This old A&J from five years ago reminds me: I need to make an appointment with my dermatologist for a look/see. Which further reminds me, I need to get a dermatologist. I’m afraid of what I’ll hear; when I think of the hours I spent lying on a blanket in the broiling sun, I marvel I’m still around. Of course, for most of us guys the object was to drink beer all day and be around scantily clad women, who were the serious sun worshippers. Now, I get my vitamin D in reasonable doses, working in the garden, messing about with boats and always covering up responsibly—as do the women around me. I don’t drink beer all day anymore, either. *sigh*
300 responses to “The Golden Years”
emb, I too have feared my Nav program might suddenly decide to do this. 🙂
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4h0Qvc6_MfQ
Lady Mindy, I agree the worst thing my smart phone does is be a phone. That’s why I put it at the bottom of my list. 🙂
I realize most of the things I use my smart phone would have no utility for many others. And on the other hand, there are likely many that have can’t-live-without uses for their smart phones I’d look at and say, “Meh.”
For all the kidney stone sufferers here, my sympathy. I am about only member of family who doesn’t have them. Large consumption of tinted tea and a half a lemon/lime per glass!
My husband still has the 6 cm. one they found last week, waiting to get stronger for surgery. My housekeepers husband is in VA in ICU with similar (just removed) and complications. Daughter had on honeymoon in the Keys, other daughter came to family reunion and got a $5,000 emergency room bill. Son in laws have, mother in law had, ditto father in law.
Some of my cats have had them. They are awful, painful and make people pass out. (Not the cats, the stones)
I would volunteer to have another baby before a kidney stone!
Love, Jackie Monies
Jackie, I had an ER nurse say the same thing to me, about better to have a baby than a kidney stone. Mine have all passed on their own, about all the ER offers is pain meds and a large bill. I drink lots of water and other liquid, especially in the summer, since I was told that dehydration can help cause them to form. Sort of like the start of a pearl in an oyster, a seed of unpassed mineral stays in the kidney, and then begins to accumulate more of the same.
Ouch — I feel SO bad for all the kidney stone sufferers here. Thank goodness I’ve never had any (knock on wood. I’m reminded to drink plenty of water!) My son-in-law in Buffalo had a sudden attack while shopping at the supermarket. He curled up on the floor, in great pain. That one passed, and he got up and finished shopping! But that wasn’t the end of the story; there were others, he had surgery; is okay now.
Dear Ghost, I have wondered how you manage to post so much in the course of a day; now I know. I guess I had pictured you sitting at the computer, ’cause that’s where I do my reading and typing. My very quiet lifestyle does not require a smartphone.
And, dear Jackie Monies, I sure hope that all goes well for your husband’s kidney stone and other problems tool
Dear eMb, quite an unusual story, that the inaccurate gps made your wife crash the car! What an awful thing to happen! I bet there are husbands who’d never let their wife live down such a thing, but I can see that you are the sort who would understand and sympathize. Your earthquake story from Santorini is a good one. I’ve never felt a quake, altho they are possible in NH.
Just for fun: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/picturegalleries/10925719/The-best-photobombing-animals.html
Charlotte:
GPS inaccuracy just applies to the ‘Turn right’ incident at Lake Harriet. I suspect some of the park’s roads are just not in Mrs. Garmin’s mental map.
The second incident was more complex. I cannot remember what the issue was, but she leaned over to point out something to me while I was attempting to use the GPS. Basically, I distracted her. But her loss of control may have had deeper roots. This was in Sept. ’10, and she was probably in the early stages of the acute leukemia that killed her just after Christmas ’10. Her coordination and alertness gradually worsened over that autumn, but it was 16 Dec. before I succeeded in persuading her to go to Urgent Care. Nurses, like physicians can be stubborn about taking care of themselves.
P.S. We were both generally good about not embarrassing the other in public, and not riding the other hard at home. I know I lucked out and I believe she thought she’d done all right.
I’ve written newspaper articles about it, and an acceptance speech for a posthumous alumni award at a college gala. In a bittersweet way, I was the luckiest honoree there. The other awardees could not boast about their own accomplishments, but only thank their profs and such. I got to boast about my wife, which was not hard to do: summa cum laude, various roles in organizations and church, and Eulalie McKechney Shinn [the Mayor’s wife] in ‘The Music Man’. I had fun, as did my invited guests and many in the audience.
Example: wife already had a BSN ’53 from Cornell NY Hosp. Sch. of Nursing, but got a second local BA ’70 with a double major in biology and English, and an English MA, ’73. She took some of my courses. At a faculty wives’ gathering, one wife said to the group that she knew all [wife] had to do to get an A from [emb]. Mistake! ‘I got an A from your husband, too.’ Tough girl to match wits with.
Thanks, emb.
Dear eMb, so very sad, that you had so little time left together after her diagnosis. You have spoken of this before, that you and she did have time to make plans, and to say goodbye, I guess? She must have been a remarkable woman, to have accomplished so much! No wonder you miss her and think of her many times every day, I imagine.
EMB, that “truck rumble” you heard is the only thing I’ve ever heard that sounds like a flight of B-52s dropping their loads. “Rolling Thunder” doesn’t begin to describe it.
Good morning Villagers…
…Indy Mindy, no A/C!?! I empathize with you…I joke with Boss man about putting in a requisition for an A/C unit for the packing room. The only relief we get is when we pull in a skid of eggs to wrap in the cooler and ‘park’ them. Then when I come out, it takes a couple of minutes for my glasses to unfog….while trying to park the hydraulic lift under another skid of eggs!!
Jean, I am fair complected also….but when I lived in Corpus some35 years ago, I thought I was bullet proof. I am very fortunate that I don’t have the tell tale sign of melanoma. I do have my family physician check out my moles and freckles if I see any change though.
I still have a flip phone and will until my mother will no longer need hers. She is on my family plan….we don’t use our cells much. Bad connections, no local towers….and too high of a monthly bill…..we use our land line more.
Gal…thanks for pointing out Llee’s link….they are beautiful pencil drawings…and a fine talent you have there Llee.
Gotta go……….
Ya’ll have a blessed day
GR 😉
Debbe:
I used to use Firefox, but I switched to Chrome years ago, and I finally deleted Firefox from my computer.
I also run Malwarebytes at least weekly, along with keeping AVG up to date.
I think, though, that the two most important steps I take are to delete suspicious emails and spam without opening them and to avoid sites that no one should ever visit for any reason.
Good advice all, Rick. Curious as to what horror stories had come to light about users continuing to use Windows XP since Microsoft ended support for it (28% of those visiting the InterWebNet at that time, according to one source), I did a bit of googling. I could not find a single news article related to XP dated after MS pulled the pin on XP.
Not that I’m advocating that anyone should be unconcerned about continuing to use XP, or that I don’t think there may be problems in the future, but for some reason the phrase “Y2K” kept running through my mind.
Debbe 😉
To those struggling with cell phone costs: Be sure to check out the alternatives. I switched carriers, added a phone for my youngest child, added 500 texts/month to the plan, and am still saving $30 per month.
Like some have posted, we’re sticking with flip phones. We use our laptops and home computer for the fancier stuff.
sideburns: Is that you in today’s [Thur.] TIP comic?
http://www.gocomics.com/that-is-priceless/#.U6wdP2dOVOw
That flight of B52s would have been quite a distance. It was not a loud sound, just a non-existent truck in the non-existent yard outside my room, with accompanying minor vibes I could feel. Less than a minute.
In the lagoon where the mt. used to be, there are two steaming islands that have arisen since the calamitous blast in the second millennium BCE. I’m sure there are websites, and frequent photos in travel ads and such, almost all taken from a high pt. in Ia, a village at the north end of Santorini’s main island, with a blue-domed home in the foreground.
I see Arlo is unfamiliar with knowing when to end the conversation. May explain why Janis no longer talks to him.
TR, we find ourselves using different screens differently. Computers for real work, tablets for email, reading, and general information, and smartphones for staying linked while on the go.
Debbe, back when I was foolish enough to try to tan I always ended up looking like a lobster-bright red! I had a friend I often wonder about, though. She had a rather sallow complexion and would use a mixture of baby oil and Mercurochrome as a tanning lotion. Even in her early 20s her skin was beginning to look leatherish.
I had a flip phone and was quite happy with it until it died. Husband said it was time for me to upgrade, so he brought me an iPhone he had at work that one of the salesmen had returned. Husband was able to fix whatever problem the phone had developed, and it has worked well for me for several years. It is easier to text with since I don’t have to hit keys several times each to get to the letter I need. 😉 I don’t use the Internet features since that would add to the bill, so my smart phone is rather dumb. It works well as a phone, though!
Wow, Jean dear, that brought back old memories of high school, helping “girls who tanned” apply a baby oil-iodine mixture. Perhaps that’s why today I find the scent of iodine slightly arousing. 😉
Today’s strip- I am married to Arlo! I think I have thought that for a LONG long time and that is why I love the strip so much.
Even Ludwig, he has Ludwig and talks to him just like Arlo. He sails, I garden.
On gardens, Mike promised to rebuild my back yard raised bed gardens for my birthday (but cut off back angles so he could circle yard pulling a boat) He had become ill by then but I went and bought lumber so handiman could build frames and fill it with the compost I had been saving for three years.
Handiman quit in a fit and I finally hired two carpenters. They didn’t do dirt, so I hired a yard lady who is pretty good and hard working. Then I bought truck load of garden soil which she is filling garden beds with, along with manure, compost.
These are going to end up as late summer or fall garden beds. But that is OK with me. Practicality is not the exact reason for these beds.
I am reminded of my husband’s comment about my gardens long ago when we were young, “You could invest in vegetable futures cheaper.”
Love, Jackie Monies
Just sent stone mason off to buy new wheelbarrow for himself and a new one for yard lady. Yesterday I bought a new lightweight weedeater for her, along with weedeater gloves and other necessities.
Yard is looking better but I am beginning to feel like Downton Abbey with “staff”. Staff is expensive!
This is not because I don’t or won’t work, but now I cannot. Goal is to fill as much space as I can with rock paths, concrete, wooden decks and walks, enabling me to get around better and not fall.
My late mother in law commented when I started doing this that should future purchasers of house want the lawn back they could tear out decks. I told her I lived on a lake! No one wants lawns!
Love, Jackie Monies
Jackie, looks like if Mike doesn’t hurry home, you may “break the bank” in his absence. 🙂
Bet he won’t mind when he gets there, though.
Not sure about that unless they make him keep walking with a walker! He has been miraculously healthy and active and having to use one has upset him I think. Know.
But he did start putting them in for me as the joint diseases worsened.
The workmen are utilizing them to haul rocks from back lot to front yard right now. The rock company dumped first truck load into my back yard. We changed rock companies.
Love, Jackie Monies
Totally off topic now- just read an interview with Debra Messinger the actress and a professional blogger. They were discussing the fact internet, social media, lets people hide behind “names” and these people can say hurtful and cruel things, make rude comments.
This ties in with what we were talking about recently I think. It is reason I have always signed my real name. I feel if I have an opinion or say something, then I am as accountable as if you were speaking to me face to face.
Not a criticism of group here, who are polite, but I think about stuff on comments I occasionally do read elsewhere and wonder if the person would say that if they stood before someone?
Love, Jackie Monies
Sorry, Debra Messing.
Love, Jackie Monies