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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
Coal said:
...and I've had several hard bangs on the head during 'semi contact'* Shotokan competitions, so where am I again...
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Who knows...

20181121_14282736.jpg
 
Parking in the fast lane is a tad senior.

A pensioner killed two of his passengers when he parked his car in the fast lane of the M42 to ask a road worker for directions.

James Davies, 71, was giving his partner Christine Evans, 53, and her friend Barbara Jones, 63, a lift to Birmingham Airport when he got lost having come across a diversion. He was driving on the northbound carriageway of the M42 attempting to reach Birmingham Airport at 3am on January 5 when he came across a diversion.

Davies parked in the fast lane between junctions 9 and 10 near the Warwickshire village of Kingsbury - some 10 miles north of the airport - after spotting workers on the opposite carriageway which was closed for maintenance. He put on his hazard lights before clambering over the barriers on the central reservation to speak to Highways Agency worker Jake Ashmore, who was in his car.

Three drivers managed to swerve past Davies' Vauxhall Meriva before a white Mercedes Sprinter ploughed into it.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/20...source=LI&li_medium=li-recommendation-widget#
 
I know that I'm getting older as my spam e-mails mostly consist of mature dating offers or egg poachers. I kid you not; three companies regularly offer me egg poachers.
 
Some recent `dying of the light` signs that I've noticed:

* Talking to a twelve year old boy and (thinking I was being quite modern) asking him if he knew what a `record` was - then being staggered when he earnestly replied: `Yes, my grandfather showed me one once`
* Getting a bit offended when I heard young women dismissing George Clooney for being a bit past it now.
* Finding myself imagining that wearing an aftershave with a picture of a motorbike on it will somehow revitalise my life.
* Fnding myself liking a certain brand of lager-beer because it gets me there slowly rather than with haste.
* Thinking that I'm being quite `down with the kids` by knowing about (not necessarily liking) bands like Good Charlotte, Pink and Tokio Hotel - and then being gently reminded that they are over a decade old now, and the kids have since moved on.
* Being directed to an Instagram site and having to ask someone what `all the Instagram malarkey is about` - and being a bit appalled to hear that it is mostly a collection of snapshots.
* Finding myself drawn to black and white movies from the Thirties and Forties because they are `not frenetic`, are `classy` and the characters in them are `well spoken`.
 
All perfectly acceptable Zeke. I find I don't know any bands after Britpop (96).

I did the 'oldest' thing I've ever done last week. A young lad was blocking the path. I rapped on his bike wheel with my umbrella and bellowed "excuse me, young man". I'd turned into Corrie's Percy Sugden circa 1990.

(Touches cap; I'll bid you good day).
 
I remember putting Oil of Olay into the Tesco trolley on Saturday, the till receipt said it went through checkout - but completely vanished by the time I got home. It was not in any of my bags or in the car or at the Tesco counters when I went back. So another £6.99 down and a top-up to the Tesco headache from the first visit.
Found the Oil of Olay, you can sleep easier in your beds tonight. It was in the bottom kitchen cupboard - to be fair it does look a bit like a 500g box of Billington's demerara sugar.

Except it doesnt.
 
I think there must be some component of invisibility involved with growing old. I still go to my neighborhood gym regularly and stay in pretty good shape - but I've noticed that young women pay me absolutely no mind - no smile, no hello, no 'excuse me'. And this is after "seeing" each other on multiple occasions over many months. Not sure if this is just an effect of these interaction-averse time in which we live or what. Still, it's a little degrading to be ignored.
 
Bad Bungle said:
I remember putting Oil of Olay into the Tesco trolley on Saturday, the till receipt said it went through checkout - but completely vanished by the time I got home. It was not in any of my bags or in the car or at the Tesco counters when I went back. So another £6.99 down and a top-up to the Tesco headache from the first visit.
Found the Oil of Olay, you can sleep easier in your beds tonight. It was in the bottom kitchen cupboard - to be fair it does look a bit like a 500g box of Billington's demerara sugar.

Except it doesnt.
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Oil of Olay and the like - stuff like that used to be known as 'vanishing cream'. Obviously doing its job.
 
As it used to be Oil of Ulay, clearly the U vanished. Pity they couldn't find another one.

INT21.
 
SkepticalX said:
I think there must be some component of invisibility involved with growing old. I still go to my neighborhood gym regularly and stay in pretty good shape - but I've noticed that young women pay me absolutely no mind - no smile, no hello, no 'excuse me'. And this is after "seeing" each other on multiple occasions over many months. Not sure if this is just an effect of these interaction-averse time in which we live or what. Still, it's a little degrading to be ignored.
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Interesting - and you have my sympathy (and gratitude for expressing youirself on this). I think I have noticed something similar, but haven't quite processed it, even in my own mind.

My accent would fall on your penultimate sentence concerning ` the interaction averse time in which we live`. I would say that a certain insouciance and nonchalance of outward behaviour is very much de rigeur among young women of this time. It is, however, very much an act. To to be charitable about it, it could well be a self-protective response to the fall out from the Me Too Movement et al, which has ensured that pretty much all male-female interactions have become problematic.(No, let's not go there again!)

I think you might find that if you yourself are the one who does the greeting - politely and respectfully, ofcourse - you might be able to break through the shield of ice surrounding you. After all, the onus has always been on the man to make the move with these things. Ironically, that's even more the case now in these supposedly equalised times.

I also want to add, in the interests of perspective, that the `invisibility` that an older man sometimes feels is almost certainly nothing like the equivalent that must be experienced by a once much sought after young woman who has lost her `glow`. That I can scarcely imagine.
 
SkepticalX said:
I think there must be some component of invisibility involved with growing old. I still go to my neighborhood gym regularly and stay in pretty good shape - but I've noticed that young women pay me absolutely no mind - no smile, no hello, no 'excuse me'. And this is after "seeing" each other on multiple occasions over many months. Not sure if this is just an effect of these interaction-averse time in which we live or what. Still, it's a little degrading to be ignored.
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Ah now, I know this one. Having worked in gyms I can assure you it's not personal.

Young women in gyms soon learn not to make eye contact with men in case the men take it as a come-on and pester them. Older men in particular are avoided for this reason; some seem to find it hard to accept that women go to the gym to improve their fitness and not to find romance.

There is nothing more annoying when you're trying to exercise than a needy man lingering around. I sometimes had to tell persistent offenders quite bluntly that they were being a pest when they thought they were actually the king of chat-up.

Anyway, flirting takes up valuable lifting time. Why tickle a man's ego when you could be doing your programme and getting it over with?
 
Roger Nowell said:
All perfectly acceptable Zeke. I find I don't know any bands after Britpop (96).

I did the 'oldest' thing I've ever done last week. A young lad was blocking the path. I rapped on his bike wheel with my umbrella and bellowed "excuse me, young man". I'd turned into Corrie's Percy Sugden circa 1990.

(Touches cap; I'll bid you good day).
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I also did something old yesterday, I had firm but polite words with some lads who were playing football in the middle of road on our street during a busy time for motorists ,, and to cap it all, I turned around a bit further down the road after I'd warned them and shook my head and gave them a mildly disappointed look. That's only one step away from saying "I know your parents!" but I didn't go that far.
 
Swifty said:
I also did something old yesterday, I had firm but polite words with some lads who were playing football in the middle of road on our street during a busy time for motorists ,, and to cap it all, I turned around a bit further down the road after I'd warned them and shook my head and gave them a mildly disappointed look. That's only one step away from saying "I know your parents!" but I didn't go that far.
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I do hope you wagged your finger at them with suitable abandon. :omr:
 
Mythopoeika said:
I do hope you wagged your finger at them with suitable abandon. :omr:
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Nope .. that's as far as I went but I rocked an old man face hard enough that the main kid dropped his eyes to the ground .. I'm not sure I feel proud about that.
 
Swifty said:
Nope .. that's as far as I went but I rocked an old man face hard enough that the main kid dropped his eyes to the ground .. I'm not sure I feel proud about that.
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No - be proud! You have acquired the 'old man' skills! They can take a whole lifetime to learn.
 
Mythopoeika said:
No - be proud! You have acquired the 'old man' skills! They can take a whole lifetime to learn.
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Those kids could have been hit by a car .. an innocent driver could have been mentally scarred .. I'm getting old and being responsible .. a journalist contacted the Mrs about the recent Cromer teenage suicides today, I know a lot about them and knew the kids but she won't let me tell anyone about it, not even the parents although I was in touch with Norman Lamb about it at the time. I'm glad someone still gives a shit about local teenagers, it's never been a walk in the park being young.
 
escargot said:
Ah now, I know this one. Having worked in gyms I can assure you it's not personal.

Young women in gyms soon learn not to make eye contact with men in case the men take it as a come-on and pester them...
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I totally get that and it makes sense. The world is full of pigs. Actually, after I wrote that, I asked myself whether it wasn't just my male ego that was hurt by this. I admit that may be part of it. Still, it is rather a shame we can't just be civil and social with one another without it being misconstrued.
 
My gripe is that when you go to the doctors because of painful heels, and other aches and pains associated with senesence, they send you to dietitians and physiotherapist instead of saying - well, you can expect this at your age.

Self diagnosis was plantar fasciatis, but no mention was made of a very common condition.

We need recognition that there are predictable aches, pains and illnesses that go with aging - I do not want to have to see a specialist everytime I go to my doctor for something to ease the pain, when I already know what it is.

Gripe over - thanks for listening.
 
The state of western medicine is troubling. Doctors seem to be satisfied with treating symptoms (and prescribing drugs), often showing no interest in getting to the root cause of a problem. I think part of this is due to the advent of large corporate medical practices that value throughput over quality of care. Doctors seemed joined at the hip with big pharma as well. That's why nothing seems to get cured anymore - it just gets to be "manageable".
 
SkepticalX said:
The state of western medicine is troubling. Doctors seem to be satisfied with treating symptoms (and prescribing drugs), often showing no interest in getting to the root cause of a problem. I think part of this is due to the advent of large corporate medical practices that value throughput over quality of care. Doctors seemed joined at the hip with big pharma as well. That's why nothing seems to get cured anymore - it just gets to be "manageable".
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You can't say that doctors don't cure as they do. Also a doctor will recommend a lifestyle change and it's up to you if you to follow his/her advice.

There is a practical element. Your average GP has 20 minutes at best to see you and find out the issue. They act as gatekeepers. If they can't treat you they'll refer you on to a specialist.

Also look at the NHS recently ditching a lot of therapies that don't work https://www.bbc.com/news/health-44665560

Doctors can only trust a treatment that has some pretty heavy duty research behind it. They aren't going to recommend Smudging your house or calling in an Exorcist, (actually in some countries psychiatrists can refer to an Exorcist), if you are hearing voices as they'd be up for malpractice.

I have big issues with the "big pharma" as well but it's more about the cost of the drugs more than anything. Your average doctor doesn't put themselves through years of very difficult training jut to see a person as a money-spinner. There are far more easier jobs out there that pay the same or more as a doctors pay.
 
It amazes me how much grief health professionals get. They have to work in a very tight framework with limited resources where mistakes are punished severely.

The public go hysterical if an overworked and tired doctor makes a mistake. Yet it's the public that votes in governments that cut health funding year in and year out. It's the public that smoke, drink and eats too much or doesn't exercise.

It's the same with education and public services.
 
Billy Connolly talking about growing old - you know it's so when you start making vocal expressions, having to get up from a comfortable chair/settee.

'Arghh', etc.

My daughter recently pointed out, to her amusement, that I do this all the time now...

Resonate with anyone else!?
 
I now do the full "urgghh" when getting out of a chair. Like a World's Strongest Man contender pulling a truck with his teeth. It's all in my mind; I wouldn't dream of doing that on this railway platform.
 
I do it too. It's not just a pointless habit. I think sucking in air or expelling it can aid the muscles in the abdomen.
 
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