This is a thread for ILXORS IN THEIR 50's

NO

The sockhop ended some time before I entered high school in Sept. 1968. I was not inconsolable over this happenstance. I was a rotten dancer.

sept 1968 was like the gayest time to enter high school

everyone cool in those days were entering college

u cursed by the stars aimless

everyone cool in those days were entering college WAS GETTING DRAFTED TO 'NAM

yep -- that's where my pops was in '68 -- sent there two weeks after i got borned! booh hooh.

--a sometime ilxor in his 40s

everyone cool in those days were entering college WAS GETTING DRAFTED TO 'NAM WAS NOT ME, BY ANY STRETCH OF IMAGINATION! Skinny, geeky 13 year old, I'm just sayin'.

nED AT THE SOCKHOP OH MY GOD

aimless serious q did you at least smoke a lot of pot? and at least know a kid like trip fontaine?

if not you have destroyed any reason i have to respect actual early 70s HS kids

I am 10 years shy of 50 but this thread is making me feel old.

momus is almost 50

There's a Guided By Voices song about this.

nED AT THE SOCKHOP OH MY GOD

I really, really don't know how to react to this.

weve all reacted by blotting it out

Well I know that you're in love with him,
Because I saw you dancing in the gym
You both kicked off your Keds.
Oh, I dig that rhythm and Ned!

(I thought JBR's suggestion at first was an age progression of ILXors into their fifties and was thinking "oh it won't take much to imagine some of that.")

Ned, all you have to do is put on the socks. That's all. And we need a hardwood floor, and XTC's "Life Begins At The Hop". Now who will film this????

did you at least smoke a lot of pot?

I think the first time I smoked pot was roughly summer of 1970. Didn't do much for me. My friends included several 'heads', but I was just a dabbler. My older brother was into it pretty far by 1971. He still tokes up now.

I didn't really get launched as a pot smoker until college, where I spent most of 1974 stoned. Made my own bong from a glass lab beaker. I quit entirely around 1977 or so. I can't say I miss it.

and at least know a kid like trip fontaine?

Hard to say, because I don't have a clue who trip fontaine is. I did know a lot of druggies and hippies in the 70s. They were as common as daisies back then.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_3Pgo2kaznFU/RqsBjrRCKMI/AAAAAAAAARs/7wAJzhaYC3A/s1600/964.jpg

that link 404'ed me

(xxpost) Trip Fontaine is a character from the book/film "The Virgin Suicides"

Start at about 3:30 here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_smJP8oRnE

Btw, Frank Kogan, who posts to a couple of the rolling genre threads on ILM, is 54.

Also:
Most of the time I dwell in a state of unreality, where I have amazing superpowers. And I am 50 years old.

-- Beth Parker (Beth Parker), Monday, February 5, 2007 12:29 PM (1 year ago) Bookmark Link

Our cohort is few, but mighty.

abbott being a sexy cold war scientist

OH MY GOD WHY WAS I NEVER THAT

I remember Howdy Doody.

and i thought i was old for remembering leaded gasoline!

madonna, michael jackson, prince and ME -- i am now 50 and 1/2.

sept 1968 was like the gayest time to enter high school

everyone cool in those days were entering college

there is truth lurking here -- people in our sub-generation have a complicated relationship w/our older sibs, the 60s baby boomers. this usage of "gay" is uhm, anachronisitic, or something. (I entered HS in 72 FWIW.)

anachronistic! edgy, you mean!!1!

so is bimble part of this exclusive club?

I didn't expect to get shoulder and back hair this late in the game.

ha was wondering what you meant in the 40s thread

what's up y'all

had a cardiologist call me at 7am to cancel my appointment (snow)

this morning the dentist said that my teeth with metal fillings will all eventually need crowns; seems legit, the youngest of those fillings is 40+ years old

i went to the dentist for lots of work this past year, first time since forever, and it was all space aged nano whatever shit and i think the dentist and his assistant were legit smirking at my one old iron ore filling from when i was a teenager, fifty years ago, in an eastern bloc nation

oh hi, I'm 54 now

peeing takes a long time

backache is a thing

(knocks on wood)

As hinted above, I have a cardiologist now! My primary doctor, who has pretty amazing raw skills -- like hearing -- apparently, thought he heard a murmur in my heartbeat last month. GREAT!

It turns out I have an "unconcerning" prolapse which is a "2" (not a 3 or a 4), so it just has to be checked every year from now on.

Aging is a motherfucker.

all the best morbs

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murmur_(album)#/media/File:R.E.M._-_Murmur.jpg

i am two years older than william hartnell in this picture :D

https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/1920x1080/p01hg14p.jpg

(obviously i have regenerated several times: also did not grow up in poverty etc)

He got paid five times more per ep than Anneke Wills was, to make up for the poverty stricken childhood!

what a feelin'

mainly feeling it in my lower back today

Rapidly approaching Sammy Hagar milestone.

Minutemen?

Can you hear me, Dr. Mu

Imagine my surprise

Wait, you all get knocked out for a colonoscopy? You get to watch the whole thing over here, with the option of gas and air if the gas bloat gets too uncomfortable.

― Overtoun House windows (aldo)

my wife did this here in the US last time!

I was told it was twilight the day before the procedure, but when I arrived they said it would be propofol, and I didn't complain. Being put under is like teleporting or something, you're in one place and then suddenly you're in another. Though tbh, having been put under maybe four times ever, twice as twilight and twice the full deal, I can't recall a real difference. I think recovery is faster with propofol? They told me it was about 10 minutes after they turned off the tap that I perked up.

somebody botched my IV when i went and had mine done. in hindsight i ought to have spoken up. it was really freaking painful but just assumed everything was normal? so i sat there watching like the first 10-15 minutes before nodding out. was weird and a very in-body experience

Wow, yeah, healthcare providers are not supposed to botch anything, if something's up, we should always say something, especially if it is painful. I think the only time I've ever spoken up was when they were trying to get an IV started in one of my hands, this was maybe 20 years ago, and after like the fourth try I said can you please stop and just put it in my arm?

i just figured something like jabbing someone was so routine it was unbotchable, i guess. lesson learned

When I was in my twenties, I got an IV in the back of my hand. Super painful. Now I always ask for it to be put in my arm.

I forget why they do that, I think to have the arm free in case of emergency? This time, the IV in the hand was as painless and not noticeable as any needle stick I've ever had.

I just learned yesterday that they are about to introduce an over the counter eye drop that will apparently temporarily correct your reading vision. Very sci-fi!

So instead of saying "where's me glasses" I'll be saying "where's me eyedrops"? Sign me up! Seriously, sounds great, checking if this is happening in the UK too...

Will they be selling a "Where's me book?" version?

“Long-term pilocarpine use can sometimes cause side effects such as reduced night vision, dimmer vision in low light, eye strain, irritation and, in rare cases, retinal detachment, while prolonged topical NSAID use may pose corneal risks. Broader, long-term, multi-centre studies are needed to confirm safety and effectiveness before this treatment can be widely recommended.”

hmmm

But other than that, just put down those cheap readers and drop these (probably expensive) chemicals in your eye.

The readers I got at Walgreens on sale last month are actually really cute tbh … eventually I will give in and zoom font sizes on my computer but it’s easier to just wear readers when the font is small and type is blurry

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChfYCnQ3Olo
(I intended to post this clip as "lol vision correcting eyedrops". Then I realised that Shatner looks in pretty good shape here. Then I checked his DOB and the date ST2:TWoK was released, and found out that he was 51 in 1982 - the same age I am now)

Live like The Shat, and you could still be posting here in 2068!

Cortisone injection rolecall:

🙋‍♂️

No cortisone here, but while we're talking ailments and inflammations, anyone have any experience with hand pain? I've started getting some in my knuckles and backs of my wrists. Not enough to be really annoying, but enough to get my attention. I think this is most likely repetitive motion stuff — I type a lot, and use my phone a lot. The latter I'm trying to cut down on because I think holding and using the phone in particular is a contributor. Anyway, I do various hand-and-wrist stretching exercises, curious if people have other recommendations. (I'm kind of tempted by a paraffin wax machine because I once had a paraffin wax treatment for my hands that was really nice.)

(meant to say backs of my hands rather than backs of my wrists)

I've had cortisone injections in various places over the years, but none so far in my 50s

hand pain

Yes! Though not as you describe. My knuckles have been aching enough in the morning that I've wondered if it's arthritis rearing its ugly head (hand). Maybe I've been sleeping with clenched fists, lol.

I have avoided cortisone injections so far, but my sister has not

I have spent the last week in such pain I had to go to the Osteopath. And then my usual Physotherapist twice, to undo the shit the osteo fucked up further. And I'd run out of my good painkillers so spent a horrid 4 or 5 days trying to work through a fog of shoulder/neck/head pain, and a sick stomach from all the ibuprofen.

This just feels like it gets harder every month. I feel like I'm drowning in neverending new medication and sore parts and burgeoning arthritises and etc. Gah!

That's truly horrible Trayce, I've had a lot of that and I feel your pain.
For what it's worth, osteopaths are not a medical or allied health profession, nor are chiropractors - they just learn a doctrine/craft which lacks a decent evidence base for thinking it'll work. More belief based than anything.
Ten years back I had some nasty back stuff including MRI scans which indicated I needed surgery urgently, but I was unwilling to do that. Spent 8 years in intermittent pain and dysfunction (e.g. I could only walk for 10-15 minutes before needing to crouch and release the spasm in my lower back). Went to a series of physiotherapists of varying effectiveness but they didn't really touch the underlying drivers. Then a friend put me onto an amazing massage therapist with the ability to locate and release chronically tense muscles, including things I thought were tendons because they were always tight. After a year or so of regular visits I was able to take up trail running again, which I've been doing for 18 months now. I'm a long way from fit and still have intermittent muscle spasms etc. but she essentially gave me my life back. Worth asking at local massage centres if they have anyone specialising in chronic injuries, sports injuries etc - you might get lucky.

Yeah thats often what gets me fixed - the physio will do this sort of pressure-point focussed massage and it does seem to help. Dry needling too! I reckon it works.
Chiros are shit, but I feel like Osteos are sort of a middle ground? They do massage in a way I like, and have really helped my TMJ in the past.

Honestly I think a lot of it might just be due to ridiculous amounts of anxiety-driven tension lol.

That would contribute a lot, for sure. But osteo is more cult than even chiro. Just this one dude in Scotland iirc

osteopaths are not a medical or allied health profession

I thought they were actual doctors, no?

"A doctor of osteopathic medicine (DO) is a licensed physician..."

https://www.healthline.com/health/what-is-an-osteopath

You do have to be qualified, I had some treatments at the London School of Osteopathy a few years ago which is where they train them. I agreed to be model for an exam, the examiners were pretty robust! My osteopath was almost in tears.

Looks like there's some distinction:

In most countries, practitioners of osteopathy are not medically trained and are referred to as osteopaths. It is distinct from osteopathic medicine, which is a branch of the medical profession in the United States.

Yeah, osteopathic GPs are becoming more common, at least around me. Some explanation here: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/do-vs-md#do-vs-md

The biggest difference seems to be that people with the osteopath degree are more likely to go into primary care, while MDs are more likely to specialize.

Also I think it's funny that the acronym is DO rather than OD, which would match MD. Not what you want on a diploma.

The osteos I go to all have "Dr" in front of their names but of course I guess that could mean anything. They all have some kind of quals from reputable unis though.

My mom's doctor is a DO. I know this because she texted me about her annual wellness visit this week. Her cholesterol is high, but it always is. And she's not getting a covid shot because she thinks she had covid in May and she lived. She says she'll get one next year before traveling. (She goes on multiple cruises each year now.)

Update of sorts — last month I posted about some pain in my hands and the possible efficacy of paraffin wax treatment. I actually bought a little paraffin wax machine, and wow it’s nice. Basically a hot wax heat treatment for hands or feet (I use it for hands, my spouse reports good results for her feet). A mild indulgence, but even buying the best machine (according to reviews) it was only like $150. Then you can just buy wax refills as needed. Feels great while using it, but I really think it’s having benefits beyond that.

Just putting it out there for the wax curious.

What does “good results” consist of? I have never heard of this.

I will say this about reaching your 50s, it is a trip. By the time you’re in your 50s you don’t really have any more secrets from yourself. unsettling. No matter where you go, there you are, and you’re strapped into this rocket ship and you have no idea where it’s going and you’re sort of styling it out like you know what you’re doing buuuuuut you don’t. It’s a fuckin trip.

The lamest thing about getting older is the pressure to take more and more invasive looks under the hood, as such, which inevitably reveal more and more stuff you've been unaware of, and might have remained unaware of forever had you not bothered to look. Kind of like opening the walls of an old house. I went to my usual annual physical last spring, they noticed something in my numbers that was probably fine but that I should get checked out, just to be safe. Got it checked out, just to be safe, and they found no obvious cause for what they initially found, but they did find something else they wanted me to follow up with in six months, with a different minor procedure sooner. Fine. The different minor procedure found nothing of note related to the initial concern, but it did find something else that while apparently pretty common they want me to follow up on in a year, and something else even more common and minor they suggested I may need to get checked out if it ever starts to give me a problem. None of these things were giving me a problem to begin with, btw, but now I have a three year ladder of visits and bills and procedures, none of which have revealed anything much of note so far, which was I suppose the point, to make sure what was noticed is actually not notable. But it's annoying all the same, paying for a relentless reminder of the fragility of our aging bodies.

From my perspective in the UK I love this phenomenon because eek, what if I had never looked, and this stuff got out of control? But I don’t have to pay for any of it. Just insane how perverse all the incentives are in US health care.

What does “good results” consist of? I have never heard of this.

Good results being at least temporary relief of pain or inflammation. Wax therapy is just a means of heat treatment, but unlike some other body parts like back muscles etc., where you can use a heating pad, hands and feet are difficult to provide concentrated heat to. But the hot wax completely covers them, and then you put on plastic gloves or booties and these oven-mitt kind of things to hold the heat in for 20 minutes or so. So the heat is getting to all those tiny finger joints and the nerves along the back of the hand and so forth. It's not a miracle cure, but in my so far limited experience it a.) feels great, and b.) does seem to have some ongoing benefits for my low-level hand pains.

you’re strapped into this rocket ship and you have no idea where it’s going and you’re sort of styling it out like you know what you’re doing buuuuuut you don’t

I've been hearing similar repeatedly during my 20s,30s,40s, and 50s. In my experience though , some people are hyper-focussed and really know what they are aiming for.

By your 60s though: the rocket ship is heading towards a fairly inevitable conclusion.

Just insane how perverse all the incentives are in US health care.

A curious data point is that I have family in the UK and Australia, and both people (now dual-citizens) and their own families sometimes shell out for private health care costs for health, eyes, teeth, etc. Don't know why. Regardless, I suspect many of those disinclined to visit the doctor for regular checkups would be of the same mind whether the visit was free or with a copay. I for sure personally know people that put this stuff off for years.

Fully automated luxury communism?

xpost