Month: August 2017

Cost of Senior Pass for US National Parks is going up On August 27, 2017

 Or…Act now, to get the Senior Life Time Pass to all National Parks, all 417 of them before the price goes up from $10 to $80!
Thanks to Senior Planet for sending out this post! I copied it in its  totality (like the eclipse) .

Act Now for a National Parks Senior Pass

One of the perks of turning 62 has long been the privilege of buying a Senior Lifetime Pass that covers you and your traveling companions at all 417 National Park Sites only $10—but don’t wait till you’re planning a trip to get yours. The price for a senior pass price is about to go up dramatically, and the rush is on.

The National Parks Department will raise the price of the Senior Lifetime Pass to $80 on August 28; a new $20 annual Senior Pass will become available at the same time.

On its website, the Parks Department promises that all eligible senior pass orders placed online before 11:59pm EDT on August 27, or mail orders postmarked on or before the 27th, will be processed at the $10 price. (There’s also an additional $10 processing charge.)

Why the steep increase? Blame Congress. It’s an indirect result of the America the Beautiful parks pass going up as legislated by Congress in 2016.

How to Get Your Senior Lifetime Pass

Unless you plan to visit a National Parks site before August 27, fire up your computer now.

  • Click here to access the store’s Senior Pass Page, where you’ll find all the info about the pass.
  • On the Senior Pass Page, you’ll see a link to “Purchase your pass via Your Pass Now.” This is a digital validation service that’s helping the department handle the rush of applications by automatically verifying your age against public documents. That’s good news for you, because it saves you having to upload an image of your driver’s license or other state issued ID. You will have to enter your personal details, including Social Security number, but Your Pass Now says it deletes all information once your application has been processed.
  • If you can’t bring yourself to enter your Social Security Number (or the site doesn’t work for you), you can use the standard application here and upload a photo or scan of your ID.
  • Print or save your confirmation page—due to the last minute crush, it can take up to 12 weeks to receive your pass; meanwhile you can use your confirmation for entry to the National Parks.
  • You can also apply by mail by printing and completing this application along with a photocopy of your ID.

Once you get your pass, hold on to it; the passes are non-refundable and can’t be replaced if lost or stolen.

Questions? Contact the National Parks Department at 888-ASK-USGS and press 3, or email fedrecpass@usgs.gov. You can also check the Senior Pass FAQ here.

Happy camping!

KAY’S NOTES:

IMPORTANT TO KNOW: Senior Planet is a website for seniors offering all kinds of good info on events in NYC.  Check them out to see if they are in your area    seniorplanet.org

Disclaimer: I try for correct info on my posts, but no guarantees people.

 

You’ve Got To Be Carefully Taught!

Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific

Back in 2009 I saw the revival of SOUTH PACIFIC at Lincoln Center.  What a wonderful Rodgers & Hammerstein musical.  Those marvelous songs, “Younger Than Springtime”,”There’s Nothing Like A  Dame”, “Some Enchanted Evening”, but the song from the musical that has been repeating in my head since Charlottesville and Barcelona is, “You’ve Got To Be Carefully Taught”…

You’ve got to be taught to hate and fear
You’ve got to be taught from year to year
It’s got to be drummed in your dear little ear
You’ve got to be carefully taught

You’ve got to be taught to be afraid
Of people whose eyes are oddly made
And people whose skin is a diff’rent shade
You’ve got to be carefully taught

You’ve got to be taught before it’s too late
Before you are six or seven or eight
To hate all the people your relatives hate
You’ve got to be carefully taught

 

With love and with  the hope that in my  old age I will  live to see prejudices of all forms disappear from this country and this world.

Peace,
KAY 

 

Want to Become a Professional NYC Bus Rider?

Or… Easy, just follow  my  four  rules and become a suave sophisticated, “I know what I’m doing” with an attitude, rider.

It seems to me that taking a bus shouldn’t be intimidating, because pretty sure the odds are good that we all have taken buses at some point. We got on, we got off and ended up where we wanted to be.  Right?

Well, when I became a permanent resident here, the thought of riding a City bus was not only intimidating, but downright scary. Instead I took cabs and car services, a costly way to travel I quickly founImage result for nyc bus photod out.

So I decided one night to stop being a wimp and just do it.  The next morning, after checking  the schedule, off I went with my “unused” reduced fare (senior)  Metro card safely in my wallet.   I took the M66 to Lincoln Center an easy trip across Central Park.  I can report now that nothing, absolutely nothing, happened to me. I got on the bus, I got off the bus and gave myself a high-five as I landed on the sidewalk.  However, I did begin to learn of the unwritten rules of riding a City bus which helped to reduce my angst from a 10 plus down to a “Hey, I’m a professional bus rider here, people!”

Following are my  lessons learned, but first a word of advice.  Ignore all the stuff that goes on around you, including the passenger who  not only hates the bus, the bus driver and everyone on the bus, but will also tell you why in words your mother told you never to say!

Rule 1
Always, and I mean always, allow extra time.  Because anything could and probably will  make you late.  Those huge delivery trucks seem to be dropping off all kinds of stuff just when your bus approaches and then there’s the ever -popular surprise detour for a myriad of reasons – it is New York you know. 

Rule 2
Have your Metro card or exact change in hand when you board.
 Otherwise, those people behind you that were nice a few minutes ago will change in a NY second if you fumble – and if it’s raining?  Fuhgeddaboudit!

Rule 3
Hit the strip  “Stop Requested” after  the bus  leaves the stop before yours.  Otherwise, it doesn’t light up and  I learned this the hard way as I watched
wide- eyed my bus driving right by my stop.    

Rule 4
No seat available? Grab any strap, bar, back of seat, but never, ever a person.
Unless of course you’re about to fall which could result in bodily harm,  which will stop the bus, which nobody wants. Then I can almost promise that your fellow  passengers will  offer to let you hold on to one of  them so that their  bus will just keep on moving without any further ado…hopefully.

And not a rule, but just a kind act of civility is to thank the bus driver when you get off – these people have to put up with all of us.

Love this City and have come to love the buses! (I don’t take subways).
Happy Trails!

KAY’S NOTES: 

Important to know: Just visiting?  You can get a reduced fare card as a senior citizen or person with disabilities even if you’re not a resident of NYC.  Check out the website – all info you need is there
http://web.mta.info/nyct/fare/rfindex.htm

Good to know: Many of you probably know all of this, but for those of you who don’t…hope it helps!
 Disclaimer: I try for correct info on my posts, but no guarantees people.