Random thoughts on being old...

[susandennis]

I am 70 years old. I'll be 71 in March. I think about that a whole lot and rarely in negative terms. I think about it when I don't have the physical strength I need - to get my fucking gas cap off, to get into a jar of pickles, to turn the stiffest knob on the planet which resides on my toaster oven... I'm not frail by any means and I wonder how old people who are frail ever get that kind of stuff done.

But, mostly I think of it in terms of the future. As long as my tooth isn't killing me with pain, why spend the time, money and agony getting it fixed? How long will I be using it anyway? Extended warranty?? Like Nancy Regan is purported to have said (and I hate that it wasn't someone way cooler - quoting a Regan really does hurt), buying green bananas is a stretch.

I was watching the Crown yesterday. There was this wonderful exchange between the 80ish year old Princess Alice and her 80ish year old brother Lord Mountbatten. He's all in a knot about how England has gone to rot and she's all 'what does it matter??? at our age, what does it matter?' Right on, Alice.

Trump may very well be the last president of my lifetime. I am certainly not a fan but I also can't get all broken up about his presidency. Harry Truman was president when I was born. Since then, I have had strong opposition to about two thirds of the old white men we have elected to the office. Really Trump is just another one of those to me at this point. We recovered from all of them - sure some where harder to bounce back from than others but sooner or later we no longer have to deal with them.

I love a good senior discount. I'm grateful when someone gives up their seat for me. I'm mostly ok with being invisible. Honestly, I think it reflects more negatively on the people who don't see me than on me.

And I am happy to play the old age card anytime I want. Once my doctor was out of town and I had a cold and was afraid it would move to my chest and turn my normally dormant COPD into major BFD. My regular doctor will give me prednizone when I ask for it, but backup doctor balked. "It's not good to take prednizone too often." "At my age, I'm way more worried about pain and suffering now than I am about the possible side effects of prednizone in some distance future." He actually said, "good point". And I got the goods.

And I'm far more forgiving of me. What the hell difference does it make? Is what I say about so many things these days. I don't work towards a brighter future. I concentrate on the brightest now I can create. And that's probably the biggest reason why being old mostly rocks.

[end of heavy thoughts on being old]

I fell over a really fun listing on eBay the other day. It's 15 different skeins of high end yarn in wonderful colors put up for auction by Seattle Goodwill! The bidding is vigorous. The auction is over Friday. My current bid is $100 and has held the top spot for several days. It's my sweet spot. I'd happily pay that for the yarn. I'm not going over. If I win the auction. YEAH! If I don't, Whew.

And speaking of yarn. Today I stumbled over a fascinating pattern for a sweater. It involves some very unique construction aspects and no sewing together and looks interesting to knit as well as interesting as a sweater.



In the yarn world, WIP are a thing... Works in Progress. As is SABLE - Stash Acquisition Beyond Life Expectancy...

Currently I have enough yarn in house for probably 5 sweaters and maybe 3 or 4 or more afghans. And I have some WIPs. I have one double bed sized crocheted afghan nearly finished. I have two socks halfway done. I have crochet cardigan mostly done. I have a hat nearly finished. And a cowl halfway done.

If I were younger and worried about my character and feeling the pressure to finish what I've started, it would be one thing.

But, I'm old and don't give a shit so tonight I'm going to start turning some of this yarn stash into that sweater. Less STABLE more WIP. It's a balance.

I went out this morning and found yet another ATM that wanted to charge me for my Capital One account, but, thankfully, it was fine giving me free cash from my credit union account. While I was out, I stopped in the teriyaki place and got lunch except their servings are so huge that it is also dinner. And, Fibit got steps.

When I stopped watching the Crown yesterday, Princess Alice wasn't dead yet. Maybe she has some more bon mots. I think I'll fire up Netflix and see.

Comments

[lenine2.livejournal.com]

I like your outlook. I just turned 59 and am starting to freak out over being old. I'm sure I'll get over it as I go through my 60s. You're so active and have a lot of self-discipline I admire you. Over the past ten years I've spent a few months here and there between jobs. It was hard to do anything, let alone have a regular exercise routine.

Stash Acquisition Beyond Life Expectancy
I haven't heard that before, but boy do I have it!

[susandennis]

I retired at age 64 and the first couple of years were really really tough. I boinked around like a ping pong ball trying to figure out how to be retired. I fell into swimming when I was about 65 after discovering that every other kind of exercise sucked donkey eggs.

Point being... you'll find your way, I'll just betcha, even if you can't see it now.

[meowmensteen]

I remember being so mad and terrified when George W was reelected. I was ranting to my 80-year-old neighbor about it and she just laughed, shook her head, and said, "Now you know how I felt when Nixon was elected, but I learned that the world didn't end, and life went on. Life will go on after Bush."

I'm just hoping that when I'm 80 I can tell the younger people, "At least you didn't have a president Trump."

[susandennis]

for me it was Regan. if we can survive Regan, we can survive anything.

and your goal is the best.

[meowmensteen]

At least his wife had the right quote for this post :b

[amw.livejournal.com]

That almost makes it more depressing to me. If a "bad guy" gets in, people just shrug and say life goes on. Which is true. Because it does just go on, for most. Oppressed groups might end up imprisoned, injured or killed, but that's how it is. People just accept that as the default because it feels like there's nothing they can realistically do.

Now i am living in a single-party state whose ruling class gets up to some truly heinous shit, and people overseas are like how do the locals deal with living under a regime like that? Well, they deal by just shrugging and saying life goes on.

It's like as a species we have collectively resigned ourselves to the fact that a small cabal of rich, powerful assholes are always going to be the bosses of the world, and that's that. Best thing to do is try avoid being the bottom of the foodchain. Which is... yeah, depressing.

[meowmensteen]

Right now I'm reading a book simply titled: The History of the World. Right now I'm in the Byzantine era. Already the world has been through its share of rich dictators. Really it makes me realize how fragile any stable state is. Our species has really done a number on ourselves.

[jaywil.livejournal.com]

i laugh that the Boys who love to knock over stuff haven't touched the wiffle ball in the cat tree!

[susandennis]

oh... that wiffle ball is holding the sadly now kind of beat up wire toy that they beat at. I strung it through the wiffle ball to secure it. but, thanks for the reminder to fix that whole wire thing so that it's at least a little fun.

[carriea31.livejournal.com]

You have a great outlook on aging.  I really think attitude is so important.  I once had a pastor who said that he believes that every person has a purpose until the day they die, no matter how old they are.  I totally agree and I always love when people choose to live their life to the fullest no matter age.

[susandennis]

:)

[gracegiver]

It is so refreshing to read your thoughts on this growing old thing. I received notice I'm due for a bone scan, the last one was five years ago. I thought about it and said to myself, and my husband, what difference does it make? I'm not going to take the pills that they'd probably recommend, I'm a female and getting older - my bones are becoming more fragile as to be expected. It's NORMAL!

A friend commented that it might be good to just monitor the bone loss, for my own information. And I replied, what for? So I can drink more milk? Take more calcium? Lift weights? Nope. I do what I do.

I just need to remember to not kick the cat again. (it's how I broke my wrist)

[susandennis]

Exactly. Exactly. Even my doctor said he wouldn't recommend those bone pills. And, honestly, I think if I found out I had some bone issue, I'd probably be more likely to break something ... to prove it!

And my black cats are going to do me in one night when I trip over them. It's just a matter of time.

[sunshine-two.livejournal.com]

I'm glad your COPD is dormant. A previous co-worker is in the hospital waiting/hoping for a lung transplant for hers.

[zoefruitcake.livejournal.com]

I like that sweater.
I hope I get old enough to not care. I mean I already don't care a massive amount but having been invisible for most of my life (being fat) I quite like not being invisible so I will probably miss visibility

[zippybeta.livejournal.com]

Just out of curiosity do you have a plan for your cats if you can no longer provide care for them or if you pass before them.?

[zoefruitcake.livejournal.com]

Did you mean to reply to me or was that for Susan?
Personally I have put in my will that my goddaughter has to look after any of my pets that I might have when I die. As she is getting my house I think it is the least I can ask of her ;0)

[susandennis]

My brother, will make sure they have a wonderful rest of their lives. And, if not him, then his son.

[zippybeta.livejournal.com]

Im glad to hear you have a plan for your pets, some pets are not so lucky and end up in shelters. You are a great cat Mom and I look forward every day reading about the black boys antics.

[rsc.livejournal.com]

Like Nancy Regan is purported to have said,... buying green bananas is a stretch.

Well, I don't go quite that far. And I continue to buy gin in 1.75-liter bottles, on the assumption that I'll last long enough to finish it. And if I don't, so what?

"At my age, I'm way more worried about pain and suffering now than I am about the possible side effects of prednizone in some distance future." He actually said, "good point".

When my then-90-year-old father was being discharged from the hospital after what had apparently been a mild heart attack, the nurse was going over his "instructions", including lists of meds, etc., and when she got to the part about a low-fat healthy diet, he said "I'm 90 years old; I'll eat what I want", and she conceded the point.

To the point about not getting stressed about the state of the world, my consolation about the dire predictions about climate change is that I won't be around by the time it gets really bad.

The hard part is figuring out how to get rid of all the stuff we've accumulated over our long lives.

[maju01.livejournal.com]

That sweater construction is fascinating. I'll be following your progress with interest.

[susandennis]

She has a new one that is even more fascinating... she's looking for testers for this one one - it starts with a circle in the middle!! But, while it looks like wonderful fun to knit, it also looks really uncomfortable to wear...

[maju01.livejournal.com]

This would be something like knitting an enormous fingerless mitt with two thumbs, I think. It really does't look very comfortable.

[susandennis]

No BUT, I'm thinking what if you skipped those skinny sleeves and did shorter, wider ones - like just extended the shoulders there... I might try it once she releases the pattern.

[maju01.livejournal.com]

Doesn't sound too difficult.

[yesthatjill.livejournal.com]

I really like the square patterning on the sweater. Reading the intro post for that one has me intrigued.

[susandennis]

I just found her and her designs and they are really fascinating. So different. And not so easy. It took me about 4 tries to get the first 5 inches of sleeves right. It's a great knitting challenge.