This is a thread for ILXORS IN THEIR 50's

all the cheap reading glasses in Poundland etc are +ve dioptres and probably only for people who had ok eyesight but now have trouble reading. if you've been short sighted your whole life then they probably won't help.

my glasses are fine for tv distance but newly terrible for computer distance and i don't need any at all for reading. had eyes tested in October and had a bad case of sticker shock when he priced up a pair (two pairs actually) of varifocals at 408 quid. he went straight to the hand crafted by ninjas lenses and added two lots of 80 quid for the coatings. the frames he chose for me were fugly too. i am making do and will look for more sensibly priced options soon.

I started wearing reading glasses?when I was 40 and started with the regular glasses at 51. I've had night vision problems for about a year.

One of my eyes is rubbish, it has astigmatism and never focuses properly no matter what lens is used with it - it has a longsighted lens, but I'm not convinced this helps in any way. My 'good' eye went shortsighted when I was about 15 so I've needed glasses / contact lenses since then (all the time). Just over the last couple of years or so, I've noticed that I'm struggling to read things, especially really small fonts. When I last saw the optician he said that was natural and would only get worse with time, but he also said varifocals would be borderline impossible because of the difference in prescription between the shortsighted eye and the longsighted eye. He talked about getting some glasses to wear over the contact lenses - at first, I assumed he meant to slip on if I needed to read something and take off immediately afterwards, but he actually seemed to be suggesting to wear them all the time over contact lenses, which seemed barking mad, as what would be the point of the contact lenses in that situation? Anyway, I got some kind of prescription, but it was many months later that I went back to try to get some reading glasses, and once I'd paid for them I found out they are only to be worn without contact lenses, i.e. I can switch between pairs of glasses when I need to read something. Given that I wear contact lenses most of the day, and given that when I'm just wearing glasses I'm highly unlikely to carry a second pair of glasses around with me, I've hardly ever worn them. They do make reading easier, but it's not a very practical solution, and I still have nothing to help with reading when I've got my contacts in.

feel like suddenly my nose hair is trying to merge with my mustache hair

not into this at all wtf

And speaking of eyes -- did my eye exam today, all well, small prescription tuneup, etc.

As for your hairs, time to shave aggressively.

noses are an awkward and sometimes painful area

lay off your anti-facial hair crusade you damn hippie!

oh, I did a hearing test about 2 months ago.

All perfect!

I moved to varifocals last year. I'm short sighted so kept removing mine to read, inevitably I sat on them a few times. It took a day or so to get used to but wouldn't go back despite of the lens costing double.

As for your hairs, time to shave aggressively.

lay off your anti-facial hair crusade you damn hippie!

Okay here is a thing that actually happened today: I saw a photo of a newsletter from maybe 1986 and recognized the typeface (Mistral) as one that was a particular favorite of the editor before the editor before I was the editor of my high school newspaper.

On a probably ill-advised whim, I wrote to him about it. He wrote back almost immediately, confirming that he had probably overused that typeface in approximately 1985.

This phenomenon continues unabated: I can apparently remember absurdly specific details about something that happened in 1982, but yesterday is a blank. I have no fucking idea where my car keys are, but I can recite Go-Go's lyrics verbatim.

It could be worse. I can't remember yesterday or 1985!

I can't remember what I was going to say I forgot.

TBF, the Go Gos are catchier than your keys.

50th birthday in a few days. Bookmarking this thread pre-emptively.

Also a sign that you're in your fifties: Correctly using the word "typeface" instead of "font" in a sentence.

I'm definitely Generation Typeface as well. I remember fondly Letraset sheets with the rub-off letters. So amusing.

Just had to go to the osteopath for some yanking about/massage/dry needling because I once again managed to give myself a sciatic nerve injury by just... breathing wrong or fuck knows.

I did a mountain day hike with a friend over the weekend, which was a lot of fun and only moderately strenuous, but my calves haven't let me forget it. Recovery time is real.

I wish I couldn't remember 1985 - that year sucked. Also I can't remember that I'm not supposed to be posting on this thread for another four months and change.

The thread is for ilxors in their fifties, not exclusive to them. Feel free to comfort or commiserate with them as you will even before officially joining them.

I got the first dose of Shingrix two days ago and I am still achy in the arm in which I got the shot but feel tingly elsewhere. Not looking forward to the second dose, but it's better than getting shingles again.

I got a massage yesterday, and immediately after that my toe started hurting. Like, so badly I was limping back to my car. The pain has mostly subsided now, but wtf?

xp The 2nd shingles vaxx kicked my ass, but only for about a day... I didn't even notice the first shot

For anyone pondering glasses but not getting around to it, I'd recommend it if you're thinking "I don't read as much for fun as I used to".

Worrying 50-something thing: wondering if night driving is becoming more difficult (or whether I was just having a "tired night" earlier)?

I notice night driving seems more difficult at 57, but mainly in unfamiliar locations and bad conditions like rain and poorly lit roads, as I’d expect. Halogen high beams in the face don’t help.

I find that brighter lights everywhere have made night driving really unpleasant. Not just bright headlights (which our car has, and which I wish I hadn't bothered with), but security lights pointing out into the road, and new LED pedestrian lights, which are so bright that if someone in dark clothes is waiting to cross the road, you can't see them.

Okay here is a thing that actually happened today: I saw a photo of a newsletter from maybe 1986 and recognized the typeface (Mistral) as one that was a particular favorite of the editor before the editor before I was the editor of my high school newspaper.

Jonathan Meades is fond of Mistral and uses it on his book covers. He explains it somewhere - memories of childhood holidays in France inthe 50s, iirc.

It's actually lovely, in my opinion, and the way the lower-case letters mimic cursive was a marvel of typography, especially for early computer typography.

Papyrus can suck it. Mistral rules.

My other faves? Baby Teeth. Optima. Palatino.

They may look dated now but my heart aches for their return (even as ironic/camp/retro). Give me a page I can fill with Garamond, and I will be a happy man.

i didn't realize choc is actually a bit of a derivative of mistral.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/11/21/nyregion/new-york-storefronts-mystery-font.html

i'm not ignorant but low-expertise wrt typefaces, so this article was sorta fun

My night blindness is a major reason for the financial problems I've been having, especially since I was one of the only people at my agency who was willing to work in the evening.

Hunt3r - true in caps but not lowercase. I think Brush Script is the main surviving successor to Mistral in lowercase.

ty! “when the student is ready, etc” that’s me. teach and preach- i should prob flip to that typeface/font channel

A friend of mine manages an event place in Scotland, and they’ve banned 50ths. Hen nights, stag dos, 40ths, no problem: but some combination of the manic nihilism that sweeps over people and the middle-aged mal-coordination that crept up on them leads to a wild amount of breakage.

britishes: whether or not zoe williams is a cunt (i have no idea) is beside the point

Mistral = Purple Rain liner notes, forever

Mistral = N.W.A.'s Straight Outta Compton

haaaaa

https://i.imgur.com/rTpHv3z.jpg

> he priced up a pair (two pairs actually) of varifocals at 408 quid

went back today, 3 months later, and settled on one pair with some bells and whistles (coatings, thinner), for 280. i had a second pair when i got the current ones and have never used them. also they appear to expect me to change glasses every two years if my eyes change (and not leave it ~12 years like i have) so having two pairs seems like more of a lifestyle choice than a necessity.

I had my eyes tested at the opticians this afternoon, and as expected I've been told I need varifocals. The printout of my prescription recommends varivocal sunglasses as well but no chance. I've not yet looked seriously into cost but it'll be £££ so I'll get one pair and keep my current non-varifocal glasses as a spare as 1) I don't drive, 2) I haven't broken a pair of glasses in nearly thirty years and that was because I took them off, put them on the bed, forgot where they were, and then immediately sat on them.

(also, apologies again for posting on this thread despite not actually being 50 for a couple of months, but varifocals doesn't really feel like it sits right on the 40s thread)

I'm very frustrated by how small they print everything nowadays.

lol I literally have a magnifying glass near my desk to use for that shit, or I have to use my phone camera to enlarge the print to the point of visibility

Hi dere, I'm 52 today, I listened to Mahalia by The Bible this morning (which I haven't heard since I bought the single in 1986) and felt a bit nostalgic and weird/emotional, but I got a nice pair of walking boots as a present so swings and roundabouts.

Happy 52! One year for every card in the deck.

I'm 56 next week! Ugh. I've crested the pivot point of the decade and now it'll be into the long slow slide towards oblivion. Hurrah! I may listen to Cop Shoot Cop on the big day to make myself feel better.

Anyone else got a permanent ringing in the lugholes?

oh yeah

plus a low frequency flutter in my left ear that is entirely Gary Numan's fault

XXXP - Thank you! :)

I have a very high frequency airy hissing sound in the right ear but otherwise not too much damage, and I know you know, Matt, how loud the racket coming from the rehearsal room was back in the day, so it's a minor miracle.

The Buzzcocks used to rehearse in that studio too and they were all deaf as a post! They were even louder than you lot were to be fair.

I don't think my hearing ever fully recovered from a Borbetomagus / Ultrasonic Attack Wave Pestrepeller double bill at the Spitz about 25 years ago, maybe there's someone I could sue?