On books, dogs, cars and the benefits of age

Yesterday was a jam-packed day at the Life@50+ Expo. My day started bright and early as I volunteered with 700 or so other Expo attendees for the Community Day of Service, kicked off by James "JB" Brown, Dan Marino and Pepper Schwartz.

Several Atlanta-area organizations were on the slate for us to help out. As promoting literacy has long been a cause near and dear to my heart, it was quite fitting that my service project turned out to be helping sort books for Books for Africa, whose mission is to "collect, sort, ship, and distribute books to students of all ages in Africa. Our goal: to end the book famine in Africa."

 

My day ended with cars and dogs — in the Exhibit Hall. Now, I'm no car enthusiast, but how could these vehicles not catch one's eye?

 

I am a dog enthusiast, though, and one serendipitous moment among the masses was running into pit bull companion dogs and their trainers as I was leaving the hall.

I was tired and I just wanted to hop on the shuttle and head back to the hotel. Instead, these precious pits lured me into a presentation from UnitedHealthcare on the many ways dogs play an active role in keeping humans healthy. Because I own a pit bull-pointer mix and have first-hand knowledge of the bad rap the sweet dogs get (because of irresponsible owners), I was delighted to see pit bulls as the companion dog models for the talk.

 

And in between the books and the cars and dogs, my day was filled with the primary reason for my attendance at the Life@50+ Expo: to learn about all the great offerings from AARPDiscounts.com.

There are far too many discounts and benefits AARP members get for their $16/year membership fee for me to list them all here. Besides, there's an entire AARPDiscounts.com website dedicated to disseminating that information... and in a far fancier manner than what I can offer. There are a few I learned about, though, that I thought might be of particular interest to my Grandma's Briefs friends, including:

Michaels — Save 10% at Michaels Stores on Tuesdays. Every Tuesday.

1-800Flowers.com — Save 20% off or $20 off $79.99 or more.

The UPS Store — Members receive 15% off eligible products and services and 5% off domestic and international UPS shipping services. (Great news for long-distance grandmas shipping gifts for the holidays.)

Movies Unlimited — The long-time video retailer offers rare, classic movies and hard-to-find TV shows on DVD or Blu-ray. As an AARP member, you get an extra 10% off Movies Unlimited’s already reduced prices.

Live Nation Concerts — Get four concert tickets for the price of three.

Ancestry.com — Get free shipping on the results of the $99 DNA test that will reveal your ethnic roots. Enter coupon code AARPDNA13 (expires Oct. 31, 2013).

The AARP Travel Center powered by Expedia — All kinds of deals and specials. All kinds. Click and see.

Norwegian Cruise Line — Through Nov. 1, 2013, get up to $250 to spend on board fleetwide; up to $500 to spend on board when you book a Cruisetour; or a special $100 offer on our newest ship, Norwegian Getaway. Also enjoy up to $1000 in Air Credits; 50% reduced deposit; up to $100 off select sailings. Plus, when it comes to cruising, you can't cruise any cooler than on a Peter Max-bedecked vessel:

 

Getting older definitely has more benefits than I was previously led to believe.

Disclosure: My trip to the Life@50+ Expo was sponsored by AARP Member Advantages, though that takes away from the authenticity of my opinions above not one whit.

Today's question:

What was the highlight of your week?