Non-motoring > Ageing...it's a bit rubbish innit? Miscellaneous
Thread Author: SteelSpark Replies: 58

 Ageing...it's a bit rubbish innit? - SteelSpark
I don't feel it so much myself, but looking at people around me, and even famous people that I grew up watching, I can see time laying waste to them, and to everything they achieved.

You always know it's going to happen, but you don't appreciate it until you actually see it.
 Ageing...it's a bit rubbish innit? - Dave_
I fractured my elbow 6 or 7 years ago. When getting it checked over at the hospital, the doctor started his prognosis with "Of course, it would heal much quicker if you were 10 years younger..."

I've just turned 38.
 Ageing...it's a bit rubbish innit? - Ted

It's strange when you meet someone you've not seen for 20 yrs or so. usually totally unrecognisable.
I've not seen a cousin of mine for over 55 yrs, He emigrated, probably 40 yrs ago and i still think of him as a chubby 10ish yr old. His sister is on Facebook and there, in her friends, was Michael. I clicked on his name and there's a good picture....but of a grizzled white haired old man with a long but neat white beard........and a Honda bike, so that's ok.

I become an OAP next month, as do most of my school and college mates...I wonder what they are like now !

I feel very little different mentally, still a big boy at heart, but the aches and pains, and the inability to do things I used to, tell me different.

I drove past the crematorium this afternoon and I was aware of lots of 20somethings and younger dressed in black lining the pavement looking at the other side of the road, which is residential. There was a hearse backed up one of the drives, loading up.
I guess the poor soul was probably the same age of all these bright, smart youngsters.
Maybe a college mate...........It does make you grateful to have survived so long.
 Ageing...it's a bit rubbish innit? - R.P.
I learnt one thing in the last couple of years. Every day is a bonus.
 Ageing...it's a bit rubbish innit? - Bellboy
i often remind myself its cold in the ground on a november morning but i can choose what to do rather than just kick the box
 Ageing...it's a bit rubbish innit? - Bromptonaut
In praise of being more mature!!

Just home from a night out with a mate; colleague of 20 yrs standing. Couple of hours in a pub, a few drinks and a bar meal. We're both civil servants facing either major job change or redundancy and we discussed our prospects and those of mutual colleagues. But we also had a good laugh about families, holidays and music. We even got on to problems with cars and whether cv joint problems on a low mileage but far from new Yaris might get a good will payment from the dealer.

Thing is said mate is female and was/is regarded as a bit of a stunner. Twenty years ago I'd have been reduced to a gibbering heap meeting her socially. Now at fifty it doesn't matter. I've got a long standing partner and kids; she's smitten with a newish chap but I don't think either of those facts are material. We're just mates who've known each other for yonks; biology has become immaterial.

Either ageing is a good thing or I've learned something from the kids who seem far better able to carry off platonic friendships than my contemporaries ever were.
Last edited by: Bromptonaut on Wed 10 Nov 10 at 23:49
 Ageing...it's a bit rubbish innit? - Old Navy
>> I learnt one thing in the last couple of years. Every day is a bonus.
>>

Me too, a few times over the years. As a GP said, "You have had your moneys worth out of the NHS".

I had a surprise a few years ago, my GP called an ambulance for a quick transfer to hospital. One of the doctors on duty was one of my daughters school pals who went on her first foreign holiday with us. I always thought of her as a dizzy blonde kid!
Last edited by: Old Navy on Thu 11 Nov 10 at 08:49
 Ageing...it's a bit rubbish innit? - Zero
>> I don't feel it so much myself, but looking at people around me, and even
>> famous people that I grew up watching, I can see time laying waste to them,
>> and to everything they achieved.
>>
>> You always know it's going to happen, but you don't appreciate it until you actually
>> see it.

I am sorry, but thats complete Rubbish. What do you call Old? Every day is a delight, and you never give up everything you achieved,
 Ageing...it's a bit rubbish innit? - SteelSpark
>> I am sorry, but thats complete Rubbish. What do you call Old? Every day is
>> a delight, and you never give up everything you achieved,

I'm not talking about some definition of being "old", I'm talking about ageing. The gradual wasting away of bodies and achievements, until they are gone. The fact that it is finite and all very short. Again, we all know that, but then we see it in action...
 Ageing...it's a bit rubbish innit? - RattleandSmoke
I am not even 30 yet but a few weeks ago some girls (well women) in the club I know asked where I was there in 1976. I wasn't even born then yet alone old enough to see the sex pistols!. Made me feel very old.

I have stopped worrying about getting old now though just going to take every day as it comes.
 Ageing...it's a bit rubbish innit? - Armel Coussine
>> I have stopped worrying about getting old now though just going to take every day as it comes.

... Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death...


It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing...
 Ageing...it's a bit rubbish innit? - Zero

>> I'm not talking about some definition of being "old", I'm talking about ageing. The gradual
>> wasting away of bodies and achievements, until they are gone.

And I am saying, achievements are never "gone" you cannot take them away.
 Ageing...it's a bit rubbish innit? - Armel Coussine
>> achievements are never "gone" you cannot take them away.

Quite Zero (if you are fortunate enough to have any that is). Perhaps SteelSpark is suffering a fit of melancholy (or 'pessimism' as rationalists call it).

Even ageing isn't as terrible as it's made out to be, although frankly it isn't favourite and as my late mother-in-law observed when approaching ninety, 'old age isn't for wimps'.

Perhaps I am lucky but although I have a pacemaker I don't feel all that feeble, although I wouldn't play rugger or try to carry a piano with two other chaps these days. All of that sets in quite gradually and you sort of get used to it. One has to hope that cancer and Parkinson's hold off as long as possible, and that slight forgetfulness doesn't mutate into fully-formed gagadom without anyone really noticing.

One of the good things about being older is that you really get to know and understand a few things. You know what you think and why instead of being in constant doubt, not always perhaps but more often. You are less likely to be taken in by flimflam and bluster provided you aren't becoming senile.
 Ageing...it's a bit rubbish innit? - Bromptonaut
>> I'm not talking about some definition of being "old", I'm talking about ageing. The gradual
>> wasting away of bodies and achievements, until they are gone.

The achievements stay, albeit subject to review and destruction/re-invention by young turks.

But the bodies?

My employer has consolidated it's HQ operation on one London site with several thousand employees. Pretty often when I go there I see faces not met in the last 15yrs. I'm sure I look just as much older but it's a dispiriting experience.
 Ageing...it's a bit rubbish innit? - Cliff Pope

>>
>> The achievements stay, albeit subject to review and destruction/re-invention by young turks.
>>
>

The evil men do lives on - the good is oft inter'd with their bones.
 Ageing...it's a bit rubbish innit? - CGNorwich
'even famous people that I grew up watching, I can see time laying waste to them, and to everything they achieved.'

Except Cliff Richard of course
 Ageing...it's a bit rubbish innit? - Fullchat
I might have to grow old but I don't have to grow up :-)
 Ageing...it's a bit rubbish innit? - Bigtee
I was feeling just fine at 7.00am until i read this lot.!!

 Ageing...it's a bit rubbish innit? - Fenlander
>>>I go there I see faces not met in the last 15yrs. I'm sure I look just as much older but it's a dispiriting experience.

I think the music of your teens often defines a persons era.... well assuming you liked music. A while back we went to see an excellent local band doing 60s/70s covers. Mrs F looked around in horror at the aged punters and said is this really where we are in life?
 Ageing...it's a bit rubbish innit? - Zero
Please, dont tell me you said "yes dear"

thats as bad as saying "that dress makes you look more mature"


No man has ever recovered from that scenario.
 Ageing...it's a bit rubbish innit? - Bigtee
No man has ever recovered from that scenario. Lol.

Do i look fat in this dress? There is no answer for this question i have ever got away with!
 Ageing...it's a bit rubbish innit? - ....
>> No man has ever recovered from that scenario. Lol.
>>
>> Do i look fat in this dress? There is no answer for this question i
>> have ever got away with!
>>
humorflip.com/do-i-look-fat-do-i-look-stupid-888.html
 Ageing...it's a bit rubbish innit? - Cliff Pope
AC, as you obviously know, the lines you left out are:

Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more


But don't tell SteelSpark, it will depress him more. ;)

 Ageing...it's a bit rubbish innit? - Perky Penguin
50 years ago I and 37 colleagues were commissioned in the RAF. The miracle of the internet has got most of us in touch and we are having a reunion next month, to mark the anniversary. I am wondering how many of them I will recognise and what I shall look like to them!
 Ageing...it's a bit rubbish innit? - Bagpuss
Several years ago my parents started to meet people they hadn't seen for decades through the wonders of Friends Reunited. Sadly they are now at the age where this circle of friends is becoming smaller year by year.

I, on the other hand, merely wince at the odd occasion when I bother going to a doctor and he ends every positive diagnosis with the statement "for someone of your age".
 Ageing...it's a bit rubbish innit? - Dog
Is that Sheikh spear?
 Ageing...it's a bit rubbish innit? - Cliff Pope
Another curious phenomenon is the way actors seem to age faster than real people.

For example, I remember when Peter O'Toole was the young Lawrence of Arabia. Now whenever I see him interviewed he looks ancient, and is probably 80 something. How come someone who was once "my age" has now become decades older?

The answer of course is that I first knew him in what was even then an old film, portraying a younger man. So he wasn't really as young as he seemed.
But it still feels odd the way these people keep flying past me in age.
May be the secret of preventing ageing is to keep watching older and older films, and take comfort from the fact that they are all dead, and I, being so much younger, am still alive.
 Ageing...it's a bit rubbish innit? - scousehonda
When I was at school (I left in 1955) my best mate was a bit of a budding footballer. It was predicted that he would be signed as a junior by Liverpool (who, in those days, were in the old 2nd Division). From the day I left school we lost contact completely as we lived miles apart. He was far more mature than virtually all of our classmates, bigger (in all departments) and he had started to shave when he was about 14.

By the miracle of the internet he made contact about 6 years ago and we met up. He had lived for most of the intervening years in Australia and, had he not given very specific details of where we were to meet, I would not have recognised him in a month of Sundays. He was short, slightly stooped, almost completely bald and as miserable an old git as I have had the misfortune to meet in the intervening half century. He never did sign for Liverpool, drifted out of football, became a teacher and obviously developed a very severe chip on his shoulder.

It was quite a chastening meeting and one that convinced me not to repeat the experience with any other long forgotten mates, should the opportunity present itself in the future.
 Ageing...it's a bit rubbish innit? - Mike Hannon
I dunno really. A few months ago I got back in touch with a once-close friend I haven't seen for 30 years. I have a very distinctive westcountry voice which, to my ear, has not changed through the years. When he rang me he said 'is that Mike?' He told me he didn't recognise my voice at all so had to ask if it was I.
We started organising an office reunion and he sent me some pictures of old friends taken in the 1970s. Oddly enough, they spooked me completely. It really was like a long-lost past coming back to life. I completely changed my mind about the reunion.
Incidentally, SWMBO says my voice hasn't changed but under her long-term guidance I now speak English.
 Ageing...it's a bit rubbish innit? - Armel Coussine
>> it will depress him more. ;)

That was why I left them out... a complication too far I thought.

What a fabulous speech though. Quite a decent journeyman scribbler, our Shavespoke...

:o}
 Ageing...it's a bit rubbish innit? - Stuu
I was talking to a 20 year old receptionist the other day, lovely girl in all respects, been there since she left school.
She was complaining about getting older and I said that hitting 30 is awful because you know you cant quite call yourself young anymore. You may be younger than some, but young you aint and if you have had any sort of life, things are starting to wear out ( in my case knees and back ).
I told her I could remember when petrol was about 55p a litre and the shocked look on her face made me feel a full 20 years older than her, not the 11 years that I am in reality.
Alot has happened in those ten years!
My grandmother, nearly 77, knew as an adult, her grandmother who was born in 1872, now thats gotta age someone!
 Ageing...it's a bit rubbish innit? - RattleandSmoke
The bands I liked as a teen and who found fame in the 90's (Oasis, Pulp etc) are all approaching 50 now. That makes me feel old.

Was in a local pub last night for a couple of pints of fine German beer (and that is all I drank!) and was talking to a friend about the club we go to on Saturday night. We both said we hated youngsters i.e the 20 year olds because they just stand about and do nothing while us older folk really dance the night away like we are 16.

Seeing all the older folk in there though makes me realise I can never be too old to party. One thing I have noticed though as I am getting older I am finding it harder and harder to get up in the morning. In fact I don't anymore, I just fall asleep when the alarm sounds. Not a problem as I work afternoons and evenings only now unless a customer can only do mornings.
 Ageing...it's a bit rubbish innit? - SteelSpark
>> >> it will depress him more. ;)
>>
>> That was why I left them out... a complication too far I thought.

Thanks for the consideration AC, because the melancholy isn't any better today...I suppose the rain isn't helping. :)

Here is the quote that's always done it for me (if you can look beyond the sci-fi context).

"I've seen things you people couldn't believe
Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion.
I've watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate.
All these things will be lost in time...like tears in rain...."

www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOW4QiOD-oc

I think Anthony Hopkins also used it in a BT commercial, which perhaps took the shine off it a bit for me.
 Ageing...it's a bit rubbish innit? - Falkirk Bairn
I saw a former classmate for the first time in in 18 years - In 1995 another classmate (aged 49) had just died so I can be specific about the times.

The chap I saw yesterday was his dad! Well he looked exactly like him....his dad was say 40 when my classmate was born and always had looked older THIS PLUS the Whisky & Cigarettes had taken their toll but he was till a great GP even in his 70s.

PS
The 49 yr old was a cardiac specialist - who died of a heart attack - fit as a fiddle and then BANG!
 Ageing...it's a bit rubbish innit? - Roger.
Getting old for me means aches and pains 24/7/365.
It also means I have to accept that I just cannot do jobs I would have cheerfully tackled, even 5-10 years ago.
If I live so long, it is a sobering though that in 2015 I will be 80.
Damn it!
Last edited by: Roger on Sun 14 Jul 13 at 11:46
 Ageing...it's a bit rubbish innit? - corax
>> The 49 yr old was a cardiac specialist - who died of a heart attack
>> - fit as a fiddle and then BANG!

He must have had something lurking in his arteries or maybe a weak heart. Did his family have any past medical histories? People can look OK on the outside but be very unfit in
cardiovascular terms.

Two people have died at my work place since I have been working there. One died of stomach cancer. Not surprising really because he was a hard drinker and chain smoker. It amazes me how long the body will put up with it, but once there are signs, there really isn't any turning back, not after that many years of abuse.

The other was more surprising. he died of Asbestosis, something he picked up from a previous job. He looked fine for years then over a few months rapidly lost weight and succumbed to the condition. Really sad actually, he was 64, so one more year until retirement. A hard worker too.

Another guy who is just about to retire has had bouts of cancer, another chain smoker, and their boss has also had cancer treatment. These two plus the first one above I mentioned all work in the same department, Countryways, responsible for footpath maintenance and other work. So their overall track record in health and fitness really isn't very good. None of them have helped themselves though in that regard. Maybe they don't care, that's how they want to live.

Last edited by: corax on Sun 14 Jul 13 at 12:02
 Ageing...it's a bit rubbish innit? - Dog
Life is but a dream: www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=L7p5xHD0Bhk
 Ageing...it's a bit rubbish innit? - Falkirk Bairn
>> The 49 yr old was a cardiac specialist - who died of a heart attack
>> - fit as a fiddle and then BANG!

He was a Professor of Cardiac Surgery - died out on the road on a a bike getting some more exercise!
I do not know of the reason for his death other then a sudden heart attack.
 Ageing...it's a bit rubbish innit? - Dog
If walking is good for your health, the postman would be immortal, a whale swims all day, only eats fish, drinks water, but is still fat.

A rabbit runs and hops and only lives 15 years, while a tortoise doesn't run and does mostly nothing, yet it lives for 150 years.

And 'they' tell you to exercise?? ... I don't think so.
 Ageing...it's a bit rubbish innit? - Falkirk Bairn
>>The other was more surprising. he died of Asbestosis

BiL died @ 48 - lurking in system for 30 years or thereabouts.
Former neighbour caught it as a boy in Rhodesia as he lived near the mines.... died in his 70's of mesolthelioma.


I bet there will be a lot more - North Sea oil comes at a cost - in the 1970's there was a need for speed and Asbestos was used in rigs - partitioning and fire retardant in ONE...........many will suffer the consequences of that.... and they still have to de-commission the rigs!
 Ageing...it's a bit rubbish innit? - Ambo
Among other things, youthful excesses get you in the end. I gave up smoking about 40 years ago but my lung capacity is only 75% of the average for my age. I gave up working in the tropical sun 43 years ago but have had three actinic growths removed from my skin (one from the top of my nose) in the last two years, and have just recently had a widespread outbreak of actinic rashes which are going to take three months to treat. The there's the pacemaker, memory loss and arthritis, you know the kind of thing.
 Ageing...it's a bit rubbish innit? - Old Navy
I think we will all be killed by wind farm diesel exhaust fumes. :-)

tinyurl.com/nfkflzx
 Ageing...it's a bit rubbish innit? - corax
>> I think we will all be killed by wind farm diesel exhaust fumes. :-)

Trouble is it's easy to moan about the various options while we can still boil a kettle. We don't want nuclear power because it's too dangerous, no one wants wind farms spoiling their view and they are expensive to build off coast, fracking schemes for cheaper gas is upsetting all the locals that live in those areas, coal is dirty, solar power is too expensive e.t.c e.t.c

By the time we decide to do something about power supply it'll be too late and we'll be having power cuts. And you oldies will be well out of it :)
 Ageing...it's a bit rubbish innit? - MD
OO u talking too. Old....huh!
 Ageing...it's a bit rubbish innit? - Old Navy
By coincidence we had a three and a bit hour power cut on Friday evening. At this time of year the only concern was the freezer, in a cold dark winter it would have been more of a problem. As the damaged cable was only a few houses along the road a repair estimate time was soon passed around the 50 or so houses effected. The damage was caused by water from a poorly installed drain when the houses were built about 15 years ago. As our power cut was localised we still had phones, mobile internet etc. a widespread extended cut would be a real problem, even life threatening for some.
Last edited by: Old Navy on Sun 14 Jul 13 at 16:48
 Ageing...it's a bit rubbish innit? - Meldrew
Power "rationing" or brown downs or whatever, starting in 2015.
www.ecoadapt.co.uk/ofgem-predicts-electricity-shortages-by-2015-what-will-this-mean/
 Ageing...it's a bit rubbish innit? - Zero
>> Power "rationing" or brown downs or whatever, starting in 2015.
>> www.ecoadapt.co.uk/ofgem-predicts-electricity-shortages-by-2015-what-will-this-mean/

Its from a company that is trying to sell you electrical conditioning stuff. Stuff of dubious effectiveness with some pretty outlandish claims.
 Ageing...it's a bit rubbish innit? - Old Navy
>> Its from a company that is trying to sell you electrical conditioning stuff. Stuff of
>> dubious effectiveness with some pretty outlandish claims.
>>

Not a lot of use in a power cut, unless you have an uninterruptable back up supply you are off, end of.
 Ageing...it's a bit rubbish innit? - madf
I refuse to join clubs for OAPs as they are full of old men and women trying to do exercises a three year old can do..
 Ageing...it's a bit rubbish innit? - Cliff Pope
Another sign of aging I find to my embarassment is not noticing when a thread is 3 years old.

I can remember it clearly. What did we do yesterday?
 Ageing...it's a bit rubbish innit? - Meldrew
Trying to do exercise(s) is probably better than not trying and there are plenty of clubs for OAPs that are nothing whatsoever to do with exercise.
 Ageing...it's a bit rubbish innit? - madf
>> Trying to do exercise(s) is probably better than not trying and there are plenty of
>> clubs for OAPs that are nothing whatsoever to do with exercise.
>>

Yes Most of them are about trying to remember where you live so you don't get lost on the way home :-)
 Ageing...it's a bit rubbish innit? - Fenlander
>>>I refuse to join clubs for OAPs as they are full of old men and women trying to do exercises a three year old can do.


I prefer going to gigs with newer bands. If you go and see someone that draws in those that bought music in the 60s it's the same folks you see in the chemist queue for the monthly carrier bag sized prescription.
 Ageing...it's a bit rubbish innit? - helicopter
I think its all about your attitude....

I am 64 but still feel fine and I am still in possession of my faculties and mobile despite being overweight and various medications , my father died when he was 64 as did my sister......so every day alive is a bonus and should be lived to the full.....

....so I ask myself what am I doing posting on this forum.......???
 Ageing...it's a bit rubbish innit? - Dog
>>so I ask myself what am I doing posting on this forum.......???

>>>>I am still in possession of my faculties

:-D
 Ageing...it's a bit rubbish innit? - Cliff Pope
>> I am still in possession of my
>> faculties and mobile

Would that be one of those Saga phones the size of a brick with just 3 large buttons?
Now, where did I leave it?
 Ageing...it's a bit rubbish innit? - madf
No doubt your mobile has fallen down the back of your mobility scooter...
 Ageing...it's a bit rubbish innit? - helicopter
This is my idea of a mobility scooter.....


www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2D2fP6yBzU
 Ageing...it's a bit rubbish innit? - Dog
>>This is my idea of a mobility scooter.....

Great fun - I want one!
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