How did I get here?? (Thread for ILXors in their 60s and beyond)

How is it even possible? And where is my discount?

The mysterious aches of the last decade are now old friends.

*bookmarks page for sooner than you think use*

I still have a few weeks left

Damn y’all are old af cheers

That is no way to talk to your betters!

About to turn 66. So far the descent has been on a shallow glide path, thank goodness.

I'll be 63 next week. What the hell.

I turned 63 in July. Luckily still pill-regimen free.

Respect

See you in a year and a bit (I'm just too generationally alienated to post on the '50s thread).

In the zone of perdition where my youth forties and fifties went as if to complete its their education, one would have said that the portents of an imminent collapse of the whole edifice of civilization had made an appointment

i spent a third of my life here and along with everything else my thumb has been hurting weirdly for several months

because of nickn never seeming the slightest bit grumpy or worn out I always assumed although not a spring chicken perhaps not in the sexagenarian set just yet. sorry probably rude of me to comment but as someone in the late 40's club who feels like I'm knocking on 70 it's commendable and good!

The only people that should be posting here are 60 plus. The rest of us shoud shut the f up and post in our respective threads

xp
The thing is, I'm old enough not to take anything on social media personally.

That, and bathing in virgin's blood.

I find the subject of growing old is not one that's easy to talk about because each of us, um, seniors is doing it differently in detail, fighting to retain our health and dignity in very specific circumstances. Once you move into broader generalizations and observations, you quickly get into territory that is adequately covered in comic strips.

threads for ilxors in their 30s, 40s, and 50s are all on Site New Answers right now, so this one needs a bump too

Generational fite!

this thread is hard to search for because there are so many thread titles referring to the 1960s, a remote period of history the denizens of this thread experienced before "The Sixties" became a thing

Add "ilxors" to your search.

(a rule for life)

Mark s, how is your thumb?

After 20 years of renting and a 2020 of my job changing dramatically (zero travel! Then "retired" -> consulting), I got fixated on the possibility of buying a place. Affordable condos didn't fit the bill for various reasons. So now we are in a spacious double wide manufactured house in a 55+ small community. So far, I love it. The Facebook group is full of curtain twitchers, but I expected that. And woman who wants to start a motorcycle club. We have spotted a few neighbors from a distance. It's not a situation I expected to be in but so far, so good.

AH, but don't forget there are two spellings of that
ILX0rs
ILXORs

and sometimes ever
ILXers

Good day to you, fellow sexagenarians.

I'm not in my Sixties yet, but shouldn't this thread be called "Why am I still here?"

When my mom reached 90 she began to ask me that question, wistfully. It genuinely perplexed her.

I'm not in my 60s, but am interested in your experiences, so just wanted to add that both my Grandmother and my Oma lived past 90, and both got to about 92 before they were asking, "none of my friends are alive, this sucks, why am I here?" though obviously using different verbiage.

I meant "Why am I still on ILX?" Sorry for the confusion.

A fruitful confusion, though.

I keep having these moments of "huh, 72 is only 12 years off" - not panic or worry, just acknowledgement.

I feel that for someone who is 60 in two weeks, I'm doing pretty well, everything is working and doesn't look too careworn.

I've also had that sense that it's only a matter of time until it all goes west. Gotta do it now or thereabouts, you know?

jaq: well yes my thumb does still hurt sadly, though not as much and not much at all during ordinary daily work. i blame late-night hours of doomscrolling on a larger heavier phone but not so much that i've actually like curtailed this at all

christine: why still here? i do have friends in other internet spaces and learn stuff elswhere and find things funny elsewhere BUT i also stll have many friends here still, and also find find funny and sometime learn things here too! so that's why

good things abt being 60 and not in tiptop health: i got my first covid jab yesterday

Was I "in my thirties" when I first came to ilx?

And yet...

Happy birthday Mark G

mark s, I can sympathize due to some aching finger joints from similar (I blame phone + power bank combo).

Today, after following this project for years, I signed up: https://recompose.life/

The day before my 60th birthday, I emailed the rest of the band (effectively locked out of band practises since previous November) f they were up for getting started again. They all decided not really.

So, that was that then.

just spitballing here... instead of a being band, maybe form a team and join a bowling league? not that I would ever do such a thing myself, but I hear that some people like the camaraderie.

Well, that was kinda my sense, spent the time trying to get some decent cover versions attempted, but ended up resisting doing another Jam cover because “everyone knows it”. I’m not trying to do nostalgia, just make a decent showtime. Otherwise, wasting my time. Anyway, that was me in my fifties, so what happens now?

Anyway,can’t do bowling, I just don’t have the elbows for it. (I actually went a week ago, first time for about ten years!)

Solo performance? Improv? Gave up on bowling myself due to logistics and knee issues, but did enjoy it for a few years.

I can't speak for everyone obviously, but I and everyone I know play music because they not just want but NEED to play. I didn't play in bands in my 20s and 30s; it wasn't until I hit 40 that I started playing in public at open stage nights and put a band together as a result of that. I've been in a number of bands since that have broken up, it sucks but it's a common occurrence. I keep

...doing it because I love it, it's my main interest/hobby, and honestly it's how I define myself. I get a satisfaction I would never get from bowling etc. Keep at it!

I was in a really good band comparatively recently, but that came to a ‘natural end’ : they’d been doing the band for 8 years, I was their last singer for one.

I did see a possible channel today that might prove to be better, so cheers and thanks.

Over a month ago--forgot to punch in.

The clock and your body register the event, even if you fail to sign the register. Welcome to "Your Golden Years" (aka "when it comes time to just shoot me, I'll let y'all know, ok").

Happy belated, enjoy your new decade!

The clock and your body register the event--pretty much every morning on the latter.

The body keeps the score (says a visitor currently residing on the predecessor thread)

So life in the 55+ community is generally good but has some oh-so-strange moments. I volunteered to edit the monthly newsletter, and therefore get the inside scoop on so much petty junior high behavior and geriatric irritability. None of which makes the newsletter because I have to use 14 pt fonts so people can read it. Recently, the president of the community club sent me his monthly article which included a blurb at the end that he was resigning immediately, then texted me to say not to publish anything except that he was resigning immediately, then texted me to not publish the newsletter at all, then texted that he wasn't resigning but not to publish anything he wrote. All in the course of 2 hours. I responded "okay" to each message. It's exhausting!

That's funny--sounds like Morty Seinfeld's condo group. I get some of that as one of the moderators for my small-town Facebook group. Daily conferrals over whether this post or that post meets the group's rules--with almost every judgement call the same as the one from yesterday.

OMG I can imagine. THE DRAMA!

There's a community potluck this Saturday, and due to new county rules we all have to show proof of full vaccination to attend - which has raised the hackles of several folks WHO ARE VACCINATED! So much huffy energy. And don't get anyone started on the new water meters.

Hugs to you mark s - I'm debating getting a T-shirt made that says "This body is a traitor." But that seems unkind.

"60s and beyond" is fine by me. It was going to be lonesome in a 70s thread, at least for a half year or so.

I had a blemish behind my left ear a few days ago and convinced myself it was an incipient tumour. Some variation on that happens every couple of weeks.

Yes, I had one and my wife convinced me to go get it seen. The morning of the appt, I brushed it with a finger and it fell off.

(I had other things to discuss)

thank you jaq! if i'm honest i feel -- despite that list of links -- both healthy and happy at the moment: none of my ailments are currently unmanageable

PVD at my end too. Flashers/floaters for four weeks now. The printed diagnosis I was given began with three words I think i am going to see quite a bit of in the coming years: "As we age,..."

I joined this elite group of ilxors back in August.

After a couple of weeks of having recurring thoughts of the shock of being 60, everything feels like it has returned to normal. I am continuing to work full-time as I don't want to deal right now with a sudden precipitous drop in income. There's a few 60 something contemporaries at work and the common aim seems to be to keep working for a few more years in the absence of an inheritance etc. It seems incredible that only a few years ago it was commonplace for people to retire in their mid 50s.

There's an article in the Times today by journalist Cosmo Landesman on being a single 70 year old. Quite an interesting read, and gives hope for the inevitable forthcoming ilxors in their 70s thread:

My sixties were ruled by dull routines and a sense of slow genteel descent into poverty and old age. I was convinced that I was too old to party, to dance, to fall in love. Now I feel that turning 70 has rebooted my life.

Hah, I felt much the same way on exiting my fifties; turning 60 was quite the reboot. I look at FB Memories photos of my fiftysomething self and I think: Christ, who's that dull old git?

Looking forward to joining the party next month

My 50's feel like this vast numb sucky absence. I'm sure i'll remember it one day.
My 60s feel like i've managed to crawl ashore somehow

Tomorrow I cross over into the beyond-my-60s territory, as referenced in the thread title - aka my 70s. Today I had my three siblings over for brownies, ice cream and some laughter. They are all older than I am, between 71 and 75. It was the first time I've ever had a birthday party! I enjoyed it.

On the whole my health is still remarkably good. The only really noticeable change has been a certain amount of slowing down and less energy overall compared to a few years ago. I don't mind that very much. Slowing down a bit feels fine. I hope to go hiking tomorrow.

that's nice to hear, Aimless, I'm close behind you. Three of my four siblings are already in their 70s (72-77). We're all doing fine! There is some political discord in our family but we are all very private, and I'm hoping we can avoid any confrontations when we get together for Thanksgiving.

I walked 3 miles today through SF, I'm still very angry but it helped clear my head after the last few days

Happy birthday Aimless! Welcome to your fresh new decade - may you retain rude good health and enjoy every available discount.

As three third oldest poster here after Aimless and Dan S (I think), happy birthday, and see you in a couple years on that side. I've noticed some declining abilities too - back pain if I lean the wrong way, and knees when going down stairs. I saw the Big Star recreation recently, standing for over two hours, and I thought I might fall going down the stairs on the way out.

Happy birthday, Aimless, thank you for leading the way

Happy birthday Aimless! It's a lovely thought to think of you and your siblings gathering to celebrate your DOB <3

Happy Bday! 70 is the new 20 I hear :)

I heard these were supposed to be my declining years, but so far I've been doing more accepting than declining.

Bookmarking thread in advance. It's like visiting college when you're in high school

Reading the 50s thread is like looking at my old yearbooks: "oh yeah, I remember when I didn't live for the next Advil!"

In other 60s news, I received the Sears Wishbook-sized official guide to Medicare a few weeks ago.

Haven’t gotten the Medicare guide just yet but did receive a thing for the 60+ crowd from social security detailing what my monthly payout will be depending my retirement age. Sticking my fingers in my ears and saying la la la so I don’t hear the sirens calling ‘retire retire, do it’

stoked for the Medicare madness, signing up next month

At 63, tennis is my number-one passion in life. Playing five or six times a week; I pay for it physically the rest of the time, but I feel fine when I'm playing.

DON’T GET A MEDICARE ADVANTAGE PLAN BEFORE TALKING TO ME OR SOMEONE ELSE WHO KNOWS ALL THE STUFF

(sorry for caps but even brokers who should know better often don’t, and depending on what state you’re in, it could be an irreversible choice with significant implications for the rest of your life/health)

Quincie, thank you! Reading through all this is wild. Initially I thought I'd just stay with Kaiser on their Medicare Advantage plan. BUT I'm looking at moving to a rural area that has zero KP facilities anywhere close. So then I started looking at all the various original Medicare plans. It's a lot.

I'm covered by my spouse's large employer's plan KP right now - so I don't think I have to sign up immediately for part B and part D and Medigap, that I can wait until the "life event" that means he no longer has coverage. But, it is not easy to tell!

thank you for that advice, quincie ... the only firm decision I have made so far is NO MEDICARE ADVANTAGE because I've heard too many horror stories from friends and acquaintances who thought they were saving money with Advantage plans and then discovered they couldn't get approval for the care their doctors said they needed

my wife is already on Medicare A and B and has iirc a G plan through Anthem BCBS ... that seems to have worked well for her so far, despite her having more complicated healthcare and prescription needs than I do, so I'm leaning in the direction of getting something similar

I'm not sure it makes a difference, but when were were both employees of the local Big State University, our health insurance was through Anthem BCBS -- the same plan I will be on for a few more months -- and our primary care physicians, other doctors, and both local hospital systems have always been in network for that ... I'm hoping their Medigap plans are similarly acceptable to providers in our area, but I'm sure there are pages of fine print I need to read about that stuff

I have a phone appointment with an Alight advisor next month, Alight being the third-party service provided by Big State University to help retirees navigate health benefits ... previous contacts with Alight have been helpful, but I'm sort of expecting a little more pitching of Advantage plans than my wife got a few years ago

Maybe I should offer a webinar/office hours for ilxors who could use some Medicare support? I do it all the time for my day job.

Traditional Medicare plus a Plan G Medigap plan plus a Part D drug plan is as comprehensive as you can get*, albeit pricey if you don’t have retiree health insurance benefits.

*exclusive of dental, hearing, vision, and long-term care benefits, which Trad Medicare/Medigaps don’t provide, because what older adult could possibly need those services***

***(lobby ur congresspeople, please!)

Medigap plans are standardized, so a Plan G from Anthem is exactly the same as a Plan G from UnitedHealth or whoever else offers it in you state, although they may be priced widely differently so it pays to shop! Every year!

I would totally attend your webinar, quincie!

It's so weird to shift from "here are the 3 plans your employer offers, pick one" to a gazillion mailings and phone calls and emails yelling "PICK ME!"

Thank god im not in the demo that would have a talking heads quote as its tagline

stay off our lawn, calstars

I flagged the fuck out of that post

Still hanging around the 50s thread fms...

ah, the good old days on the 50s thread

my application for Medicare A and B has been approved, though who knows how long it will take for documentation to arrive in my mailbox ... I think I've got D and G plans picked out but won't sign up until later this month

I can now post here.

Welcome, and happy birthday.

thanks!

hb ET!

Welcome to your fresh decade!

I can now post here.

Not quite yet--there's still the blood initiation.

https://i.postimg.cc/Qx7WMKWs/bo.jpg

This killed me last night, from the doctor who looked at me after a fall:

Doctor: "How old are you?"
Me: "64."
Doctor: "You've had a good run..."

Me to doctor: "Are you willing to put that in writing and sign it for me?"

I'm busted up from the hips down. Glad my workweek is done.

This is funny too--Paddy Chayefsky, The Hospital funny...They stick these little things on you to monitor heart rate. As soon as I got home, I get a call; they forgot to take them off, would I mind coming back? (Small town, so three-minute drive.) I did...and I still ended up removing two more today that they missed.

I met up with cousins recently, all now in our 60s. Hot topics included whether or not to take Social Security early, standard Medicare vs. Advantage, and riding motorcycles up Mt. Everest to basecamp (67 year old will be making their 2nd attempt later this year).

I met my 65 year old friend for some lunch in an area that has seen a large growth in the local Chinese population. Hes anglo and told me felt like an outsider when visiting that area now.

I asked him why.

He said hed got a bit lost on the way to the lunch place and had tried to ask a number of locals for help and theyd just blanked him.

Mate, i said, looking him up and down. They thought you were hassling them for change. Or where to score.

Interesting multi-levels of judgement in that short account!