Just how old are we ?

Thanks Katy, believe me getting in and out of bed is no joy! I have arthritis or some kind of itis in my left shoulder and it hurt like a bastard sometimes, makes it hard to get comfortable and I've got bad knees and various other piddley ass complaints/aliments/conditions.

So today’s Coot’s Lesson is to take aging and all it’s symptoms as a badge of honor. Make those creaking joints and sagging guts work for you. Flaunt them and demand every benefit society and your friends and family are willing to offer. Grab that senior discount wherever you find it. Maybe it is even worth going to an actual movie once in a while. Take that special seat on the bus and evict that punk kid with the boom box who is hogging it. Maybe he’ll mug you when you get off at your stop but on the bus, you’re the man.

And finally give up the old pretense that you are as good as ever. You are old and feeble and don’t you forget it. Let those youngsters take care of you. dammit old people can’t be expected to pull their weight. Let the youngsters do the heavy lifting because the years are hanging heavy on your old bones. They should be grateful that you can still manage to show up. When you do help, make sure that everybody can see how much it requires from your weary old body. Make sure they can hear those creaky joints and know how much effort it is taking for you to participate. Then when you’ve got them feeling really guilty and they tell you to relax, sink yourself in the softest chair you can find and watch everybody else work.

From this website.

http://cantankerousoldcoots.com/6598/coots-lesson-20-old-age-is-a-badge-of-honor-dont-waste-it/

http://cantankerousoldcoots.com/

 

Diwundrin said:
Those 'cantankerousoldcoots' have it nailed! I learned all those tricks from the oldies who used to pull them on me.
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It's a fun website.

We try to take advantage of Senior Discounts whenever we can and we do go to the movies once in a blue moon, we get the Senor rates..Go Old People !!

I've had a bad back for decades so I never have to help do much of anything. There is always an upside to everything.
 

I agree but cantankerous is not essential. I get the same results with a smile.

I do not lament my lost youth.
I've had it and enjoyed it and am now enjoying its fruits.
What I resent now is too many mirrors everywhere I go.
I prefer the view from inside now.
 
Warrigal said:
I agree but cantankerous is not essential. I get the same results with a smile.

I do not lament my lost youth.
I've had it and enjoyed it and am now enjoying its fruits.
What I resent now is too many mirrors everywhere I go.
I prefer the view from inside now.
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Well said, very poetic.
 
One thing I enjoy about life is I revert to the age of 5 to 11 when my Grand Children are around.
Physically though it is impossible. I found that out the hard way with a 4 centimeter tendon tear
in my right shoulder, no more wrestling with the kids in the pool.
Cortisone injection + 8 weeks healing time.....Oh well!!! At 70 + we still have a lot to learn.:rolleyes:
 
Old Hipster said:
We are all pretty much in the same ball park, some of us are just sitting in a different row.

I really like getting older, I am liking my gray hair, I am about half way there....go me! Hey it's my new hobby, waiting for my hair to turn completely white.

One of my grandma's had snow white hair, I can hardly wait!
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OH.....I started getting a few white hairs when I was around 13, absolutely hated it
and of course coloured my hair for years.
By my mid 40s it was completely white, just like my late dad so I left it that way.
If it had been salt & pepper I definitely would have coloured it again.
Over the years I've had so many people tell me they love the colour of my hair.
I'll be 70 in March, don't feel it apart from a few aches here and there....
and am told I don't look it either.....got my mother's genes luckily.:p

 
My natural hair colour was dark blonde and as the white hairs started to appear in my mid thirties I resorted to highlights to disguise them. Eventually it became more sensible to switch to downlights but by then I decided not to bother any more. Fortunately I didn't have a job that required me to be perpetually youthful in appearance.

I'm rather wary of the health effects of long term exposure to the chemicals in hair dye and I also think that some people look rather incongruous when they have an old face peeping out from very youthfully coloured hair. IMO they tend to look older than they really are. My age now is announced very clearly by my rather arthritic gait rather than my face and hair.
 
Thank you for that link OH. I have just found my credo. All conclusions that took me a lifetime to draw but nice to see them laid out like this by others who have also reached them.

The new Battle Axe Credo:
Originally posted 2011-02-02 06:32:05. Republished by Blog Post Promoter


Coot Lesson #1 – Let it out!

“Here at Cantankerous Old Coots we believe in letting your feelings out. Maybe your mother taught you to be nice. She may have told you “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.” Well, we say forget what your mother said. How far has your mother’s advice got you anyway. We say, if you feel it, then let it out.”
Coot Lesson #2 – We Don’t Care What You Think

“Here at Coots, your opinion is worthless. If we wanted it, we would ask but we don’t have time to waste arguing about it. It’s a free country for now but every second we get pushed further and further into a world where we can’t say something because somebody else thinks different and we might offend them.”
Coot Lesson #3 – Polite is over rated!

“Polite is a synonym for lie. If you don’t set these people straight, they will continue to inflict their shoddy goods on other unsuspecting victims. If they believe you they will have your encouragement to do it. If they don’t believe you, they brand you either as a fool or liar.”
Coot Lesson 4- Say It When You Feel It!

“Lose that internal filter that clogs up with what you “should” say, and just say what you mean. It may anger people but shooting straight is the best way to deal with society as a whole. Keep your lies and your equivocations; quit pandering to people who don’t really mean anything to you.”
Coot Lesson 5- Let your face show what you think.

“Your expression must support and reinforce everything you have learned so far. It must be stern and serious. It can run the gamut of emotions from scowl to downright contempt. It must take no prisoners, leave no stone unturned and be so controlled that no one can have any doubt that you mean exactly what you are saying.”
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Works for me. The stress of remaining polite to dickheads has goooorrrrn. I get on a lot better with a lot more people than I ever did, and moreover those who stick around do so because they accept me as I am, not who I pretended to be. (Or maybe I was just a rubbish actress.)

Getting old is the best time of my life.

So far I haven't gotten past this page http://cantankerousoldcoots.com/ and I'm impressed with the posts on there.

Lurve this....

Still, sometimes, you need finesse.
But I like to think that I can add a little finesse and sophistication to the conversation. And I would like to counter the negative slant of Bob’s argument with a positive one. My suggestion for today is that somebody’s feelings are the perfect lever to mess with their mind and leave them slack jawed, dazed and confused. And to enhance your own feelings.
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You do great links OH.


 
Well I am 59 and been retired for over 15 yrs.. 60 this year woweeee getting older ... I feel I have lived a lifetime in
all that has happened to me during my life.. married, widowed. and 2 children all before I was 23 too much to tell after
this .. but now I can take life easy and its great only problem now I have leg problems whereeas I could have enjoyed
more travelling.. I am so glad I did it all when I was in my late 40s and early 50s... now it would be an effort.. but any way
age is nothing I have a husband who is lots older but I never think of him being his age.. he is young in mind that is enough. and
much more fitter than I`ll ever be...
 
Well I was born in June 1946 - you do the maths.

We both retired in December 1999 and all I can say is if you are able to leave full time employment go for it.

I still have all my hair and apart from lower back pain I remain in good health.

Our daughter married late and we are looking forward to our first grandchild end of February or early March.

I have no doubt our quiet life will soon be disrupted for babysitting duties etc.
.
 
I'm going to embrace the Creedo more and more now Di.

Not going to be such namby pamby in certain situations. I admire you Di, you could be the poster girl for the Cantankerous Coots website and I know you will you accept this proclamation as a Badge of Honor.

I don't see cantankerous as a bad thing, it can be done without being rude, honestly doesn't always translate to rudeness, even though it is more than likely viewed as such.

I can so relate to the Manifesto!! especially the work part. (I so need to retire, once you don't give a rat's ass it's time to vamoose)

So why devote a whole blog to cantankerous old coots? If you are like me you are fed up with mealy-mouthed, namby-pamby excusitis about the crazy screwed-up world we are stuck with. Most of us are dependent on bosses we must suck up to and people we are supposed to respect. ”The customer is always right.” “The government is here to help.” “Together everybody achieves more.” “Yes, boss, whatever you say.” All the while, inside you are screaming with revulsion but you can’t be honest because that would be negative.

http://cantankerousoldcoots.com/our-manifesto/
 
I don't see cantankerous as a bad thing, it can be done without being rude, honestly doesn't always translate to rudeness, even though it is more than likely viewed as such.
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That's right, there's a big difference between being forthright and being rude. At least I try not to be. ... no, really.

What is surprising is how many seem relieved that what they were thinking has been said and don't take it as rudeness.
Outraged reaction to honesty is usually found in those who wear PCness as a suit of armour to keep the real World from interfering with their Utopia fantasies.
 
There's a big difference between being cantankerous as a normal part of your personality, or even an extension of it, and being willingly cantankerous merely to make others' lives difficult.

I have no problem with the former, but the latter? Yeah. Being nasty just to get pleasure out of seeing your opponent break down is not the sweet, lovable and comic personality that is lauded in that website. It's a character flaw, a bad one.

How does advanced age automatically come with the ability to be rude and insensitive? When did they pass that law? And then they'll bitch and moan that no one visits them anymore and that people are no good.

You make your bed, you sleep in it.
 
SifuPhil said:
How does advanced age automatically come with the ability to be rude and insensitive? When did they pass that law? And then they'll bitch and moan that no one visits them anymore and that people are no good.

You make your bed, you sleep in it.
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:iagree:
 
I'm 56 and retired last summer and LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have no intentions of slowing down, in fact I'm moving in a direction that will be much more physically challenging that life now. I'm hoping by this time next year I'll be right in there with TWHRider talking about mucking out the stalls, having a huge garden and putting up fencing.

Yahoooo..... I'm shaking just thinking about it!:gettowork::pepper:
 
Diwundrin said:
That's right, there's a big difference between being forthright and being rude. At least I try not to be. ... no, really.

What is surprising is how many seem relieved that what they were thinking has been said and don't take it as rudeness.
Outraged reaction to honesty is usually found in those who wear PCness as a suit of armour to keep the real World from interfering with their Utopia fantasies.
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PCness is now called Pussification, well according the the Cantankerous Coots, but I like the word!

It's like anything, you have to temper it with common sense, you can be honest and forthcoming and not be rude. We know you try Di. :sentimental:
 
SifuPhil said:
There's a big difference between being cantankerous as a normal part of your personality, or even an extension of it, and being willingly cantankerous merely to make others' lives difficult.

I have no problem with the former, but the latter? Yeah. Being nasty just to get pleasure out of seeing your opponent break down is not the sweet, lovable and comic personality that is lauded in that website. It's a character flaw, a bad one.

How does advanced age automatically come with the ability to be rude and insensitive? When did they pass that law? And then they'll bitch and moan that no one visits them anymore and that people are no good.

You make your bed, you sleep in it.
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We had a neighbour who was extremely cantankerous and managed to alienate everyone in his life until he was old, frail and very alone. He was also a miser and in the end it was up to us, the neighbours, to watch over him to make sure that he did not end up in the headlines as the corpse that no-one noticed for months after his passing.

His life could have been so different.
 
I hit the 70's a while ago. Worked until I was about 70. I'm enjoying life now, but I still can't get the work ethic out of my mind, so do volunteer work two mornings a week. Sort of wish I hadn't retired - the extra money was good and very handy. I'm not an old cantankerous soul yet, but I'm working on it. I sigh a lot when I see people doing the wrong thing - does that count?
 
I find myself sighing a lot.......just like my Dad.
 

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