Yesterday I cashed out a U.S. Savings Bond because it has reached full maturity (i.e., no longer accruing interest). The bank teller helping me cash it out was born in the same month that I had bought the bond. She had reached maturity too.
I detest the cold. I think I must have been born on the wrong continent.
I'm the opposite. I find it increasingly hard to keep cool and when summer arrives I potter about the bungalow in my just my special Australian ventilated shorts. I keep well out of shot when Mrs RR has zoom meetings with the grandchildern
Good grief, how revealing are the shorts?
No, don't answer that...
I had to find out. When I went to Amazon, I found two alternative ways of answering that. One is in the fabric they use. The other is a netted slit on each side, which causes me to wonder, about--no I won't go there.
Wearing cargo shorts today. Had been thinking of purchasing sandals today. Funny, just thinking about it causes sandal ads to suddenly appear on my social media pages.
@Climacus I feel the cold more than I used to as well. I have taken to wearing two beanies to bed. One is commercially knitted merino, the other I bought from a church fair for $5 and is knitted from chunky wool. I think the latter is one of the best buys I have ever made.
Brrrr - double hat weather. Coming too soon to my life, but so easily forgotten at the height of summer heat. By early Jan I will be incredulous that I ever sit indoors without 4 layers and (on a bad day) two hats. And I will still be spending a whole lot on gas - that's an old house for you.
@Schroedingers Cat - I remember J is 71, X is 82, F is 89, R is 98 from the vehicles I have owned, and I work the rest out from there (though around 2000 it gets messed up and the somewhere in the mid 60s is a bit weird too). But you have to be able to recite the alphabet minus letters which might be mistaken for numbers, Q (used for special altered vehicles) and Z (which used to be RoI registrations). People into vehicles of my age can do it without thinking too hard, and it is something of a surprise to be asked 'how old is it' by younger blokes.
(ETA - re-reading your post, I think you knew all that. Oh Well!)
In fairness, I had to look it up - I used to know, but I haven't used the information for so long, I forgot. I know I used to have a c-reg car, but trying to work out what year that was is challenging.
In fairness, I had to look it up - I used to know, but I haven't used the information for so long, I forgot. I know I used to have a c-reg car, but trying to work out what year that was is challenging.
I know my parents got a new G reg Lada in late 1989 when I was 5 (and two years prior, and every two years after until they stopped being imported) which helps me calibrate.
In fairness, I had to look it up - I used to know, but I haven't used the information for so long, I forgot. I know I used to have a c-reg car, but trying to work out what year that was is challenging.
I realised I was old - and considered old by others - when I I didn't feel things as strongly or stridently as -say- thirty years ago. I hope I'm a gentler, easier to live with grandad er person.
As I haven't (yet) been banned for my 'poetry', here is another one:
Now I am one and Seventy
With homage to A E Housman
Horse Chestnuts are a lovely tree;
An invasive species, just like me.
It’s also in its autumn now,
But hung with conkers on the bough.
Young lads collect them; do they still play,
As they once did, back in the day,
When I had fruit, and knew The Way?
Oh well, it's still a grand display.
I've used up threescore years and ten,
I won't be seeing them again,
And through my self-inflicted ills
I've lost those Blue Remembered Hills.
I now forget my yellow pills.
I'm over my allotted share
And live through yet another year.
The un-eked out treasures of the poor
I've grasped, unearned; now I'm unsure
I'll hear His knocking at my door.
I've given up philosophies,
And reading dull theologies;
I listen to long symphonies,
And never to the Daily News.
But should I spend my little time,
Ignoring all the dirt and grime,
To ruminate on the sublime?
I think, I hope, Our Lord agrees,
I'll trade the time spent on my knees,
For simple walks among the trees.
In fairness, I had to look it up - I used to know, but I haven't used the information for so long, I forgot. I know I used to have a c-reg car, but trying to work out what year that was is challenging.
Rushing LKKspouse to A&E last night at 2am, we had to fill up at a 24-hour petrol station.
It was not manned, and it took me a couple of goes to follow the instructions to pump the fuel. As an ex-IT professional I felt I was losing my grip.
BTW. Why is petrol still described as "unleaded" when there is no more leaded petrol available?
I hope your spouse is OK @LatchKeyKid. Do they label the pumps unleaded to indicate they are not diesel? (I think the nozzles are different though, aren't they?)
Today was buying 60th (shh) birthday card for friend, she doesn't enjoy big birthdays. I opted for one with no nubers and just wrote the number in teeny tiny print inside the card.
I hope your spouse is OK @LatchKeyKid. Do they label the pumps unleaded to indicate they are not diesel? (I think the nozzles are different though, aren't they?)
Today was buying 60th (shh) birthday card for friend, she doesn't enjoy big birthdays. I opted for one with no numbers and just wrote the number in teeny tiny print inside the card.
I got around that by buying two 30th birthday cards for my brother-in-law. He didn't think it was funny. Then when a couple we know both turned 50 I bought a 100th card. They didn't think that was funny, either.
I hope your spouse is OK @LatchKeyKid. Do they label the pumps unleaded to indicate they are not diesel? (I think the nozzles are different though, aren't they?)
They are supposed to be. That didn’t keep my daughter from filling her gasoline-powered car with diesel fuel one time. Fortunately, she alerted me to “the strange way her car was driving” pretty quickly, before any damage was done, so we got out of the situation with just a tow and a flush of the fuel line.
My mother in law was a twin, so she and her brother had a joint 150th birthday a few years ago.
I was briefly living with my oldest aunt in my mid 20s, and we went out for a collective 100th birthday meal (I was 25 and she was 75). She forbade me to tell the venue in case they thought she was 100, but there was little danger of that!
which catalogue we perused with great interest. I'm not quite ready for the gismo that helps me wipe my bottom (what will they think of next?) but .... if the heart surgery is succesful ... I'm getting there!
Some disability equipment items are more effective than others. The bottom wiper isn’t one of the better inventions.
If anyone needs brief advice on disability equipment or adaptations, and on what your local authority should be able to provide in the UK, feel free to PM me - I have around 25 years of professional experience
So, what that should have been, were the edit function functional, or could we post pics as on a proper website, is that @clarence PBUH found a couple of t-shirts. Like this and this.
Having two doctors in a week tell me "Well, you ARE an old man" kind of drove it home. I was asking how long it would take to recover from a chest infection 4 weeks after taking the last antibiotic.
Back posting after lots of debilitating health problems. I’m not sure it’s a “you know you’re getting old” thing but this thread has been reassuring. I know that at 82 (and 7 months) I raise the average age of SoF contributors, but the thread advises “not as much as I thought”.
Back posting after lots of debilitating health problems. I’m not sure it’s a “you know you’re getting old” thing but this thread has been reassuring. I know that at 82 (and 7 months) I raise the average age of SoF contributors, but the thread advises “not as much as I thought”.
So glad you're back- hope the health stuff is manageable.
I have to say that your contributions to Ship threads have always as far as I'm concerned demonstrated the wisdom of age which is an aspect of getting older that I'm hoping will grow in me as 70 is now within my sights!
Good to see you, @Barnabas62! Hope the health issues are mostly in the rear-view mirror.
Probably not. It’s more about getting used to what I can’t do any more. Played putting with my grandson today. 27 for the first 9 then fatigue set in. He beat me 61 to 65!
Some disability equipment items are more effective than others. The bottom wiper isn’t one of the better inventions.
If anyone needs brief advice on disability equipment or adaptations, and on what your local authority should be able to provide in the UK, feel free to PM me - I have around 25 years of professional experience
My friend has just installed an all-singing all-dancing Japanese toilet.
I'm 68 and losing 2 stone has made me feel much younger. It's really helped my knees. They thank me every day.
A couple of things:
Last time I was in hospital, being on a geriatric ward.
Some of my carers are younger than my son, who’s 35
I have known some of my closest friends for over 45 years and I have been married for 41 years.
I remember programming a computer using cards. I remember the first mobile phones and digital cameras.
I feel old!
They stuck me on a geriatric assessment ward when I was recently in hospital with a chest infection. The other patients were mainly people with the restless and noisy type of dementia. It was pretty unpleasant. I was very pleased to be discharged.
They stuck me on a geriatric assessment ward when I was recently in hospital with a chest infection. The other patients were mainly people with the restless and noisy type of dementia. It was pretty unpleasant. I was very pleased to be discharged.
Sadly, I can believe that. Towards the end when he was having regular bouts of pneumonia my dad spent several spells on wards like that, including one where the poor sod opposite was still fighting the Japanese every night.
Last time in hospital with a broken arm they did a return home assessment. It was funny given that I had a broken arm, they were quite concerned about whether I could get on or off bed OK and whether I could walk up and down stairs. Not nearly as concerned about whether I could put clothes on or wash myself.
All right I broke it going downstairs but that was because I misjudged the end of the stairs.
A couple of things:
Last time I was in hospital, being on a geriatric ward.
Some of my carers are younger than my son, who’s 35
I have known some of my closest friends for over 45 years and I have been married for 41 years.
I remember programming a computer using cards. I remember the first mobile phones and digital cameras.
I feel old!
When we visited the UK this year, we saw some of our friends from the 60s and 70s. Their health problems reminded us that we are of the age when we can get health surprises. And we took some weeks to get over our travel tiredness.
I also started programming using cards and then paper tape. Our first telephone's number was like WOR 1234 (WOR for Wordsworth, other areas nearby had BYRon and other poets).
The BBC ran a piece yesterday about suggested new designs for bank notes. One of them was a £5 note with a robin on it. Surely you don't have to be all that old to remember the modern farthing with a robin on it? The new fiver would be worth 4,800 farthings, which I am certain must be useful to know.
As a youngster, I am not quite old enough to remember farthings.
Getting into taxis is always fun. I tend to sit in the front seat because I get sick if not. But I am sure most people think it is because I cannot make it to the back seat.
which catalogue we perused with great interest. I'm not quite ready for the gismo that helps me wipe my bottom (what will they think of next?) but .... if the heart surgery is succesful ... I'm getting there!
That takes me right back to my 30s. When I was pregnant with out (ultimately stillborn) son, the scans showed that his arms would never be long enough for him to wipe his own bottom. I got a catalogue which showed that very device! I recall sitting with my feet up browsing bottom-wiping device catalogues, thinking Well, this makes a change from the Mothercare catalogues of my first pregnancies!
And now I know I'm getting old because that has faded into a fond memory!
Now that I have temp work of sorts, I am commuting by bike again. I've done 35 miles this week so far... and boy my thighs and khyber are telling me about it!
The Ship is a fount of knowledge. All these years I had believed the farthing bird was a robin. Now I also remember it was considered clever among very young people to suppress the 'h' in farthing.
Comments
I had to find out. When I went to Amazon, I found two alternative ways of answering that. One is in the fabric they use. The other is a netted slit on each side, which causes me to wonder, about--no I won't go there.
Wearing cargo shorts today. Had been thinking of purchasing sandals today. Funny, just thinking about it causes sandal ads to suddenly appear on my social media pages.
Brrrr - double hat weather. Coming too soon to my life, but so easily forgotten at the height of summer heat. By early Jan I will be incredulous that I ever sit indoors without 4 layers and (on a bad day) two hats. And I will still be spending a whole lot on gas - that's an old house for you.
@Schroedingers Cat - I remember J is 71, X is 82, F is 89, R is 98 from the vehicles I have owned, and I work the rest out from there (though around 2000 it gets messed up and the somewhere in the mid 60s is a bit weird too). But you have to be able to recite the alphabet minus letters which might be mistaken for numbers, Q (used for special altered vehicles) and Z (which used to be RoI registrations). People into vehicles of my age can do it without thinking too hard, and it is something of a surprise to be asked 'how old is it' by younger blokes.
(ETA - re-reading your post, I think you knew all that. Oh Well!)
I know my parents got a new G reg Lada in late 1989 when I was 5 (and two years prior, and every two years after until they stopped being imported) which helps me calibrate.
First or second time around C reg?
As I haven't (yet) been banned for my 'poetry', here is another one:
Now I am one and Seventy
With homage to A E Housman
Horse Chestnuts are a lovely tree;
An invasive species, just like me.
It’s also in its autumn now,
But hung with conkers on the bough.
Young lads collect them; do they still play,
As they once did, back in the day,
When I had fruit, and knew The Way?
Oh well, it's still a grand display.
I've used up threescore years and ten,
I won't be seeing them again,
And through my self-inflicted ills
I've lost those Blue Remembered Hills.
I now forget my yellow pills.
I'm over my allotted share
And live through yet another year.
The un-eked out treasures of the poor
I've grasped, unearned; now I'm unsure
I'll hear His knocking at my door.
I've given up philosophies,
And reading dull theologies;
I listen to long symphonies,
And never to the Daily News.
But should I spend my little time,
Ignoring all the dirt and grime,
To ruminate on the sublime?
I think, I hope, Our Lord agrees,
I'll trade the time spent on my knees,
For simple walks among the trees.
Second time. I am old, but not that old.
It was not manned, and it took me a couple of goes to follow the instructions to pump the fuel. As an ex-IT professional I felt I was losing my grip.
BTW. Why is petrol still described as "unleaded" when there is no more leaded petrol available?
Today was buying 60th (shh) birthday card for friend, she doesn't enjoy big birthdays. I opted for one with no nubers and just wrote the number in teeny tiny print inside the card.
I got around that by buying two 30th birthday cards for my brother-in-law. He didn't think it was funny. Then when a couple we know both turned 50 I bought a 100th card. They didn't think that was funny, either.
I was briefly living with my oldest aunt in my mid 20s, and we went out for a collective 100th birthday meal (I was 25 and she was 75). She forbade me to tell the venue in case they thought she was 100, but there was little danger of that!
Mrs RR and I had a big celebratory '150th' birthday party not so long ago. We had a Wombles theme. Family, friends, music. Great fun!
Just recently, a dear thoughtful friend posted us this link:
https://www.independence.ltd.uk/
which catalogue we perused with great interest. I'm not quite ready for the gismo that helps me wipe my bottom (what will they think of next?) but .... if the heart surgery is succesful ... I'm getting there!
If anyone needs brief advice on disability equipment or adaptations, and on what your local authority should be able to provide in the UK, feel free to PM me - I have around 25 years of professional experience
Welcome back!
So glad you're back- hope the health stuff is manageable.
I have to say that your contributions to Ship threads have always as far as I'm concerned demonstrated the wisdom of age which is an aspect of getting older that I'm hoping will grow in me as 70 is now within my sights!
Probably not. It’s more about getting used to what I can’t do any more. Played putting with my grandson today. 27 for the first 9 then fatigue set in. He beat me 61 to 65!
My friend has just installed an all-singing all-dancing Japanese toilet.
I'm 68 and losing 2 stone has made me feel much younger. It's really helped my knees. They thank me every day.
Last time I was in hospital, being on a geriatric ward.
Some of my carers are younger than my son, who’s 35
I have known some of my closest friends for over 45 years and I have been married for 41 years.
I remember programming a computer using cards. I remember the first mobile phones and digital cameras.
I feel old!
Sadly, I can believe that. Towards the end when he was having regular bouts of pneumonia my dad spent several spells on wards like that, including one where the poor sod opposite was still fighting the Japanese every night.
All right I broke it going downstairs but that was because I misjudged the end of the stairs.
As opposed to an improper old lady?
When we visited the UK this year, we saw some of our friends from the 60s and 70s. Their health problems reminded us that we are of the age when we can get health surprises. And we took some weeks to get over our travel tiredness.
I also started programming using cards and then paper tape. Our first telephone's number was like WOR 1234 (WOR for Wordsworth, other areas nearby had BYRon and other poets).
Yes, it was mine - from back in the day.
Now look what I had to buy! (It's a wren farthing key ring)
https://photos.app.goo.gl/7e4szgp1VGMch2ir5
Getting into taxis is always fun. I tend to sit in the front seat because I get sick if not. But I am sure most people think it is because I cannot make it to the back seat.
Less useful in a sock as an improvised weapon, however. Might need to be quite a strong sock for 4800 farthings, ~12kg.
That takes me right back to my 30s. When I was pregnant with out (ultimately stillborn) son, the scans showed that his arms would never be long enough for him to wipe his own bottom. I got a catalogue which showed that very device! I recall sitting with my feet up browsing bottom-wiping device catalogues, thinking Well, this makes a change from the Mothercare catalogues of my first pregnancies!
And now I know I'm getting old because that has faded into a fond memory!
A couple of stone, then.