacral Therapy
patricia@luminessencecraniosacraltherapy.com
847 512 7187