Snowbirds Living in the Philippines : The Use of the Internet by Senior Americans

Sunday, September 23, 2018

The Use of the Internet by Senior Americans

I just came back from the Philippine Consulate in San Francisco the other day. While waiting for my turn I had a chance to converse with a number of Filipino-Americans Seniors about the Internet. There were ten seniors in the waiting room. About half of them have companions helping them with the paper work regarding renewal of visa, special power of attorneys and dual citizenships applications.

One of the senior citizen has no paper work ready and was asking me where I got my forms. I told her I downloaded it from the consulate website. Another senior in our group commented, So you are one of those rare seniors who uses the Internet ? Here's a sample of our conversation:

Me: I used the Internet not only for Face Book( social media) but I also do on-line banking and shopping. I also watch movies on line do a lot of blogging.

Senior Citizen 1: What is blogging?

Me: I have seven sites for personal blogging (writing articles) on any subject except sex, religion and politics.

Senior Citizen 2: When my grandson visit me once a month, he shows me pictures of our relatives in the Philippines in Facebook.

Senior Citizen 1: When do you have time to do your blogging?

Me: Being the primary care giver for my wife who is on a wheel chair and has Parkinson, my time for blogging is only from 9 to 1PM Monday to Friday, when Home Care Aides that I hired from two private agencies come to the house to take care of my wife. Also on Saturday and Sunday, another Aide ( personal friend of my son) comes to the house from 9 to 5PM. Our conversations ended when my number was called.

The above conversation aroused my interest, so I went to the Internet and found the following information about Use of Internet by Senior Americans.

More than 1/3 of Americans aged 65 or older do not used the Internet.

The top 5 reasons why they are not Internet users are

1. Just not interested (21%)
2. Do not own a Computer(13%)
3. Too Frustrating(10%)
4. Too old to learn (8%)
5. Lack of skills(8%)

For details visit the following site: https://thehustle.co/meet-the-11-of-americans-who-dont-use-the-internet/ll

Note: Anyone know about Senior Internet Users in the Philippines? My educated guess is probably less than 1%.

http://newsbytes.ph/2018/01/30/ph-now-has-67-million-internet-users-all-active-on-social-media/

The above article discuss the number of Internet users in the Philippines, but did not discuss age groups participation. Majority of Internet users in the Philippines are for Social Media Interaction.

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Joys of Retirement

I have been retired from USFDA since 2002. At first, I feel I have lost my identity as an individual or have lost my contribution to society. However, within a few weeks all these feelings were gone. It started when my wife and I started baby sitting one of our grandchildren. As some economics professor states: "Your children are your capital investments, but your grandchildren are your profits. That is why you love your grandchildren more than your children". I really agree with the statement. Retirement also gives you lots of time to do things you like to do, such as your hobbies and of course travel. In my case, I turned my hobby of gardening and landscaping into a small business in the Philippines. This endeavor was planned about five years before 2002. That year my wife and I started construction of our retirement home in Boac, Marinduque , Philippines. The next year we built a beach house, followed by a Conference Hall two years later. Needless to say, planning and executing the landscaping was a challenge and very enjoyable. With the help of local labor, I not only enjoy the time gardening and landscaping, but also help improved the economic situation of the province by providing work and jobs to the local residents. With plenty of time, I have engaged into two specific activities as follows: First, I created a website for my small business. By trial and error, I created and design the website, www.chateaudumer.com I have never been a computer nerd or expert. But with plenty of time and patience, the fruits of my labor could be enjoyed if you visit the website above. The second activity, I have not done before was to utilize on-line activities, such as shopping, paying bills ( save you stamps) and playing computer games in the Internet. I really enjoyed playing duplicate bridge on line. You play with players all over the world and can chat in between games. But be careful, you are not spending too much time in the computer. It is very addictive. With a lots of time, my wife and I devoted more time on our favorite humanitarian project. For the last 15 years, we have been involved with medical mission to the province of Marinduque. For details please visit the website: www.marinduqueinternational.org As a summary, the joy one gets on retirement is very specific for an individual. Some enjoy their free time by learning new activities, getting involved with humanitarian projects or spending more time with their grandchildren. Others hate it, since they missed their former jobs and co-workers. Others with no children still enjoy retirement by traveling, turning their hobbies into business or more community involvement. Of course those that retire and hate it, is believe to die earlier than those that enjoy their retirement years. So, plan your retirement as early as you can. The happier you are on retirement, the longer you will live.