Tag Archives: 50something

and the answer is ….a lemon….

30 Oct

I think all of you beyond the age of 40 will relate to the occasional lapse of memory …you know… the  struggle to remember why you walked into the room, or what you were looking for.

I know MY brain sometimes feels like a jam packed hard drive that desperately needs de-fragging… So sometimes retrieving the pertinent facts can mean a bit of mental gymnastics. But I was struck by the effort it took today to retain a head full of numbers and regurgitate them in the right order.numbers

Having filled the petrol tank, I needed to get in a queue to pay the cashier. While reciting the pump number, the odometer number and the PIN number for the fuel card…over and over, I inched closer … but not quick enough. The line was long and I was afraid someone would distract or speak to me and the numbers would fall out of my head,. never to be seen again.

Now I know you are probably thinking …‘why on earth didn’t you just write them down?’  but I was determined to challenge myself, thinking I can do it …I can do it…I CAN DO IT…. (but what if I get to the counter and lose the lot …..eeek)

P1000955I played games in my head and tried visualising the ‘look’ of the numbers …as the queue moved slowly in the right direction ….FINALLY when I got there the attendant wanted to engage in some small talk, and all I could think was ‘please no ….let me spit my numbers out first’ … and anyway I don’t ‘do small talk’. Next minute the lovely woman asked if I had lost my voice, so rather that try to explain, I smiled and nodded yes, to which she replied … ‘oh don’t worry I have lots of mute customers’ ... what the ??? ….please just let me punch these numbers out and get out of here.

Fortunately all the repetition paid off and I was able to perform when the keypad was put in front of me, but it certainly was a stressful 7 minutes.

 

 

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smarter than the average 5oSomething…

4 Oct

It’s that time of year again here in parts of Australia, when we welcome back our longer days, our evening BBQs… and the kids that grumble about going to bed while it’s still daylight (well maybe we don’t actually welcome the whingey little people bit ….but they soon acclimatise and enjoy it too).

Yep, I’m talking about daylight saving….and I love it !!

Daylight-Savings-TimeI could go on and on about why I love it … but my point is really about the confusion of changing the clock, and how it plays games with even the sharpest mind.

There is always the inevitable debate ‘do I put it forward and hour?? ….or back by an hour? ‘….. ‘am I gaining an hour of beauty sleep ? …or being ripped off by an hour?’ Not to mention …‘if I have an airline ticket, purchased BEFORE the time change …what time do I go to the airport?’

So to wake in the morning and find the bedside clock-radio, microwave and kitchen clock telling me one time, while my ‘smart phone’ had already moved on and is telling me something different, really does my head in.

I mean, HOW does the phone know?

Seriously…… I know it’s all about satellites and co-ordinates and all that scientific stuff, but honestly it does my head in to think that every phone & computer just automatically knows what to do based on it’s address at the time.

What happens if you live on the Queensland~NSW border, where one street can make a difference to what time of day it is?….So, OK smart phone… are you smart enough to cope with THAT. ? ..and what happens when you pop to the local shop that just happens to be inter-state???

Some things are just too hard for my ‘50Something’ brain to understand… perhaps I just need to accept that it’s one of life’s many mysteries, and stop trying.

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the day of rest…

13 Jul

Today I enjoyed my first real s-l-o-w Sunday in a long while.

No pressing commitments at all. It’s Uni break… so no assignments; no huge jobs staring me in the face (because I turned my back on them) and no need to please anyone but myself. ‘Mr 50 Something’ took himself off to watch his old soccer team (oops, re-phrase… ‘ex’ team. Yes they are veterans… but old is probably a bit harsh)… so I was left to my own devices.

I’d love to say that I used my time well and created something spectacular… or wrote something inspirational… but no, alas not…I just pottered!  You know, a little bit of this and a little bit of that…. a few domestic chores, caught up with a friend for coffee and washed the car. A completely stress free day really.

But, having this time to potter did prompt a couple of reflections on domestic life and how it’s change … I seem to recall that growing up in the 60’s & 70’s (back when more Mum’s stayed at home than worked)… every day was allocated to a particular task. There was even a kiddies rhyme to remind anyone who forgot their ‘job of the day’. I think it started something like …”Monday is Washing Day… is everybody happy? ” .. So I googled to find out what happened on the other days… and discovered.

  • Monday – Washing dayhousewives 1
  • Tuesday – Ironing day
  • Wednesday – Mending day
  • Thursday – Shopping day
  • Friday – Baking day
  • Saturday – Cleaning day
  • Sunday – Day of Rest – go to church

WOW … to be so organised!! but I can’t quite figure what they did with all the other hours in the day … surely you can’t ‘mend’ all of Wednesday  …. Can you?  I mean seriously…. every week ?? who has that many damaged clothes???

Maybe it’s just organisation envy on my part… as I reflect on my style, where it’s more like:

  • the washing getting done whenever there’s enough time to complete the cycle and get it hung on the line (where it might stay for a few days)
  • the oversized ironing basket contains a bunch of last season’s clothes (well we don’t need them for a few months so why iron them?)
  • the mending is limited to replacing a lost button (and can take weeks to get around to it)
  • the shopping is a ‘fly by the seat of my pants’ style (grab what you need to cook on the way home from work).
  • the baking only happens on special occasions or when I’m bored and feeling inspired.
  • the cleaning  is an ‘as you go’ arrangement… if it looks dirty you clean it.

Anyway I’m glad to see that I got today (half) right . PHEW … my dear departed Mum would be proud.

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how to age 50 years over-night …

29 Jun

What a huge weekend !!!

I know I made a commitment on Jan 1 to write ‘something’ EVERY day this year … but that was before I knew we would be throwing a ‘Fur & Flanno Farewell’ …. and throw we did !!!  It was one massive night and I managed to make it to bed sometime after 4.30am… so any blog thoughts would not have been terribly coherent.

It’s time to make up for some long overdue sleep ….and hopefully I can be inspired by something nonsensical again tomorrow… zzzzzz

Strange how I felt ’30Something’ last night and woke up ’80Something’….

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the lights are on BUT…

26 Jun

lights are on

….it’s been a long Thursday

 lights are on 2

 

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31 May

teethI have always had a ‘thing’ for teeth…. (I think you will agree, a great smile can really set off even the most aesthetically challenged face …within some limitations) and they are often the first thing I notice when I meet someone.

But this past week has been full of odd and very random dental observations.

Mid-week I read an article about the supposed ‘new fashion’ that it taking over from skin tattooing. It involved having tattoo-like images created on crowns, so you could flash your tatt when you smile. The crowns were portrayed almost like a piece of jewellery with custom art … ALL you need is to destroy a tooth or two,(and have a pocket full of money…they weren’t cheap).  BUT, as silly as it sounds…I guess when you no longer want it, you either keep your mouth shut or have it replaced with a sparkling new, pearly white one….

Next there was my very odd dream.. It was hailing canines and molars, and Mr50something and I were running around collecting them from the ground to see which ones looked, and fitted best  a bit like a treasure hunt ….. (I have nothing more to say about that … other than the words COMPLETELY BIZARRE)

Finally, we went along to the Lyric Theatre to see Strictly Ballroom; sitting in the nose bleed section, with an amazing birds eye view of all that ‘extreme fluoro and glitter‘ … the thing that glowed as brightly as all the disco ball, was the teeth of some of the characters. I don’t know if it was a costuming effect or simply a case of great sets of chompers being highlighted by stage lighting, either way they were dazzling.

I have no idea what if anything all this tooth talk is telling me, or why I am writing about it  but its just another one of life’s little curiosities and a window to my world.

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birds of a feather ….

19 Apr

Another day of  road tripping across the great Aussie countryside and I was struck by so many things.

  • The fact that the landscape seems to change so dramatically every few hundred kilometres,
  • That the difference between NSW and Vic is minimal….yet he difference between NSW and QLD is vast.
  • That we have SOOO much spare space ( yet  why are we worried about refugees?… but this is not  political forum ..so forget I said that)
  • That every square kilometre is beautiful.
  • That we really ARE the LUCKY country despite our State or National politics….

BUT on a serious note … I have been wondering about birds. With the wide open spaces and huge skies, you can’t help but notice the small things. One of which was the formation… and flight of flocks of birds.birds in formation 2

Now I am not an ornithologist, so I have no idea what kind they are….. but on our drive from Swan Hill to Beechwood today, we were entertained by many flocks of birds that looked like they were in training for the synchronised swimming events at the next Olympics.

At first it was like seeing sign-writing in action,  soon we realised that it was in fact birds…. and I couldn’t help but wonder WHY???

Who is the leader? how does he/she decide the formation? What happens when they get tired …and WHAT IS THE POINT???

As entertaining as this whole thing was…. I really want to understand the purpose….and what happens when one or more don’t want to play ?? where do THEY go??

I wonder …..?

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