Cait watched the TeleStik in action at the Abilities Expo in Minneapolis and came back sold on it as a Gimpliment for every household and office.

Billed as “The smallest most portable reaching aid,” the TeleStik’s magnet, hook and adhesive let you retrieve items from high kitchen cabinets or from under a heavy sofa or behind the washing machine, where you dropped the sock.

Cait says she watched a woman with limited strength and hand mobility delight in being able to pick up with ease a wallet, a fallen magazine and car keys.

After watching the video on the TeleStik Web site, Marty got one and uses it to pick up dropped pens in the office and retrieve pins while sewing — you know, the ones that don’t get found until you step on them.

TeleStik comes in several models, is lightweight and can fit in your purse.

Leatherman makes clever tools and one of the handiest is the 1.75 ounce Micra, which folds to just 2.5 inches.

Marty has owned two of these and lost both to airport security checks when she forgot to remove them from her key ring. (She swears the security guards had a covetous gleam in their eyes when they confiscated them.)

The stainless steel Micra has 10 tools, including strong spring-action scissors, and is so small you hardly notice it until you need it.

The other tools include a clip-point knife, tweezers, nail file, bottle opener, three screwdrivers, a standard-metric ruler and a lanyard attachment.

The Leatherman Micra is about $20 plus shipping. For about $27 and just slightly bigger, try the Leatherman Squirt.

Either makes a great gift for a man or woman.

The New York Times has two stories today that speak to our Gimpy Girl hearts. The first requires little money and is not for the squeamish. The second requires big bucks and has something for everyone.

Urban Worm Composting talks with New Yorkers about the ups and downs of keeping worms in the city.

The story is fine, but the graphic is not — too much food in too small a bin. Worms are not going to be happy and neither are the apartment dwellers when flies arrive and the bedding begins to smell. Read our post for more information on successful worm composting.

This second story is akin to Architectural Digest for the Gimpy. It showcases homes in Colorado and Paris featuring the latest in Universal Design to make life easier. The homes are fabulous and so are the designers. Here’s a quote from one:

‘I want people to know no matter whether they have mental or physical disabilities’ — change that word to differences — ‘they are only disabled if they can’t do what they want to do. Architecture can eliminate disability by design.’ You see my point. If you are in a house where you can do what you want to do, you’re not disabled anymore.’

Cait & Marty do not hunt, unless you count their scavenging forays at estate sales. Cait’s Baby Boomer friend, Steve, does hunt and knows what he’s talking about when it comes to protecting his hearing. Steve owns Best Days a A field, a fine Wisconsin hunting lodge, and sent us this post about a hearing Gimpliment he uses in the field:

I have been using hearing protection for 40 or more years for shooting, and operating noisy equipment. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve started to use electronic hearing protectors, one of my favorites is the Howard Leight Impact™ Sport Earmuff with a jack to plug in an iPod.

I love listening to books-on-tape and use my iPod for the treadmill at the gym, for driving, and for the deer stand. If you get engaged in a good story you will probably last longer on the treadmill, and it’s always more pleasant. The iPod also makes driving more pleasant, keeping me awake and alert on longer drives as it does in the deer stand.

I jack the iPod cable into the earmuffs to listen to books-on-tape for lawn mowing and sedentary hunting like sitting on deer stand, or waiting for a turkey. Turn the iPod off and turn the earmuff volume up and you can hear game sneaking around.

A friend missed a nice deer years ago using headphones to listen to a big sports game. The headphones did not have an external microphone, like my Leight earmuffs do, so he didn’t hear the deer sneak up. When he moved slightly, not knowing the deer was practicaly in his lap, he spooked it and the deer bolted.

Eds. Note: Cait thinks bird watchers would find these useful, too.

Marion Roach Smith, of The Sister Project, has written this lovely post about the “Sisterhood of Aging Well.” In it, she challenges us to “learn not only to age, but to age well - in body, mind and spirit. ”

Marion is a writing teacher, radio columnist and author. Her sister, Margaret Roach, is the former editorial director of Martha Stewart Living and now blogs on A Way To Garden — called by The New York Times one of the best garden blogs “ever seen.”

Marion and Margaret don’t look, act or talk alike, but it’s clear when you read them that they share the same eloquent DNA. If you aren’t familiar with their work, take time and treat yourself — their writing is a combination spa and sabbath for the brain.

Eds. Note from Marty: I still owe Marion and her husband, Rex, for helping rescue me years ago when a broken-down U-Haul filled with my life had to be unloaded into another U-Haul in South Portland, Maine. Rex and Marion were en route to visit Elizabeth Edwardsen, who had just spent a very long, hot and sticky day helping me pack the U-Haul that then broke down. I swear I heard trumpets sound when Rex and Marion arrived on the scene.