The Easy-to-Find Information Center
Developed for those 55 and older (but anyone can use it).
Released March 1, 2008. See the box to the right for daily updates.
What happened the last time you used a search engine? 23,000 entries on 10,000 pages? There is a huge amount of information on the Internet, but it's not always easy to find just what you are looking for.
Slightly Creaky has been developed by a former AOL manager with considerable online research experience. We spend hundreds of hours every month searching through thousands of links looking for the ones slightly creaky people would use. Besides the obvious medical and health links, we provide information on travel, lifestyles, and home repair, while providing hundreds of suggestions for new hobbies, activities, and ways of being productive and keeping busy.
The index to the left shows an overview of these things, but we go far deeper. For example, in the "On the Table" category we include links to recipes, caloric counters, nutrition articles, and, well, whatever we may find and like. Many of the items have been submitted by viewers.
We annotate every entry so you know what the site contains before you click. Our 800-plus support group and medical information links provide alphabetical lists of ailments, including "orphan" diseases, with links to support and informational sites. Since it's doubtful you could tell what the "The Magic Foundation" is, for example, simply by its name, we give you an in-depth description. In most cases we copy the mission statements or purposes directly from the site. We try not to editorialize.
More than just links, Slightly Creaky wants to provide first-person experiences of slightly creaky people, those who are feeling the ailments of their age, but still remain active. Thus we seek volunteers to write brief (200 to 400 word) columns on a variety of topics, from geocaching to storm chasing, to thoughts on medical practices and pharmaceuticals. In fact, we encourage all of our readers to submit articles on any topic at any time.
Suggestions are always welcomed.
This week's Featured Article:
Retired and Living in South America, Part 3.
Here is a complete list of our contents
with easy to access links.
Active Living. Home page for activities for active people. Not sure what to do today or looking for a new hobby? We provide hundreds of ideas.
- Life Styles. There are many environments in which to live: urban, rural, overseas, on a cruise ship, traveling in a motor home, or in a care facility. We provide basic information about all these places so you can research the possibilities.
- Travel. Specific vacations, cruises, tours, and similar activities.
- Recreation. Indoor and outdoor activities to give you ideas of things to do. Many of them you have never considered but are easy and fun. Others are quite challenging. Have you tried geocaching, locating places using GPS devices, a wonderful way to find new locations in your area? Interested in learning bocce?
Quick Links: Main Page
Amusement Parks & Places Sporting Activities
- On The Road. Whether you travel by train, bus, car, motorcycle, or motor home, there are destinations you do not want to miss. We have a huge listing of both the popular and the unusual.
In the Home. Home page for activities around the house.
- Entertaining. Whether you have one person visiting or five dozen, we provide links to sites to make entertaining easier and unique. There is also a suggestion about planning events outside your home, in your yard, a park, or a formal banquet hall.
- On the Table. Providing a listing of web sites that provide generalized or specific recipes and cooking suggestions. Each week we also feature a viewer's Favorite Recipe. Send yours (original only, not copied) to recipes@slightlycreaky. If you try any of the items on this page, please submit a review.
- Leaky Pipes. Covering many types of household (and outside the house) repairs.
- Pets. Mice, horses, cats, fish, dogs, and dozens more. We provide information about care and feeding, boarding, medical and health. Have you ever thought about putting a GPS tracer in your dog or cat (or iguana)?
- Hobbies & Interests. Indoors or out, this section looks at the way people spend their leisure time. Designing model train layouts, knitting, gardening, collecting, exercising, and even creating web sites. We also have a special page for Online Games.
There are 14 web pages in this section, To access them, go to the Hobbies & Interests Main Page.
- News & Information. Newspapers, news magazines, and a considerable amount of information is now available online. If you are interested in reading the New York Times, looking up what is showing on TV, or checking out information in an encyclopedia or dictionary, there are a huge amount of resources here.
- Virtual Communities. This is a Slightly Creaky exclusive, bringing you web cams from around the world with monthly special features and updates. Watch cruise ships, traffic, take tours zoos, and even peek into nighclubs and resorts.
Medical & Health. Home page for information about "the human condition." You can link directly to subcategories below.
- Medical Information. Links to medical information, dictionaries, encyclopedias, drugs and home remedies, advocacy, and groups that support many conditions.
- Support Groups. Six pages of annotated links to sites that support people and families with specific medical ailments and conditions. From the most common such as heart disease, diabetes, and vision problems, to orphan conditions that get very little attention. They are all here. Links to Support Group pages:
A - C D - G H - L M - Q R - S T - Z
- Family & Relationships. We can choose our friends, but not our family. Sometimes relationships are difficult, whether between spouses, parents and children, and siblings. This section provides links to sites that offer suggestions to improve and repair such situations.
- Nutrition. From the food pyramid to calorie counters, nutrition guides for general living or specific medical conditions, you can find links to helpful sites here.
Consumer Information. Information about things we buy and use. Each section contains annotated links to appropriate web sites so that you do not need to use a search engine. You will probably find things here that you never considered researching.
- Finance. Making handling money just a little bit easier. Our links and articles include writing and probating wills (and how to avoid problems), providing for a power of attorney, investing, scams, living wills, and dozens more topics. It also includes links for tax preparation and Social Security.
- Energy. Every day electricity, gas, and heating fuel get more expensive. There are alternative ways you can provide for these modern needs without having to depend on the mega-corporations. If "green" is the energy word of the 21st century, you'll find assistance here.
- Legal Information. With every state, county, town, and city having conflicting legal rules, we can not possibly provide all the information you might need. We do, though, have links to general law sites that update their information as needed. Also provided are dictionaries of legal terms. (We provide the links, but do not guarantee what you find is accurate. Consult a lawyer.)
Message Boards. It is our hope that the topics, information, and weekly columns will generate discussions.
About Us. Information about the people behind Slightly Creaky, our philosophy, goals, and volunteers. This area also includes our safety guidelines and a chronology explaining the development of this site.
Contact Us. We have a variety of E-mail addresses if you wish to submit an article, suggest a new link, or to otherwise get in touch with the Slightly Creaky team.
Volunteers. We need assistance in many areas (see the orange box to the right). This page explains in detail who, what, why, and how to become a volunteer. We also provide a list of those contributing articles and otherwise volunteering.
Legal Stuff. The required disclaimers, policies, etc.
Featured Article
All of Bill's articles are archived.
Part 3. May, 2008
Hello again, to this my third installment about my experiences in Colombia. I guess that this would be a good time to discuss the reasons why I was looking for a place in Colombia in the first place. Why would a Man from Upstate NY chose the forgo the pleasures of snow belt winters? Why would a snowbird in Florida want to live where there were NO hurricanes, No tornados, No freezing temperatures? Why would a teacher who had been struggling financially for decades want to live where expenses were much less? Why, when the projected Social Security benefits indicated a life style very much lower in the future, would the prospect of a good life style be attractive? Obviously the answer to all of the above questions is clear. These are all factors as to why I am living in Somondoco.
So back to our search. I was using the time while I was waiting for my SS checks to start arriving, to locate our future home. My wife and I have complementary abilities and points of view. I am more detail oriented and she is more artisticly sensitive. We were limited by our financial situation, there were many beautiful places on the market but most had very high ( for our budget) prices.
After about 6 months of searching we went to see a property which it was claimed was near to a road. We had an appointment in a small isolated village. We were to arrive at the Parque Central, or Central Park at 10:00 in the morning. We got there a little early and looked around the small square. It was unremarkable, clean but small compared to many we had seen. Our contact arrived and he directed us up a dirt road going out of town up a steep grade. The road soon became impassable even for a 4WD vehicle. We got out and started to walk.
Very soon the walk became a climb up a steep stream bed. About 30 minutes later we left the stream bed and walked along a level area about ¼ of mile to an old house. The view from the house was great, but certainly not worth the hard climb. There was an easier way down which in part consisted of sliding down the muddy mountain side. We were glad to get back to the car.
The seller said that there was going to be a road it just wasn’t built yet but the mayor was working on it. We went back to town and bought a couple of bottles of Coke before returning to Bogotá. On our way back to the city, Gloria thought of a very close friend who might have a finca in the area. A phone call from a cell phone confirmed that indeed Maria Elisa and her husband did indeed have a weekend finca near the village of Somondoco. She was very surprised that we had been to the village and promised to help us find a place in the area.
A couple of days later Gloria got a call from Ma Elisa, inviting us to visit them at their finca the next weekend. This started our voyage of exploration of Somondoco in the Valle de Tenza. There is no river Tenza, so how could there be a Valley of Tenza? I will answer this and other discoveries next time.
Bill Turley, Somondoco, Boyaca, Colombia
Brief Disclaimer
The obvious legal statement.
The folks at Slightly Creaky are volunteers. None of us get any salary or compensation in any form. We are not a corporation, just a few folks working out of our houses. If anything on this site bothers you, if you notice mistakes, please let us know.
While we do maintain editorial rights, things slip past, especially on the message boards. The submitted columns and news articles, as well as the postings on the message boards, belong to the contributor(s), not to the Slightly Creaky team. We are simply a vehicle bringing you information to the best of our ability.
Be sure to read our complete Legal Information and Policies