I live with a hoarder. I can’t get it through her head that she doesn’t need all of that stuff. It seems to be a mental illness. She cleans up a little once per year, but we need more than a little. I withhold part of the rent I would otherwise pay her since my passage way through the living room to the front door is compromised. I like where I live, but the hoarding is insane.

But, doing signings with hoarders is dangerous. Here are the dangers.

1. You might have to clear off a space on the table and remove stuff from chairs or from near chairs.

2. There might be infestations due to the inability to clean due to stuff being everywhere.

3. There might be bacterial problems, mold, or other diseases that are airborne due to the problem.

4. Something could fall on your or fall and block your escape route.

Please let me know your stories with hoarders in the comments. The rest of us would love to know!

Since my Notaries over 50 blog article was so popular, I am writing another one that is similar.

Viruses
Notaries over 60 need to be careful about the Coronavirus which partakes in ageism. It kills mainly elderly people and people from cultures that eat noodles like Italians and Chinese (not sure why). Personally, I think this disease is prejudiced against people who live in cold weather and I think the disease is racist! Washing your hands regularly and using disinfecting wipes on all surfaces at signings, in your home and car make sense. The regular flue also kills many elderly people, so being extra cautious about your immunity and health makes sense.

Bad Weather
Avoiding signings during inclement weather makes sense too. At your age do you want to be caught in a freezing rain storm? Think about it.

Stairs
Going up long flights of stairs might be hazardous to your health depending on how good your health is.

Exercise
Getting plenty of non-impact exercise is critical. If you want to live to be old and healthy, lots of swimming and walking should be a daily habit. Jogging and exercise that puts strain on your joints might come back to haunt you in your old age.

Diet
A good diet with lots of fruit, vegetables and supplements makes sense as well. My article about Notaries over 50 goes in detail about which foods are miracles for good health.

Sleep
It is necessary to get enough sleep so you are not cranky or susceptible to disease. However, elderly people sometimes sleep less than others. What a paradox. Get enough sleep just to remain healthy and have a good immunity system.

Acupuncture
Acupuncture is a way to balance your energy channels in your body. It also helps to strengthen immunity and deal with aches and pains.

Keeping a sharp mind
Mental atrophe is a problem for people getting older. It is important to review Notary educational materials, your state handbook, and do mental exercises to keep sharp. Grape juice and grape seed extra help to keep the cobwebs out of your cerebral neurons. A good mind has a physical aspect as well as an intellectual. Keep this in mind so that you don’t get mentally fuzzy.

Lutein
Good eyes are important. Americans don’t eat enough orange foods, but those are good for the eyes along with good circulation. The eyes need blood too, so if the blood doesn’t slow, they will suffer. Carrots, pumpkin, sweet potatoes and yams are some excellent sources of orange foods. These are also good for the spleen. Spinach also has lots of vitamin A for your eyes and it can be put in juice mixes, but is not good as a solo in a juice. I try to each orange foods at least once per day or at least a few times a week for my spleen and eyes.

Don’t retire – just slow down
People who retire just die according to research. So, if you don’t want to die, don’t retire. Just do less. People in one of the Greek islands where people live to be 100 frequently all have community responsibilities, hike by necessity, have a mainly plant based diet, and live near the ocean so they get that ocean vibe which helps people relax.

Get health energies
The forest, ocean and desert all have healthy energies. These can help you feel better and perhaps live longer. I visit these places regularly. Trees and flowers or gardens can also have healing energy as the plants have metaphysical properties. Stay healthy by getting external sources of good qi so you can make it to 70.

Socialize
This might be hard if you live in Los Angeles. But, if you live in a normal state where people have human values (like Texas or Montana) you might find others who like to socialize. For those who live in California, it might make sense to find people out of state to socialize with – just trying to be realistic.

Let me know if you guys can think of other tips for the 60+ crowd.

This Coronavirus is making people crazy. The supermarket shelves are almost all bare. It is like an apocalypse. There are only a few dozen infections in my county of 10,000,000 people, but the reaction is an overreaction.

I think that pulling the reigns on this disease make more sense than a complete panic driven overreaction. If there are a few infections, then social distancing. If there are more then shutting down larger events. If there are even more, then perhaps what I am terming “social thinning.”

Social Thinning
What does this mean? Many schools are shutting down when there are hardly any cases in their area. This will cause horrible harm to parents, students, and the local economy, but will not prevent more than a handful of cases if there are relatively few infections. What I think is a better idea is to have alternate educational systems for those with flexibility.

The idea is that parents cannot always accommodate their kids at home during the day and also might not have food. Additionally, it will be bad for students to miss education. These are three compelling reasons to keep schools open.

Recommendations

1. Have a percentage of students stay home whose families elect for them to stay home. There could be teachers assigned with special program for these home based students with hourly phone interaction, assignments, and internet based help as well.

2. Have a percentage of students study outside or in the gym to free up space inside for social distancing. Learning outside allows students to get fresh air rather than germ filled recycled air. It also allows for people to be put six feet apart and not run out of space.

3. Smaller class sizes would allow for people to spread out.

4. Disinfecting surfaces and washing hands regularly.

5. Taking temperatures regularly.

6. Quarantine room classes for students with symptoms who cannot go home for whatever reason.

7. During recess, students should keep a distance from each other.

Item one, two and three are examples of social thinning. You still go to class, but the number of students will have been thinned out and people will be a bit farther away from each other, hence slowing the rate of infection.

Social thinning — it’s nothing to sneeze (or cough) at!

There is International Women’s day and now there is International Notary Women’s Day at least in this article. My first complaint is – why is there no men’s day? How come women get all the recognition and men are just left out? Are we less than human? But, I digress. So, what is International Notary Women’s Day about? It is a day where we commemorate women in the Notary world.

The vast majority of Notaries are women. Close to 90%. As Mobile Notaries the quantity is closer to 60%. There are disproportionately high rates of blacks being Notaries as well, in particular, you guessed it, black women. Many women who are in the Notary world were Realtors before that — another field dominated by older women. Most mobile notaries are above 40 as well.

So, what do women do differently in the Notary world? Word on the street is that women are better at multitasking. I think that is a genetic fact because I can only do one thing at a time. Being a notary involves a lot of juggling and faxing, scanning, making appointments, rescheduling, etc. I think that women have a knack for this type of thing.

Additionally, being a notary requires another skill women have — shopping. You need to buy ink, forms, gas, snacks, and more to be a mobile notary. On a side note, every time I go to Whole Foods I see professional shoppers buying food for other families and most of these people are women which proves that women were born to shop.

In the real world, women, particularly young women have more patience than guys to for higher education. But, in the Notary world, few people are mastering our materials these days. We need more women passing our test!

I am also tempted to see — we need more women mobile notaries to correct the imbalance, but the imbalance is that we have disproportionately more women than men as Notaries — so perhaps I should say that we need more men. Or perhaps we should just let nature take its course.

Behind every successful man, there is a Woman Notary. Just kidding.

Another fact is that there is no glass ceiling in the notary world. It is a gig economy and you get paid for what you do. The more experienced people tend to get paid a lot more as well. Elite certified members get paid a lot more too, but try getting anyone to crack a book. This is why I think China will wipe America out one day – they have no problem cracking books, or hacking US government high security websites.

For women in the notary clergy there is the stained glass ceiling — just kidding.

Women Notaries are a little more squeamish going out at night to strange neighborhoods. I have not heard of any woman getting in trouble, but the fear is real.

So, that concludes my half realistic and half satirical view of women Notaries. Let me know if there are other points I could include.