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Ageing & Growing Old

Are you growing older?

  • Yes, I am

    Votes: 82 61.7%

  • No, I'm getting younger

    Votes: 28 21.1%

  • Sorry, I don't understand the question

    Votes: 16 12.0%

  • I'm a Mod; I think adding silly polls to chat threads is pointless

    Votes: 7 5.3%
  • Total voters
    133
razorblimp said:
My daughter has started to ask what life was like in 'the olden days'.:(

I had a growing old moment when I was thirty two, when realised that my second cousin who finishing school was exactly half my age. It was probably the defining moment when I recognised my mortality.
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I still can't think about my own mortality. I'm with Woody Allen who said"I'm not afraid of dying.I just don't want to be there when it happens."
 
Was it not also Woody wisdom that rhetorically-responded, within the following eternal couplet:

"How would you like to be immortalised?"

"By not dying..."

On consideration, perhaps it was Groucho...or maybe Douglas Adams. Perhaps some other superb, silly, sentient person encapsulated that arrogant affirmation, to which we all fervently subscribe...
 
Allen's full quote is:
“I don't want to achieve immortality through my work; I want to achieve immortality through not dying. I don't want to live on in the hearts of my countrymen; I want to live on in my apartment.” Happy 80th birthday, Woody, so far so good.
 
GNC said:
Allen's full quote is:
“I don't want to achieve immortality through my work; I want to achieve immortality through not dying. I don't want to live on in the hearts of my countrymen; I want to live on in my apartment.” Happy 80th birthday, Woody, so far so good.
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80! Omg I did not realize he was THAT old!
 
rynner2 said:
I don't recall ever trying to remember my N.I. number - it just seemed to stick in my mind from way back when.
It consists of two letters, followed by six numbers and then another letter. And when I did find it written down today, I realised that during the sleepless night I had remembered the numbers and the last letter correctly! It was just the first two letters that eluded me. I kept trying the start of my NH number instead, although that seemed wrong.

But now the number's refreshed in my mind I think it will stay for however many years I have left. Unless I develop Alzheimer's or something, which is always a worry as you get old...
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I know mine off by heart, I used to have a plastic card with it printed on but that's long lost .. same as yours, mines two letters followed by six numbers and another letter. Remembering comes and goes but under pressure I can usually reel it off no problem.
 
My NI is burned into my poor brain after I spent about 100 hours writing it out on ten million forms for my divorce. :mad:
 
I know mine too, but the plastic card I was sent died many years ago. Too good as an ice scraper....
 
In an uncharacteristic move back to the original thread subject, I'd like to mention a recent convo with Techy.

He is working hard to raise his fitness and is doing well. However, like most blokey blokes, he is taken in by the blurb around fitness. (Having worked in that industry I know it to be a con. Your fitness is in yourself, not in your gym or your PI's diary. All you need to do is put the time in to work at it. Any activity that moves you from one place to another will boost your cardio fitness and you will be healthier.)

Techy: I've seen a nice racing bike!
Me: You don't need a new bike. Stop looking at bikes on the 'net and get the old bike out and -
Techy: But its saddle is made of a thousand butterflies' wings AND it has seven hundred gears!
Me: The old bike is good enough. You just need to cycle more, not yak about it.
Techy: Yes but this one's REALLY fast! And it's painted in a colour never before seen by human eyes!
Me: remember the Nike slogan, 'Just do it'?
Techy: AND it's very light, in fact it's made of alien cobwebs and actually moves in antigravity so I don't even have to pedal it!
Me: Just F*CKING do it!

There may be some slight exaggeration but you get the idea.

Having worked for years in health/nursing capacities and seeing what havoc people can willingly wreak upon their own health, and the dire effects thereof, I realise that more or less everything I do in my life is to keep myself out of a wheelchair. Healthy diet, no smoking, restricted alcohol, plenty of exercise, you name it.

It's not about living longer - accidents happen - but about avoiding disability and being dependent on others.
So as it's daylight and my day off I'm shortly pedaling along to the next town to see my mate. Stuff the housework.
 
escargot1 said:
In an uncharacteristic move back to the original thread subject, I'd like to mention a recent convo with Techy.

He is working hard to raise his fitness and is doing well. However, like most blokey blokes, he is taken in by the blurb around fitness. (Having worked in that industry I know it to be a con. Your fitness is in yourself, not in your gym or your PI's diary. All you need to do is put the time in to work at it. Any activity that moves you from one place to another will boost your cardio fitness and you will be healthier.)

Techy: I've seen a nice racing bike!
Me: You don't need a new bike. Stop looking at bikes on the 'net and get the old bike out and -
Techy: But its saddle is made of a thousand butterflies' wings AND it has seven hundred gears!
Me: The old bike is good enough. You just need to cycle more, not yak about it.
Techy: Yes but this one's REALLY fast! And it's painted in a colour never before seen by human eyes!
Me: remember the Nike slogan, 'Just do it'?
Techy: AND it's very light, in fact it's made of alien cobwebs and actually moves in antigravity so I don't even have to pedal it!
Me: Just F*CKING do it!

There may be some slight exaggeration but you get the idea.

Having worked for years in health/nursing capacities and seeing what havoc people can willingly wreak upon their own health, and the dire effects thereof, I realise that more or less everything I do in my life is to keep myself out of a wheelchair. Healthy diet, no smoking, restricted alcohol, plenty of exercise, you name it.

It's not about living longer - accidents happen - but about avoiding disability and being dependent on others.
So as it's daylight and my day off I'm shortly pedaling along to the next town to see my mate. Stuff the housework.
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Men like shiny stuff get him the bike.
 
Naughty_Felid said:
Men like shiny stuff get him the bike.
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Too late, he borrowed my capacious Ford Focus on Sunday and collected it himself.

I told him, a real cyclist would've gone over on the train in full MAMIL get-up and helmet, collected it and ridden it back to the station and loaded it into the Guard's Van and eyed it jealously all the way back, and then got off a station before home so he could flaunt it properly along the Bypass. :twisted:

He wasn't convinced. :evil:
 
a real Mamil would have been overtaken by me on my bog standard Ridgeback, become infuriated, pedalled like stink to catch up, briefly overtake me while pretending to be not breathing too hard, scooted round the corner, and called for an ambulance to bring emergency oxygen.
Well, that's what seems to happen to me, anyway.
It doesn't matter how shiny your gear is - it's what you do with it that counts: a lesson that could be applied to so many areas of life :)
 
gellatly68 said:
It doesn't matter how shiny your gear is - it's what you do with it that counts: a lesson that could be applied to so many areas of life :)
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Knacker Laquer - adds lustre to your cluster!
 
Heh, he's not by any means a MAMIL. Yet. ;)

Me, on the other'and, I'm mad for it. Gave up a reasonably-paid job a few years ago for a crappier one just so that I could cycle to work instead of car-commuting, and have since changed to another where I can't possibly park a car so I HAVE to bike it. Bloody great fun.

My town has only limited ways in and out, over and under bridges. Two of the major ones will be renovated over the next couple of years, causing traffic jams and chaos. Drivers of tall vehicles trying to dodge official diversions will find themselves stuck under various low arches.

All this will take place on my regular cycling route to work. I expect to be held up every single day and night for, ooh, no time at all. :D
 
I have had drivers see me in the mirror filtering down static traffic on the inside and pull over slightly to try and block me in. Of course one simply goes around the other side with a cheeky wink and a smile to the driver as you pass. Tough luck knobber, you'll still be scratching your fat arse in traffic whilst I'm at my desk (scratching my fat arse).
 
You can also give the arse a leisurely proactive scratch as you pass the driver's window. They hate that.
 
That's only possible in summer though, when the driver's window is open.
 
In winter, just lean over and rub your arse up and down the window.
 
escargot1 said:
You can also give the arse a leisurely proactive scratch as you pass the driver's window. They hate that.
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Or we could get of our bikes and do what our kitty overlords do??




How f*cking stupid having two litter trays next to each other like that also under a toilet and up against a wall. People are stupid.
 
Yup, go the whole way. Smash the driver's window and tip the litter tray in there.
 
So as you get older you turn into your parents. One may resent this process but there does come a time when resistance is futile...

So I've bought some bicycle clips. And very sporty hi-viz ones they are too, with matching armbands, from the £ Shop.

No stick-in-the-mud, me. :cool:
 
My Mother was extremely neat and tidy. I wonder how long I have to wait till I'm like her.
 
Second World War pilot celebrates 100 not out
Centenarian Jan Linzel recalls day 75 years ago when aircraft was shot down by Luftwaffe
Tue, Dec 8, 2015, 01:00

Netherlands Air Force sent their 30-strong brass band to west Cork to help Jan Linzel and his family celebrate his centenary.

The last surviving member of the Royal Netherlands Air Force who fought the Luftwaffe over the Netherlands on May 10th, 1940, Linzel and his German-born wife Marianne are in reflective mood at their home in Glengarriff as Linzel looks back over his 100 years.

Linzel was always interested in flying, and recalls how he was attached to a fighter squadron at Ypenburg when he took off in his single-seater Fokker D.XXI to defend The Hague as wave after wave of German bombers darkened the Dutch skies.

“I saw the silhouette of an aircraft that I had never seen before. I then saw the German markings and gave a short burst. A very bright, violent flame came out of its right engine and then black smoke. It went down straight away,” he says.

“I climbed up again and saw a large formation of Heinkels in the direction of The Hague. I dived down to the hindmost right aircraft and fired everything I had at close range. I am sure I hit it but I did not have time to see the result.

“When I pulled away, a bullet came through the floor and exploded in my thigh. There was a lot of blood and I started to feel faint. I threw off the hood and bailed out – you have no idea how quiet it is when you are hanging in the air.”

Linzel survived and after spending six weeks in hospital, he joined the Dutch underground, before making his way via Switzerland, France, Spain and Portugal to Britain, where he joined the RAF and helped turn the tide in the battle against Hitler and Nazism.

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/irel...ld-war-pilot-celebrates-100-not-out-1.2457738
 
97-year-old Kerry World War II hero awarded France’s highest honor

A Kerryman has been awarded with the Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur medal for his role in the Liberation of France from the Nazis over 70 years ago.

John “Jack” Mahony, from Laharn, near Faha, outside Killarney, was presented with the Legion d’Honneur by Phillipe Ray, first counsellor from the French Embassy, at a ceremony in Midleton, County Cork which has been Mahony's home since he and his late wife, Mary, retired to Ireland in 1973.

The award is the highest the French government can bestow on a soldier. Speaking at the ceremony the Irish hero said, “I want to thank all you people who have traveled here, some of you quite a distance for this occasion, which is in the twilight of my time…I’m delighted to receive this honor.”

On December 3, 1942, Mahony quit his job as a London Metropolitan Police Officer and joined the British Army after his family’s house, in Leyton, central London, was bombed by the Germans during the Blitz.

Following his training Mahony joined a reserve unit at Southampton in preparation for D-Day. He was then transferred to the 2nd Seaforth Highlanders.

Ray told the crowd, “You landed on Gold Beach and advanced with your unit into Courseulles-sur-Mer, Fontaine St Henry and then Cairon before engaging in the battle of Caen, where you fought around the towns of Cuveville and Ranville before liberating the city.”

Mahony and his unit crossed the Seine, at Rouen, before helping to free Le Havre.

He was twice wounded in Normandy but went on to fight in the Netherlands to support airborne units, near Arnhem, before being captured by the Germans at Venlo. ...

http://www.irishcentral.com/roots/h...IC - Dec 10&utm_term=The Best of IrishCentral
 
Britain's longest married couple 'never argue'
11 December 2015 Last updated at 06:39 GMT

A couple from Bradford are celebrating their 90th wedding anniversary on Friday.
Karam and Kartari Chand, who are 110 and 103 respectively, are believed to be Britain's longest married couple.
They tied the knot in India in 1925 during the British Raj and moved to England 40 years later.

The BBC Asian Network's Shabnam Mahmood went along to the celebrations. [Video]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-35068423
 
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