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I cannot recommend volunteering enough. It's not just for old folks. Many of the skills that I used in my career, were honed doing volunteer work. I've been d

I cannot recommend volunteering enough. It's not just for old folks. Many of the skills that I used in my career, were honed doing volunteer work. I've been doing this kind of work, all my life, and retiring just gave me more time to devote to it. > NOTE: Not a bed of roses, unless you count all the thorns.

JackMorgan 2y ago
Volunteering is such a great way to fill the soul! There's so many ways to volunteer, always another way to help if you need a change. I got into fire fighting last year, and now help with ambulance volunteering. I also do free job skills tutoring, that's a fun way to interact with people directly.
- JacobHenner 2y ago
  Similar experience, I highly recommend
Loughla 2y ago
I've talked about it on here before, but I love volunteering in nursing homes for very selfish reasons. The people in there have lived lives. They may be out of touch but they know things. I talk with residents about my hobbies of woodworking, gardening, canning, hunting, fishing, and wild gathered food. I've learned WAY more with those conversations than YouTube or books could've ever taught me. It's absolutely worth your time. And nursing homes are always looking for people to spend time with the very lonely residents. Anyone with a hobby that isn't technology should do that.
- dax_ 2y ago
  That's really great - I imagine the people there also love sharing their knowledge, it gives them a feeling of helping too.
- Dracophoenix 2y ago
  In your experience, are bursts of violence or psychotic episodes from the elderly common? Every so often I read news stories of physical abuse against carers and volunteers, but I'm not sure of the actual frequency or severity of such cases or what protocols in place to mitigate them.
  - Loughla 2y ago
    No. I have only seen what I would call violence once in the last 25+ years. Those stories tend to be over-hyped. I've seen countless residents with dementia yell randomly, but not be violent. My mother has worked in long-term care facilities for around 40 years, and has only seen one violent resident in that time. Care homes a) have protocols in place and b) can boot violent residents if they are unequipped to care for them. The people who are really, genuinely dangerous tend to be in very specialized care settings. Also the nursing home staff in the activities department can tell you which residents to work with, even on the special care units (Alzheimer's and dementia sort of things). They know the residents and know which ones are lonely, what their history is, and which ones will enjoy your company.
joenot443 2y ago
Any programs in NYC you'd particularly recommend? I'll be moving back in a few months and would love to start volunteering.
- ChrisMarshallNY 2y ago
  There's a ton. NY is a fairly "socialist" state, and has a lot of altruistic (and non-altruistic) stuff going on, but most of my volunteer work has been for an organization, of which I'm a member, and I do Service for other members. I am more than happy to chat about it, but I don't usually discuss it at the level of Press, Radio, and Film. Drop me an email.
oersted 2y ago
I adored my two visits to the Computer History Museum in Palo Alto, the guided tours and showcases were run by volunteer retired industry veterans. It was obvious that they loved doing it, and it was such a privilege to hear from the people icebreaking right at the beginning of all of this, back when it was all punchcards, tape and big-ol' mainframes. They were still playing around with the old tech, restoring it and doing cool new things with it, just for the joy of it.
- falcor84 2y ago
  Just to confirm, you mean the one in Mountain View, right? Or is there another one in Palo Alto?
  - oersted 2y ago
    Yes my bad.
- microtherion 2y ago
  Peter Samson staffing the PDP-1 exhibit blew my mind.
  - oersted 2y ago
    Yes! Oh man, it was Dec and, besides the usual showcase, he would feed punched paper tapes into the old music program he made in the early 60s and there was an awesome christmas carol sing-along with him with the PDP-1 backing music! :) It was cool to play Spacewar! on it as well from 1962, some of his colleagues made it on the same computer at MIT. Very likely the oldest program you will ever interact with, certainly the oldest game, and it was so damn smooth and playable.

JackMorgan 2y ago

Volunteering is such a great way to fill the soul! There's so many ways to volunteer, always another way to help if you need a change. I got into fire fighting last year, and now help with ambulance volunteering. I also do free job skills tutoring, that's a fun way to interact with people directly.

JacobHenner 2y ago
Similar experience, I highly recommend

Loughla 2y ago

I've talked about it on here before, but I love volunteering in nursing homes for very selfish reasons. The people in there have lived lives. They may be out of touch but they know things. I talk with residents about my hobbies of woodworking, gardening, canning, hunting, fishing, and wild gathered food. I've learned WAY more with those conversations than YouTube or books could've ever taught me. It's absolutely worth your time. And nursing homes are always looking for people to spend time with the very lonely residents. Anyone with a hobby that isn't technology should do that.

dax_ 2y ago
That's really great - I imagine the people there also love sharing their knowledge, it gives them a feeling of helping too.
Dracophoenix 2y ago
In your experience, are bursts of violence or psychotic episodes from the elderly common? Every so often I read news stories of physical abuse against carers and volunteers, but I'm not sure of the actual frequency or severity of such cases or what protocols in place to mitigate them.
- Loughla 2y ago
  No. I have only seen what I would call violence once in the last 25+ years. Those stories tend to be over-hyped. I've seen countless residents with dementia yell randomly, but not be violent. My mother has worked in long-term care facilities for around 40 years, and has only seen one violent resident in that time. Care homes a) have protocols in place and b) can boot violent residents if they are unequipped to care for them. The people who are really, genuinely dangerous tend to be in very specialized care settings. Also the nursing home staff in the activities department can tell you which residents to work with, even on the special care units (Alzheimer's and dementia sort of things). They know the residents and know which ones are lonely, what their history is, and which ones will enjoy your company.

joenot443 2y ago

Any programs in NYC you'd particularly recommend? I'll be moving back in a few months and would love to start volunteering.

ChrisMarshallNY 2y ago
There's a ton. NY is a fairly "socialist" state, and has a lot of altruistic (and non-altruistic) stuff going on, but most of my volunteer work has been for an organization, of which I'm a member, and I do Service for other members. I am more than happy to chat about it, but I don't usually discuss it at the level of Press, Radio, and Film. Drop me an email.

oersted 2y ago

I adored my two visits to the Computer History Museum in Palo Alto, the guided tours and showcases were run by volunteer retired industry veterans. It was obvious that they loved doing it, and it was such a privilege to hear from the people icebreaking right at the beginning of all of this, back when it was all punchcards, tape and big-ol' mainframes. They were still playing around with the old tech, restoring it and doing cool new things with it, just for the joy of it.

falcor84 2y ago
Just to confirm, you mean the one in Mountain View, right? Or is there another one in Palo Alto?
- oersted 2y ago
  Yes my bad.
microtherion 2y ago
Peter Samson staffing the PDP-1 exhibit blew my mind.
- oersted 2y ago
  Yes! Oh man, it was Dec and, besides the usual showcase, he would feed punched paper tapes into the old music program he made in the early 60s and there was an awesome christmas carol sing-along with him with the PDP-1 backing music! :) It was cool to play Spacewar! on it as well from 1962, some of his colleagues made it on the same computer at MIT. Very likely the oldest program you will ever interact with, certainly the oldest game, and it was so damn smooth and playable.