Retiree-2-Retiree Communications

Retiree-2-Retiree Communications: We all Need People in our Lives!

WENDY knows whereof she speaks; is there anyone else here, who can tell me how to get that 'professional look' in my POSTS here, by using that other TAB up there[HTML editor]? I was writing stories, before I left Virginia(turned 62 & took my partial benefit), & while I was living in the White Mountains of Arizona, as part of a 'serious writer's GROUP on GATHER.COM; one day, in a newly-opened restaurant I was writing about, the proprietor called this virtual cyber-place a blogsite; I became angry at the slur! BLOGGING is an activity that requires little training, and is, itself, the practice needed to improve the quality of the POSTS being made(daily[?]). I think that what WENDY is providing here, that distinguishes R-O from all the available(and free of co$t) BLOGSITES, is COMMUNITY!
When another GROUP-member leaves a thoughtful COMMENT, after reading your most recent POST(and you receive that convenient notification, when you open your e-mail account first-thing-in-the-morning), and you have been faithfully reading all his/her POSTS, and responding in kind, there is a sudden burst of pure excitement, that comes only from being accepted into the COMMUNITY! We all need this life-giving emotional stimulation, but sometimes ignore the personal industry one must keep on putting in, to make this magic work; if you HATE FaceBook as much as I do(don't misunderstand; I use it, I just don't allow it to USE ME), it is probably because over 90% of the 'interaction' your page gets, comes from some mindless addict, that lives inside their SmartPhone(while paying an average $40/mo. for the 'privilege' & have withdrawn so far from their own community, that their HUMANITY is seriously dwindling)
I frequent the downtown WAFFLE HOUSE, usually at night(3rd shift), and often write about the people that I meet & the things that I see there(while drinking their wonderful COFFEE); it never fails, that one of these 'addicts,' that has SmartPhoned her(sometimes a him) food order in, will pull up in her car, come running inside to pay for the to-go order(that's frequently been ready & waiting long enough to get quite cold) & begin the comedic drama of trying to marshal a bag with several food-orders stacked in it, several beverage containers & of course, her car keys,...  without putting down that damn phone! I laugh aloud! Most of the other folks in the store at that hour, are too busy staring at the tiny LCD display-screen on their own device, to see/hear any of this. If DARWIN got it right, hominids are on the verge of evolving a third-arm(dedicated to the cell-phone)!
Many forces, cultural distortions & changes in government threaten the vitality of our communities, but few wield the power that these devices, and their networks have, to be DESTRUCTIVE to all things, formerly referred to, rather casually, as HUMANITY! Retirement-Online, and the COMMUNITY that it fosters, may be the best antidote going; drink deeply my friends!

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