This Man Has Determined That It’s Cheaper to Retire to a Holiday Inn Instead of a Nursing Home

These days, there are so many senior citizens who are unable to retire because of the ridiculous cost of housing as well as dwindling/nonexistent savings.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, households that are 65 years or older spend, on average, $45,756 per year, or roughly $3,800 per month. That’s only $1,000 less per month than all U.S. households on average. We all know how the economy has swung back and forth since the 2008 meltdown, so many Americans have had a hard time retiring or haven’t been able to at all.

Because of all this uncertainty, one man from Texas has come up with a brilliant plan for his twilight years. Terry Robinson has decided that, instead of opting for the traditional retirement home, he’ll spend his remaining years in a Holiday Inn hotel.

And to top it off, the Holiday Inn will be cheaper.

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Robinson wrote a lengthy Facebook post about his plan and as of this writing, the post has been shared 132,000 times. Robinson’s post says:

“No nursing home for us. We’ll be checking into a Holiday Inn!
With the average cost for a nursing home care costing $188.00 per day, there is a better way when we get old and too feeble.
I’ve already checked on reservations at the Holiday Inn. For a combined long term stay discount and senior discount, it’s $59.23 per night.

Breakfast is included, and some have happy hours in the afternoon.
That leaves $128.77 a day for lunch and dinner in any restaurant we want, or room service, laundry, gratuities and special TV movies.

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Plus, they provide a spa, swimming pool, a workout room, a lounge and washer-dryer, etc.

Most have free toothpaste and razors, and all have free shampoo and soap.

$5-worth of tips a day and you’ll have the entire staff scrambling to help you.

They treat you like a customer, not a patient.

There’s a city bus stop out front, and seniors ride free.

The handicap bus will also pick you up (if you fake a decent limp).

To meet other nice people, call a church bus on Sundays.

For a change of scenery, take the airport shuttle bus and eat at one of the nice restaurants there.

While you’re at the airport, fly somewhere. Otherwise, the cash keeps building up.

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

It takes months to get into decent nursing homes. Holiday Inn will take your reservation today .

And you’re not stuck in one place forever — you can move from Inn to Inn, or even from city to city.

Want to see Hawaii ? They have Holiday Inn there too.

TV broken? Light bulbs need changing? Need a mattress replaced? No problem.. They fix everything, and apologize for the inconvenience.

The Inn has a night security person and daily room service. The maid checks to see if you are ok. If not, they’ll call an ambulance . . . Or the undertaker.

If you fall and break a hip, Medicare will pay for the hip, and Holiday Inn will upgrade you to a suite for the rest of your life.

And no worries about visits from family. They will always be glad to find you, and probably check in for a few days mini-vacation.

The grand-kids can use the pool.

What more could I ask for?

So, when I reach that golden age, I’ll face it with a grin.”

Sounds like a pretty good plan to me.

What do YOU think? Let’s get some retirees to weigh in on this predicament in the comments.

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March 13, 2019

Men of Twitter Share Instances They Took a Stand Against Misogyny and Predatory Behavior

Gentlemen: pay attention. It’s up to us to end misogyny, so if we see another man acting inappropriately towards a woman in any way whatsoever, it’s our duty to speak up and take a stand. Period.

If you need inspiration, take a look at these guys. It all started when a Twitter user threw out this question to all the good guys out there.

Photo Credit: Twitter

And here were some of the best responses.

1. Role model

Photo Credit: Twitter

2. He needed to hear it

Photo Credit: Twitter

3. Explain why they’re wrong

Photo Credit: Twitter

4. It’s not hard

Photo Credit: Twitter

5. Stare ’em down

Photo Credit: Twitter

6. Teaching moments

Photo Credit: Twitter

7. Some good advice

Photo Credit: Twitter

8. Ugh

Photo Credit: Twitter

9. Get involved in one way or another

Photo Credit: Twitter

10. It’s okay to look like an idiot

Photo Credit: Twitter

To all the guys out there: it’s our responsibility to step up and say something when you see something inappropriate happening. Do the right thing!

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March 13, 2019

The U.K. is Seeing a Sudden Resurgence of Ancient Diseases

As we here in America battle with the comeback of diseases like measles, the United Kingdom is also struggling with the reemergence of old-school, Dickensian diseases gout and scarlet fever.

Data from the UK National Health Service shows a 52% increase in four key “Victorian diseases” since 2010/2011 – many of which were assumed to have disappeared along with chamber pots. The rise of sanitation, vaccinations, and modern science seemed to have these diseases on the run, but the recent data shows that they’re not going down without a fight.

Cases of scarlet fever have increased by 208% in the past decade, going from 429 cases in 2010/11 to 1321 cases in 2017/2018. The disease was the leading cause of death in children in the early 20th century and presents with a sore throat, fever, headache, swollen lymph nodes, and a pink-red rash.

Scarlet fever rash
Image Credit: Wikipedia

A vaccine nearly wiped out whooping cough in the 1950s but hospital admissions are up 59%, and the instances of people experiencing gout are up 38% – almost 2000 more cases in 2017/2018 than there were 10 years before. Gout is associated with a poor diet, heavy drinking, an a general lack of concern over one’s health.

Whooping cough bacteria
Image Credit: Wikipedia

Life expectancy is stalling in the UK, too, and hospital admissions due to malnutrition are up 54%. Infant mortality rates are also on the rise, and as with everything else, the poorer people are suffering the most.

The culprit? Well, the data suggests large cuts to healthcare, social services, and other public services could be to blame. That said, the study was commissioned by a political party that is against the austerity programs, which should be taken into consideration.

The data is solid and from independent sources, however, so the truth can’t be denied – people in the UK are sicker than ever, dying younger than they were ten years ago, and generally struggling to stay well as people in Western Europe face none of the same challenges (in general).

I don’t know about you, but I hope to avoid all of these diseases in the modern world. All I’ve got is a vaccination and a prayer.

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March 13, 2019

Massive Hermit Crab Uses a Doll’s Head for Its Shell, and It’s Insanely Creepy

Hermit crabs are fairly common, easy-to-care-for pets that you’ve likely seen in a child’s classroom or at your local pet store. Interestingly, hermit crabs are not actual crabs because they have soft, exposed abdomens that leave them vulnerable to predators. That’s why they’re always looking for a new shell to call home.

They move in and out of shells – usually sea snail shells – as they grow.

Image Credit: Wikipedia

The coconut crab differs from a regular hermit crab in two important ways: first, it’s quite large – it can grow up to three feet long and weigh nine pounds – and second, when it outgrows the largest shell it can find, it grows a shell of its own.

Isn’t nature weird?

Image Credit: Wikipedia

One particular coconut crab, though, isn’t going to be growing his own shell anytime soon, since he found a lovely (meaning totally creepy) discarded doll’s head to live in instead of a shell.

A redditor shared a photo of the crab found on Henderson Island. Part of the Pitcairn Islands, the remote Pacific spot is vulnerable to human litter (obviously).

Image Credit: Reddit

There’s just something about dolls that creep some people out (including me), but I suppose the crab is perfectly happy living inside one – maybe he even considers the eyes cool little peepholes?

Image Credit: Reddit

I have no idea what I’m talking about, but hey, there’s got to be some reason he likes it.

The photo is also making people recall the mutant Toy Story toy that was a doll’s head on top of a crab’s body. A strange coincidence to be sure.

Image Credit: Disney

Not as strange as reality, but close.

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March 13, 2019

15 Things People Didn’t Realize Were “So American” Until They Traveled Outside America

Americans: you may not realize it, but there are a lot of things you do that are considered totally weird around the rest of the world. Things like smiling all the time, or tipping. Who knew, right?

Here are 15 more things you might not realize make you stand out as “totally American” in countries across the pond.

#1. Constantly refilled.

“Having your drink constantly refilled ay restaurants. I just wanna drink a ton of water alright?”

#2. Being loud.

“The stereotype about us being loud is true. I never thought of myself as being loud until I went abroad and would hang up the phone after speaking in what I thought was appropriate volume to find everyone around me was staring at me, and realized how much more quiet they were lol whoops”

#3. Smiling and being friendly.

“I moved to England from Texas about six years ago. One of the major things that I noticed was that smiling and being friendly towards strangers was considered bizarre. This is a bit true in any metropolitan area, but especially in the UK. In Texas I was used to smiling at people, asking for directions if I needed them, and being friendly towards strangers. I learned very quickly that smiling at someone on the tube, or asking someone for directions on the street immediately makes someone think you’re trying to scam/rob them or you’re crazy.”

#4. Drive-thrus.

“I’m from northern europe but have visited USA couple of times. Their love for SUV cars and drive-thru is unreal, like there is a dunkin, subway and three kinds of fast food place next to each other and all of them have a drive-thru.

Edit: meant drive-thru, not drive-in.”

#5. A made-up crime.

“Jaywalking. The rest of the world thinks this is a made-up crime you only see in movies with corrupt cops.”

#6. Yes it is.

“I’ve never been abroad. Is that American enough?”

#7. Violently American.

“Tailgates. I’ve lived in the states my entire life, but when my Spanish girlfriend came to visit I wasn’t sure what I could show her that really exhibited American culture. There are plenty of American stereotypes you see on TV, but it wasn’t until I took her to a tailgate that I realized how violently American the whole experience is. A huge parking lot full of drunk twenty year olds bouncing on trucks bigger than most European apartments, with half the trucks blaring country, and the other half blasting rap. Solo cups and beer cans all over the place, grills, corn hole, etc. I’ve traveled to quite a few different countries, and I can’t really see a tailgate happening most other places.”

#8. American flavored.

“Ranch flavor Doritos in the Netherlands are called “Cool American” flavor.”

#9. How large grocery stores are.

“how large grocery stores are here. My wife is not american and we lived in China and were in HK all the time… they had large international stores that were great and she didnt really grasp the size of american grocery stores till our first week in the USA and there’s 150 feet of cereals on one aisle”

#10. Ketchup isn’t free.

“At a buffet in Germany, I had to pay for ketchup.”

#11. The size of cars.

“I did an art history course in Italy. What really stood out to me was the size of cars over there. Over here you have a mix of mid sized sedans and pick up trucks/SUV’S, with the occasional compact car (back when I went compact cars here were incredibly scarce). Over there, it seemed like most everyone drove a compact car, with the occasional sports car. I remember counting six pickup trucks in the 10 days I was there (for comparison, I can name more than 6 people I know with a pick up here).”

#12. The whole of Ireland.

“Massively wide roads/lanes. The whole of Ireland made me feel claustrophobic, but when I got back home the roads felt like way too much wasted space.”

#13. Portion size.

“Portion sizes.

My high school senior trip to London, as a typically ravenous appetite 18 year old, I couldn’t get over how small everything was standard.”

#14. I think you underestimate the size of our avocados.

“Small avocados.

Went to puerto rico. Was like, ‘yo ill have like 6 of those stuffed avocados’. Buddy was like, ‘yo gringo, i think you underestimate the size of our avocados here. Just have one and ill being you more if you want after’.

I had half of one. It was like a football.”

#15. Types of soda.

“Getting to choose from like 50 different types and subtypes of sodas.

Hearing commercials advocating you to go to the doctor and demand a prescription for whatever fantasy pill is new to the market on the radio like it is no big deal.”

Go ahead and travel anyway. People are generally forgiving.

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March 13, 2019

6 Incredible Ancient Finds Discovered by Workers Expanding the London Underground

The funny thing about people is that we’re kind of lazy. Instead of making entirely new cities out of scratch, we’re just like “Hey, why not just build right on top of this existing city? Way easier, amirite guys?”

As a result, digging around in cities can reveal all kinds of interesting things from the past. That’s what happened during the 2009-2018 expansion of the London Underground. Here are six totally neat things that came out of England’s latest modernization.

#1. A rare Roman medallion

Image Credit: Crossrail

Archaeologists who excavated Crossrail’s Liverpool Street uncovered more than 100 copper Roman coins and a bit of silver currency that ranged from 43 CE to 348 CE.

There was also a rare bronze medallion issued to mark the new year 245 CE. It was presented by Emperor Phillip I to a high-ranking government official and is the only one of its kind to date.

#2. A 55-million-year-old piece of amber

Image Credit: Crossrail

Engineers found the piece of amber from 50 feet below the dock bed beneath Canary Wharf before construction officially began – it’s the oldest amber ever to be found in London.

Don’t worry, no one has reported a mosquito containing dinosaur blood (yet). It did contain bubbles of trapped gasses that could yield new scientific insights about climate change.

#3. Victims of the Black Death

Image Credit: Crossrail Site

Archaeologists unearthed dozens of Black Death-related skeletons beneath London’s Charterhouse Square back in 2013 – the remains indicated that the people died during 14th and 15th century pandemics. Their teeth contained DNA traces of Yersinia pestis, the bacteria that caused the bubonic plague, and carbon dating indicated the burial ground had been used from 1348-1350 and again during the 1430s.

Not all of the skeletons were plague victims, however, suggesting the burial ground was for dead in general.

#4. A humorous Victorian chamber pot

Image Credit: Crossrail

When you’re poo-ing in something that has to be dumped manually, a sense of humor seems to be a no-brainer – and this chamber pot found during Stepney Green Station in East London verifies my assumption. It was found in a 19th-century cesspit filled with tobacco pipes and fragments of pots like this chamber pot that contains a cartoon of a grimacing man and the phrase “Oh what I see/I will not tell. …when you in it want to p*ss/remember they who gave you this.”

Ha!

#5. A cluster of Roman skulls

Image Credit: Crossrail

In 2013, workers at the Liverpool Street station site dug up Roman pottery and around 20 Roman skulls. Similar skulls have been found in the area, and some archaeologists suspect they belonged to rebels led by the Iceni warrior-queen Boudicca, who revolted against the Empire during the 1st Century CE.

These skulls, however, appear to date after the uprising, and likely washed out of a Roman cemetery long ago.

#6. An 8,000-year-old tool

Image Credit: Crossrail Site

At North Woolrich, in southeast London, scientists discovered a Mesolithic-era site near the Thames where early humans crafted tools 8500-6000 years ago. There were traces of campfires, flint pieces, and an 8,000-year-old stone tool.

The find is only one of a handful that confirms humans lived in the Thames valley after an Ice Age hiatus.

I’m all for progress if it means finding more delightful things like these!

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March 13, 2019

This Man’s ER Experience in Taiwan Shows How Truly Messed up American Health Care Really Is

No matter what side of the political aisle you belong to, chances are most of you would agree that America’s healthcare system, as it currently stands, is pretty broken. Even if we can’t all agree about what the right solution may be, we definitely agree that it could certainly be better.

The fact is that, when it comes to healthcare, America actually lags behind the rest of the civilized world. We spend more exponentially more money to get significantly less coverage.

Most other first world countries offer government-funded universal healthcare – and that is also true in Taiwan, where one Kevin Bozeat has been living as an ex-pat. But unfortunately, he didn’t qualify for their healthcare and had no American health insurance, either, when he found himself super sick and in need of a trip to the emergency room.

He sucked it up and let his roommate call him a taxi, figuring he’d work out the payment when it came due (the way most of us regular people do here in the States).

Here’s what happened.

Image Credit: Facebook

tl;dr: His experience was awesome and even with no insurance, it cost him $80.

Of course, since this is the internet in America, people had to try to find every which way to prove that his experience was singular, or reasons why it wouldn’t work in the States, or to insinuate that Taiwan is somehow a poor, third world country (it’s not; their GDP is higher than Denmark’s).

So, Kevin did some legwork for us in the form of arguments against all of the “good points” people made about his original post.

Image Credit: Facebook

To sum up:

The cost of living in Taiwan is about 50% of the cost of living in the U.S. Good luck going to any emergency room here for any reason and getting out of there for less than $160.
Doctors do make less, but they’re still solidly middle class (and there are plenty of people willing to go into the field).
The taxes in Taiwan do pay for healthcare but they’re not high – if you have their national healthcare it works out to about $70.53/month for a person who makes $60k/year.

He acknowledges that no system is perfect, but quotes the Ministry of Health in saying that “…the Taiwanese government believes that healthcare is a right for all of its citizens, rather than a privilege for those who can afford it.”

Everyone in Taiwan is covered (along with foreign permanent resident) is entitled to coverage regardless of employment status, and no citizen goes bankrupt due to medical bills.

It sounds like a utopia, but it’s not – most of the world has figured out how to make it happen. And according to Kevin, it’s time for his home country to stop making excuses.

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March 13, 2019

This Poor Gentleman’s Ginormous Poop Nearly Killed Him (Seriously)

You might be proud of your ability to “hold it” until you get home, until after the kids go to bed, until a more convenient time, but take heed, people – holding in your poo for too long can literally kill you.

Proof? This 53-year-old Australian man went to the emergency room with severe abdominal pain, swelling, nausea, and a sudden inability to feel or move his right leg. Doctors confirmed the leg was paralyzed – it also had no palpable pulse and was cold to the touch.

At first, physicians were stumped. The man had no history of drug abuse, no risk of vascular disease, and really no significant or out-of-the-ordinary medical history at all.

What he did have was a really, really big poo.

Image Credit: BMJ Case Report

Holy sh*t.

A rectal examination and abdominal scans revealed massive fecal compaction that was putting life-threatening pressure on his abdominal organs. There was so much of it that it had distended his large intestine and put pressure on his right iliac artery, which is what caused the pain and paralysis in his leg.

The case was serious – he was showing signs of renal impairment and metabolic acidosis – the man required surgery to remove the backlog of poo and relieve the building pressure. The team wrote a case report, which expanded on their findings.

“Significant faecal disimpaction was performed manually under general anaesthesia with approximately 2 liters of feces removed.”

Image Credit: BMJ Case Report

2 liters, y’all. How long had it been since he’d gone?!

He was given constipation relief during recovery and left the hospital after four days. He finally walked again after 13 days.

Doctors are unsure what caused the massive build-up, but there’s no doubt that not being able to (or choosing not to) poop for a long period of time is incredibly dangerous. A teenage girl with a toilet phobia actually died in 2015 after holding it for 8 weeks, and this guy would have suffered the same fate had he not visited the doctors when he did.

Like my grandfather always said, better out than in. Never go against your body when death is on the line, my friends. You’ll come out on the losing end.

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March 13, 2019

Tumblr User Blows Everyone’s Mind with Post About a Horse’s Ass

What do a horse’s ass and a spaceship have in common? It’s definitely a question I’ve never once considered until today, because you wouldn’t tend to think they have anything in common.

But, it turns out I couldn’t be more wrong. Just follow along now.

It starts out simple enough…

Photo Credit: themattbusbyway

Indeed. Why WAS that gauge used? You’re about to find out…

Photo Credit: themattbusbyway

Get ready! You’re about to learn the wonders of wheel ruts!

Photo Credit: themattbusbyway

Of course the Romans were involved. Because they ran things back in the day.

Photo Credit: themattbusbyway

Now, the horses come in and it’s glorious…

Photo Credit: themattbusbyway

Trains and tunnels and rockets! Oh my!

Photo Credit: themattbusbyway

Well, my ass is officially astounded!

Photo Credit: themattbusbyway

Boom! Mind blown!

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March 12, 2019

So, Apparently Charles Dickens Tried to Have His Totally Sane Wife Committed to a Mental Institution

Maybe you didn’t know this, but back in the olden days, it didn’t take a whole lot of effort for a man to get out of a marriage. Basically, if your wife was getting all annoying and wanting to be treated like an equal human being and stuff, you could just say she went crazy and get her locked up in a mental institution. That’s a lesson that Catherine Hogarth Dickens, wife of illustrated author Charles Dickens, almost learned the hard way.

Image Credit: Wikipedia

The Smithsonian reports that after 1o children and 22 years of marriage, the Dickens couple had a not-so-cordial separation that was probably Catherine’s idea. But although Dickens wrote to his agent that Hogarth wanted out of the marriage because of her “mental disorder” and that “she felt herself unfit for the life she had to lead as my wife, and that she would be better far away,” he made no mention of his affair with a much younger actress.

Not only that, but University of York professor John Bowen recently dug into a treasure trove of never-before-seen letters sent by Edward Dutton Cook – Catherine’s neighbor after the separation – that he found in the Theatre Collection at Harvard’s Houghton Library.

They don’t paint a pretty picture of Dickens – though of course, it’s a he-said, she-said situation.

Image Credit: Wikipedia

Cook wrote in one letter that “He [Charles] discovered at last that she had outgrown his liking. She had borne 10 children and had lost many of her good looks, was growing old, in fact. He even tried to shut her up in a lunatic asylum, poor thing! But bad as the law is in regard to proof of insanity he could not quite wrest it to his purpose.”

The letters made Professor Bowen uncomfortable – rightly so. “Biographers and scholars have known for years how badly Dickens behaved at this time, but it now seems that he even tried to bend the law to place his wife and the mother of his children in a lunatic asylum, despite her evident sanity. What I discovered was detailed and shocking…”

Image Credit: Wikipedia

Detailed and shocking, perhaps, but in the longstanding tradition of men with power and the way they treat the women in their lives, it can hardly be called surprising.

If Catherine Hogarth Dickens were alive today, she might have tweeted her story with #metoo attached.

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