50+ Old Man Thread

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RedWolf

RedWolf

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Kind of got this idea from other threads talking about how we've changed over the years. I really don't care how old you are, or how young you are, I just had to put a line in the sand for the hell of it. How have you changed over the years and what do you appreciate now that you did not appreciate before? For me a few examples...

I have one cup of coffee a day and it is espresso based from a great machine. Use Italian beans and have it down to a science.

I prefer quality over quantity, and I will pay for it if it is worth it. I don't eat as much as before.

I spend of a ton of time with my hobby, guitars and music.

I hate the cold and really prefer the Caribbean and warm water (have lived in Miami the past 8 years, originally from the DMV).

Have great relationships with both of my adult children.

Have a very wonderful, beautiful and younger wife (not from this country) and plan to retire there. Over my life I've spoken four languages. I have lived in four different countries and visited over 60.

I'm more calm and slower to anger. I like to think that I have matured but sometimes I have to laugh at myself.

Redskins fan since I was 5 years old.

I could keep going but just a few quick things off the top of my head... what about you?
 
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Just so long as I don't turn into one of these types. Other than that I've pretty much mellowed out, lol.

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Life is so much slower and more relaxing now. The Pandemic taught me that I was now at the age when I was perfectly content sitting home noodling on a laptop. I used to say that you could light my recliner on fire at 11 in the morning on any weekend day and I wouldn't get burned. That's no longer the case.

But I do feel conflicted, especially after going through 2 serious health scares. When I retired I told myself from now on I'm going to do what I want when I want as much as possible. So if I don't feel like doing anything that day and just sit around the house I'm going to do that. Life is pretty cheap when it consists of the internet, a dog walk and a nap.

But then this little voice on my shoulder starts screaming "what are you doing sitting around, you should get off your ass and do things while you are still healthy". It's an interesting dynamic that I believe I've negotiated pretty well. I still remain active but nothing like 20 years ago and I'm OK with that.
 
At 50, I have less energy, and my multiple sclerosis has done a number on my memory. I am more nervous about the direction of our country now then I used to be, but now it mostly worry for my kids rather than myself.

Physically, my hair has migrated south. It is less on the top of my head and now more out the nostrils and down the back...but other than that, I still wear the same waste size as I wore in highschool. So I have kept in shape even if the time to run a mile keeps creeping up. Still, "never slow down, never grow old?" I shall not go gently into the long night.
 
Probably the biggest difference is my eyesight. I still don't wear glasses, but my eyes do get tired and they're not as sharp as they used to be. They're also far more light sensitive. For example, at last weekend's reading of my new book I read from a Kindle instead of from the paper version. Younger me wouldn't thought twice about it, but while I could have read from the paperback I thought it would be safer to use the eBook where I could read with a slightly larger font and lighted background.
 
I have to pee all night, and it interrupts my sleep so much.
Doctor said my prostate is fine, after both a manual check and a blood check. Moooon Riverrrr
Even saw a Urologist, who threw their hands up in the air.
What else could it be ?
 
50? Try 60+!

I actually feel pretty good. I almost never sleep through the night and find myself ready for bed early which then means waking up at 3 or 4 am pretty regularly. I am in the best shape I have been in in about a decade and my weight is as low as it has been since I got out of the Marine Corps in 1993. My BP is *high* enough I am taking a small amount of medication, but otherwise, in terms of health doing pretty well. My hair has been going since I entered my mid-30's but you just accept that at some point.

I have 3 weeks of work left and then I am hanging it up after 44 years of full time employment. I'm ready. I have not really absorbed what never having to go to work again will feel like, but I'm looking forward to trying to get used to it
 
54 here.

I've been up and down the last few years. I would have said I was flagging badly for the last few years, but we found an underlying health issues last year that were causing everything, and now I'm bouncing back.

(Long story short... I had a colonoscopy to investigate some bleeding, and they found a huge polyp - 1 inch in diameter - which had been there for years. I'd lost so much blood slowly over the years that my iron count was in the tank, leaving me fatigued all the time. I had the polyp removed in September last year and I've been watching my iron count rise ever since. I'm feeling pretty good now. Still not normal, but getting close.)

I've been on a health kick all year, so am dropping weight and feeling good.

STill working, and that's busy, but also my friend/editor and I started a publishing business and that's keeping me SUPER busy outside of regular work. Most of my 'downtime' is now spent developing, editing, and formatting other authors books ready for publishing. So that's been kind of hard work, but also fun. :D
 
For us...

 
Boone said:
50? Try 60+!

I actually feel pretty good. I almost never sleep through the night and find myself ready for bed early which then means waking up at 3 or 4 am pretty regularly. I am in the best shape I have been in in about a decade and my weight is as low as it has been since I got out of the Marine Corps in 1993. My BP is *high* enough I am taking a small amount of medication, but otherwise, in terms of health doing pretty well. My hair has been going since I entered my mid-30's but you just accept that at some point.

I have 3 weeks of work left and then I am hanging it up after 44 years of full time employment. I'm ready. I have not really absorbed what never having to go to work again will feel like, but I'm looking forward to trying to get used to it
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50 was just a line in the sand. I'm 61 and am patiently waiting and looking forward to my professional ETS! I have shaven my head for 12+ years.

CONGRATS ON YOURS!

My thoughts about getting older...

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Meh... 50 or 60, really didn't make a big difference for me. What made the biggest change was semi, and then complete retirement. Everything changed as the stress lessened. Chronic pain has slowly gotten better or gone completely in some instances. Still have some stress, but with it not being constant is manageable. I stopped eating like a horse which gets my wife a bit nuts, but my weight is down by about 45 lbs... running 175 / 180 now..... nothing fits. Gastro doc has told me for years to eat 5 or 6 small meals, not 3 big old meals. It had the triple effect, no reflux, speeds up my metabolism for better digestion, and the weight loss. Retirement has decreased my spending a lot. I fill my truck up about once a month, which had been every 5 or 6 days while working. That and the food / snacks was costing me about $140 a week. These days, you almost have to remind me to eat at times. Doc is happy with my numbers, and with any luck I can come off the meds for the type2, and see how it goes. Started with a pen and pills, then just pills. I've gotten the dose down from 2000 mg to 500. We'll see what the doc says in two weeks, as I want to stop for a couple of weeks and see how my numbers are. So, right now, I'm in better shape then I have been in over 20 years from a numbers standpoint. Of course, having beat the shit out of my body for 50 + years, and 9 surgeries to keep my on the job still has lingering effects. I'm an orthopedic surgeons dream. So really, it's not the age that effected as much as the work stopping. I'm 17 in my mind, and if not for the knees and right shoulder, I'd still be in a shop making the young guys look slow.... Thankfully, doing small restorations in the garage is my salvation. I've cut my internet time down to an hour or two a day, and I'm better from it. I was doing volunteer work, but bailed out on that.... people here move slower the old people screw, and I move at "NY " speed. I did my volunteer duty as a firefighter, and a soccer coach...
 
I’ll post how I feel when I join the club in September….
 
Voice_of_Reason said:
I have 158 days. Then I will accept my fate.
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It is not our fate, it is our destiny. We never know what day is our last so be grateful for every one that we have together. ❤️

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