This is a thread for ILXORS IN THEIR 50's

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

Just realized that the “ordinary guy” in Pavement’s “Stereo” is maybe a reference to “Dr. Wu.” I still got it!

Oh wait

I just went through all the tests you are supposed to do when you get to 50, only 7 years late.

Anyway, all passed 100%, so hey!

I guess that lower back pain is gonna go in the "what do you expect at yr age?" cart.

Thanks for reminding me. I just did the same with one test, the biggest of all, remaining to be done in the next few months. If the news is bad I will speed post my remaining backlog of screennames.

I was Big C diagnosed about five months after turning 50, so maybe i didn't get the other tests.

(i'm mostly OK now, just medicated)

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

― calzino

for two months and then he got sacked. quintessential "being in your '50s" experience tbh

Definitely another bummer about being in your 50s. If you lose your job, you can't necessarily bounce back. You might never have a salaried position again.

I can deal with the colonoscopy prep drink, it just tastes like a weird metallic gatorade.

The one I could not bear drinking was the pre-CT scan stuff. No idea what it was (not barium I dont think? I cant recall) but it made me SO nauseous but I knew I couldnt puke or I'd just have to start again.

Christ I dont even recall what I was being scanned for now.

It's too late for DJP now, but the best help with the prep is a restrictive diet preceding the procedure. Simple, plain, white/clear foods for four days beforehand.

The drink was fine for me. I had a can of Sprite handy, and some crystal light. I would prepare a big glass of the drink, spike it with crystal light, then reward myself every few glasses with some Sprite.

yeah that would work

First time I did the miralax gatorade mix and it was totally fine, flavor-wise. Especially if you like gatorade.

The second time the prescribed the liquid. It came as a powder in a big plastic jug and I mixed it with water. It was fucking vile. I despised it.

Even more fun, the next morning they called me right before the appointment said they hadn't realized I was do for a stress test due to some talks with a cardiologist, and they won't do a colonoscopy until the cardiologist cleared me. Note, both doctors were part of the same hospital. I was NOT happy.

The third time he prescribed that again and I said "wait a minute, can I just to the miralax gatorade thing this time?" and they were like "sure".

The fourth time I said "let me stop you right here, can I do the miralax gatorade thing?" and they said "actually we can just give you some pills.

There's a lot of pills and they're big and you have to take them over a period of time, and you have to stay hydrated obviously, I think I drank a lot of apple juice.

I think some doctors don't trust the pills as much, but it was fine for me.

My knee is much better.
I haven't had a job with benefits since the 90s, so preventive care is pretty much off the table for me until I'm old enough for Medicaid, if it still exists then.

I think when I have my next one my leadup food might be a fair bit of plain miso soup (ie without kombu or anything)

"the wisdom of life experience and senior discounts are really all we have to look forward to"

In the UK pensioners get a free bus pass. That's one thing to look out for. You know, I had always assumed it was given out when you reach 60 - which is an attainable goal if you've made it to the age of 50 - but after doing a bit of research it seems to vary. Like so many things in life I had never really thought of it in great detail.

It appears that in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland you get a free bus pass when you're 60. In London you get a Oyster free-travel card when you're 60, although confusingly there's also a Freedom Pass that kicks in at the age of 66 and does the same thing. It appears that the Oyster card costs £20 while the Freedom Pass is free. "Free" as in the band Free, not "Free" as in a mispronunciation of the number three.

I learn from the internet that Michael Rosen is a hate-pig-demon because he has successfully applied for and received a Freedom Pass despite being really rich. Now, I'm not suggesting that there's something wrong with Michael Rosen, but I always remember that they realised Goldfinger was up to something when he cheated at cards. In just a few short weeks he went from cheating at cards to irradiating Ford Knox. Technically that's not real life, but the point still stands.

Whereas for people who live in England but outside London the free bus pass doesn't kick in until pension age, which is probably now 78 or something. Which seems unfair. I'm going to suggest to Reform that they can win some more votes by telling the people of England that they are being oppressed by a mixture of metropolitan elites and a shadowy "other". Then Reform will make me their head of strategy, and all the people who ridiculed me, mocked me, spurned me will suffer. I'll turn that party into the Enclave from Fallout, also technically not real life. But it can be real. And Michael Rosen will be arrested because I'm not having him irradiate Fort Knox.

All that beautiful gold.

Way xp...

For my first colonoscopy, I was told to begin the prep meds at 6pm. I do just that. At 6:15, the doctor's office calls me and says, "So, sorry, the doctor had a family issue and can't perform the procedure tomorrow. Can we reschedule?"

Oh that is terrible

I had a friend whose wife was scheduled, but something came up at the last minute and she had to go out of town, so he basically claimed the appointment for himself with like a day's notice. Worked out OK, but kind of a high pressure situation, so to speak.

First you get the runs, then you get the walks.

― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, February 26, 2026 1:49 PM

I don't have to say it, but I enjoyed this, Josh.

A lot of this thread is devoted to physical ailments from aging. I feel pretty good, on that front, I'm guessing because I got into a daily routine of high-intensity workout classes. I just turned 58 last week. I tend to feel the aging more psychologically, from nostalgia, feeling / worrying that my best days are behind me, etc. I've always had that kind of ... melancholy, but aging tends to bring out a new aspect of it. Idk.

On that hike, I came within a few hundred yards from a tri-point of three counties. Kind of a neat geopolitical oddity to get a picture of, but going down 400 feet (and then back up) didn't seem worth it.

And I had to admit to myself, this is it. This is the only chance you're gonna get on this one. If I was 22, I could've told myself, Sure, you might swing back by here within the next 30 or 40 years. But that just ain't happenin' no more.

Xp. Thanks, DJP.

It frankly has been a lot. Last year I had a colonoscopy. Doctor calls. “You have what looks to be a cancerous tumor. We need to operate in….2 weeks. However we need you to come back for another colonoscopy so we can tattoo the areas so we know which sections to take out when we operate.” When I go in for the consult, doctor says im the poster child for colonoscopies. Back in again the next week. Same prep obviously. They do that procedure and the prep for the surgery is much the same - maybe a little more intense. But I get the surgery.

Cancer free, I go in for my surgery follow up. Now, I had no tattoos which is kind of a big deal since im in the Portland area, so I ask the doctor, “so, did you take out both of the tattoos?” His response was, “well, I really only needed to remove one section.” I replied, “well, it’s gonna get really interesting if someone asks to see my tattoo.”

Stood up at my desk to go home today and felt a sharp pain in my hip. Pain has continued into the evening and can only just weight-bear. Worse when I've been sitting down. I can't even imagine what it's like on the "This is the thread for ILXORs in their Sixties" thread.

ugh that sucks... I have some kind of hip issue that comes and go, and indeed hurts more when it's wet & cold. I'm planning a backpacking trip in June and really need to ramp up my mattress to something a little more 50's friendly, even if it weighs more

The other day a young woman in exercise gear came up behind me as I was schlepping some heavy bags home from the supermarket on foot, and asked me if I needed help carrying them.

Is *that* where I am at now!? :|

she was hitting on you

I looked pretty scrappy, I seriously doubt that! And anyway, lululemon babes are *so* not my type.

Maybe you should change your display name and shake it off!

djh you should get someone to look at your seating, often we slouch into comfortable positions which don’t snap back into alignment easily if we move too fast. I ended up with all kinds of bad nerve impingement / arthritis / abnormal tension from bad posture. I’ve been fighting to get better for a decade but I’m doing pretty well these days, requires an hour of walking/running each morning though.
Pro tips: chiropractors know nothing, osteopaths are charlatans, physios mean well but their toolkit is hopeless in many cases, but if you find a massage therapist who specialises in injuries, they can work miracles.

well, i guess it's time for me to join this thread...

gabba gabba one of us

Having a great time devoting my methodological brain to the issue of “which food(s) are responsible for my excretory problems?” … I think cow dairy products might be the culprit.

Howdy Kate!

My sobering experience of the week was finding out that a friend — younger than me, age 53 — died of a massive epileptic seizure. Just like that. I hadn't seen her in several years, just because of the vagaries of life, but 10-12 years ago we used to socialize with her and her husband a fair amount. She was a delightful, vivacious person — just full of life, which I guess is what vivacious means, but she truly was. She and her husband have two kids who I guess are grown or mostly-grown at this point. My social media feed filled with people paying tribute, she was one of these people who seemingly everybody knew. In a lot of ways you could say she had already lived a full life, but damn. Just another reminder to take nothing for granted, live to the fullest, all of that. And see more people more often! There will always be a last time.

xpost

Ha.. I've been going back and forth for years wondering if a certain issue I occasionally have is dairy, wheat, excessive roughage, or just stress. After years of pretty laid-back data gathering, I'm leaning towards stress.

sorry for your loss Tipsy... amazing how quickly things can change. Sinatra did an album when he turned fifty called September of My Years that strikes a reflective tone, relishing the sounds of 'children's laughter on carousels' etc.... I'm totally at that stage now, realizing that time is not limitless anymore - and losing a friend like yours is a reminder of that. Stop to smell the flowers while you still can! (and sorry for bringing in the maudlin)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPd_awQuH4o

I can't even imagine what it's like on the "This is the thread for ILXORs in their Sixties" thread.

it's quiet but I imagine most of the qualifiers are reading the 50s thread with a lot of sympathetic nodding

there's probably less talk about rectal exams over there

lololol it's true, I have until 64 now

Update: have a prescription for Naproxen, a list of exercises from arthritis-uk to tide me over and a proper physio appointment in a week's time.

One of the exercises is, essentially, to march on the spot ... which did make me think "Oh, for fuck's sake."

They do say the best advice is to keep moving. And doing a natural movement carefully is good training to maintain form and not throw unusual loads on injuries.