Your Most Disturbing Realizations

[Fading Fast]

I'm wearing a shirt older than my eldest child (she turned nine last June).

I don't have any children, but if I did, I could say the same even if my kid had just graduated college. I have several items of clothing that are approaching 30 years old. I have a sport coat that I very specifically remember buying in 1988 that I still wear regularly - just an example of one of the items.

 

[MisterCairo]

^^^

Hey, if it isn't irreparably torn, irreparably stained or, ahem, too small now... !

 

[Fading Fast]

^^^

Hey, if it isn't irreparably torn, irreparably stained or, ahem, too small now... !

With two depression era parents - your statement was a mantra in my house growing up. I am one of those people who can't keep weight on - so I weigh the same at 51 as I did at 21 - all the clothes still fit. That said, fit styles do change a bit as things were cut much bigger in the '80s and '90s than today, so I've actually had a few things "taken in" to look a bit less dated. I've tweaked said sport coat twice in 28 years, both times to bring it in a bit even though I'm the exact same size. It still looks a bit "large" versus today's cuts, but no one ever looked to me for fashion sense.

 

[tonyb]

The Red Wing boots I'm wearing at present I bought new in 1974.

While it's true they haven't seen much by way of regular use for most of those 41 years, they have nonetheless seen a whole lotta use. I see spots of paint from projects taken on 25 and 30 and 35 years ago.

 

[Fading Fast]

^ What, no oil painting of my pizza slice.

 

[2jakes]

^ What, no oil painting of my pizza slice.

I did....but after my wicked cold spell,
I got hungry Sorry !

 

[TimeWarpWife]

My two grandmothers were born within eight months of each other. My maternal grandmother never smoked nor did her husband, so she was never exposed to secondary smoke, she rarely touched alcohol and, grandfather being a keen gardener, ate mostly fresh food, bacon being about the only processed food she ever ate. She outlived her only child, my mother, by 25 years, she never suffered from any chronic ailment and kept her marbles, right to the end. My paternal grandmother, was smoking untipped, full strength cigarettes from about the age of 12. She outlived two husbands, having had five sons by the first and a daughter by the second, she had both hip joints replaced, in the early days, when success wasn't guaranteed, and she worked well into her 80's. She owned a classic British fast food shop, a fish & chip shop. Back then all the food was cooked in beef lard, grandmother regularly ate from her own shop. She also loved a tipple, Port was her favourite, but she also enjoyed whisky and her glass or two of Guinness on Saturday nights were almost sacrosanct. This granny never quit smoking yet she too was lucid to the end. My two grandmothers died within two months of each other, both aged 98. Amazing, or what?

That is amazing and probably says a lot about what the so-called experts DON'T know about aging, nutrition, etc. It's like the average French person who lives to 84 having eaten pounds of goose liver, butter, and smoked like a freight train all their lives - it makes no sense that they shouldn't be dead by age 50. For years I have been absolutely scared to eat bacon because I have high cholesterol and I'm unable to take statins because of the muscle weakness side effect. Well, today I just decided I wanted real bacon on my turkey sandwich and I thought "what the heck" I'm tired of living my life in fear of fat and everything else. I personally don't think the "experts" know squat and like LizzieMaine is apt to point out, the boys from marketing aren't above paying the "experts" to sway their opinion in favor of whatever it is the boys are trying to sell. For two decades eggs were vilified as being bad for you and now, guess what, someone decided they aren't bad for you after all. I really wish the food police would go lie down somewhere and eat a double bacon cheeseburger - then they might leave the rest of us alone.

 

[Zombie_61]

That is amazing and probably says a lot about what the so-called experts DON'T know about aging, nutrition, etc. It's like the average French person who lives to 84 having eaten pounds of goose liver, butter, and smoked like a freight train all their lives - it makes no sense that they shouldn't be dead by age 50. For years I have been absolutely scared to eat bacon because I have high cholesterol and I'm unable to take statins because of the muscle weakness side effect. Well, today I just decided I wanted real bacon on my turkey sandwich and I thought "what the heck" I'm tired of living my life in fear of fat and everything else. I personally don't think the "experts" know squat and like LizzieMaine is apt to point out, the boys from marketing aren't above paying the "experts" to sway their opinion in favor of whatever it is the boys are trying to sell. For two decades eggs were vilified as being bad for you and now, guess what, someone decided they aren't bad for you after all. I really wish the food police would go lie down somewhere and eat a double bacon cheeseburger - then they might leave the rest of us alone.

Amen. Eat right, get plenty of sleep, exercise regularly, get checked by your doctor(s) once a year, don't smoke, don't drink alcohol, don't do drugs, and die anyway. So many people are so focused on living a long life that they're afraid to just live their lives. As the prophet Morrison said, "No one here gets out alive," so enjoy yourself while you're here, don't harm anyone in the process, and go out happy.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

As Granddad used to say, the more things change the more they stay the same.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I put little trust in any "study" I read about on the internet. And I doubt there's a single person who OMG LOOK AT THIS STUDY FOR RLZ! passes them along would know how to read more than four words in any legitimate peer-reviewed medical journal, let alone understand the meaning or statistical significance of any study actually published in one.

As far as the Boys go, yes, they've been buying and paying for science for a very long time. Journalist George Seldes thoroughly documented how the tobacco industry was buying off the AMA as far back as the 1930s.

 

[AtomicEraTom]

I look at it this way; my Great-Grandpa passed away at 94 years old. His regular diet was of bacon and or burgers, and he was a beer drinker. He even ran a speakeasy during prohibition.

My Grandpa passed away last year at 84. He drank Pabst, smoked pipes, cigars, chewed tobacco, and it seems like he was always eating summer sausage sandwiches.

They both had a good run, in my book. My way of life is about identical to theirs, so I'm hoping for that kind of lifespan as well lol

That is amazing and probably says a lot about what the so-called experts DON'T know about aging, nutrition, etc. It's like the average French person who lives to 84 having eaten pounds of goose liver, butter, and smoked like a freight train all their lives - it makes no sense that they shouldn't be dead by age 50. For years I have been absolutely scared to eat bacon because I have high cholesterol and I'm unable to take statins because of the muscle weakness side effect. Well, today I just decided I wanted real bacon on my turkey sandwich and I thought "what the heck" I'm tired of living my life in fear of fat and everything else. I personally don't think the "experts" know squat and like LizzieMaine is apt to point out, the boys from marketing aren't above paying the "experts" to sway their opinion in favor of whatever it is the boys are trying to sell. For two decades eggs were vilified as being bad for you and now, guess what, someone decided they aren't bad for you after all. I really wish the food police would go lie down somewhere and eat a double bacon cheeseburger - then they might leave the rest of us alone.

 

[Trenchfriend]

Since years, it's my opinion, that the best, you can do on your personal health, is, to apply hydrotherapy-variants from "Sebastian Kneipp" at home, whenever you got time to do that.
-cold affusions to your legs in your bathtub or otherwise
-the "cold arms-bath" in your washbowl

And so on. You have to try. I think, it works very well, on inflammations and generally, and today it seems very underrated, to me.

Kneipp's pillars were/are:
1. moving (your body)
2. nutrition!
3. hydrotherapy-variants
4. healing power of plants/phytotherapies
5. Your personal "rhythm of life"

I think, the first two pillars are the most important and the 3. can support the whole think very positive!

What do you think? Give it a try.

The advantage is, that you just need cold water right from the wall and your washbowl oder bathtub.

 

[Lean'n'mean]

There is a French expression which roughly translated goes " You can either enjoy life or leave a beautiful corpse" .............I've decided on the latter. I don't drink, I don't smoke, I don't over eat, I don't go whorin' & I take daily exercise. I won't actually live any longer, it will just seem so.

 

[Trenchfriend]

-don't drink
-don't smoke
-don't overeat
-move your body
-do hydrotherapy-variants at home
-go to massages

To No.4:

Marcel Reich-Ranicki to another person:
"I tell you, you can't sleep with every woman!
(pause)
Hear on, I'm not ready!:
But, that's no reason, not to try it, at least!

 

[2jakes]

If there had been a guitar in this photo, I
would swear it's “Willie”.

 

[Trenchfriend]

 

[GHT]

There's a caption missing. United States first female president!

 

[Trenchfriend]

Steve Jones, Sex Pistols guitarist, recently turned 60.

I'm about to see my seventh Star Wars film in the theatre on its release.

It's been eighteen years since they RE-released Star Wars (A New Hope).

I'm serving with commissioned officers who've never used a VCR.

Aaah!

Two or three years ago, someone asked me about the meaning of "Sex Pistols". I didn't know and investigate on internet. A couple of minutes later, I comprehend, that "Sex Pistols" comes from "Reproductive (sex) Firearms (pistols)".

Woohoo!

 

[Fading Fast]

Two thoughts on above (1) I love Lizzie, I think she has said she wants the role of dictator and, nope, wouldn't support her as I disagree with much of her philosophy (still respect her greatly) and think even the most benevolent of dictator is one tiny step away from a totalitarian nightmare for the rest of us.

(2) To each his own. I'm in the camp of everything in moderation. So I drink (average a a drink or two a night - some nights none, some night [big night] three, but no teetotaler and no binge or excess drinking), I eat some fried foods (not everyday), work out, don't smoke (hate it, so that's an easy one) and try to get in some healthy foods along the way. I don't miss anything I used to eat or drink in excess because I still eat and drink them (just in smaller quantities and less frequently), but I feel better, am in better shape and enjoy life more not less because of that. Will I live longer - don't have a clue / don't worry about it as statistics are based on large samples, my life (like all of ours) is too small a sample to revert to the mean. But the "moderation" approach has improved how I feel right now - so that is an immediate reward. But I'll end where I started - I'm not preaching anything to anyone on how they should live.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I don't necessarily want a "long life" -- making it to 70 will be fine. That gives me another seventeen years to wrap things up and maybe get my spare room cleaned out. But I absolutely *don't* want a long, miserable, lingering death.

I watched my grandparents die that way -- my grandmother, who only made it to 69, was in and out of the hospital constantly with heart issues for the last decade of her life, and experienced absolutely no joy in living thru that period. My grandfather had it even worse -- his last decade was spent sitting on the edge of his bed coughing bits of his lungs up into a slopjar. They might have been biologically alive, but they were in no way living, and however I myself end up dying, it's not going to be like that.