Sunday Musings In May

May 5, 2024 ~ beetleypete ~ 43 Comments

The weather finally decided it was Spring earlier this week, and I was wearing shorts walking around in a balmy 21C with lovely blue skies. It actually felt like Summer on my walks, with real heat in the sun. Then on Friday I was reminded that I live in England, when there was an 11C drop in temperature overnight, and torrential rain that included a short hailstorm. I soon hurried back from my walk that day, I can tell you.

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Otherwise a quiet week, with the national news dominated by a local and regional elections disaster for the Conservative Party. Although I am personally convinced that the forthcoming general election will change little other than the name of the party in power, it will be good to see the back of the corrupt robbing bandits who pretend to be the current government, as they grab as much dirty money and lucrative contracts as they can before they are kicked out of office.

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On my walks, I am still encountering people who do not know that Ollie died in February. That made me realise just how many dog-walkers I have met during the last 12 years. It is to be expected, but I really wish they would stop asking me “When are you getting another dog?”

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The busy birds and light mornings mean I am waking up much earlier. Not a complaint, but I was awake before 6am a couple of times this week, and this morning I have been up and about since 7am. It made remember the times of my childhood when I would wake up early, read my comics, then go back to sleep until midday. I often read that old people need less sleep, and have no idea if that is really true. Perhaps we just don’t want to miss out on any of the short time left to us, so force ourselves to wake up?

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I hope you had a good night’s rest before you are reading this, and that your Sunday is everything you hoped it would be.

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More Stuff About Getting Older

July 5, 2023 ~ beetleypete ~ 112 Comments

When I celebrated my 70th birthday last year, I felt pretty good. One year and five months later, I feel a lot older than 71. That change happened fast, and was unexpected.

Here are some things I have noticed.

Living in a house with no stairs for 11 years, I have strangely become ‘unfamiliar’ with stairs. Now when I encounter them, whether in someone else’s house, or in a public place, I realised that I am holding the handrail. I never did that before, and now I do it both ways, ascending or descending. I have lost my confidence on stairs.

In my mind, my idea of ‘self’ is still that I look around 50 years old, and have aged well. The perception of others is that I am an old man, with not much hair, and baggy eyes. They move out of the way for me on pathways, and refer to me as a ‘Gentleman’ not a man. As in, “Let the gentleman pass”. Children I don’t know regard me as being much older than I am, saying things like “That very old man has a nice dog”.

My depth perception is also flawed now. I walk toward what seems like a tiny depression in the ground, only to find it is a substantial hole that almost sprains my ankle.

For years now, I have carried a stick when out walking with Ollie. It used to have three main purposes.
1) Fending off aggressive dogs that might hurt Ollie.
2) Bashing down nettles and brambles that blocked my path.
3) Testing the depth of the local river before I attempted to walk through it to cross to Hoe Rough.

Now it has just one main purpose. Supporting me as I walk along. And it was only today that I realised that.

Wearing ‘real’ shoes makes my feet ache. Too many years in Wellington Boots, Skechers, slippers, and loafers has affected my feet. So when I wear formal shoes with smarter clothes for an occasion, they make my feet ache within an hour, even sitting down.

Ties feel too tight around my neck. Even though my shirt size remains unchanged from years before retirement, I have very few occasions where I need to wear a tie. When I do, usually at a funeral or a wedding these days, they feel too tight.

Getting out of the bath (we have a power shower, but I prefer baths) has to be thought about carefully. Only a year ago, I could almost leap out of a bath without thinking about what that involved. Now I have to psych myself up for the moment when I exit the water, usually holding on to the nearby sink to give me some confidence that all will go well.

If you are a long way off of my age, be prepared for things to change one day.

The Alphabet For Those Of A ‘Certain Age’

June 6, 2023 ~ beetleypete ~ 40 Comments

I found this on Helen Warlow’s Twitter account, and it is SO true! 🙂

Regrets?

March 19, 2023 ~ beetleypete ~ 69 Comments

Birthdays make you reflect on life. At least that is the case for me. For most of my adult life, I never expected to live until I was 60, let alone 71. Now I have reached that age, I wonder if I will see 80. But I very much doubt that.

Why?

Well, I was a smoker for over 40 years. And a hardened smoker. Strong cigarettes, up to two packs a day. I gave up in 2012, but that was almost certainly too late to do much good.

I worked shifts in stressful jobs. Irregular hours, bad diet, difficult jobs that required putting yourself second.

Since I turned 30, I have liked to drink. Mostly red wine, but at one time, a lot of red wine. I might be down to one glass a day now, but the damage has undoubtedly been done, as it was with the cigarettes.

Two divorces, the loss of savings and equity, the emotional carnage that comes with broken marriages. Starting again from scratch. More stress.

So it is March 2023, and a time for reflection.

Would I have changed anything? If I went back in a time machine, would I do it all differently?

No.

I enjoyed every cigarette I ever smoked. I knew they were bad for me, but I didn’t care.

I enjoyed every glass of wine that I ever drank. I knew it wasn’t that good for me, but I didn’t care.

I enjoyed those stressful jobs. They did some good for society, and made me think I was making a difference.

The divorces had to happen. The marriages could not have endured.

Whatever finally does for me, it will have been my decision.

And there will be no blame, no regrets.

In-Car Entertainment?

March 13, 2023 ~ beetleypete ~ 68 Comments

When we went out looking to buy a different car recently, it soon became clear that very few cars made after 2017 came with a CD player built in. During the test drive of the one we eventually bought, I asked the young salesman if it had a CD player incorporated into the impressive ‘Entertainment System’.

He smiled.

Then looking at me as if I had asked if it came with an Edison Phonograph fixed to the dashboard, he told me, “No, nobody uses those anymore. Nobody wants them in a car. They use their phones, or memory sticks. You know, Spotify, streaming, stuff like that”.

As far as I am concerned, he was wrong to say ‘Nobody’.

I have no interest in Spotify, or messing about compiling playlists from online sources onto memory sticks. I make no criticism of those who do, but I enjoy listening to my favourite CDs on a long journey. I already have those CDs, a large collection of them accumulated over many years, and stored in a special cabinet. Before any long-distance journey, I would select some favourites (including some of Julie’s choice) and we would play them as we drove along.

Now car manufacturers have decided that I should no longer be able to do that. They have predicted that none of their buyers will use one in the car, so they can save themselves the incredibly small amount of money it cost them to include a small slot in the ‘Entertainment System’ to play them.

Before you tell me about ‘Progress’, I know. Young people do not buy CDs. They do not buy DVD films. Most of them no longer watch conventional TV shows when they are broadcast, preferring to stream and binge-watch.

But many of them do not buy expensive cars. Some of them don’t even bother to learn to drive. Those that do usually have to buy an old model because of the cost of motoring and insurance. Their old car (like my previous car) will have a CD player fitted. Yes they will never use it, but it does no harm just sitting there, waiting to be used.

For the benefit of this rant, let’s assume that ‘young people’ are those under 65 years of age. So what about us oldies, those over 65? There are over 11,000,000 people in England and Wales over the age of 65. And that number is growing. By 2026, it will almost certainly reach a total of 20% of the population, if not more.

‘The population of England and Wales has continued to age, with Census 2021 results confirming there are more people than ever before in older age groups. Over 11 million people – 18.6% of the total population – were aged 65 years or older, compared with 16.4% at the time of the previous census in 2011’

According to the salesman who sold us the car, “The majority of our customers are elderly people, most of them are retired. They are the people with the money or savings to buy cars”. From the horse’s mouth.

But God forbid we should be able to play our CDs in them.

Thoughts On The Month Of March

March 1, 2023 ~ beetleypete ~ 77 Comments

Today is the 1st of March. It is my birthday on the 16th, so this month always has meaning for me. We are also collecting a car today, so fingers crossed that it all goes well. I had to insure it yesterday, and the telephone renewal went very smoothly indeed.

I take heart from that. These days, I take heart from anything remotely positive.

On my birthday, Julie has to work. So not much chance of a day out, especially with the possibility of snow that is predicted now. (Though that might not happen.) But in the evening we are going to a local Turkish restaurant to celebrate, and I am very much looking forward to the food there.

71 is not a ‘celebratory’ year, as it does not end in a 0. But I am celebrating living this long, something I never expected to happen after a life in very stressful jobs, a bad diet, and heavy smoking until I was 60.

March this year is also when the clocks go forward, near the end of the month. When that happens, it starts to really feel like Spring is here, and Summer is around the corner. I begin to anticipate those longer evenings. Daylight until 9pm, and hopefully much warmer temperatures too.

For many years, I have seen my birthday as the start of the year, rather than January the first. It is when I become another year older, and potentially another year wiser. It is also another year closer to the end of my life of course. But that holds no fear for me, as everything must end eventually.

Welcome, March. ‘In like a lion, out like a lamb’, so legend has it.

Vertigo Strikes Again

February 20, 2023 ~ beetleypete ~ 84 Comments

As anyone who suffers from Vertigo will tell you, there are good days and bad days. I have had more good ones for a long time now, as long as I remember to not lie flat on my back in bed, or in the bath. Also to avoid ladders, and anything else that requires looking up for some time, like clearing gutters, or cutting hedges.

Whilst out walking with Ollie earlier, I felt really good. The sun was out, and a cool breeze made walking very pleasant. I decided to finish the walk by going through the woodland, and Ollie was trotting on ahead of me. Something caught my dog-walking stick, and it slipped from my hand into a pile of leaves behind a fallen tree. It seemed simple enough to just lean over the tree and pick it up.

But the next thing I knew, the leaves were in my face, and it felt as if the sky was below me, not above me. I managed to get up, grabbed the stick, and continued rather shakily. It was a classic ‘Vertigo moment’, and left me feeling rather old and silly. Fortunately, nobody else was in the woodland to see me stumble and fall.

As the old saying goes, “It’s not much fun getting old”.

Musings On A November Sunday

November 13, 2022 ~ beetleypete ~ 52 Comments

Is it just me, or has this year gone faster than 2021? Julie booked our Christmas Day meal with the restaurant yesterday, and not long after that it will be 2023. Each year I get older seems to pass by more quickly. Perhaps that is one of the curses of old age?

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I was contaced by the NHS this week to let me know I am eligible for a Shingles vaccination because I am over 70. I will certainly have that, as I contracted Shingles twice in my 30s, and it is horrible. I was able to book an appointment on the 28th, so not long to wait.

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Ollie has had a good week. He has been enjoying his walks, and relishing his dinners. He is still sleeping most of the rest of the time, but considering his age, that’s to be expected.

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Today is Remembrance Sunday in Britain. I have posted separately about that.

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The weather continues to be warmer than expected. We reached 17C (63F) on Saturday, with bright sunshine all day. The recent mud dried hard, and the dog-walking was remarkably pleasant for November. I know this is actually bad news for the planet though. It has been widely forecast that in 100 years, the entire East of England (where I live) will be under water as far as the edge of London. That will be someone else’s problem to deal with, unless I defy science and nature by living until I am 170.

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Wherever you are, and whatever you are doing, I wish you a happy Sunday.

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Musings On The Last Sunday In July

July 31, 2022 ~ beetleypete ~ 68 Comments

This has been a strange week. I have spent much of it contemplating that I am actually quite old. Before you rush to tell me that 70 is not that old these days, I agree with that widely-held theory. However, I hope you will also agree with me that 70 is not remotely young. And my body has been reminding me of that fact.

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Despite a significant drop in temperature from the recent heatwave, we still saw a humid 32C (almost 90F) during the week, with warm uncomfortable nights into the bargain. And despite rain being forecast at least four times, we remained dry in Beetley. Perhaps the driest summer I have known since moving here in 2012.
Then this morning, I woke up to heavy rain.

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By Wednesday, I continued to feel so ill that Julie insisted I take a Lateral-Flow test for Covid-19. That was negative, but it was agreed that I would see a doctor on Thursday. That resulted in blood tests, and having to provide stool samples and a urine sample. They were sent off to the hospital pathology department, and I await the results with interest.

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I received a Colon Cancer test kit in the post on Friday, courtesy of being of a ‘certain age’, and free of charge on the NHS. Generally known as the ‘Poo Sticks’ test, this served as a reminder that I was old enough to be considered at risk from this serious illness. Not a cheerful post to open. And strangely coincidental, given the concerns of my own doctor…

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My energy levels are at a lifetime low, with me considering ‘an early night’ by 9pm. (But holding out until 11pm, so I don’t wake up too early the next morning.) On the plus side, having some worry about what might be wrong with you makes you less concerned about the political circus going on in Britain currently. It is surprisingly comforting to consider that you may not live to see the mess the next Conservative Prime Minister will get us in. Until the next election, when hopefully the public will see sense, and get rid of them.

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On another plus side, Ollie continues to respond well to his numerous medicines. His fur is starting to grow back where it had fallen out, and his appetite has increased to levels that make me feed him a little less. He is still slow on his walks, and barely managed an hour yesterday. Then again, neither did I, having to sit on a bench and stare at the river for a good ten minutes of that hour.

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Wherever you live, and whatever you are doing, I wish you a peaceful Sunday.

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