# Just how old are we ?



## Old Hipster (Jan 8, 2014)

I'm curious how old everybody is, not that it matters of course and I don't what to put anybody on the spot or "out" anybody, I'm just curious.

I'm 61 and will be 62 in June, and still working much to my chagrin. The mister is 65 and retired. 

Or as I like to say "he is retired and I'm just tired."


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## Vivjen (Jan 8, 2014)

I am 62 in November, and have been retired for 18 months , because I began to hate my job. But I was widowed at 54


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## SifuPhil (Jan 8, 2014)

I'll be (removes socks, counts toes) 56 this spring, "retired" since 50. 

Still busting butt, though.


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## That Guy (Jan 8, 2014)

I forgot.  Just getting older and older by the second...


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## GDAD (Jan 8, 2014)

Waist To big age even bigger, 70 + years young!artytime:


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## Pappy (Jan 8, 2014)

76 and Living the Dream. (whatever that is)


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## Davey Jones (Jan 8, 2014)

Old Hipster,Vivjen.
Oh stop complaining about your ages,you're just a couple of kids. Go get some vex,mex,dex...ahh em I forgot what that word was. 

Cripes that little bast*** beat me twice yesterday.


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## Vivjen (Jan 8, 2014)

I am not complaining at all....just stating facts! I am just wondering if I will outlive my parents; who are 85 and 83; I am beginning to think it is getting less likely!
still, yoga classes begin again next week...


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## Davey Jones (Jan 8, 2014)

> yoga classes begin again next week...



So what are you wearing at this class?


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## GDAD (Jan 8, 2014)

I raring to start Yoga!


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## Vivjen (Jan 8, 2014)

I hope I don't look quite like that; though the reaction could be interesting...


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## Old Hipster (Jan 8, 2014)

Davey Jones said:


> Old Hipster,Vivjen.
> Oh stop complaining about your ages,you're just a couple of kids. Go get some vex,mex,dex...ahh em I forgot what that word was.
> 
> Cripes that little bast*** beat me twice yesterday.


Well that's what I'm complaining about, I want to be a couple of years older dag nabit! I'm like a kid waiting for Christmas.

No real complaints here though really. I don't want to rush things.


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## CeeCee (Jan 8, 2014)

I am 62, will be 63 in April....don't work, but always busy...doing nothing.


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## SeaBreeze (Jan 8, 2014)

I'm sixty, will be 61 in March, and retired for around 4 years now, don't miss working at all.


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## rkunsaw (Jan 8, 2014)

72 and still going strong.


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## Warrigal (Jan 8, 2014)

I'll be turning 71 next month. 
Mentally I'm still young but the body is not faring as well.
I'm working on it but it is rather recalcitrant.


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## Diwundrin (Jan 8, 2014)

Chronologically 68 .  Physically: motor 48/ chassis 88.  Mentally: School age.  Learning faster now than I ever did there.  (But then stuff on the 'net is a lot more interesting than what they offered in school. 

) 

 Retired at 48 and not tired of it yet.  (They paid me a wad of 'redundancy' money to just go away and leave 'em alone.  I think some can imagine why

 )


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## Judi.D (Jan 8, 2014)

I just turned 64 in October. I am old enough to know better and young enough to do it anyway.nthego:


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## CeeCee (Jan 8, 2014)

Lol...I like that...it may just be my new motto!


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## Katybug (Jan 8, 2014)

I'm 39! :lies::lies:  My boss asked that question as we were celebrating my b'day a couple yrs ago.  I answered and he was shocked --  so as a lady of the evening would say.... I'll be any age you want me to be. I'll never answer truthfully again because thx to my mom's genes I'm way older than I look.


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## SeaBreeze (Jan 8, 2014)

Katybug said:


> I'm 39! :lies::lies:



Okay Jack Benny!


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## Old Hipster (Jan 8, 2014)

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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## Diwundrin (Jan 8, 2014)

It's not the getting older that bothers me, it's the getting feebler.  I miss kicking things when I get annoyed.


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## Davey Jones (Jan 8, 2014)

CeeCee said:


> I am 62, will be 63 in April....don't work, but always busy...doing nothing.


 
I love to talk about nothing. It's the only thing I know anything about.


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## Katybug (Jan 8, 2014)

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!




Oh, how I wish I were like you, OH!  I used to bounce out of bed looking forward to the day.  Dear God, it's anything but bouncing these days!  I miss that. I still look forward to the day, but just much more gently.

And my hair will never be gray, it washes me out, but can look so good on others with a different skin coloring.  I love your attitude!


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## Old Hipster (Jan 8, 2014)

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/


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## Diwundrin (Jan 8, 2014)

Those 'cantankerousoldcoots' have it nailed!  I learned all those tricks from the oldies who used to pull them on me.


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## Old Hipster (Jan 8, 2014)

Diwundrin said:


> Those 'cantankerousoldcoots' have it nailed!  I learned all those tricks from the oldies who used to pull them on me.


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.


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## Warrigal (Jan 8, 2014)

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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## Old Hipster (Jan 8, 2014)

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.
> ...


Well said, very poetic.


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## GDAD (Jan 8, 2014)

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.


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## Casper (Jan 8, 2014)

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!



_*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.

*_


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## Warrigal (Jan 8, 2014)

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.


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## Diwundrin (Jan 8, 2014)

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:


Spoiler






> *Originally posted 2011-02-02 06:32:05. Republished by  Blog Post Promoter*
> 
> 
> *Coot Lesson #1 – Let it out!*
> ...





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.






You do great links OH.


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## Rainee (Jan 9, 2014)

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...


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## Michael. (Jan 9, 2014)

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.
.


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## Old Hipster (Jan 9, 2014)

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/


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## Diwundrin (Jan 9, 2014)

> 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.



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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## Katybug (Jan 9, 2014)

Old Hipster said:


> Well said, very poetic.



I agree, extremely well stated.


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## SifuPhil (Jan 9, 2014)

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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## SeaBreeze (Jan 9, 2014)

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.



:iagree:


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## TICA (Jan 9, 2014)

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:epper:


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## Old Hipster (Jan 9, 2014)

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.


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:


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## Warrigal (Jan 9, 2014)

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.
> 
> ...



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.


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## grannyjo (Jan 9, 2014)

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?


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## Vivjen (Jan 9, 2014)

I find myself sighing a lot.......just like my Dad.


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