Turning 50

There were a lot of old farts at my last class reunion & that was 4 years ago.

Uhm...yeah what they said. I just turned 52 earlier this week. Even became a grandpa earlier this year. I have found that I can do everything I could when I was 25. Just takes longer and uses more tools. Well sometimes the takes longer thing works out for the good. If I'd known I would live this long I would have taken better care of myself. Old injuries start to come back and haunt you. Oh my knees.
On the bright side is the discounts you will receive at buffets.

It's funny, I had a lot of injuries in my 20s and 30s, mostly due to jumping huge objects on large four-legged animals... and those came back to haunt me in my 40s. But I found that doing power-lifting, and taking muscle building classes has made my muscles strong enough to take the weight off joints and back. Even hours of driving doesn't hurt as much as it once was and I'm not as stiff. As long as I can continue to feel like this, I don't mind getting older. But I think if I start to lose it, get feeble, or incapacitated, or end up dribbling in a chair at some home... I'll just wear a sign around my neck saying "just shoot me". Or, better yet, book some really berkeleying hot press car and drive it into a bridge or something.

mtn wrote:

mndsm wrote: Good lord, I didn't realize I was one of the younger ones here. Other than the mini-suddard anyhow... I'll be 31 next month. That explains why I always look like an idiot.

I'm not even legal to drink yet!

I'm not even legal to drive after 11 yet!

My cars are older than you guys...

Heh. My UNDERWEAR is older than them.

Oh, wait...

stuart in mn wrote:

Lesley wrote: Meh, basically I feel just the same, it's just seeing pictures of myself that remind me.

It is a strange thing to look into the bathroom mirror and see some old guy looking back at me.

I had one of those WTF moments when I was getting a haircut and an alarming amount of gray was falling on the drape.

Jensenman wrote: Heh. My UNDERWEAR is older than them. Oh, wait...

My boots and belt are older than me. As are all of my suits. Really effin nice suits too, good thing that almost all of dads old clothes fit me with little adjustments.

And my daily driver in the summer that my little brother and I share is six months younger than me, and two years older than him.

BTW, yesterday was Dads birthday. He's a young 57, and talking about a new Mustang V6 auto convertible with the GT suspension package and red leather. And a Subaru 2.5 RS because he's bored with the SAAB.

Lesley wrote: That momentous occasion happens for me this December. People don't believe me when I tell them, and I have no problem kicking 20-year-old butt at the gym, so I guess I'm doing something right. Meh, basically I feel just the same, it's just seeing pictures of myself that remind me.

This past winter when we got all the snow I learned two things about being almost 40:

1: I now know why people have heartattacks and die when shoveling lots of snow

2: I can outwork somebody half my age. My neighbor's son came out to shovel the street with me (and my other early 30ish neighbor) I started before them and finished after they gave up...

so yes, you are only as old as you think you are... something I think I will be old enough to vote

I've still got 7yrs to go until 50 and I have antique cars less than half my age.

Keep in shape if you can - my dad is 68 and he still helps me lift heavy stuff, swap engines and generally does everything he did in his 30s only a little slower. He walks 3 miles every day and basically eats like a diabetic should (because he is...)

I was a little harder on the equipment - I can tell when it rains by the stiffness in my neck, shoulder, & knees. My hope is that technology will be able to rebuild me with bionic parts in the near future so I can avoid the consequences of years of "Watch this!".

I'll be 43 next month. I can still do everything I did when I was 20, it just takes longer to recover.

When my dad was your age (50) he had a 4 year old tyke (me) chasing after him. My dad at 75 can keep up with my nephew better than my nephew's dad aka my older brother can.

I'll be there in just over a year, and I'm the same as Lesley. I work out, and stay in shape, partly because I want to, but mostly because I have to.

As you age, you learn to think before you do things. I dropped my bike in the woods last summer, and strained my left arm while picking it up. Xrays, and ultrasounds said no damage, but it took a YEAR before it was 100%.

I agree with alll the comments about"I can still do what I did when I was XXX", but I'll add one thing. Pay really close attention to your health, especially cholesterol and glucose numbers. I've been racing, wrenching, golfing, playing hockey etc for years and convinced myself that my numbers weren't all that bad "for a man my age"(58).Well, I just went through bypass surgery. Everything's fine ,but it would have been easier if I'd done something about those numbers a decade ago with a little more exercise and a little restraint at the dinner table!.

mndsm wrote: Good lord, I didn't realize I was one of the younger ones here. Other than the mini-suddard anyhow... I'll be 31 next month. That explains why I always look like an idiot.

Uh, technically I'M the mini-Suddard, because both Tommy and Katie are taller than me.

Age-wise, though, as one looking at 50 on my next b-day as well, I've noticed what the others are saying... I can pretty much do what I always have, but I have to be willing to pay the price the next day(s). That, and I can gain weight just by drinking a glass of water.

Margie

57 and I still leer at women (more discreetly in old age), have a ton of things I want to build, actually flew a glider today and will probalby enjoy sex and Mexican food three times this week.

There are people half my age in wicked worse shape. 50 is the new 30.

I have no words of wisdom.

When I got back into motorcycle racing in my early '30's, I could ride a 80 mile enduro on Sunday, by Monday PM all my aches were gone. Then it got to be Tuesday. Then it was Wednesday.

When it got to be Thursday PM and I was still a little sore, I figured I'd better let up before I did something REALLY stupid. So I got into race cars.

Platinum90 wrote: I am 23. I hang out with people twice my age, as well as people that are younger. One of my co-workers just turned 40, and he freaked about it.

Was that supposed to make me feel better?

Let's see... he hangs out with people twice his age. That would be... oh crap, still a lot younger than me.

I figure I'm just like cars and wine- I'm much better now that I'm a few years older.

42 here, still regular, and I woke up this morning.

Most of the people I hang out with are in their 20's. There just aren't that many late 40's guys racing bikes, and building up 90's hatchbacks. They're all getting fat, growing beards, and riding $30k Harleys

As others have said, Exersize is the key. If you don't, get started and if you do keep it up.

I'm a month away from my 67th. Two years ago I fell and broke my leg bad enough to need surgery and some extra hardware. Recovery took 3 months but the doctors told me that it would have taken twice as long if I hadn't been exersizing regularly before the accident.

And regarding that AARP card, Get one. Mine has saved me more than the cost of membership each year for the last 15 years.

i did it last saturday it anit so bad, buy yourself something cool because nobody else will....

Let me know how it works out for you I still have a year and a half before I turn 50.

At 47, I feel the same as I always did, every now and then some old fart startles me in the bathroom mirror but otherwise I feel no different at all.

I have always been blessed with good health but paternal hereditary is somewhat dismaying

I'm 61... don't really remember turning 50 ... but I'll bet I had fun at the party