It Sucks Getting Old

[Kevin Bresnahan]

But it's better than the alternative.  

I manage a Facebook group for my high school. These days, I find myself posting a lot of obituaries for former classmates. I used to go to Jazz shows and see the greats of yesterday play on stage. Now, with a few exceptions, they are all gone. Even the rock musicians I saw as a young man are passing away slowly but surely. Too many of them are just ghost bands now.

I find myself getting frustrated with some things I see around me and I can only think of:

One of the ones that really bugs me is these idiots texting on their phones while they drive like crazy down the road. I figure one of them is going to kill me or a family member one of these days. It's why I stopped riding a motorcycle. I'm sure that they think I'm just a cranky old man when they see me shaking my head as I pass them. That commercial on TV where they show the driver stop just short of hitting a bunch of kids needs to be re-done and show that driver hitting those kids and cut the commercial with their bodies flying through the air. Maybe that would make an impact?

As a retired engineer, I find myself very very frustrated when something isn't working correctly and customer service people almost universally treat me like I don't know what I'm talking about. Like i just want to complain. The craziest one was when I went into a Toyota service center and told the 20-something kid behind the counter that the Carista app showed a lot of error codes for my car and could they check them out. Afterwards, he said there were no error codes at all. When I showed him the error log, he said, "You must not be using the app right". Oh - old man doesn't know how to use an app! What was I thinking!

One of the most difficult things I've found with getting old is planning your (shortened) future. I always planned to retire and start traveling. I seem to have saved enough money, but my better half is not as sure as I am. But here's the thing - you have no expiration date! I keep telling her that we don't need to save all this money for when we're 85 - if we even make it that far - but she just doesn't seem to want to admit that we're going to die someday. When you budget for retirement, you almost have to enter your own estimated "death" date (or a date where you won't spend as much on "extras" like travel). Even if it's only in your head, that's fucking surreal. You definitely have to do it for stuff like pensions or Social Security so you can decide when to start collecting.

Then there's your health. I wanted to retire early to enjoy a healthy retirement. I did it. I retired early. Then I had health issues. Then my wife had health issues. It's crazy when you are an active person for most of your life but then find yourself unable to do a lot of those things as you got older. I used to love playing volleyball. I can't do it anymore. If I suddenly stop posting here someday, it'll be one of these health issues biting me in the ass.

We'll see how this year goes. We have 4 vacations planned - one down, three to go. Fingers crossed.

[jlhoots]

I empathize with what you are saying. 😎

[kh1958]

 

[Stompin at the Savoy]

We start out life in a highly organized state.  After many years that organization to start to decay.  Eventually organs and critical stuff break down and we can't maintain these structures any further, a big change of state occurs and entropy gets the last laugh.  As I get into the final decades of life I seem to be resigning myself to this gradual loss of organization and slide into decrepitude but I also find my attitudes towards things in the world that I really care about changing, a recognition that my powers to affect change - whatever they once were - are fading fast and I seem to be letting go of tense internal struggles about not wanting to accept stuff; shifting to acceptance of what is and an appreciation for what matters in the time I have left.

[medjuck]

Well I'm 83 and I think you young people are complaining too much.