PING PONG TOURNAMENT OF ELDERS

On Monday 9 September in the United States, PBS will broadcast the premiere of the documentary, Ping Pong on “POV.” It is about the age 80 and older division of the World Veterans Table Tennis Championship. The trailer:

The contestants are a remarkable group of men and women who are interviewed for this doc and there is more tension than you might imagine. From the press release:

”Will the short-of-breath Terry survive his singles matches and play to win the doubles gold? Will Les live up to his extravagant reputation? Will Rune get his gold medal—and vindication?

“Will Dorothy continue to prove you’re never too old? Will Lisa sweep all before her with her youthful contempt and relative speed? Will Ursula retain her championship though she has slowed down since winning it two years earlier? Will Inge win her first medal and make her nursing home proud?”

What a great idea for a documentary. You can read more here and since local PBS channels are notorious for airing programs when they bloody well feel like, you can check your local listings here.

DON'T BELIEVE THEM WHEN THEY SAY DOCTORS ARE FLEEING MEDICARE

I've been forgetting to tell you this for the past month so I was pleased to find another story about it last week.

People – that is, politicians and their wealthy backers – have wanted to kill Medicare for a long time and one of their recurring arguments is that physicians are leaving the program in droves.

Now, a study from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) should, as The New York Times reports, “demolish that mythology for good.”

”...the percentage of doctors accepting new Medicare patients actually rose to 90.7 percent in 2012 from 87.9 percent in 2005.

“They are not shunning Medicare patients for better-paying private patients, either; the percentage of doctors accepting new Medicare patients in recent years was slightly higher than the percentage accepting new privately insured patients.

“Medicare patients had comparable or better access to medical services than the access reported by privately insured individuals ages 50 to 64, who are just below the age for Medicare eligibility.”

And for further good measure:

”The number of doctors opting out is tiny compared with the number of doctors, 735,000, who remain in Medicare. In addition, they are augmented by hundreds of thousands of nurse practitioners and other non-doctor providers.”

You can read the entire Times editorial here and more about the survey at this HHS webpage.

TURTLE HELPS FLIPPED OVER FRIEND

From our friend Darlene Costner:

A BETTER WAY TO NAME TROPICAL STORMS

Since 1954, in the U.S., tropical storms, hurricanes, etc. have been named for people. It started with women's names only and a few years ago – a decade? two? - men's names were added.

Now, a group of people fed up with climate change deniers and obstructionists have proposed a new way to name tropical storms. Take a look and hat tip to Flora Davis.

STATE BY STATE RETIREE TAX BURDEN

Kiplinger has done the homework for retirees and near retirees, having tracked down all the information necessary to understand the tax requirements for every state in the U.S.

Some states tax at much higher rates than others so if you are trying to decide whether to stay or move when you stop working, this is an excellent tool.

Click the map above to go to the larger, interactive version. There are also separate interactive maps for the most tax friendly and least tax friendly states.

MEN TALKING ABOUT SEX AFTER 50

Someone I've lost track of in the inbox sent me this video. I find it superficial, uncomfortable and kind of silly. You may see it differently.

COFFEE CUP MAGIC TRICKS

Tom Delmore of Crowsperch sent this video of Criss Angel doing some random magic tricks in a coffee shop somewhere.

I'd never heard of Criss Angel so I checked around the web. He is a professional magician about whom you can find out more at his official website.

Personally, I love being baffled by magic tricks, especially the close-up work like these, so if anyone dares tell me in the comments how these are done, you're in deep trouble on this blog. I LIKE not knowing.

WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

Following is a Chilean commercial for an LG Ultra HD, large-screen television that has gone viral around the web. Don't worry that the language is not English – believe me, you'll understand all that is happening.

What I want to know is what you would do in such a situation.

CLEVER ADOPT-A-CAT COMMERCIAL

From Bev Carney who sends me enough kitty videos that this time she said: “Truly, I DO have other interests.”

If you're interested, Tenth Life Cats is in St. Louis, Missouri.

Interesting Stuff is a weekly listing of short takes and links to web items that have caught my attention; some related to aging and some not, some useful and others just for fun.

You are all encouraged to submit items for inclusion. Just click “Contact” in the upper left corner of any Time Goes By page to send them. I'm sorry that I probably won't have time to acknowledge receipt and there is no guarantee of publication. But when I do include them, you will be credited and I will link to your blog if you have one.