This is a thread for ILXORS IN THEIR 50's

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.

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.

HI DERE. Raise your hand if you have been rendered depressed, rudderless, and without direction because you've structured your life around a eight-hour, salaryman working schedule for so long that when you were inevitably disrupted out of your career you've become addicted to the anxiety and panic of not being able to focus. oops TMI

raises hand

in my case it took several years to work through the trauma of being ejected and to figure out other ways to live ... I won't trivialize the difficulties involved, but now the only thing I miss from my salaryman days is the income

i need the med coverage

As mentioned on the other thread, in January I was made redundant 7 days before I hit 50.
my skills are probably no longer in demand (manual software tester) due to an increased focus on automated testing, and to be honest, I think I have had enough of software/corporate culture.
The last few months I have been a stay at home dad, and will probably remain so while mk2 goes through his teenage trials and tribulations (3 more years).
The very idea of being the Office New Boy at the age of 50 fills me with dread, and I know it would bring on a lot of stress and anxiety.
I am in a 'fortunate' position in that due to life insurance, I have no mortgage and get a small occupational pension from BH so will not be made homeless or starve, but coming to terms with a very different financial outlook is still the big stumbling block.
That and daytime TV.
Thank goodness for 'Walter Presents .. '.

In other news : re lower back pain.
Having sat on my arse in an office for 30 years the last 2 years were very problematic re my back.
My solution : swimming.
I have started swimming 4 times a week (roughly 1km each time), and the change has been very noticeable.

Slightly overlapping with what I said on the Forties thread, but I was made redundant at 51, also due to having skills which are no longer in demand. My partner has always earned a lot more than me, so we were OK - but then he was made redundant last year, at 58. Thankfully his skills are still in demand, but he refuses to re-dose himself with the poison of corporate culture - so it's taking a while to sort things out, and we are having to be careful with money, for the first time since our twenties.

I cover my monthly outgoings with DJ-ing (a weekly gig and a monthly gig) and Discogs selling (I inherited a rare and valuable collection, and am being ruthless with my own). We also have a lodger, for the first time in nearly thirty years - a good friend, also in his fifties, going through a divorce and coming to terms with being on the gay side of bi. He hates his job and wants to change back to his old career, but it would involve a precarious salary drop, at least to begin with, which isn't great timing when you're getting divorced.

Despite this difficulties, my net life satisfaction level is still hugely in credit. I feel busy, fulfilled, and grateful for all I've got. But I can't deny the presence of a persistent low-level background hum, which says "You are uniquely unemployable. Everyone else can get jobs, but you haven't got what it takes." It's bullshit, but it's there.

Fuck those cry baby under 50s in that other thread. Here's to getting Saga Holiday ads and people ringing me to ask if I want to cash in my pension and/or release some equity from my home and to being told I can't increase my life insurance because YOU R 2 OLD.

Also I just put up a desk, not too shabby eh? I'll be paying for it tomorrow mind.

it doesn't start getting real until you can't remember your 40s

xp Incidentally my pension is not worth the paper it's printed on so who's laughing now Mr Random Cold Caller?

it gets really real when your pathetic gig income and Obamacare fast-track you to bankruptcy

what a feelin'

― the ignatius rock of ignorance (Dr Morbius), Monday, July 2, 2018 8:55 AM (one year ago) bookmarkflaglink

Right in my knees.

oh hi, I'm 54 now
peeing takes a long time

― WilliamC, Thursday, January 4, 2018 12:24 PM

Seven weeks shy of 56, but I found the secret: constant impotent rage keeps me young.

momus is almost 50

He’ll be 60 in February.

Fuck those cry baby under 50s in that other thread.

They're just coming to grips with their ultimate mortality, poor dears. Be kind to them.

I’m 55 and having a pretty good time.

I seem to have rediscovered my mojo this year: got serious about my job, holidayed in Japan, rekindled my interests in art and photography, good clothes (lost 40lb weight which helped), and the joy of short breaks by Eurostar.

what helps is some straight up mint leaves that you can huff/chew between gulps to kill the taste of that godawful crap you have to drink

or Altoids, whatever

I always think of this thread <3 crut

If I hear the words "barium shake" ever again I will barf.

It definitely transforms you, yes.

Last time I think I had a shit ton of miralax and a lot of gatorade mixed together. I’ve heard about the awful stuff to drink but never had it.

I don’t mind the taste actually

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.”