Skip to main content

You Know You're Getting Old When...


Earlier this week the book I was reading wasn't doing it for me and as I sat there on the couch staring off into space my mind started to wander. I started thinking about how old I was and the life I've lived and how it all seemed to pass so fast over the last 64 years. Don't get me wrong. It's been a great life and there's very little I'd change but I was starting to think about my mortality and how my cancer over the last ten years had kind of put a crimp in things.

Remember the Who singing "I hope I die before I get old"? There was a time, years ago, I believed that. Not so much anymore.

And who can forget that line from the aging, tossed-aside film star Nora Desmond in one of my favourite films Sunset Boulevard; "I am big. It's the pictures that got small".

But like Desmond I'm not fooling anyone. Not even myself. I am old.

Like when I go to bed. Geez, I'm under the covers, hearing aids removed by 8:30pm. Good thing there's "On Demand" for television which means I can usually watch whatever I want whenever I want. Otherwise, says my brother Whitey (y'all remember Whitey?), the television networks would have to move prime time to 5:00pm. And, damn, I'd have eat supper at 4:00pm. And at that time I would have only just finished lunch. And because I have some kidney issues and am diabetic the meal wouldn't be very exciting. I find the older I get my meals tend to be a little more off schedule and a little blander. No more cheeseburgers and poutine for me, for example.

You know what I did earlier today? I belong to this Facebook group of classic rock music lovers and we all post music videos from the past. I'm partial to the 60s and 70s but today I posted Does Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavour On The Bedpost Overnight by Lonnie Donegan Lonnie was a skiffle artist and released this song in 1959. I was all of seven years old at the time but I loved hearing this song on the radio. My comment on the Facebook post was "Yes, dammit, okay I'm old."

And speaking of being a kid I used to love things like Kentucky Fried Chicken and Cheez-Whiz. I bought some of each w while back and yuck. I think my taste buds have died. They just weren't the same.

I used to laugh at people who talked about walking into a room and forgetting why. Now I do it all the time. And don't laugh, dammit. I have to walk back out of the room to remember.

Once in a while I wear my T-shirts inside out and have to have my wife tell me to turn them right side out. I wear crocks (shock, I know., eh Whitey? I guess they're old people shoes.) and half the time wear them outdoors instead of remembering to change into my shoes.

I could go on but I can't remember half the other stuff I do, or don't do.

Sorry, I have to go. It's 4:00pm and I'm having grilled, skinless chicken and twice-boiled potatoes, some raw broccoli and carrots for dinner. Unsweetened applesauce for desert. Yum, yum.

Now, why did I come into the kitchen?


Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Polka Dot Door

A long time ago, when I was 22, my first child was born.  That kid grew up on a little Canadian kid's show called Polka Dot Door, produced by the TV Ontario network.  And Dad, more often than not, sat through those shows with his little one. Nine or so years later when a brother, and a year after that when a sister came along number one son was moving on to Knight Rider and The Dukes of Hazzard.  But there was a nice overlap where his siblings picked up where he had left off with Polka Dot Door.  And Dad was right there to welcome them. So you're looking at a Polka Dot Door veteran.  The show began in 1971 and ran to 1993.  I didn't watch the full run but I did get in my fair share.  The formula was pretty simple.  A young male and female host, which seemed to change every week, sang songs, told stories, made crafts and generally did their best stimulate little brains.  The show opened as follows... Imagination Day!  Oh boy! ...
41 comments
Read more

30 Days of Photos III #4 Sour

Check out Ziva's Inferno for the rest of today's photos.
53 comments
Read more

My Back Pages - November

I know, I know, I know I should have reported in before now. But sometimes real life just gets in the way. I attempted 5 books in November. I say attempted because I slapped a big DNF (did not finish) on Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon. I just can't seem to get into this guy. It's the second or third of his I've given up on, Not so the other four, starting with a biography of Stephen Stills called Change Partners. This followed by a hilarious biography of the guy responsible for National Lampoon called A Stupid and Futile Gesture - How Doug Kenney and National Lampoon Changed Comedy Forever. I ended the month reading yet another biography, this one of the man behind Rolling Stone magazine,. It was called Sticky Fingers: The Life and Times of Jann Wenner and Rolling Stone Magazine. A fascinating read. So last month I hit the magic number 50 I'd imagined for myself back in January. If I roll this month into my yearly total I'm at 54 books. And I still hav...
Post a Comment
Read more