Gettin' Old Ain't for Sissies

[Mamanyt1953]

Yeah, and it is SO much more threatening, somehow, when said by an old woman!!!

 

[Jcatbird]

I want the chance to try that one.

 

[NY cat man]

All are good, but I'm going with #3.

 

[Jem]

I can't pick! I relate to so many of the them (3,6,7,8,11,14,16,17,18,19)...and I'm not even close to 60 yet...

Even if you take cats out of the picture...as I'm sure we all save boxes for our cats, this one really speaks to me...

 

[verna davies]

Its 17 for me too. If I don't say it straight away, its gone.

 

[susanm9006]

I can't pick! I relate to so many of the them (3,6,7,8,11,14,16,17,18,19)...and I'm not even close to 60 yet...

Even if you take cats out of the picture...as I'm sure we all save boxes for our cats, this one really speaks to me...
View attachment 404089

True. When I retired, one of the very few things I missed was being able to go into the office “box room” where you could pick out just the right size boxes you needed for personal shipping or gifts. I had to start collecting at home!

 

[neely]

#10 is great especially since I don't like when people sit next to me if there are a lot of other empty seats
#14 made me laugh out loud - I loved that one!!!

Thanks for resurrecting this thread.

 

[Jem]

True. When I retired, one of the very few things I missed was being able to go into the office “box room” where you could pick out just the right size boxes you needed for personal shipping or gifts. I had to start collecting at home!

We don't get that many shipments at my work, but the manager will always ask me..."do you want this box?" before she puts it in the recycling. She just knows how much I love boxes! I was probably a cat in a past life. LOL!

 

[strider rose]

LOL, we wander off, then we wander back! SO appropriate for this thread!


THINGS I LEARNED AFTER 60
1. When one door closes and another door opens, you are probably in prison.
2. To me, "drink responsibly" means don't spill it.
3. Age 60 might be the new 40, but 9:00 pm is the new midnight.
4. It's the start of a brand new day, and I'm off like a herd of turtles.
5. The older I get, the earlier it gets late.
6. When I say, "The other day," I could be referring to any time between yesterday and 15 years ago.
7. I remember being able to get up without making sound effects.
8. I had my patience tested. I'm negative.
9. Remember, if you lose a sock in the dryer, it comes back as a Tupperware lid that doesn't fit any of your containers.
10. If you're sitting in public and a stranger takes the seat next to you, just stare straight ahead and say, "Did you bring the money?"
11. When you ask me what I am doing today, and I say "nothing," it does not mean I am free. It means I am doing nothing.
12. I finally got eight hours of sleep. It took me three days, but whatever.
13. I run like the winded.
14. I hate when a couple argues in public, and I missed the beginning and don't know whose side I'm on.
15. When someone asks what I did over the weekend, I squint and ask, "Why, what did you hear?"
16. When you do squats, are your knees supposed to sound like a goat chewing on an aluminum can stuffed with celery?
17. I don't mean to interrupt people. I just randomly remember things and get really excited.
18. When I ask for directions, please don't use words like "east."
19. Don't bother walking a mile in my shoes. That would be boring. Spend 30 seconds in my head. That'll freak you right out.
20. Sometimes, someone unexpected comes into your life out of nowhere, makes your heart race, and changes you forever. We call those people cops.
21. My luck is like a bald guy who just won a comb.

SO...which on is your favorite? Mine is #17. Luckily, my friends realize that if I wait for the end of a sentence, I will have forgotten entirely what I wanted to say, and may well call them at 4 AM when it pops back in my mind randomly!

Mamanyt1953 numbers 13, 19 and 12

 

[Jcatbird]

If 19 happened, I would have to , either,
Pick the person up or step over them. Lol The view of litter boxes would be overwhelming.
I read them again and laughed again.
Number 16 is something I cannot do in public. People duck when they hear a noise resembling gun fire. I guess my knees are shot?

LOL, we wander off, then we wander back! SO appropriate for this thread!


THINGS I LEARNED AFTER 60
1. When one door closes and another door opens, you are probably in prison.
2. To me, "drink responsibly" means don't spill it.
3. Age 60 might be the new 40, but 9:00 pm is the new midnight.
4. It's the start of a brand new day, and I'm off like a herd of turtles.
5. The older I get, the earlier it gets late.
6. When I say, "The other day," I could be referring to any time between yesterday and 15 years ago.
7. I remember being able to get up without making sound effects.
8. I had my patience tested. I'm negative.
9. Remember, if you lose a sock in the dryer, it comes back as a Tupperware lid that doesn't fit any of your containers.
10. If you're sitting in public and a stranger takes the seat next to you, just stare straight ahead and say, "Did you bring the money?"
11. When you ask me what I am doing today, and I say "nothing," it does not mean I am free. It means I am doing nothing.
12. I finally got eight hours of sleep. It took me three days, but whatever.
13. I run like the winded.
14. I hate when a couple argues in public, and I missed the beginning and don't know whose side I'm on.
15. When someone asks what I did over the weekend, I squint and ask, "Why, what did you hear?"
16. When you do squats, are your knees supposed to sound like a goat chewing on an aluminum can stuffed with celery?
17. I don't mean to interrupt people. I just randomly remember things and get really excited.
18. When I ask for directions, please don't use words like "east."
19. Don't bother walking a mile in my shoes. That would be boring. Spend 30 seconds in my head. That'll freak you right out.
20. Sometimes, someone unexpected comes into your life out of nowhere, makes your heart race, and changes you forever. We call those people cops.
21. My luck is like a bald guy who just won a comb.

SO...which on is your favorite? Mine is #17. Luckily, my friends realize that if I wait for the end of a sentence, I will have forgotten entirely what I wanted to say, and may well call them at 4 AM when it pops back in my mind randomly!

 

[gilmargl]

LOL, we wander off, then we wander back! SO appropriate for this thread!


THINGS I LEARNED AFTER 60
1. When one door closes and another door opens, you are probably in prison.
2. To me, "drink responsibly" means don't spill it.
3. Age 60 might be the new 40, but 9:00 pm is the new midnight.
4. It's the start of a brand new day, and I'm off like a herd of turtles.
5. The older I get, the earlier it gets late.
6. When I say, "The other day," I could be referring to any time between yesterday and 15 years ago.
7. I remember being able to get up without making sound effects.
8. I had my patience tested. I'm negative.
9. Remember, if you lose a sock in the dryer, it comes back as a Tupperware lid that doesn't fit any of your containers.
10. If you're sitting in public and a stranger takes the seat next to you, just stare straight ahead and say, "Did you bring the money?"
11. When you ask me what I am doing today, and I say "nothing," it does not mean I am free. It means I am doing nothing.
12. I finally got eight hours of sleep. It took me three days, but whatever.
13. I run like the winded.
14. I hate when a couple argues in public, and I missed the beginning and don't know whose side I'm on.
15. When someone asks what I did over the weekend, I squint and ask, "Why, what did you hear?"
16. When you do squats, are your knees supposed to sound like a goat chewing on an aluminum can stuffed with celery?
17. I don't mean to interrupt people. I just randomly remember things and get really excited.
18. When I ask for directions, please don't use words like "east."
19. Don't bother walking a mile in my shoes. That would be boring. Spend 30 seconds in my head. That'll freak you right out.
20. Sometimes, someone unexpected comes into your life out of nowhere, makes your heart race, and changes you forever. We call those people cops.
21. My luck is like a bald guy who just won a comb.

SO...which on is your favorite? Mine is #17. Luckily, my friends realize that if I wait for the end of a sentence, I will have forgotten entirely what I wanted to say, and may well call them at 4 AM when it pops back in my mind randomly!

So hard to select just a few:
Number 2: which in my case does not refer (only) to alcohol - please give me a plastic beaker and not your most expensive glass!
Number 5: where do the hours go? Or are minutes the new hours? Or should that be the other way round?
Number 8: sad but true!

 

[susanm9006]

#8. My patience is not what it used to be. On the other hand I used to earning my living (HR Director) by being patient and no one is paying me for it now.

 

[Jcatbird]

About number 8….. I am positive that my patience has been negatively tested.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Thanks for resurrecting this thread.

Oh, you are just as welcome as the little flowers that bloom in May! I've been told that after my ablation, I'll feel like a kitten again. I'm not sure I want to. I don't think my hips and knees could take it!

 

[neely]

Oh, you are just as welcome as the little flowers that bloom in May!

I meant to tell you when I was reading your witty list of "Thing I've Learned After 60," that you could be the next Erma Bombeck or maybe the cartoon character, Maxine! Keep those delightful and campy thoughts coming.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

I meant to tell you when I was reading your witty list of "Thing I've Learned After 60," that you could be the next Erma Bombeck or maybe the cartoon character, Maxine! Keep those delightful and campy thoughts coming.

Awwwwww! I just wish I had written those. I have a few of my own. One is, "Cats are right. When in doubt, NAP!"

Actually, I've been saying for YEARS that I want to be Maxine when I grow up! When I worked at the mental hospital, I was sent home for wearing a Maxine tee shirt that said, "Well, aren't you just the most adorable little black hole of need?" I SWEAR, I hadn't thought twice before putting it on! Never occurred to me that it was NOT the thing to wear to THAT job!

 

[gilmargl]

Up date

Perhaps a bit of a vent - though it's not meant to be. I am old (now nearer 80 than 70) - but very lucky. But the love of my life, who's the same age, is not so lucky and I'm in danger of giving up.

We are not married but he has not been back to his apartment for 10 years and hasn't left my house to go anywhere (not even to sit in the garden) for at least 6 years. Since retiring he has slowly given up doing anything and is now unable to walk properly. He has health issues (in addition to his dependency on tranquilizers) but refuses to see a doctor.

I managed to get my doctor to visit him (on the pretext of checking his addiction to tranquilizers) and she wanted to put him in hospital for multiple tests (neurology, urology, and others) but he refused. She asked him if he knew that we were worried about him and that it was not fair of him to spend his life sitting on my couch and being waited on. He admitted to her that it was not fair but he didn't want to go anywhere else. She was not sure whether he is naturally egoistic or whether his illness makes him react in this way. She also noticed that talking to him about things he is interested in was no problem. But, he had no idea how long it was since he last left the house. He seems to have lost a sense of days, weeks, months and years. (A problem with his washing - "But I only changed my socks yesterday!", when I haven't seen socks in the washing for a week.)

He has not given me, or anybody else, power of attorney. His nearest relations are 7 hours away and, although they will inherit his earthly goods, they will not be accepted by any court here to be his guardian, should he become even more helpless, unless, of course, he moves. They have no idea of his condition - they ignore me, and he can put on a good show.

Things are bad enough already as I do all the spending - and it's hard to get him to write a check for me. It's not just writing that has become increasingly difficult, but he doesn't think that money is particularly important either. The doctor told me I should get him physically, and legally removed back to his apartment. There he will have to confront his situation and deal with it - or go into a home (He has sufficient funds so that won't be the problem). But, as I said at the beginning, he was the love of my life. We had perhaps 12 really good years together but over the past 10 years things have been increasingly difficult - at least for me. He complained to my daughter that I am never at home - but I am here every night. If I go out in the morning, I am always back in time to cook lunch. I admit I am always away on a Monday afternoon, when I help out at a local doctor's surgery. Since Covid 19, I don't even go swimming or to the gym. What should I do at home all day - watch him fall asleep reading the paper? I miss being able to play loud music and in my own house too! I've had to give up fostering cats. He used to be willing to read his paper in the separate area where I kept fosters and kittens. But now he just sits in the living room. I just about have enough time and energy to do everything necessary to keep house, garden and car in working order as well as look after 4 cats and his interests. Another group of problem cats needing my presence would be just too much.

The doctor told me I should be careful not to get depressed, so I have to get away sometimes, even if it's just to help out somewhere else. I know, that if he had medical support to show us what we are up against, I would feel less alone and uncertain. I am not the type of person who can just wait and see. I could fall down the stairs tomorrow and that would be the end of me but up till then I want to live!

I don't know why I wrote all this - just to get it off my chest. Perhaps I am just a Sissy! (Shall I put a or a here. When I'm depressed I tend to anyway, so no-one knows how I'm feeling!)

An update on my post when I had a bit of a vent just over a year ago.
I have spent the time trying to get advice and help from social and psychiatric services and the department responsible for appointing legal guardians. Social services would have liked to send their psychiatrist to talk to him but the situation is vacant and still they have not found a suitable candidate. I made an official application for a legal guardian (also completed by the doctor who had made another house visit), A nice, sympathetic, young man came by from the local court but he left the house very frustrated because, although he didn't get much sense from my partner he made it quite clear he could manage everything himself. We have had more telephone calls from the department, and from a possible guardian but the application was officially turned down earlier this week because they can't do anything unless the subject is willing.

My daughter and I then decided to take the matter into our own hands. To find help to get him at least back on his feet we needed a physiotherapist. But, since he hadn't had any Covid-19 jabs, we first had to get him vaccinated. In a moment of weaknesss he agreed and my daughter jumped at the opportunity before he could change his mind and filled out the forms of consent for him. She spoke to her boss, the doctor who agreed to vaccinate him either without an appointment if we could get him to the surgery or she would come by when she had a dose left over. On Tuesday afternoon the drama started. My daughter commanded him to put on some shoes which he hadn't worn for years. His feet were a bit swollen but we managed to get shoes and socks on his feet and assisted him into the car. The doctor was so surprised that thanks to my very bossy daughter he had actually turned up and took the opportunity to do an ECG and take a sample of blood while he waited in case of any negative effects from the BionTech vaccine. So far so good - he seemed pleased with himself so we also felt optimistic that we could win this battle.

Two days later (yesterday) I received phone calls from various sources telling me that an ambulance was on its way to take him into hospital - the blood test showed kidney failure, he had to be treated immediately. He was still in bed and although I tried to explain the situation to him the siren's of the ambulance could already be heard. 4 very large paramedics stormed into the house, followed by a normal-sized emergency doctor. Of course, he didn't want to go with them. I had the doctor from the surgery on the phone saying that if he still refused she would send a warrant and he would be escorted away! My daughter spoke to him on the phone as a last resort ordering him to comply (and if he wanted to die that was OK but not in her mother's house) so that eventually he could be helped to the bathroom and then the struggle once more with shoes as his feet were more swollen than ever.

It took almost 2 hours until the ambulance could leave. I visited yesterday evening - he's not comfortable connected up to so many devices, but at least he's being taken care of. I now have to get in touch with social services at the hospital before they decide to send him home and expect me to take him regularly for dialysis, when he doesn't want to go!

 

[verna davies]

gilmargl , I am so sorry you have been going through this for such a long time, I had missed your post a year ago. This must be so stressful for you, how do you cope.

Cant the hospital collect your partner when he needs dialysis. What if you didnt drive or were not physically able to take him? What would happen if you were unable to look after him? I dont know the resources available to you so I cant offer anything useful as British health resources might be different in your country.

 

[gilmargl]

gilmargl , I am so sorry you have been going through this for such a long time, I had missed your post a year ago. This must be so stressful for you, how do you cope.

Cant the hospital collect your partner when he needs dialysis. What if you didnt drive or were not physically able to take him? What would happen if you were unable to look after him? I dont know the resources available to you so I cant offer anything useful as British health resources might be different in your country.

Thank you for your concern.
The German health system is wonderful if you are willing to take advantage of it. My partner could get disability benefits regardless of his financial status to pay for cleaning, washing and ironing, cooking, transport - anything he needs - all the things I've been doing. But he has to apply himself and be assessed. I can't apply on his behalf unless I have power of attorney, which I would have accepted a few years ago but it was never offered and I'm not so sure about it any more. I feel too tired. He is now in hospital and I hope he will be checked by internists, neurologists, urologists, cardiologists and psychiatrists while he's there because we're unlikely to get him back into a hospital again unless it is another real emergency.
I'm fine - sitting here quietly with 2 black cats - one warming my back and the other next to me. The other 2 seem to have hidden themselves away but will reappear when I decide to go to bed!

 

[verna davies]

I'm glad your ok. Enjoy this time to relax with your cats. Hopefully the staff at the hospital will give your partner some good advice that he will act upon that will make things easier for both of you.