Old Farts: Share Your Experiences Here

[Danger]

Tick, tick, tick... T-7 months and counting...

You're going to age even faster than the rest of us. I just spotted your name in another site, you two-timer! The guilt of cheating on us will bring you to an early end.

 

[BobG]

I was really feeling like a geezer this morning. I heard on the radio that Journey is going to be in concert, and I was like wooohooo! Journey in Concert!

And then I thought about how long that band's been around, and the fact that I have the Escape album on vinyl somewhere in the back of my closet.

I'm ancient.

The strangest statistic about how old my generation was getting? Most of Clinton's cabinet was younger than the Rolling Stones. (Now there's some guys that have really aged badly. )

 

[Chi Meson]

FOr me, its the music. I came of age in the early eighties when the only decent music came from the independant scene. During my last year of college, Nirvana released "Bleach." When I began teaching, there was at least that overlap: I like Nirvana, they (HS students) like Nirvana.

Now, I'm a little tired of Nirvana, and they have never heard of Nirvana.

I find myself saying things like : "the music these kids listen to these days is meaningless; not like the music of my generation" etc etc.

I remember the old hippies who would say the same thing about my music.

Oh God, I'm an old hippie.

 

[Danger]

Oh God, I'm an old hippie.

Not even close! To be an old hippie, your scene had to have included the Mamas and the Papas, the 5th Dimension, Ocean, Joplin, Hendrix, The Band, The Troggs, The Kinks, and lots more. (I wonder how many kids these days are discovering The Who for the first time because of the CSI title sequences.)

 

[Chi Meson]

I wonder how many kids these days are discovering The Who for the first time because of the CSI title sequences.

And that's "late" Who. Way past the seminal years IMOH (and correct) O.

And BTW, I knew my Mama AND my Papa, so I don't get your meaning.

 

[Danger]

I knew my Mama AND my Papa, so I don't get your meaning.

But did they know you? (Or admit to it, at least.)

 

[Evo]

What are all these kids doing in the old thread?

Eyesight is the main annoyance for me. I had a pair of those Varilux trifocals that cost me $400 that the Evo child stepped on and broke. We're presbyopes guys.

Because I'm such a klutz, my left knee and my right hip pop and I make clicking sounds when I walk upstairs.

I'm beginning to sag in places I didn't previously have places.

And you're not an old hippy unless you actually attended Mothers of Invention, Jim Hendrix and Janis Joplin concerts. I did.

 

[Danger]

I'm beginning to sag in places I didn't previously have places.

I will be more than willing to offer support.

And you're not an old hippy unless you actually attended Mothers of Invention, Jim Hendrix and Janis Joplin concerts. I did.

Not fair! I would have to have been a rich old hippie. None of them ever played anywhere near where I lived. (Unless concerts in Detroit of which I didn't know.)

 

[Chi Meson]

We're presbyopes guys.

I've always been farsighted. I never knew it until I was in college. All those headaches in high school, you know what it was ? English homework! Now the axillary muscles are giving way and I can't see anything that isn't closer than 20 feet.

And you're not an old hippy unless you actually attended Mothers of Invention, Jim Hendrix and Janis Joplin concerts. I did.

And I'm not (as it turns out) even an old Hippie (and who wants to be an "old punkie"?)

Because I'm such a klutz, my left knee and my right hip pop and I make clicking sounds when I walk upstairs.

And I can't stand "Hip pop music."

 

[Evo]

I spelled hippie "hippy" I'm becoming senile.

 

[Evo]

I've always been farsighted. I never knew it until I was in college. All those headaches in high school, you know what it was ? English homework! Now the axillary muscles are giving way and I can't see anything that isn't closer than 20 feet.

I was always nearsighted and now I can't read can labels in the grocery store.

And I'm not (as it turns out) even an old Hippie (and who wants to be an "old punkie"?)

That just doesn't sound right.

And I can't stand "Hip pop music."

Then you could never spend time around me. I do throw in a few grunts and groans when I get out of a chair I've been sitting in for awhile.

 

[Danger]

I spelled hippie "hippy" I'm becoming senile.

But surely you remember me, your beloved Danger, after all we've meant to each other. Here... let me help you up the stairs. The popping doesn't bother me at all...

 

[Moonbear]

I spelled hippie "hippy" I'm becoming senile.

Nope, we've seen your picture, you definitely have nothing to worry about with regard to being hippy.

The more and more I read this thread, the more and more convinced I'm just going to stay 29 forever! Okay, not like I'm too old yet. I'm 33 now, and that doesn't feel too bad, but somehow the thought of turning 34 at the end of the year disturbs me. That number just sounds bad to me. That's how old my parents were when I was a little kid and they were ancient, OLD people! On the other hand, my mom has always acted old too. She's one of those people who looked forward to retirement so she could just sit around the house all day.

 

[hypatia]

woah Astro! If I fell like that I would still be laying there! I have also found that walks help ease the joint pain. I use to be a lot more active, and hope to be again, with in the next year.
I sometimes work with Focus Hope a inner city program.{detroit} We use to take kids camping, kids who had never seen the woods except for the movies.
I'm going to be semi retired in about a year{yeah to being old} and I hope to get this program on the ball again.

 

[zoobyshoe]

What are all these kids doing in the old thread?

That poor 29 year old! One foot in the grave!

Eyesight is the main annoyance for me. I had a pair of those Varilux trifocals that cost me $400 that the Evo child stepped on and broke.

I could send you my $400 + experiment with progressive lenses. They're fine if you can hold your head rigidly still. If you move, everything in your peripheral vision warps in a Dali-esque/funhouse mirror way. They are surplus special effects lenses or something. However, they make my face look younger. When I force the people I'm with to wear them.

 

[zoobyshoe]

I'd have to agree watching my parents get older bothers me more than my age. My Dad has Parkinson's disease and that really bothers me...

I'm sorry to hear about this, BobG. I've done some reading about Parkinson's and it's quite a devestating condition. I hope you're finding all the resources you need to deal with it.

Plus, if they're out of Natural Instincts for Men and you have to go to the women's hair aisle, it takes an hour to decide which shade you want.

Now, I have made a vow to do no cheating with the grey. In a similar vein, I grew up hearing so many mocking remarks about the infamous "comb-over" that I have to stop a million times during my tedious attempts to minimize the effect of the thin spot, to ask "Does that suggest comb-over? Does this suggest comb-over?" While the lines from TS Eliot run through my head:

I grow old.
I grow old.
I shall wear my trouser-bottoms rolled,

And I shall turn and descend the stair
With a bald spot growing in the middle of my hair.

 

[Moonbear]

Plus, if they're out of Natural Instincts for Men and you have to go to the women's hair aisle, it takes an hour to decide which shade you want.

LOL! My parents had it all worked out, mom picks out the shade she likes, and then she and my stepdad split the bottle (both have short hair, so don't need all of it). Though, once my stepdad retired, he stopped dying his hair. He only did it to try to look younger while still working (he was a truck driver and was worried they'd give the better paying, longer runs to the young kids if he started looking too old). It worked pretty well. Since they started out with different base colors, the final color didn't look entirely identical (though they did have to put up with me laughing mercilessly the first time they did this and I found out what they were up to).

When I turn gray, I'm going to wear it proudly! We do have this old professor emeritus running around here who is ancient yet dyes his hair this really horrid shade of reddish brown. It looks so goofy. He'd look a lot better just keeping the gray. I mean, there's no denying his age just by dying his hair anymore, and it's such an obvious dye-job.

 

[gnome]

I was always nearsighted and now I can't read can labels in the grocery store.

Ironically, I'm reduced to being thankful for having been so myopic all my life that now I can still see clearly up close if I take my glasses off.

Now, I have made a vow to do no cheating with the grey. In a similar vein, I grew up hearing so many mocking remarks about the infamous "comb-over" that I have to stop a million times during my tedious attempts to minimize the effect of the thin spot, to ask "Does that suggest comb-over? Does this suggest comb-over?"

Nothing says "pathetic" more than a comb-over.

My solution for the past 10 years or so is my Kojak (read "aerodynamic") haircut.

LOL how many of these kids even know who Kojak was? How pathetic is that?

 

[gnome]

?? Not sure what that means. No drugs involved.

Just kidding. Y'know -- California longhair falling out of a tree. What were we supposed to think?

(I know Uluru isn't Calif., but your pics LOOK Calif, at least to my old eyes.)

 

[Moonbear]

LOL how many of these kids even know who Kojak was? How pathetic is that?

Tell me it can't be so! People who don't know who Kojak was? The guy who made it okay for grown-ups to suck on lolipops?!

 

[motai]

FOr me, its the music. I came of age in the early eighties when the only decent music came from the independant scene. During my last year of college, Nirvana released "Bleach." When I began teaching, there was at least that overlap: I like Nirvana, they (HS students) like Nirvana.

Now, I'm a little tired of Nirvana, and they have never heard of Nirvana.

I find myself saying things like : "the music these kids listen to these days is meaningless; not like the music of my generation" etc etc.

Um... am I the only young'n that acts like a really old person? I listen to music far older than the 80s for sure... more like 1920s and 1930s. Or even farther back, classical music in the 1600s to 1700s...

Yeah... I listen to 80 year old music...

But I do agree that kids these days don't know nothing. Have you seen the fashion trends? The half-ripped up jeans and pants going down to the knees? Crazy, that's what I say. Back in my day we wore respectable clothing. Actually, I do have to say that college professors dress remarkably well compared to current trends. I tend to favor a nice heavy brown dress shirt and tan trousers that are rolled up in true Eliot fashion. Add in some pencils, 3 x 5 index cards, a slide rule, and a ratty pair of spectacles (or a monocle) and i'll be set .

 

[Astronuc]

Just kidding. Y'know -- California longhair falling out of a tree. What were we supposed to think?

(I know Uluru isn't Calif., but your pics LOOK Calif, at least to my old eyes.)

Actually I am just north of you gnome, up the Hudson Valley.

I was wondering about the tree - but didn't think Cali. I do like to climb trees, probably since I was 4 or 5 yrs old.

Uluru is in the middle of Australia - it's a big red monolith. - special significance.

The beach pics were taken in La Jolla (San Diego), kind of a home away from home. The snow pic is from the Hudson Valley.

As for my hair, it's gradually getting greyer (more like salt and pepper), as is the beard, and I am growing it out for a while. I won't be using hair coloring though - I prefer natural. I am of those "WYSIWYG" types.

It's fun near Christmas time. Some little ones think I am Santa Claus. I will be applying for that job when my beard and hair are snow white.

 

[Evo]

Um... am I the only young'n that acts like a really old person? I listen to music far older than the 80s for sure... more like 1920s and 1930s. Or even farther back, classical music in the 1600s to 1700s...

Yeah... I listen to 80 year old music...

But I do agree that kids these days don't know nothing. Have you seen the fashion trends? The half-ripped up jeans and pants going down to the knees? Crazy, that's what I say. Back in my day we wore respectable clothing. Actually, I do have to say that college professors dress remarkably well compared to current trends. I tend to favor a nice heavy brown dress shirt and tan trousers that are rolled up in true Eliot fashion. Add in some pencils, 3 x 5 index cards, a slide rule, and a ratty pair of spectacles (or a monocle) and i'll be set .

Ah motai, you're my kinda guy.

 

[Huckleberry]

This thread is barely 12 hours old and already its gone red and has almost 5 pages and over 600 views. Time flies.

 

[Moonbear]

Time flies.

So kind of you to remind the old folks of that.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

What were we talking about?

 

[Moonbear]

Um... am I the only young'n that acts like a really old person? I listen to music far older than the 80s for sure... more like 1920s and 1930s. Or even farther back, classical music in the 1600s to 1700s...

Yeah... I listen to 80 year old music...

Well, if listening to good music means acting like an old person, then I'm with you on that! I listen to music of many decades and centuries. I really like stuff from the '50s and '60s, and even have a CD of only harpsichord music.

But I do agree that kids these days don't know nothing. Have you seen the fashion trends? The half-ripped up jeans and pants going down to the knees?

Kids? Even the young adults dress like that. What surprises me most isn't that kids dress in a way that adults find shocking, but more that kids these days haven't found a new way to shock their parents. Quite frankly, I can't even be shocked at the sagging pants look anymore because it has become so commonplace and the fad has lasted a ridiculously long time. I wish someone would point out to the kids wearing their pants that way that the style used to be the exclusive domain of thugs planning to shoplift.

 

[zoobyshoe]

What were we talking about?

Speak up! What?

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Speak up! What?

Welcome to PF Zoobyshoe. I'm Ivan.

 

[Moonbear]

Welcome to PF Zoobyshoe. I'm Ivan.

Ruh roh! Do we need to help you find your way back home again?