Yet Another Cycling Forum

Off Topic => The Pub => Topic started by: pcolbeck on 08 January, 2015, 03:46:43 pm

Title: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: pcolbeck on 08 January, 2015, 03:46:43 pm
You find yourself thinking "what a splendid evening" when it consists of a half decent bottle of wine and a rather lengthy article in the London Review of Books examining the effect of Latin on European intellectual life ....
Title: Re: You know your middle aged when
Post by: mrcharly-YHT on 08 January, 2015, 03:52:03 pm
You make groaning or huffing noises when bending down to pick something up, or getting up from the floor.
Title: Re: You know your middle aged when
Post by: Chris N on 08 January, 2015, 03:53:40 pm
Middle aged or middle class ???
Title: Re: You know your middle aged when
Post by: JonJo on 08 January, 2015, 04:10:05 pm
You become enough of a pedant to start correcting grammar on internet forums.

'You know you're middle aged when'
Title: Re: You know your middle aged when
Post by: pcolbeck on 08 January, 2015, 04:14:30 pm
You become enough of a pedant to start correcting grammar on internet forums.

'You know you're middle aged when'

Fixed that for you :)
Title: Re: You know your middle aged when
Post by: pcolbeck on 08 January, 2015, 04:16:26 pm
Middle aged or middle class ???

because working class people only read the Sun and drink cans of larger ?
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: essexian on 08 January, 2015, 04:50:47 pm
You have no idea what music is in the charts anymore.....10 years ago I could name just about every song!

Oh and instead of going to see punk bands play.... you now prefer the ballet (and can actually afford the tickets to do so... but not the expensive ones of course!)
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: delthebike on 08 January, 2015, 04:54:15 pm
Your Mum forgets your birthday.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 08 January, 2015, 04:54:58 pm
You know what was in the Magic Wadding.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 08 January, 2015, 05:05:36 pm
The GP starts using the phrase "women your age".
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Eccentrica Gallumbits on 08 January, 2015, 05:09:08 pm
The GP starts using the phrase "women your age".
And "normal wear and tear."
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Jaded on 08 January, 2015, 05:33:35 pm
You have no idea what music is in the charts anymore.....10 years ago I could name just about every song!

There isn't any music in the charts anymore.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Mr Larrington on 08 January, 2015, 06:01:35 pm
10 years?  I stopped listening to the Hit Parade, as I think it was called then, around 1979.

While it is still legitimate to point at a "musician" on the Anbaric Distascope and say "It's too loud and you can't hear the words" you can no longer ask "Is that a boy or a girl?" without being sneered at or advised to go to Specsavers.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hairyhippy on 20 January, 2015, 05:23:06 pm
You wander around the house turning all the lights off.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Gasman on 20 January, 2015, 06:14:03 pm
You become enough of a pedant to start correcting grammar on internet forums.

Fora, surely?

Alternatively, as happened a few years ago, the weird and wacky Radio 1 afternoon DJ of your youth turns up on Radio 2 presenting the All Time Easy Listening Top 40.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: PaulF on 20 January, 2015, 07:34:04 pm
You enter a Sportive

[/end thread]
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Basil on 20 January, 2015, 07:55:32 pm
*thinks back*

I remember Middle Aged.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hellymedic on 20 January, 2015, 08:47:23 pm
... Your Mum complains you are attending too many funerals...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Ian H on 20 January, 2015, 09:46:46 pm
I'll confess I'm not looking forward to being middle-aged.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hellymedic on 20 January, 2015, 09:49:00 pm
That's true!  ;) ;D
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Basil on 20 January, 2015, 10:06:38 pm
Don't worry.  It can't be that bad.  I hardly remember it.   ???
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Jaded on 20 January, 2015, 10:17:24 pm
You get up at about 3:50 am
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: PaulF on 20 January, 2015, 10:20:01 pm
*thinks back*

I remember Middle Aged.

No Basil, you mean Middle Ages! ;)
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Basil on 20 January, 2015, 10:22:07 pm
When you eat meat, there is more remaining stuck between your teeth and your receding gums than you have actually managed to swallow.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: IanDG on 20 January, 2015, 10:23:05 pm
You start to.................can't remember what I was going to say ???
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Basil on 20 January, 2015, 10:24:02 pm
*thinks back*

I remember Middle Aged.

No Basil, you mean Middle Ages! ;)

 ;D

GIT!

 :)
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: madcow on 21 January, 2015, 08:54:21 am



Alternatively, as happened a few years ago, the weird and wacky Radio 1 afternoon DJ of your youth turns up on Radio 2 presenting the All Time Easy Listening Top 40.

When you find yourself listening to Smooth FM. You don't even have to like it ,just the act of listening to it ages you by 10 years at least.

Worse still, you tune in to Classic FM and they ( ex Radio 1 jocks ) are on there and then on BBC local radio's shared network programmes after 8 p.m doing phone ins for pensioners .
 Mark Forrest who started on Radio Tees (cutting edge commercial radio-not)  has been on the lot.
Alan Partridge is alive and well.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: spindrift on 21 January, 2015, 08:59:06 am
Laura Dern plays Reese Witherspoon's mum in Wild. Good grief. I've got a coat that's older than the new Polish girl on CBBC. Good grief. I keep thinking 1995 was ten years ago, gah.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Torslanda on 21 January, 2015, 09:02:17 am
You're getting the children ready for school and wondering what the holy fuck is Phineas & Pherb is all about . . .

 . . . then you realise you turned into your father.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hatler on 21 January, 2015, 09:13:39 am
^  ^  ^
Spot on. :-)
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: IanDG on 21 January, 2015, 09:18:30 am
You're getting the children ready for school and wondering what the holy fuck is Phineas & Pherb is all about . . .

 . . . then you realise you turned into your father.

Your kids have all left school!
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Basil on 21 January, 2015, 09:20:21 am
You're getting the children ready for school and wondering what the holy fuck is Phineas & Pherb is all about . . .

 . . . then you realise you turned into your father.

Your kids have all left school!

Your kids have left school,
they've left Uni,
they've left home.

Then they start bloody coming back again!
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 21 January, 2015, 10:24:58 am
Phineas and Pherb is actually one of my favourite kids' TV programmes.

I've no idea what this says about me.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: IanDG on 21 January, 2015, 10:37:53 am
You're getting the children ready for school and wondering what the holy fuck is Phineas & Pherb is all about . . .

 . . . then you realise you turned into your father.

Your kids have all left school!

Your kids have left school,
they've left Uni,
they've left home.

Then they start bloody coming back again!

That's 'old age' Basil ;D
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Basil on 21 January, 2015, 12:01:05 pm
Oh yeah!  :facepalm:
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: matthew on 21 January, 2015, 12:35:59 pm
You're getting the children ready for school and wondering what the holy fuck is Phineas & Pherb is all about . . .

 . . . then you realise you turned into your father.

Your kids have all left school!

Your kids have left school,
they've left Uni,
they've left home.

Then they start bloody coming back again!

That's 'old age' Basil ;D

No that's when the kids finally get round to leaving again.

Therefore my parents are finally in old age.
Title: Re: You know your middle aged when
Post by: Oscar's dad on 21 January, 2015, 01:29:32 pm
You make groaning or huffing noises when bending down to pick something up, or getting up from the floor.

Recently I have noticed I'm doing this alot.

You wander around the house turning all the lights off.

This too!

When you eat meat, there is more remaining stuck between your teeth and your receding gums than you have actually managed to swallow.

Yep, oh Lordy  ::-)

You start to.................can't remember what I was going to say ???

Oh for pity's sake  >:(

Never mind.  Much life left in this older dog ... I hope  ;D
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: fuzzy on 21 January, 2015, 02:02:37 pm
Grey pubes.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Torslanda on 21 January, 2015, 02:30:20 pm
Grey pubes.

Really pisses you off in a burger . . .
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Oscar's dad on 21 January, 2015, 03:58:47 pm
Grey pubes.

In fact the whole hair thing. Loosing hair in some places and gaining it elsewhere, normally in unwelcome areas.

I'm clinging to the hope that this phenomena has nothing to do with middle age but more to do with a hitherto unknown second stage of puberty. Perhaps my voice will break again, I'll sound like Barry White and suddenly become irresistible to womens.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 21 January, 2015, 04:40:59 pm
You notice that your max rate of climb on the last Audax you did was the same as your average on the same ride ten years ago.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Canardly on 21 January, 2015, 04:55:37 pm
When your ears start sprouting hair.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: fuzzy on 21 January, 2015, 05:00:23 pm
your favourite music from your youth spring back into popularity.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Mr Larrington on 21 January, 2015, 06:05:32 pm
Laura Dern plays Reese Witherspoon's mum in Wild. Good grief. I've got a coat that's older than the new Polish girl on CBBC. Good grief. I keep thinking 1995 was ten years ago, gah.

I had cause to channel The Finn from William Gibson's Sprawl,Trilogy while in in the Gulag.

"This jumper is older than you1 are so when I talk you listen!"

1: Trufax: jumper born 1990, Miss Skank born 1992.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Trull on 21 January, 2015, 07:41:33 pm
When you think that starting a movie at 8.30pm is chancing it...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Wowbagger on 21 January, 2015, 07:47:43 pm
You become enough of a pedant to start correcting grammar on internet forums.

Fora, surely?

Alternatively, as happened a few years ago, the weird and wacky Radio 1 afternoon DJ of your youth turns up on Radio 2 presenting the All Time Easy Listening Top 40.

Recursion! See OP.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 21 January, 2015, 10:11:39 pm
You discover that a film you thought recent has been remade twice since you first saw it.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Guy on 17 February, 2015, 10:03:34 am
When you discover a website dedicated to Airfix and nearly two hours of the working day disappear in a couple of seconds.

http://www.vintage-airfix.com/ (http://www.vintage-airfix.com/)
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: TheLurker on 17 February, 2015, 07:57:47 pm
When you discover a website dedicated to Airfix and nearly two hours of the working day disappear in a couple of seconds.

http://www.vintage-airfix.com/ (http://www.vintage-airfix.com/)
Or... you walk past a model shop that has a MKI Hurricane 1/72 kit on special offer and instead of carrying on straight past you walk in and buy it.  Despite the fact you haven't built up a kit since nineteen seventy umph, you can no longer focus at the short distances necessary for fine work and you have a noticable tremor - wtf did _that_ come from? - when gluing small parts in place.   Then again p'raps it's second childhood?
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Oscar's dad on 17 February, 2015, 08:45:09 pm
As a kid I didn't do Airfix very often. But in my late teens, for some reason, I did a few kits. I found liquid glue, as opposed to the stuff in a tube, was a revelation.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 17 February, 2015, 09:52:02 pm
Bloody hell.  When I saw the pic of the Westland Whirlwind twin-engine monoplane I remembered the squadron code before clicking to enlarge it.

My all-time favourite was the Short Sunderland.  Always had a thing for flying boats.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Jurek on 17 February, 2015, 09:59:05 pm
As a kid I didn't do Airfix very often. But in my late teens, for some reason, I did a few kits. I found liquid glue, as opposed to the stuff in a tube, was a revelation.
I didn't discover this until I went to college ~ 1989.
Dichloromethane and capillary action FTW!
Don't go putting it in your tea.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: rafletcher on 18 February, 2015, 03:18:56 pm
Bi- (and Tri-) planes were my thing.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Tigerrr on 18 February, 2015, 03:39:09 pm
Who can forget the thrill of the Lancaster bomber, or the black night fighter with the rear gun turret?
Many attempted Nelsons Victory or the Cutty Sark, so few completed though.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Hot Flatus on 18 February, 2015, 04:09:10 pm
(http://static.comicvine.com/uploads/scale_small/8/85763/2610259-warlord387.jpg)

It was good, clean, healthy fun.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: clarion on 18 February, 2015, 04:13:18 pm
Who can forget the thrill of the Lancaster bomber, or the black night fighter with the rear gun turret?
Many attempted Nelsons Victory or the Cutty Sark, so few completed though.

Boltoun-Paul Defiant?
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Mr Larrington on 18 February, 2015, 06:10:42 pm
Northrop P-61 Black Widow.  Like a P-38 on the 'roids.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hairyhippy on 18 February, 2015, 10:01:11 pm
As you get older, build bigger models.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Tigerrr on 19 February, 2015, 07:55:17 am
(http://static.comicvine.com/uploads/scale_small/8/85763/2610259-warlord387.jpg)

It was good, clean, healthy fun.
We were not allowed to read 'trash mags' at school. That was the sort of abuse that went on at boarding school. Anyway the result was everyone read them and collected them in hoards.
On reflection, I think my personal values were formed by these mags.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Hot Flatus on 19 February, 2015, 09:16:07 am
Me too.  It has caused arguments between myself and Mrs Flatus when choosing new domestic appliances.

I put it down to being  conditioned to hate 'Les Bosches'
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Jaded on 19 February, 2015, 09:27:09 am
"Achtung Tommy!!"
Title: Re: You know your middle aged when
Post by: LEE on 19 February, 2015, 09:38:22 am
Middle aged or middle class ???

because working class people only read the Sun and drink cans of larger ?

Middle Class is when you can spell Châteauneuf-du-Pape but can't spell Lager.

Middle aged is when you recreate a John Bishop stand-up routine in a forum thread.


Modern music?  It's just noise isn't it?
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Mr Larrington on 19 February, 2015, 09:47:55 am
Thanks to trash mags I know that Japanese soldiers go "Aieeeeeeeeee!" when shot, but Germans go "Aaaaaaarrrgh!".  USAnians and BRITONS, of course, never got shot in the first place.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: pcolbeck on 19 February, 2015, 09:58:51 am
Thanks to trash mags I know that Japanese soldiers go "Aieeeeeeeeee!" when shot, but Germans go "Aaaaaaarrrgh!".  USAnians and BRITONS, of course, never got shot in the first place.

Of course Brits get shot we just don't make a big deal out of it.

Waterloo 18th June 1815:

Lord Uxbridge has nine horses shot from under him leading cavalry charges and then when close to Wellington a cannon ball hits his right leg.

Uxbridge: "By God, sir, I've lost my leg!"

Wellington: "By God, sir, so you have!"

That's the way to do it, none of this screaming over a little flesh wound like johnny foreigner.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Wowbagger on 19 February, 2015, 10:11:25 am
To lose one leg could be described as a misfortune.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Oscar's dad on 19 February, 2015, 10:15:32 am
Was Waterloo in 1915? 
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 19 February, 2015, 10:48:24 am
...when, while enthusing over old Airfix kits, you're uncomfortably aware that that mini-Strandbeest kit the missus bought for you two weeks ago is still sitting unbroached on a corner of the kitchen table.

...and when yesterday's 100k has left you so brain-dead you can't produce a grammatical sentence.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: pcolbeck on 19 February, 2015, 10:49:12 am
Was Waterloo in 1915?

That's another sign of being middle aged, you should always wear your glasses when typing stuff or you miss all your mistakes :)
Fixed it now.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 19 February, 2015, 10:51:11 am
Was Waterloo in 1915?

That's another sign of being middle aged, you should always wear your glasses when typing stuff or you miss all your mistakes :)
Fixed it now.

With the pleasing effect that Oscar's Dad's question now looks somewhat incongruous.  Well played, sir!
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Oscar's dad on 19 February, 2015, 11:36:45 am
 ;D
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Riggers on 19 February, 2015, 11:52:59 am
The Airfix site has reminded me… if you want to waste (really?*) a few hours, then don't hesitate to visit:

http://www.samsmodels.com


*time well spent
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Guy on 19 February, 2015, 01:48:33 pm
The Airfix site has reminded me… if you want to waste (really?*) a few hours, then don't hesitate to visit:

http://www.samsmodels.com


*time well spent
What do I do? What do I do?  I've got werkstuff to do, I promised myself I'd read the report on the CPS Martin Porter blogged about recently, and now this!

Looks like werk'll have to take a back seat for today :thumbsup:
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: andrewc on 19 February, 2015, 09:09:30 pm
You've not been to any of the cool new places (http://independent-liverpool.co.uk/blogs/12-of-the-best-places-in-liverpool-for-a-first-date/) that the local 'zines write about..
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 19 February, 2015, 09:22:20 pm
You posted something rather good on a forum yesterday and you want to post it on another forum today but you're not quite sure that the forum you posted on yesterday wasn't the one you're thinking of posting on today but the traffic is so high on both that you can't find it so you end up not posting it anyway so as not to post it twice on the same forum and look like a twat; but in any case in the meantime you've forgotten what it was you wanted to post so that's all right.

Or did I post that already???
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Feanor on 19 February, 2015, 09:38:55 pm
Regarding the old Warlord comics:
I seem to remember getting those whilst I was in mid-primary school ( mid-'70s ), on account of a friend being from an RAF family, and he was quite into that kind of stuffs.

I remember joining up to the 'club', and getting a little plastic wallet through the post with a top-secret membership card and a code-sheet.
Every week, the comic had a page from the HQ, from the Top Dude who went by the name of Lord Peter Flint, IIRC.
There was always a secret message to be decoded, and it helpfully told you whether it was encoded in 'Letter Code 1', 'Letter Code 2', 'Number Code 1', or Number Code 2'.

Can't remember what any of the messages were, tho!
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: fuzzy on 20 February, 2015, 08:41:09 am
I always remember 'Commando' (http://www.comicvine.com/commando-war-stories-in-pictures/4050-26892/). My nan used to have loads of them around the house for my brother and I to feast our eyes and imagination on.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Oscar's dad on 20 February, 2015, 02:00:34 pm
I always remember 'Commando' (http://www.comicvine.com/commando-war-stories-in-pictures/4050-26892/). My nan used to have loads of them around the house for my brother and I to feast our eyes and imagination on.

Twice a year we would drive from the south of England up to Cumbria to see my grandma.  I was allowed Commando comics to keep me entertained on the journey.

Thinking about it now my parents were quite far sighted as at the time (70s) both were practicing Quakers and my dad had been a conscientious objector when he did his National Service.  I also had toy soldiers (weren't they Airfix too?) and regularly built warplanes and such like from Meccano.  Clearly I was being allowed to make up my own mind about war and stuffs.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 20 February, 2015, 03:15:11 pm
I always remember 'Commando' (http://www.comicvine.com/commando-war-stories-in-pictures/4050-26892/). My nan used to have loads of them around the house for my brother and I to feast our eyes and imagination on.

Twice a year we would drive from the south of England up to Cumbria to see my grandma.  I was allowed Commando comics to keep me entertained on the journey.

Thinking about it now my parents were quite far sighted as at the time (70s) both were practicing Quakers and my dad had been a conscientious objector when he did his National Service.  I also had toy soldiers (weren't they Airfix too?) and regularly built warplanes and such like from Meccano.  Clearly I was being allowed to make up my own mind about war and stuffs.

I reckon your parent were very wise.  I remember hearing (on "Tonight"?) in the 60s that the authorities in the USSR had banned war toys for a while, but had lifted the ban because the toys the kids were making for themselves were far more dangerous than anything they could buy.

FWIW my own father escaped both National Service and WW2 service because he crocked his left arm in 1928, falling off his bike.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Oscar's dad on 20 February, 2015, 05:27:17 pm
 :thumbsup:
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Wowbagger on 20 February, 2015, 05:30:29 pm
When do you stop being middle-aged? When your kids start?
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 20 February, 2015, 05:36:41 pm
On receipt of a free bus pass, isn't it?
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Oscar's dad on 20 February, 2015, 05:38:41 pm
You make groaning or huffing noises when bending down to pick something up, or getting up from the floor.

Recently I have noticed I'm doing this alot.

You wander around the house turning all the lights off.

This too!

When you eat meat, there is more remaining stuck between your teeth and your receding gums than you have actually managed to swallow.

Yep, oh Lordy  ::-)

You start to.................can't remember what I was going to say ???

Oh for pity's sake  >:(

Never mind.  Much life left in this older dog ... I hope  ;D

Despite showing some obvious signs of middle age ^^^ I still think age is a mind set more than anything.  Next Friday I shall be 51 (if I'm spared  ;D ) which I find frankly amazing.  The only time my age gets me down is when I realise that I am undoubtedly over halfway through my life which is a real shame as on the whole I have such great fun.  On a more positive note age has certainly gifted me some wisdom which comes in very handy every now and then. 
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hellymedic on 20 February, 2015, 06:46:54 pm
When do you stop being middle-aged? When your kids start?

I have oft told my Mum that I am the age she thinks she is.

If I had reproduced like she did my kids would be in their mid-thirties...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 20 February, 2015, 09:56:13 pm
When do you stop being middle-aged? When your kids start?

By that yard-stick I've had it: my son's in his forties and feeling it.  And I can no longer visualize three levels of indirect addressing without ruler & compasses.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: contango on 20 February, 2015, 10:21:19 pm
..... you look at the latest Now... music compilation and haven't heard of any of the bands

.... you grow hair on your ears and backside but not on your head

.... you think your new doctor looks like a child, then realise they are young enough to be your child.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Wowbagger on 20 February, 2015, 10:45:00 pm
On receipt of a free bus pass, isn't it?
In that case, the government has successfully made more people middle-aged!
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Torslanda on 26 February, 2015, 09:09:05 am
...listening to Duran Duran's 'Girls on Film' and realising that the 'girls' in the video are probably grandmothers.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Mr Larrington on 26 February, 2015, 10:54:49 am
...watching Reginald D Hunter's recent televisual wossname and thinking that country music is perhaps not totally a big bucket of poo after all.

I'm with Reg on the square dancing thobut.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 26 February, 2015, 11:02:25 am
...listening to Duran Duran's 'Girls on Film' and realising that the 'girls' in the video are probably grandmothers.

With CGI and a bit of crafty programming it should be possible to age the people in old films/videos by the time that has passed since they were made.  E.g. Casablanca with a 115-year-old Bogart and a 100-year-old Bergman.

Limited appeal, maybe.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: madcow on 26 February, 2015, 11:35:30 am
...listening to Duran Duran's 'Girls on Film' and realising that the 'girls' in the video are probably grandmothers.

Even worse Kim Wilde has re-invented herself as a landscape gardener. That's middle age.
The great thing about music is that when I hear a tune like the above ,I am still 21. I can still recall exactly where I first heard "Planet Earth"  as it was coming out of someone's ghetto blaster that they had carried all the way up Simon's Seat in the Yorkshire Dales.
Even better we went through disco, punk and new romantic styles without the benefit of social media to spread the word.
How did that happen?
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: davelodwig on 26 February, 2015, 11:43:38 am
...listening to Duran Duran's 'Girls on Film' and realising that the 'girls' in the video are probably grandmothers.

Promptly gets the tune stuck in my head, and shuffles off to have a listen.. on spotify. How on earth did we cope without the internet, I only just remember record shops.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Mr Larrington on 26 February, 2015, 11:57:57 am
Dunno about the rest of youse but I used diligently to buy "Sounds" every week.  And sneer at the Trendies who read the NME.  And at the Saddoes who bought "Melody Maker".  And especially at the ["Removed after taking legal advice" - Ed.] "Record Mirror" buyers.

I did once buy a copy of "Smash Hits", unless it was "Flexi-Pop", but only because there was a Motörhead flexi-disc on the cover.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: davelodwig on 26 February, 2015, 12:04:20 pm
Dunno about the rest of youse but I used diligently to buy "Sounds" every week.  And sneer at the Trendies who read the NME.  And at the Saddoes who bought "Melody Maker".  And especially at the ["Removed after taking legal advice" - Ed.] "Record Mirror" buyers.

I did once buy a copy of "Smash Hits", unless it was "Flexi-Pop", but only because there was a Motörhead flexi-disc on the cover.

I've just been reminded that I used to save up and buy tapes in woolworths and whsmiths, and later CD's especially putting them on pre order. Now I just browse an app and get what I want, only occasionally I miss shuffling through racks in a shop trying to avoid the creepy old men in leather jackets.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Mr Larrington on 26 February, 2015, 12:06:09 pm
(Has fond memories of the Record & Tape Exchange in Notting Hill)
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: nicknack on 26 February, 2015, 12:06:30 pm
the Saddoes who bought "Melody Maker". 
Hmph.

This saddo would like to point out that MM had a very useful classified ad section in it.

"Sounds" was for young people. When I was one of those, Sounds hadn't been invented (I think - memory's not too hot).
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Mr Larrington on 26 February, 2015, 02:50:04 pm
Caveat: I wasn't even a teenager when Malcom McLaren claimed to have invented punk.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: rafletcher on 26 February, 2015, 03:44:54 pm
Hearing that David Coverdale was lead vocalist for Deep Purple - and that Ziggy Stardust was released - 40 years ago.....
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Mr Larrington on 26 February, 2015, 06:47:51 pm
nicknack was A Able Accordionist :demon:
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: nicknack on 26 February, 2015, 07:54:36 pm
Aardvark sax player was the best I could manage.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Redlight on 26 February, 2015, 10:25:23 pm
Dunno about the rest of youse but I used diligently to buy "Sounds" every week.  And sneer at the Trendies who read the NME.  And at the Saddoes who bought "Melody Maker".  And especially at the ["Removed after taking legal advice" - Ed.] "Record Mirror" buyers.

I did once buy a copy of "Smash Hits", unless it was "Flexi-Pop", but only because there was a Motörhead flexi-disc on the cover.

My first job was editorial assistant on the now forgotten International Musician & Recording World, on which in return for being a general dogsbody and making sure the drinks fridge was always well stocked I got to do the occasional bit of writing, accumulated a lot of albums and occasionally got tickets to "sold out" gigs. We used to get loads of instruments coming in for "review", which meant they were sent out to the half dozen pro musicians that we had on the books to "test" them and often they didn't come back, and I remember Bryan Robertson of Thin Lizzy and Danny Kustow (Kustov?) from the Tom Robinson band coming in for a photo shoot one day and spending the whole afternoon getting spectacularly pissed and jamming on a couple of acoustic guitars that were waiting to be sent out. Fun times for an 18 year-old.

But, going back to the OP, you know you"re middle aged when you have friends that are younger than some of your records.

Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Mr Larrington on 27 February, 2015, 09:27:32 am
I've got a jumper that's older than some of my fellow zeks from my time in the Gulag.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Andrij on 27 February, 2015, 09:39:06 am
I've bought alcohol older than many of my co-workers.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: pcolbeck on 27 February, 2015, 12:14:43 pm
...watching Reginald D Hunter's recent televisual wossname and thinking that country music is perhaps not totally a big bucket of poo after all.

I'm with Reg on the square dancing thobut.

Most country is a big bucket of poo, some of it however is sublime.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Riggers on 27 February, 2015, 04:06:52 pm
^ I know what you mean. Your heart sinks (well mine does) to hear "Arm a little bit Kerrrtreee, arm a little bit Rock 'n' Roll" blasting out the airwaves, with enough 'twannnnggg' from the guitars and 'weeee-owwww' from them good old steel guitars to start WWIII. In my opinion.

However … having said all that, I caught the whispering Bob Harris country music show on R2 (Tuesdays at 7pm I believe m'Lud) and was pleasantly surprised.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: matthew on 27 February, 2015, 04:14:47 pm
^ I know what you mean. Your heart sinks (well mine does) to hear "Arm a little bit Kerrrtreee, arm a little bit Rock 'n' Roll" blasting out the airwaves, with enough 'twannnnggg' from the guitars and 'weeee-owwww' from them good old steel guitars to start WWIII. In my opinion.

However … having said all that, I caught the whispering Bob Harris country music show on R2 (Thursdays at 7pm I believe m'Lud) and was pleasantly surprised.

FTFY, Tuesdays are Jamie Cullum's Jazz.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 27 February, 2015, 04:16:07 pm
...watching Reginald D Hunter's recent televisual wossname and thinking that country music is perhaps not totally a big bucket of poo after all.

I'm with Reg on the square dancing thobut.

Most country is a big bucket of poo, some of it however is sublime.

Last week I had to do a slow uphill downwind of a chicken farm. That was in the country and none of it was sublime.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: madcow on 27 February, 2015, 04:19:00 pm
^ I know what you mean. Your heart sinks (well mine does) to hear "Arm a little bit Kerrrtreee, arm a little bit Rock 'n' Roll" blasting out the airwaves, with enough 'twannnnggg' from the guitars and 'weeee-owwww' from them good old steel guitars to start WWIII. In my opinion.

However … having said all that, I caught the whispering Bob Harris country music show on R2 (Tuesdays at 7pm I believe m'Lud) and was pleasantly surprised.

Definitely middle aged then!!!! ;)
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Ruthie on 27 February, 2015, 04:35:26 pm
... you can wither a Young Person with the cock of an eyebrow.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ian on 27 February, 2015, 06:04:02 pm
... you can wither a Young Person with the cock of an eyebrow.

I really thought that was going somewhere else.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Riggers on 02 March, 2015, 09:25:49 am
^ I know what you mean. Your heart sinks (well mine does) to hear "Arm a little bit Kerrrtreee, arm a little bit Rock 'n' Roll" blasting out the airwaves, with enough 'twannnnggg' from the guitars and 'weeee-owwww' from them good old steel guitars to start WWIII. In my opinion.

However … having said all that, I caught the whispering Bob Harris country music show on R2 (Thursdays at 7pm I believe m'Lud) and was pleasantly surprised.

FTFY, Tuesdays are Jamie Cullum's Jazz.

Tuesdays? Hhhmmm, perhaps I meant Monday instead. Come on brain – remember!!!!


Wasn't "… you can wither …" one of Elvis's? Sounds like the tosh he'd come out with. Sorry, I don't have any matches. I've just lobbed the firework unlit.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Riggers on 02 March, 2015, 09:28:24 am
Thursday! That's when he's on. Defo! Just checked. Why are you confusing me with Jamie Cullum for?
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Eccentrica Gallumbits on 16 May, 2015, 12:01:59 pm
I've just been for my annual contact lens check and now I have the beginnings of natural changes in the lens of my eye which will eventually result in varifocals...

In my head I'm 27. How has this happened?
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Oscar's dad on 16 May, 2015, 12:47:42 pm
I've just been for my annual contact lens check and now I have the beginnings of natural changes in the lens of my eye which will eventually result in varifocals...

In my head I'm 27. How has this happened?

I think mentally I'm about 27 as well but being slowly let down by the physical me. My eyes aren't great either, in fact I'm "special needs" on the eye front so get a discount on my glasses!
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Asterix, the former Gaul. on 17 May, 2015, 07:54:50 am
..it's too late..
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hellymedic on 17 May, 2015, 09:10:44 am
Every year I tell my Mum that I am the age she thinks she is...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: CrinklyLion on 17 May, 2015, 10:34:33 am
The SmallestCub said to me, as I limped (this week's ailment, dodgy ankle) into the lift after collecting him from Art Club, "Mummy, I think I know why bits of you are so creaky.  Is it because you're very old?".

Harrumph.

We actually had a long tandem-shouty-loud conversation all the way home about the whole growing up thing and concluded that 'middle aged' is the vague amorphous bit between being a Young Person (with it's very many subcategories) and being Old.  And that I'm actually middle-aged.  Possibly with Old ankles/knees.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Polar Bear on 17 May, 2015, 10:38:37 am
I have one old ankle and one old knee.   Unfortunately they are not on the same bloody leg so I have two old legs!
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 17 May, 2015, 12:06:22 pm
I have one old ankle and one old knee.   Unfortunately they are not on the same bloody leg so I have two old legs!

Is also my current state.  Although the ankle injury was sustained during a youthful act of vandalism, so there is that.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Mr Larrington on 17 May, 2015, 12:14:29 pm
I too am suffering from wonky ankle after electing not to scamper after a soon to depart tube train.  About ten days ago chiz and I am walking like a one-legged sailor if obliged to go further than the kitchen.  With matelot-stylee swearing, obv.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hellymedic on 17 May, 2015, 12:34:19 pm
I'm beginning to think that lack of activity-induced injury is a great advantage of being too feeble to do much...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Auntie Helen on 17 May, 2015, 12:39:50 pm
After two days' riding with people on uprights (rather than similar-speed recumbent trikes) I am feeling very middle-aged. I will be 44 next month.

However, two ladies I met at church on Thursday (Christi Himmelfahrt service) thought I was in my early thirties!  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hellymedic on 17 May, 2015, 12:49:27 pm
I know I'm middle-aged; two of my younger siblings already have grandchildren and the next sibling will hopefully become a grandmother next month.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Wowbagger on 17 May, 2015, 12:53:45 pm
After two days' riding with people on uprights (rather than similar-speed recumbent trikes) I am feeling very middle-aged. I will be 44 next month.

However, two ladies I met at church on Thursday (Christi Himmelfahrt service) thought I was in my early thirties!  :thumbsup:

My age-related memory failure had me doubting that AH had remembered her own age.

For some reason I had it in my mind that the fine assembly of beings and the associated meal at the Haywain pub on the occasion of me deliberately sitting with my back to the televisual device, on which world cup football was being displayed, was the occasion of Auntie Helen's 40th. It was her 39th and so it is not the case that someone has forgotten to organise the World Cup this year.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Marco Stefano on 17 May, 2015, 02:50:17 pm
... you may as well carry on with exercise (sculling and cycle rides in my case) since you are going to be achy every day anyway.

Attempting the Couch to 5K running plan with historically multi-sprained ankles may not be one of my best middle-aged decisions [however, first paragraph then applies].

Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Tim Hall on 17 May, 2015, 03:13:55 pm
As "juvenile" is young and "senile" is old, it's obvious the middle aged is just "nile".
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: De Sisti on 17 May, 2015, 04:57:04 pm
You're older than your parents were when you left school.

Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hellymedic on 17 May, 2015, 05:53:39 pm
You're older than your parents were when you left school.

I passed that stage in 1998/2004...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Zipperhead on 18 May, 2015, 01:51:28 pm
As "juvenile" is young and "senile" is old, it's obvious the middle aged is just "nile".

I think you're denial, but that's a river in Africa.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Chris S on 18 May, 2015, 01:57:51 pm
I see nobody's yet mentioned the Special Invite and accompanying Free Gift you get from the NHS when you turn 55.

Standards on YACF are definitely slipping...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Polar Bear on 18 May, 2015, 02:03:28 pm
Should I look forward to this rare treat in 2018 or by then will this gubbishment have abolished any semblance of care and preventative medicine unless you have private subscription?
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hellymedic on 18 May, 2015, 02:08:02 pm
I see nobody's yet mentioned the Special Invite and accompanying Free Gift you get from the NHS when you turn 55.

Standards on YACF are definitely slipping...

I forgot about that!
It's nearly 2 years ago...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Wowbagger on 18 May, 2015, 02:21:01 pm
I see nobody's yet mentioned the Special Invite and accompanying Free Gift you get from the NHS when you turn 55.

Standards on YACF are definitely slipping...

We got those when we were 60. https://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=84314.msg1724498#msg1724498 refers.

Young people nowadays don't know they are born...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: pcolbeck on 18 May, 2015, 03:14:13 pm
Your kids finished his first year at Uni and you've just waved him off for his first job interview (for an internship this summer). Seems like five minutes ago he was clinging to my leg when I dropped him off at primary school.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Basil on 18 May, 2015, 03:39:08 pm
I see nobody's yet mentioned the Special Invite and accompanying Free Gift you get from the NHS when you turn 55.

Standards on YACF are definitely slipping...

We got those when we were 60. https://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=84314.msg1724498#msg1724498 refers.

Young people nowadays don't know they are born...

Yes great, isn't it?  I love it.  Tired of receiving shit through the post all my life, it felt good to reverse the process.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: The French Tandem on 11 June, 2015, 03:22:20 pm
When I left Montreal for Paris, some 16 years ago, I took one of my two custom-built racing bikes with me, and left the other there. My younger brother who lives in Montreal is now still riding this second bike. Last week the bike needed some maintenance, so my brother brought it to his LBS. The young mechanic that was there said: "Oh! What a nice vintage bike". I really regret I was not there to reply: "Young man, this is NOT a vintage bike. This is a bike I bought brand new". Well, it was over 25 years ago  :(
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Mr Larrington on 28 December, 2015, 01:25:11 pm
...Radio 3 plays three tracks from your determinedly non-classical music library in under twenty-four hours :-\
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Eccentrica Gallumbits on 28 December, 2015, 03:18:26 pm
You spend your Christmas money on a slow cooker and a Le Creuset pan.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 28 December, 2015, 03:32:16 pm
Your rheumatologist greets you in the street.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: RichForrest on 28 December, 2015, 04:59:15 pm
You google the MTB in the garage and the 1st search is from retrobike  ;D
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 28 December, 2015, 06:27:14 pm
Prompted by that, I've googled the bike I bought when I was 17. While the images are all of what I remember (with the 4th from, yes, retrobike and the 7th this very forum – GruB back in 2010) the results are all of a 20"-wheel children's mtb.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Morat on 31 December, 2015, 11:34:14 am
Dunno about the rest of youse but I used diligently to buy "Sounds" every week.  And sneer at the Trendies who read the NME.  And at the Saddoes who bought "Melody Maker".  And especially at the ["Removed after taking legal advice" - Ed.] "Record Mirror" buyers.

I did once buy a copy of "Smash Hits", unless it was "Flexi-Pop", but only because there was a Motörhead flexi-disc on the cover.

I've just been reminded that I used to save up and buy tapes in woolworths and whsmiths, and later CD's especially putting them on pre order. Now I just browse an app and get what I want, only occasionally I miss shuffling through racks in a shop trying to avoid the creepy old men in leather jackets.

The creepy old men in leather jackets were probably wishing someone would invent a way of buying music that didn't involve being made to feel like creepy old men by kids in music stores. Then BOOM - iTunes :)
(not that I use iTunes, I'm not creepy. Or old. Yet.)
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Ruthie on 17 January, 2016, 11:55:23 am
... you're trying to get ready for a wedding, and you need to do a sort of contortion act with your reading glasses to put your makeup on, and you're no longer flexible enough to do up the zip on the back of your dress, and you have to wait till you get there and discreetly ask a mate to do you up in the loo.

 ::-)


eta:  thus blowing your cover.  Because you're wearing control underwear underneath the dress.   :-[
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 17 January, 2016, 04:40:48 pm
I dunno, I reckon you can't be middle aged if you're young enough to "ask a mate to do you up in the loo"!  :o
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hellymedic on 17 January, 2016, 04:49:07 pm
I know I'm middle-aged; two of my younger siblings already have grandchildren and the next sibling will hopefully become a grandmother next month.

So now three younger siblings are grandparents and some of my former classmates have BIG grandchildren.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Ruthie on 03 February, 2016, 09:07:57 pm
... you get really annoyed by poorly punctuated tattoos on the unconscious people that you're looking after in the operating theatre.

Seriously people, spellcheck that tat and get someone to proofread it before you put it on your skin. It's not difficult.

What is difficult is resisting the urge to correct that shit with a biro before they wake up.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: mcshroom on 03 February, 2016, 09:08:51 pm
;D

Go on, you know you want to :demon:
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Redlight on 03 February, 2016, 09:13:15 pm
surely the definition of being middle aged is when you see someone with tattoos and think: aren't you a bit old to have those?
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Mrs Pingu on 03 February, 2016, 09:36:05 pm
... you get really annoyed by poorly punctuated tattoos on the unconscious people that you're looking after in the operating theatre.

Seriously people, spellcheck that tat and get someone to proofread it before you put it on your skin. It's not difficult.

What is difficult is resisting the urge to correct that shit with a biro before they wake up.

POTD!
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: benborp on 03 February, 2016, 11:01:21 pm
You're knackered because one of them refuses to go to bed at a reasonable hour, the younger one won't sleep through the night and the bed wetting is becoming a laundry logistics nightmare.

This is the parents.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Peter on 03 February, 2016, 11:59:38 pm
... you get really annoyed by poorly punctuated tattoos on the unconscious people that you're looking after in the operating theatre.

Seriously people, spellcheck that tat and get someone to proofread it before you put it on your skin. It's not difficult.

What is difficult is resisting the urge to correct that shit with a biro before they wake up.

A tattoo shop set up near us a couple of years ago.  A couple of weeks before they opened, they unveiled the sign: "Tattoo's".  I pointed this out to the owner in a friendly manner, thinking he might not want his victims to be put off.  He was either too thick to understand or knew perfectly well that his victims wouldn't know any better.  It's still there, unaltered, when all it would have taken was three square inches of paint.  B'erk.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 04 February, 2016, 08:27:39 am
I still find it mildly disgusting that a shop whose window proclaims TATTOOS in foot-high characters can actually flourish. Still, with a bit of luck hepatitis C and good old Darwin will prevail.

Apart from that old-fartish sentiment, my claim to codgerdom this morning is that I spent two days trying to find a 64 Gb Sandisk SD card I received earlier this week, only to find it by surprise in the equipment case I'd already looked in twice (ot was it thrice?), inside a mesh pocket made for SD cards but a good deal more opaque than I had appreciated.

Think I'll get CODGER tattooed on my forehead.

Or maybe not.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Mr Larrington on 04 February, 2016, 08:48:09 am
Seriously people, spellcheck that tat and get someone to proofread it before you put it on your skin. It's not difficult.

I suspect finding someone with the right combination of sobriety and literacy probably is thst difficult.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Legs on 04 February, 2016, 10:00:21 am
I suspect finding someone with the right combination of sobriety and literacy probably is thst difficult.
If I got a tattoo, it would be along the lines of "Spelling: is it really thst difficult?"  ;)
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: JBB on 08 February, 2016, 12:17:47 pm
On receipt of a free bus pass, isn't it?

The only good thing about increasing the pension age is I shall stay middle aged for longer!
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 15 February, 2016, 08:39:46 am
Making the Inlaw Paw's breakfast this morning, I folded a slice of mortadella and carefully plonked it down atop the marmalade already on one piece of toast, leaving the other bare.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: red marley on 15 February, 2016, 02:37:26 pm
A tattoo shop set up near us a couple of years ago.  A couple of weeks before they opened, they unveiled the sign: "Tattoo's".  I pointed this out to the owner in a friendly manner, thinking he might not want his victims to be put off.  He was either too thick to understand or knew perfectly well that his victims wouldn't know any better.  It's still there, unaltered, when all it would have taken was three square inches of paint.  B'erk.

You know when you're middle aged (or a member of YACF) when...

... you'd tune into a C4 doc called "Tattoo sign fixers"
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Redlight on 15 February, 2016, 03:20:42 pm
... you're trying to get ready for a wedding,

You know you're middle aged when you realise that you are going to more funerals than you ever did weddings
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hellymedic on 15 February, 2016, 03:39:39 pm
A couple of years ago my Mum complained I was going to too many funerals...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ian on 15 February, 2016, 06:35:07 pm
A couple of years ago my Mum complained I was going to too many funerals...

I've never been to a funeral. I'm may skip my own.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hellymedic on 16 February, 2016, 12:26:41 am
My siblings now have seven married children. I have not attended all the weddings. I am the oldest...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 26 February, 2016, 08:09:16 am
You know you're middle aged when you can't remember what it is your missus is currently Not Eating.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Hot Flatus on 26 February, 2016, 12:09:04 pm
At some point in the day you have to make a special trip to the toilet to give it a bit of a wipe
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Ruthie on 26 February, 2016, 02:54:01 pm
You look at the girl opposite you on the train, and in your head you're saying 'Pet, I was rocking the 'Fuckable Secretary' look when you were still a fetus.  I like my charity shop homeless person look, and one day so will you'.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Basil on 26 February, 2016, 03:29:22 pm
 ;D
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Canardly on 27 February, 2016, 10:41:28 am
You realise that no one under 30 could have seen the Live Aid concert.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ElyDave on 27 February, 2016, 01:29:26 pm
It's when the newsreaders say "you won't remember this unless you're of XXXX age", and these days more often than not I CAN remember it.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Peter on 27 February, 2016, 09:43:46 pm
That's ok.  It's when you're the requisite age and you CAN'T remember it that you've, that you've...... Hell, I've forgotten what I was going to say.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ElyDave on 12 March, 2016, 10:38:51 am
got to the shops today, did all the market bit, went to lock the bike up at Waitrose, no lock  :facepalm:

Luckily Ely is not a hotbed of crime
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Bledlow on 14 March, 2016, 11:39:28 pm
You realise that no one under 30 could have seen the Live Aid concert.
You realise how much the world has changed since you missed even knowing of the existence of the Band Aid single until after Christmas, due to being in the wrong country until then. Internet? What's that? Even to make a phone call home I had to go somewhere with international payphones, with a human being in charge.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: fuzzy on 15 March, 2016, 01:45:38 pm
....at room temperature, your testicles hang lower than the tip of your flaccid penis.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 15 March, 2016, 01:52:18 pm
You start looking at expensive kindling with 12 strings and thinking "must get one of those again, maybe my fingers'll loosen up".
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hatler on 15 March, 2016, 02:51:56 pm
One's travel insurance excludes one from wintersports activity because one is too old. (Blimey.)
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hellymedic on 15 March, 2016, 08:50:12 pm
My (younger) sister's fifth daughter is pregnant...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Morat on 21 March, 2016, 06:21:54 pm
When your assistant at work points at the fax machine lurking at the back of a cupboard and asks "What's that?" and it turns out that she has never even heard of a fax machine let alone any clue as to why they might have been useful, back in some dark time before universal Internet access and smart phones.

10 minutes later she got it completely in a "guess that's never coming up in the exam" way so common with yoof.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Morat on 21 March, 2016, 06:24:47 pm
when you post on the "You know you're middle aged when thread " and immediately think you'd better check all 7 pages to make sure you haven't been repeating yourself....
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Polar Bear on 21 March, 2016, 06:25:15 pm
....at room temperature, your testicles hang lower than the tip of your flaccid penis.

Thanks for making me feel like a teenager again fuzzy.   :thumbsup:
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Basil on 21 March, 2016, 07:26:36 pm
when you post on the "You know you're middle aged when thread " and immediately think you'd better check all 7 pages to make sure you haven't been repeating yourself....

Haven't you said that before? 

Actually, I'm the same.  I always worry about that.   So much so, that I've often not posted something 'just in case'
Imagine the wonderful, interesting stuff you've all been missing out on.  ;-)
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Polar Bear on 21 March, 2016, 07:49:54 pm
Don't worry Basil; you've simply forgotten that you've already posted it so we're not missing out.   :thumbsup:
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ian on 30 March, 2016, 10:07:39 am
Owing to crappy radio reception in the bedroom I have to tune to anything that makes a suitable level of noise to wake me in the morn (the buzzer is the sort of harsh sound that I imagine in any other circumstance would be used to herald the end of the world, not what I need at 8.30am, it's Wednesday, not God calling out the final judgements and we all know the Rapture will be on a Friday). This process of suitable radio signal acquisition is not improved by the fact that I live on the side of a steep valley and stations from the metropolis come and go and I'm really scared of Classic FM and Smooth. For every 10 seconds of classical music I have to scream for 20. As for Smooth, it's like narcolepsy. I could slip into coma and never wake up. Let's not even talk about about LBC.

But I made a bigger mistake. I found Radio 1. This, the internet informs me, is music for the younger generation. Sorry, 'music'. This is why I'm middle-aged, I'm now reduced to putting the word music in quotes. I did get through about 20 minutes this morning which solely consisted of terrible rap songs with singy choruses (come on, didn't that Eminem chap do that – better – when I was a lad) and unaccountably the dental drill screech of Whitney Houston, presuming echoing all the way from The Great Beyond. Or it could have simply been the collective screams of the tormented. How do you tell?

This means I've turned into my dad. Call this music? he'd say, and I'd run before he managed to manifest Celine Dion.

On the plus side, I'm still on that island of middling years were I don't have to listen to Adele, that warbling curse of the young and old, and generic shopping mall soporific.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Mr Larrington on 30 March, 2016, 10:50:55 am
Lt. Col. Larrington (retd.) and I have an agreement: I don't complain about him having Radio 3 on all day and he doesn't complain about anything I have playing in the motor-car.  Last year he was heard to comment favourably on both GY!BE and the tinklier bits of The Doors but I can't see him ever becoming a fan of The Stooges.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 30 March, 2016, 10:58:37 am
When people talk of "that Enema(??) chap" and you've heard the name but couldn't spell it, don't know what kind of stuff he sang (played), don't want to and would really rather listen to Chopin.

Played on the banjo.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 30 March, 2016, 02:09:39 pm
Owing to crappy radio reception in the bedroom I have to tune to anything that makes a suitable level of noise to wake me in the morn (the buzzer is the sort of harsh sound that I imagine in any other circumstance would be used to herald the end of the world, not what I need at 8.30am, it's Wednesday, not God calling out the final judgements and we all know the Rapture will be on a Friday). This process of suitable radio signal acquisition is not improved by the fact that I live on the side of a steep valley and stations from the metropolis come and go and I'm really scared of Classic FM and Smooth. For every 10 seconds of classical music I have to scream for 20. As for Smooth, it's like narcolepsy. I could slip into coma and never wake up. Let's not even talk about about LBC.

But I made a bigger mistake. I found Radio 1.

When I first moved to Canterbury, I illicitly spent a year living in my then partner's student room, on account of a general lack of alternatives.  Anyway, they had discovered a system for guaranteed wake-up that involved a loud clock-radio on the far side of the room, not quite tuned into Radio 1.  Nothing like the distorted tones of Craig David and Zoe Ball to get you out of bed in a hurry...   :hand:
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 30 March, 2016, 02:41:05 pm
I detest Classic FM. It plays a lot of nice music with nice presenters and it's very nice. It's like being locked in a National Trust tea room and force-fed scones till you vomit into a pseudo-Victorian tea towel. Unfortunately Mrs Cudzo likes it, though she does at least understand my objections. I do like Radio 3, though I don't like everything it plays. It has nice stuff and challenging stuff. I've never heard of Smooth and that's probably for the best. Radio 2 seems to have the exact same music and the same DJs that Radio 1 had when I was 15. My alarm clock is just a beep-beep-beep on my phone. That's what phones are for, surely?

Back on topic, I reckon that's grumpy enough to be middle aged, don't you?
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ian on 30 March, 2016, 03:50:20 pm
Classical music just ain't my thing. I'm not great at getting up in a morning, I like to rise slowly from the murky somnolent depths. Too quickly and I might get the mental equivalent of the bends. That requires the radio turned low and music that's mostly inoffensive. If it's something like classical, I just turn it off before ever actually surfacing. That's not a bad thing, because thought leadership is more contingent on tidy hair than being up before 10am. But still, sometimes I have important stuff to do. Feeding the cats. That sort of thing.

To be honest, all radio seems to suck. I try to get the thing that was XFM but it comes and goes from the bedroom. You can't listen to it for long because the playlist seems to consist of about six songs. I may just give up and use my iPhone like my wife.

I needed extra sleep last night because of poltergeists. Scared the Barney Fucking Pyjamas out of me. Huge thump in the night. My wife, bless her, had been tidying at the weekend. Stacked a metric fucktonne of cookery books on the shelf behind the fridge. A shelf screwed into sixty year old plaster. Took me till this lunchtime to discover the actual source of the noise, when I noticed Delia Smith looking mournfully up from beside the recycling bin.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ElyDave on 30 March, 2016, 04:13:38 pm
give me a klaxon or two any day, or everyday if you want me to get up.  Morning radio would just blend into general sleepiness.  Give me ALARM and I'm up and at 'em
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 30 March, 2016, 06:34:21 pm
give me a klaxon or two any day, or everyday if you want me to get up.  Morning radio would just blend into general sleepiness.  Give me ALARM and I'm up and at 'em

The vibrating bastard that wakes barakta has the advantage that it takes you from REM sleep to up and ready to fight off the zombie hoards in a fraction of a second.  Which is admittedly useful when you're expecting a parcel.  Personally, I've found that a gentle preamble in anticipation of horrid noises to come is enough to wake me up with a bit of practice, and on the odd occasion that I want to get up before her, I'll just use a normal beep-beep-beep on my phone.

Of course, you know you're middle-aged when you don't need an alarm to wake up before 10am.  That's even more unnatural than feeling tired at midnight.  Maybe I'll get used to it eventually, but feel free to shoot me if I ever turn into one of those sanctimonious morning people.   :hand:
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: SteveC on 30 March, 2016, 06:44:02 pm
Of course, you know you're middle-aged when you don't need an alarm to wake up before 10am.  That's even more unnatural than feeling tired at midnight.  Maybe I'll get used to it eventually, but feel free to shoot me if I ever turn into one of those sanctimonious morning people.   :hand:
Be careful. It may happen. Suddenly occurred to me a few years ago that I was much better at 'doing stuff' before lunch than I felt I ought to be.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ian on 30 March, 2016, 06:53:34 pm
Phew, I still have a hard time getting up before 10am (and can easily do noon). To be honest, there's not much point getting up before noon, I need a riot-control strength shower and IV coffee just to keep upright. I'm at most productive at precisely 2.37 am. I often wake people to tell them this.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Mr Larrington on 30 March, 2016, 07:12:35 pm
If being on the receiving end of Thought Leadership involves being woken up at audax o'clock by some tidy-haired gin addict then I for one am glad to be an unemployed layabout ;D
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Oscar's dad on 30 March, 2016, 07:31:52 pm
I've never been good at the sleep thing. I'm still trying to work out whether being middle aged is making the situation better or worse.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: TheLurker on 30 March, 2016, 07:33:59 pm
...someone posts a quote on a cycling forum describing Class 47 locomotives as being "heritage locomotives".  A class which you regard as being, if not cutting edge, moderately up to date.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Oscar's dad on 30 March, 2016, 07:41:14 pm
Was a Class 47 loco also known as a Brush 4?
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: TheLurker on 30 March, 2016, 07:48:23 pm
Was a Class 47 loco also known as a Brush 4?
Wikipaedia he say yes.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_Class_47
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Oscar's dad on 30 March, 2016, 07:58:46 pm
Well there we have it folks. Proof if proof were needed that I'm both middle aged and a saddo. I struggle to remember important stuff that happened yesterday but can still remember useless facts from my days as a school boy trainspotter.

Bothered?  Not in the least  ;D
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Asterix, the former Gaul. on 30 March, 2016, 08:39:17 pm
..it's too late.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ian on 30 March, 2016, 08:47:30 pm
Brain trauma is a good excuse for forgetting stuff. No one can argue. I was supposed to be where? When? Oh, did I mention my head. Look, scars. Yep, brain came right out. Doctors had to massage it like wagyu before putting it back in.

I genuinely can't remember four digit numbers, which is a ludicrously specific impediment.

There's probably other stuff but I can't remember forgetting it.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ElyDave on 30 March, 2016, 08:52:31 pm
give me a klaxon or two any day, or everyday if you want me to get up.  Morning radio would just blend into general sleepiness.  Give me ALARM and I'm up and at 'em

The vibrating bastard that wakes barakta has the advantage that it takes you from REM sleep to up and ready to fight off the zombie hoards in a fraction of a second.  Which is admittedly useful when you're expecting a parcel.  Personally, I've found that a gentle preamble in anticipation of horrid noises to come is enough to wake me up with a bit of practice, and on the odd occasion that I want to get up before her, I'll just use a normal beep-beep-beep on my phone.

Of course, you know you're middle-aged when you don't need an alarm to wake up before 10am.  That's even more unnatural than feeling tired at midnight.  Maybe I'll get used to it eventually, but feel free to shoot me if I ever turn into one of those sanctimonious morning people.   :hand:

 ;D ;D ;D

7am is late for me.  These days I tend to find myself anticipating the 6AM alarm by about ten minutes.

I'm also one of those annoying people that can regularly go to bed at midnight and then get up at 5am the next day
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: IanDG on 30 March, 2016, 11:21:49 pm
Reminiscence.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Tim Hall on 30 March, 2016, 11:52:33 pm

To be honest, all radio seems to suck. I try to get the thing that was XFM but it comes and goes from the bedroom. You can't listen to it for long because the playlist seems to consist of about six songs. I may just give up and use my iPhone like my wife.

Two things: Radio X - Chris Moyles. Just say no.
You have an iPhone like your wife, and by corollary, a wife like your iPhone? Blimey.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Mr Larrington on 31 March, 2016, 02:40:44 am
I genuinely can't remember four digit numbers, which is a ludicrously specific impediment.

Tell me your debit card's PIN and I'll remember it for you.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ian on 31 March, 2016, 07:20:36 am

To be honest, all radio seems to suck. I try to get the thing that was XFM but it comes and goes from the bedroom. You can't listen to it for long because the playlist seems to consist of about six songs. I may just give up and use my iPhone like my wife.

Two things: Radio X - Chris Moyles. Just say no.
You have an iPhone like your wife, and by corollary, a wife like your iPhone? Blimey.

I forget this is the home of the truly, madly, deeply pedantic. Like my wife does. She is admittedly a reliable alarm clock as she bounces around the house like an elephant on a pogo stick at 6.30am. Heels and hardwood floors, percussion for the middle classes. She may as well crank up some industrial metal to 11 and be done with it.

Chris Moyles isn't actually as bad as I had expected. I know, I just wrote that. He turns into Vernon Kay mid-morning. I know nothing about Vernon, expect he seems incredibly nice to everyone. I'd like to introduce him to my gran. Actually, that might work out wrong as she's dead. Sounds a bit threatening. Sorry Vern.

I genuinely can't remember four digit numbers, which is a ludicrously specific impediment.

Tell me your debit card's PIN and I'll remember it for you.

I have to store them in my phone (though my wife does remember them). I'd write them on the card in indelible ink but it's no help when they disappear inside the machine.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 31 March, 2016, 07:44:31 am
I invent mnemonics, usually scurrilous, wherein either the number of letters in each word or the position of its initial letter in the alphabet yields the code.  Of course I'm not going to tell you any.

Napoleon helps too.  He listed the French départements in alphabetical order and numbered them accordingly. A 4-digit PIN then becomes two départements - an old one of mine was Nord Alsace: the Nord is 59 and northern Alsace - the Bas-Rhin - is 67.

I think I've already mentioned* that I'd love to put a sign on an ATM reading "This machine has been upgraded to use vocal recognition.  Please speak your PIN loudly and clearly."  I bet you'd catch a good few.

*and that's another sign.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Eccentrica Gallumbits on 31 March, 2016, 07:48:19 am
Ian, why not just scratch your PIN onto the nearest cashpoint?
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ian on 31 March, 2016, 07:56:43 am
Ian, why not just scratch your PIN onto the nearest cashpoint?

That would be an idea, but I'm a bit random with cashpoints. I was thinking of doing a schoolyard tattoo, carving them into my forearm with a compass point and soaking in some blue fountain pen ink.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hellymedic on 31 March, 2016, 01:34:39 pm
I genuinely can't remember four digit numbers, which is a ludicrously specific impediment.

Tell me your debit card's PIN and I'll remember it for you.

Weird business that; I find memorising strings of digits easy whilst resident Toy Boy cannot do this.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ElyDave on 31 March, 2016, 01:51:18 pm
Ian, why not just scratch your PIN onto the nearest cashpoint?

That would be an idea, but I'm a bit random with cashpoints. I was thinking of doing a schoolyard tattoo, carving them into my forearm with a compass point and soaking in some blue fountain pen ink.

Or change your name to 4593
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: billplumtree on 31 March, 2016, 01:59:20 pm
7am is late for me.  These days I tend to find myself anticipating the 6AM alarm by about ten minutes.

In which case you may as well set your alarm for 0545 and enjoy Farming Today, like wot I do.  Apart from bike commute days, when it's 0500 and the World Service (the real one, not R4).

I sometimes worry I'm heading towards nocturnal.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: red marley on 31 March, 2016, 02:11:53 pm
Or change your name to 4593

He already has, but had forgotten.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: essexian on 31 March, 2016, 03:08:33 pm
.... when you work out how many working days it will be until you retire...... 2 506 days.

And yes, I am counting.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: citoyen on 31 March, 2016, 03:29:04 pm
I detest Classic FM. It plays a lot of nice music with nice presenters and it's very nice. It's like being locked in a National Trust tea room and force-fed scones till you vomit into a pseudo-Victorian tea towel. Unfortunately Mrs Cudzo likes it, though she does at least understand my objections. I do like Radio 3, though I don't like everything it plays. It has nice stuff and challenging stuff. I've never heard of Smooth and that's probably for the best. Radio 2 seems to have the exact same music and the same DJs that Radio 1 had when I was 15. My alarm clock is just a beep-beep-beep on my phone. That's what phones are for, surely?

Back on topic, I reckon that's grumpy enough to be middle aged, don't you?

I used to like the Radio 3 breakfast show until they decided there weren't enough Classic FMs in the world and roped in Petroc Fucking Trelawney and the awful Clemency Burton-Hill to bring it properly downmarket. I don't care what other Radio 3 listeners think about anything, I just want to listen to the nice tunes. FFS.  >:(
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: clarion on 31 March, 2016, 04:17:26 pm
Chris Moyles isn't actually as bad as I had expected. I know, I just wrote that. He turns into Vernon Kay mid-morning. I know nothing about Vernon, expect he seems incredibly nice to everyone. I'd like to introduce him to my gran. Actually, that might work out wrong as she's dead. Sounds a bit threatening. Sorry Vern.

If you are keeping up with the gossip columns, it appears that Mr Kay is currently a bit over friendly with a Page 3 model by the name of Rhian, who is engaged to someone else.  Mr Kay is famously(ish) married to Strictly darling Tess Daly (tho perhaps not for very much longer).

Not sure I'd want to introduce my gran, sister, mother, auntie or any woman to Vernon.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ian on 31 March, 2016, 04:35:28 pm
Chris Moyles isn't actually as bad as I had expected. I know, I just wrote that. He turns into Vernon Kay mid-morning. I know nothing about Vernon, expect he seems incredibly nice to everyone. I'd like to introduce him to my gran. Actually, that might work out wrong as she's dead. Sounds a bit threatening. Sorry Vern.

If you are keeping up with the gossip columns, it appears that Mr Kay is currently a bit over friendly with a Page 3 model by the name of Rhian, who is engaged to someone else.  Mr Kay is famously(ish) married to Strictly darling Tess Daly (tho perhaps not for very much longer).

Not sure I'd want to introduce my gran, sister, mother, auntie or any woman to Vernon.

I am sadly unacquainted with any of these people (#wowbagger). I've never heard of a Rhian. I think there's a St Rhian, not sure what he's the patron saint of of, probably Custard Creams. I've never even seen Strictly either. I have sat through a couple of episodes of Nigeria's Got Talent. It truly does though I'm minded they should hang onto it.

I reckon my gran could handle him. When she was alive, though if she came back as some kind of zombie-gran, I reckon he'd still have plenty on his plate, though admittedly of a less favourable variety.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 31 March, 2016, 04:39:08 pm
So she's still on TV? Oh, that was Nigeria. I thought you said Nigella's Got Talent.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Clare on 31 March, 2016, 04:41:33 pm
Not sure I'd want to introduce my gran, sister, mother, auntie or any woman to Vernon.

That's a bit harsh, I mean I know he's an engineer and all that but he can talk to people if encouraged and he's certainly never been a problem to my mum.

Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: iddu on 31 March, 2016, 04:55:49 pm

To be honest, all radio seems to suck. I try to get the thing that was XFM but it comes and goes from the bedroom. You can't listen to it for long because the playlist seems to consist of about six songs. I may just give up and use my iPhone like my wife.

Two things: Radio X - Chris Moyles. Just say no.
You have an iPhone like your wife, and by corollary, a wife like your iPhone? Blimey.

I forget this is the home of the truly, madly, deeply pedantic. Like my wife does. She is admittedly a reliable alarm clock as she bounces around the house like an elephant on a pogo stick at 6.30am. Heels and hardwood floors, percussion for the middle classes. She may as well crank up some industrial metal to 11 and be done with it.

Chris Moyles isn't actually as bad as I had expected. I know, I just wrote that. He turns into Vernon Kay mid-morning. I know nothing about Vernon, expect he seems incredibly nice to everyone. I'd like to introduce him to my gran. Actually, that might work out wrong as she's dead. Sounds a bit threatening. Sorry Vern.

I genuinely can't remember four digit numbers, which is a ludicrously specific impediment.

Tell me your debit card's PIN and I'll remember it for you.

I have to store them in my phone (though my wife does remember them). I'd write them on the card in indelible ink but it's no help when they disappear inside the machine.

Perm any four from the card number - always to hand, as long as your (very) short-term memory isn't buggered and you have to keep ejecting the card from the ATM/reader...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Oscar's dad on 31 March, 2016, 06:02:04 pm
Not sure I'd want to introduce my gran, sister, mother, auntie or any woman to Vernon.

That's a bit harsh, I mean I know he's an engineer and all that but he can talk to people if encouraged and he's certainly never been a problem to my mum.

Hang on I'm confused, you mean to tell me that you're Tess Daly off the telly?
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ian on 31 March, 2016, 06:10:08 pm
So she's still on TV? Oh, that was Nigeria. I thought you said Nigella's Got Talent.

Yeah, definitely Nigeria, the contestants were more ebullient than even Nigella manages after falling nose first into the, erm, icing sugar.

I didn't particularly want to watch it, but men in khaki with machine guns made escape impossible.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: orraloon on 31 March, 2016, 09:45:11 pm
On the plus side, I'm still on that island of middling years were I don't have to listen to Adele, that warbling curse of the young and old, and generic shopping mall soporific.

On a POI Mr Speaker, Adele does not "warble".  Belt it out like an old school diva without that attitude, yes.  Warble?  Nah.  Saw her last night at the NEC, like well good innit.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ElyDave on 31 March, 2016, 10:47:57 pm
beg to differ, definitely a warbler

especially when matched up against some 70s stalwarts like Sir Elton who doesn't know anything other than the loud pedal, or Led ZEP, or Meat Loaf - they're the fellas to "belt it out"
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Tim Hall on 31 March, 2016, 11:51:07 pm

I am sadly unacquainted with any of these people (#wowbagger). I've never heard of a Rhian. I think there's a St Rhian, not sure what he's the patron saint of of, probably Custard Creams. I've never even seen Strictly either.

A couple of years ago when I was staying at my grate frend Nic's house, I was persuaded to watch Strictly. His mother, who sadly was in the early stages of Alzheimer's, was also watching it. People danced, music played. End credits rolled.

"Well" said his mother "it is a load of bollocks isn't it."
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Tigerrr on 01 April, 2016, 07:15:44 am
I am going to Cropredy festival. It is specially for people of my generation. THe last festival I can recall was Reading 1976.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ian on 01 April, 2016, 10:11:09 am
 I think old people go to Festivals these days. The average age of the audience at Glastonbury is now 58.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Oscar's dad on 01 April, 2016, 10:19:29 am
I think old people go to Festivals these days. The average age of the audience at Glastonbury is now 58.

We're going to a Sausage & Cider festival in May.  3 nights camping too!
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: clarion on 01 April, 2016, 10:21:29 am
I think old people go to Festivals these days. The average age of the audience at Glastonbury is now 58.
http://www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk/glastonbury-2016-line-up-so-far/

Adele
Coldplay
Muse
Beck
ELO
Earth Wind & Fire
Guy Garvey
Sigur Ros
Madness
St Etienne
ZZ Top
New Order

QED.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ian on 01 April, 2016, 10:23:00 am
Well, who under the age of forty, is going to sleep in a tent? It's against their human rights innit.

In worrying news, I'm old enough to remember Rolf Harris at Glastonbury (well, he's taken the shine off that performance) and the sheer mass of flying piss bottles at Reading. It's probably all chai lattes and defibrillators these days.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Oscar's dad on 01 April, 2016, 10:41:25 am
I think old people go to Festivals these days. The average age of the audience at Glastonbury is now 58.

We're going to a Sausage & Cider festival in May.  3 nights camping too!

Local bands will be playing, no national names.  The line up includes a Prodigy tribute band which should be interesting!  I wonder if they'll open their set with "BBQ starter"? 

A member The Prodigy (the real band) used to own a converted windmill in Terling which is just down the road from here.


 
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Mr Larrington on 01 April, 2016, 10:56:57 am
I think old people go to Festivals these days. The average age of the audience at Glastonbury is now 58.
http://www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk/glastonbury-2016-line-up-so-far/

Adele
Coldplay
Muse
Beck
ELO
Earth Wind & Fire
Guy Garvey
Sigur Ros
Madness
St Etienne
ZZ Top
New Order

QED.

I'd like, totes, be up for that if Coldplay had to pull out at the last minute due to their drummer suffering a bizarre gardening accident and Adele was replaced by a singer ;D

Oh.  Apparently it's not an April Fool.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: citoyen on 01 April, 2016, 03:15:10 pm
In worrying news, I'm old enough to remember Rolf Harris at Glastonbury (well, he's taken the shine off that performance) and the sheer mass of flying piss bottles at Reading. It's probably all chai lattes and defibrillators these days.

I remember when Reading was a proper RAWK festival - though not because I actually attended in those days. We were on the way to visit my aunt & co who lived nearby and we drove past a pub that had hairy oiks spilling out into the road, slowing traffic to a crawl. One charming young gent dropped his leather breeches and perked his hirsute behind on our car bonnet, to which my mum responded by revving loudly and starting to move the car forward... You have never seen a rocker pull up his pants and leg it so fast. His mates all found it highly amusing.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ian on 01 April, 2016, 03:49:15 pm
The thing at Reading was to fill a two litre plastic bottle with piss and send it spinning through the air, thus liberally dousing the crowds below with your golden output. I was terrified. There was a brief moment when you didn't want to smell like wee. And then it all became moot.

First time at Glastonbury I popped my head out of the tent one morning to see a girl doing a piss right there. Skirt up, knickers down, full on and going for glory. I have no idea why though I rather wished she wasn't (that kind of thing isn't my thing, trust me). The shock of my appearance made her fall back in the mud mid-stream. I'm not sure which of us was most traumatised by the experience, but fortunately only the one of us suffered the indignity of lying in the mud spraying piss over ourselves. I bet she wished she had independent targeting control about then. She stumbled off, knickers half mast. Or slithered, owing to the fact everything was already six inch deep in mud. There was no classy escape from that situation.

I imagine it's all very civilised these days. I'm too old for all night sound systems. I'm too old for all night anything.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Tim Hall on 01 April, 2016, 04:09:34 pm

I imagine it's all very civilised these days. I'm too old for all night sound systems. I'm too old for all night anything.
I have outlived my youthfulness
so a quiet life for me
Where once
I used to scintillate
Now I sin
Till ten
Past three

Roger McGough
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hellymedic on 01 April, 2016, 05:43:28 pm
I am going to Cropredy festival. It is specially for people of my generation. THe last festival I can recall was Reading 1976.

We'll be thinking of David's schoolmate James Aldridge (1964-2015) when you go...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: pcolbeck on 01 April, 2016, 05:59:47 pm
The only time I went to Reading was sometime in the 80s. It was pissing down and the Suzuki 550 me and my mate we going from York on developed a damp coil and so limped the last 80 miles on two cylinders on and off. We got the tent up and a couple of Glaswegian skinheads immediately flattened it. We were in a really bad mood by then and that was the last straw so we punched out the two skinheads much to the appreciation of those in the surrounding tents (the skinheads had been drunkenly annoying and threatening everyone for several hours before we arrived). Strangely after we had planted them the skinheads decided we were their best friends and wanted to hang around with us all weekend. Cant even remember what bands we saw now.

I worked security at the Elephant Fayre one year, that was nice, mellow and really hot.

The last Stonehenge festival was an experience !

Glastonbury in the early 90s was OK.

I most enjoyed the Kent Custom Show in the late 80s and early 90s though. That was a Hells Angels bike and music festival.

Haven't been to a festival for years now. Keep thinking about giving Cropperdy or the Cambridge Folk Festival a go though.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Torslanda on 02 April, 2016, 02:02:41 am
Christ! You lot are really selling this camping lark...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hatler on 02 April, 2016, 09:27:47 am
First time at Glastonbury I popped my head out of the tent one morning to see a girl doing a piss right there. Skirt up, knickers down, full on and going for glory. I have no idea why though I rather wished she wasn't (that kind of thing isn't my thing, trust me). The shock of my appearance made her fall back in the mud mid-stream. I'm not sure which of us was most traumatised by the experience, but fortunately only the one of us suffered the indignity of lying in the mud spraying piss over ourselves. I bet she wished she had independent targeting control about then. She stumbled off, knickers half mast. Or slithered, owing to the fact everything was already six inch deep in mud. There was no classy escape from that situation.

'84 ?
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Polar Bear on 02 April, 2016, 10:16:09 am
You know you're middle aged when ...


 ... the neighbour with whom you are discussing the water leak issue who looks ten years older than you turns out to be a year younger than you.   
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 02 April, 2016, 01:32:29 pm
Christ! You lot are really selling this camping lark...

That's not camping, that's festivals.  Totally different tent-related badger.   :hand:
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: citoyen on 02 April, 2016, 05:51:26 pm
You know you are both middle aged and middle class when you spend your Saturday afternoon visiting National Trust properties. And you are a NT member, of course. And you take a flask of tea.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: orienteer on 03 April, 2016, 02:09:06 pm
I didn't admit to being middle-aged until reaching 50, when I realised I must be at least halfway.

Two decades later I'm happy to remain so  ;D
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Mr Larrington on 03 April, 2016, 04:47:58 pm
A chum was showing off pictures of the kit car he's building.  Lotus Se7en-alike, 650 kg, Ford-Cosworth YB with the wick turned up to give 730 bhp :o  Now that's an MLC toy!
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Jurek on 03 April, 2016, 05:11:06 pm
A chum was showing off pictures of the kit car he's building.  Lotus Se7en-alike, 650 kg, Ford-Cosworth YB with the wick turned up to give 730 bhp :o  Now that's an MLC toy!
That's rather un-gentlemanly, and un-sportsmanlike of you to inform us of such, without any apparent attempt to share pictures of the same.
If you don't mind my saying so.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Jaded on 03 April, 2016, 07:18:28 pm
At the Reading festivals I went to urine wasn't thrown towards the front, it was given, hopefully, to those who were walking to the side of the arena. In Party Seven tins.

At one of the festivals we had a lovely plastic ground sheet that we sat on and then one of our party threw up on. We simply got a knife out and cut it in half, leaving the festival pizza on the remaining part, and finding another spot.

I know I'm middle aged because I don't do that any more.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Mr Larrington on 03 April, 2016, 07:31:54 pm
A chum was showing off pictures of the kit car he's building.  Lotus Se7en-alike, 650 kg, Ford-Cosworth YB with the wick turned up to give 730 bhp :o  Now that's an MLC toy!
That's rather un-gentlemanly, and un-sportsmanlike of you to inform us of such, without any apparent attempt to share pictures of the same.
If you don't mind my saying so.

It's not mine, y'know...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Jurek on 03 April, 2016, 07:55:29 pm
A chum was showing off pictures of the kit car he's building.  Lotus Se7en-alike, 650 kg, Ford-Cosworth YB with the wick turned up to give 730 bhp :o  Now that's an MLC toy!
That's rather un-gentlemanly, and un-sportsmanlike of you to inform us of such, without any apparent attempt to share pictures of the same.
If you don't mind my saying so.

It's not mine, y'know...
Of course.
I know.
 ;)
Was just hoping.....for some pics...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: tom_e on 03 April, 2016, 08:18:54 pm
Christ! You lot are really selling this camping lark...

That's not camping, that's festivals.  Totally different tent-related badger.   :hand:

Definitely this.  I love camping, but was once conviced against my better judgement to go to a festival in the middle of a camping holiday in Wales once.  It was supposed to be a decent family friendly one too.  Utter shithole.  Bears no resemblance to camping as most normally experience it.  Different strokes for different folks, but they have about as much in common as riding a bike and driving a car because you do both on the road.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 03 April, 2016, 09:28:18 pm
Exactly.  While camping *can* be done in ways that necessitate unconventional arrangements for the disposal of urine, it tends not to come as an unwelcome public surprise.    :sick:

(You know you're middle aged when this sort of thing starts to creep up your list of priorities.)
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ian on 04 April, 2016, 05:19:48 am
First time at Glastonbury I popped my head out of the tent one morning to see a girl doing a piss right there. Skirt up, knickers down, full on and going for glory. I have no idea why though I rather wished she wasn't (that kind of thing isn't my thing, trust me). The shock of my appearance made her fall back in the mud mid-stream. I'm not sure which of us was most traumatised by the experience, but fortunately only the one of us suffered the indignity of lying in the mud spraying piss over ourselves. I bet she wished she had independent targeting control about then. She stumbled off, knickers half mast. Or slithered, owing to the fact everything was already six inch deep in mud. There was no classy escape from that situation.

'84 ?

Nope, probably mid-to-late 90s. I remember one was apocalyptically muddy. People sank and were never seen again. It made the First World War look like a weekend at Butlins. Bono spontaneously formed a celebrity charity to help those afflicted. Another time the sun came out. And stayed out. People were running around in flames like vampires in search of factor 1000. A bottle of Ambre Solaire got you anything. Drugs. Toilet paper. Sex. The US presidency.

To explain Ms Wee-a-lot, she was in the tent next door and I guess really, really needed to go. Well I suppose she demonstrated that. She was actually quite attractive but once you've seen the object of your desire lie in the mud and piss on themselves, it's one of those images that stick and no amount of mental cleansing, tight tops and short skirts can shift.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Torslanda on 04 April, 2016, 09:23:58 am
Some people like that sort of thing. There are websites.

I'm told...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: citoyen on 04 April, 2016, 09:39:05 am
Some people like that sort of thing. There are websites.

I'm told...

Rule 34 applies.

I had a similar experience on an audax last year - rounding a bend on a short, steep climb, I encountered a young lady who had been caught short while out for a walk in the country. She had her back to me so didn't realise at first, until I bid her a cheery good afternoon. Luckily for her, she didn't fall over in the mud.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ian on 04 April, 2016, 10:22:38 am
It actually got worse, after that event I decided to go empty myself. Given the queue for the official loo, I hopped across to a more leafy unofficial toilet. Around the hedgerow I go, quickly completing the pre-pee checklist and, well, I guess it's just more difficult to be subtle you're female. Either that or as a man I'm used to just pissing everywhere and anywhere. We're just walking talking mobile power washers. Excuse me she says. It probably wouldn't have been so bad had the momentary surprise not frozen me in position with my hand thrust deep inside my trousers. Not one of my better moments. It might have been several seconds. Possibly a minute or two.

The other year we surprised a cyclist on Ranmore Common engaging in the same activity (about ten metres away there are trees, and not sure why she was advertising her activity to the entire bear-fearing population of Surrey). I probable don't need to tell you that there's no quick way to get back into all that Lycra. So we stole her bike. (Ok I didn't, but I could have been in Dorking before she'd redressed).
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: clarion on 04 April, 2016, 11:51:47 am
Shewees are a great invention.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Mrs Pingu on 04 April, 2016, 03:00:30 pm
On that note, if you're out on a ride and you see a chap stopped with an extra bike beside him, don't bloody well stand there engaging him in conversation facing into the trees, because his lady companion is trying to pee within earshot!

Sometimes when we're heading up alpine passes I don't get the benefit of as much cover as I'd like.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Oscar's dad on 05 April, 2016, 08:18:15 am
The Current Mrs R doesn't go cycling as often as I'd like but when she does the trips are rarely without incident. A couple of years back she was caught short one evening, it was dark, she was wearing hi-vis. She thought she had hidden herself well until a car came round the corner and lit up her hi-vis. I laughed quite a lot  ;D
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 05 April, 2016, 10:19:37 am
YKYMAW the attractive young nurse helping you get ready for an examination asks if you need help to get undressed.

Judgement: old buffer; threat level: zero. :(
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: billplumtree on 05 April, 2016, 01:19:28 pm
YKYMAW the attractive young nurse helping you get ready for an examination asks if you need help to get undressed.

Judgement: old buffer; threat level: zero. :(

Or mebbes just a widely-deployed patient-deflating strategy, to avoid letting any of em get any ideas? 
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Ruthie on 05 April, 2016, 02:02:06 pm
Or maybe difficulties in mobility aren't always obvious, so it's kindest to ask everyone, just in case?
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: mrcharly-YHT on 05 April, 2016, 05:55:40 pm
Or maybe difficulties in mobility aren't always obvious, so it's kindest to ask everyone, just in case?
This

Busting up arm aside, if I'm attending hospital atm, it is for an invisible illness that renders me sometimes really stupid and uncoordinated. I may not need help but the offer needs to be made.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hellymedic on 20 April, 2016, 05:41:26 pm
Chris Boardman becomes a grandfather and you realise how much older you are...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Redlight on 20 April, 2016, 08:57:55 pm
You start getting mailshots from charities suggesting that you might like to leave them something in your will.

(2 this week)
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hellymedic on 20 April, 2016, 10:53:43 pm
CTC sent me these every Christmas over a decade ago.
They seem to have stopped.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: TheLurker on 21 April, 2016, 08:06:32 pm
You get to the top of a fairly unremarkable hill (today) that never bothered you before and find that you are panting.  :(

Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 22 April, 2016, 08:40:30 am
People you never paid any attention to start dying and you realize that you never did get round to distinguishing their music from the general background cacophony.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Andrew on 22 April, 2016, 08:48:33 am
Something that might once have wound you up now makes you feel just a bit miffed and you think 'nah, let it go, not worth the bother'

Brexit.... whatever.  ;)
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 22 April, 2016, 10:49:39 am
When you phone up your sister to wish her a happy birthday and you can't remember WTF you sent her.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Torslanda on 23 April, 2016, 08:16:28 am
That's  Alzheimer's...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Jaded on 23 April, 2016, 08:25:55 am
When you think you should get a suitable box to keep things tidy in the boot of the car.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 23 April, 2016, 10:34:36 am
That's  Alzheimer's...

Perfectly possible: my Dad died of it at n+4 where n is my current age. But sport and learning new stuff is supposed to stave it off.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Canardly on 27 April, 2016, 08:46:15 am
Aches have pains.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: rogerzilla on 27 April, 2016, 06:11:34 pm
You stop worrying about whether everything in your body works perfectly and just be thankful that it works at all.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Ruthie on 28 April, 2016, 07:31:00 am
You read your Facebook news feed and worry that Kid Rock's PA had an awful accident with Anglian Television. 
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: rafletcher on 28 April, 2016, 09:27:29 am
When you have to trim nose and ear hair more frequently than head hair.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: andrewc on 29 April, 2016, 08:52:40 am
I forgot Monday was a Bank Holiday:-(
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 29 April, 2016, 09:15:18 am
You read your Facebook news feed and worry that Kid Rock's PA had an awful accident with Anglian Television.

Double-take: at first I read that as Anglican Television.  Visions of vicar intoning "holier than thou" to the goggling masses.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Si S on 29 April, 2016, 09:24:30 am
You read your Facebook news feed and worry that Kid Rock's PA had an awful accident with Anglian Television.

Double-take: at first I read that as Anglican Television.  Visions of vicar intoning "holier than thou" to the goggling masses.

Then the thunderflashes go off and the vicar launches into the moshpit*

Reference to popular beat combo m'lud
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Morat on 02 May, 2016, 11:05:37 pm
Your wife buys her first pair if reading glasses.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 03 May, 2016, 10:22:26 am
You can remember the time when speech on telephones wasn't distorted.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Bledlow on 03 May, 2016, 11:40:27 am
When was that? Old analogue landlines were very distorted. The frequency cut-offs forced it.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 03 May, 2016, 12:46:22 pm
Yeah.  I do however remember when telephones had sidetone, there wasn't a GSM codec throwing away most of the information, and - most importantly - people took phone calls seriously (making them from a quiet room, giving you more than 10 seconds to answer, speaking at an appropriate speed when making recorded messages, etc).

That said, the crappiness of modern telephones seems like a small price to pay for the fact that we no longer have to rely on voice calls for most purposes.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 03 May, 2016, 03:18:51 pm
Yeah.  I do however remember when telephones had sidetone, there wasn't a GSM codec throwing away most of the information, and - most importantly - people took phone calls seriously (making them from a quiet room, giving you more than 10 seconds to answer, speaking at an appropriate speed when making recorded messages, etc).

That said, the crappiness of modern telephones seems like a small price to pay for the fact that we no longer have to rely on voice calls for most purposes.

Maybe. This morning I was talking to the bunch who pay the Inlaw Paw's pension, and they sounded as if they were talking down a drainpipe full of steel wool that someone was shaking. It wasn't just one maladjusted mike at the other end, either, I spoke to a couple of different folk and they both sounded like terminal smokers.

Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 03 May, 2016, 06:02:48 pm
One of the great things about modern VOIP technology is that it's cheaper than ever to outfit an entire call centre with barely functional telecoms systems.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: rogerzilla on 03 May, 2016, 07:41:52 pm
HR do a presentation explaining the differences between Generation X, Generation Y and millennials and you realise you are in the oldest group.  OK, they also mentioned the baby boomers, but I think they've all retired from our place.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Legs on 01 June, 2016, 10:41:01 am
I cricked my neck a fortnight ago and it's still paining me.  I'm only 34... :-\
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 01 June, 2016, 10:49:04 am
Accents you're used to have moved on in your absence.  I used to be perfectly at home with the accents in and around London, but when I phone anywhere there now I have difficulty making out what they're saying.

This applies to Paris as well.  My daughter studied linguistics at university, and told us that over the last 30+ years the Parisian accent has taken on overtones of N. African.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hellymedic on 01 June, 2016, 12:29:14 pm
Accents you're used to have moved on in your absence.  I used to be perfectly at home with the accents in and around London, but when I phone anywhere there now I have difficulty making out what they're saying.

This applies to Paris as well.  My daughter studied linguistics at university, and told us that over the last 30+ years the Parisian accent has taken on overtones of N. African.

Tell me about it!
I am one of the 'kiddies' in this newsreel film https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjUFNlqBTvw (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjUFNlqBTvw) (white hairband, pushing a car from 0.27-0.29) and the commentator's speech would have seemed 'normal' then...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Mr Larrington on 01 June, 2016, 01:05:06 pm
Accents you're used to have moved on in your absence.  I used to be perfectly at home with the accents in and around London, but when I phone anywhere there now I have difficulty making out what they're saying.

This applies to Paris as well.  My daughter studied linguistics at university, and told us that over the last 30+ years the Parisian accent has taken on overtones of N. African.

What's the French word for "Jafaican"?  Bruv.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hellymedic on 06 February, 2017, 10:10:54 pm
... when you buy yourself a blood pressure monitor. I bought one online today!

I bought one online a few years ago after a visit to my GP showed a high reading.

It NEVER happened at home.

These devices are VERY cheap nowadays. Well worth the cash IMO.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Phil W on 06 February, 2017, 10:29:47 pm
You no longer care what others think of your choices.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Asterix, the former Gaul. on 07 February, 2017, 07:15:19 am
... when you buy yourself a blood pressure monitor. I bought one online today!

I bought one online a few years ago after a visit to my GP showed a high reading.

It NEVER happened at home.

These devices are VERY cheap nowadays. Well worth the cash IMO.

A friend has bought one, also because visiting the GP invariably raises their blood pressure.  It's some kind of tropism. 
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Chris S on 07 February, 2017, 09:30:47 am
My BP is always higher at the GPs, because I ride there.

It also makes me popular when I donate blood, as I'm all done in under 3 minutes  :thumbsup:.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: phantasmagoriana on 07 February, 2017, 11:26:10 am
HR do a presentation explaining the differences between Generation X, Generation Y and millennials and you realise you are in the oldest group.  OK, they also mentioned the baby boomers, but I think they've all retired from our place.

I thought Gen Y and millennials were one and the same?

(I'm right on the boundary of X/Y, depending on whose definition is being used!)
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: barakta on 07 February, 2017, 11:45:37 am
I'm also on the Gen X and Y boundary.

I would distinguish between someone born in early 198x and someone born after 1990 or 1995 which modern definitions don't differentiate. I had originally thought millenials were those born after 1990 or 1995.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 07 February, 2017, 12:49:22 pm
Also on the boundary (I remember Challenger), I think I have more in common with Gen X than Y.

Barakta, although only a few months younger, has very Gen-Yish cultural references, on account of her deafness.

'Millenials' seems to be used sloppily, referring to either Gen Y, Z or Y+Z depending on context.


I would distinguish between someone born in early 198x and someone born after 1990 or 1995 which modern definitions don't differentiate. I had originally thought millenials were those born after 1990 or 1995.

Those are Generations Y and Z respectively.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: mrcharly-YHT on 07 February, 2017, 01:46:42 pm
I think 'gen x' definition is too broad and a bit ridiculous.

Those born in the 60s like me had teenage/youthful years when quartz watches were a novelty, a sony walkman cassette player was the height of tech cool. Computers and suchlike didn't come into it. They scarcely appeared in movies. Direct telephone dialing from the UK to Australia was set up when I was about 6. Before then it was manually switched by the international operator and frequently you had to wait for a line.

The change happened sometime in the 70s.

People born in the 80s were going to school surrounded by tech, a computerised world. The internet appeared by the time they were 20. Everything was changing.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 07 February, 2017, 01:50:40 pm
Agreed.  But they're all a bit ridiculous anyway.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Morat on 22 February, 2017, 11:21:39 pm
Accents you're used to have moved on in your absence.  I used to be perfectly at home with the accents in and around London, but when I phone anywhere there now I have difficulty making out what they're saying.

This applies to Paris as well.  My daughter studied linguistics at university, and told us that over the last 30+ years the Parisian accent has taken on overtones of N. African.

Tell me about it!
I am one of the 'kiddies' in this newsreel film https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjUFNlqBTvw (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjUFNlqBTvw) (white hairband, pushing a car from 0.27-0.29) and the commentator's speech would have seemed 'normal' then...

"A spare two acre site in Camden that no-one wanted" - that seems to date the clip as much as anything else :)
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ElyDave on 22 February, 2017, 11:29:17 pm
I'm definitely gen X, which is ace as I also used to work for department X
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Torslanda on 23 February, 2017, 02:12:18 am
"Is Vic there...?"
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ian on 23 February, 2017, 07:52:02 am
I suppose what makes me feel old (seventies child) is periodically having to explain the world before technology to younger people and watch their expression go through surprised to astounded to horrified.

I had to explain the other day that we once had the choice of a cream or a grey phone (rotary dial!) and they only had the grey model. Then came the trimphone, but there was a two year wait. And my mum wouldn't let anyone use the phone ever, because we couldn't afford to pay for actual calls. I do the mobile phone size graphic in some presentations to illustrate change, I suspect revealing the pre-mobile era would be too much for anyone under the age of 20. God knows, it's hard enough to get them look up from their phones for more than a few seconds.

I confess, I have no idea what people did before the internet. My grandad used to dig coal out of the ground* apparently. Seems implausible now.

*or did until the mine roof fell on his head and broke his back, after which he became a bin man, which doesn't make much sense.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ElyDave on 23 February, 2017, 07:57:57 am
And try talking to the under 20's about doing actual research using actual books, in an actual library rather than t'internet.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 23 February, 2017, 08:04:16 am
<heresy>
When you're sneakily glad the weather's due to cut up rough because despite having done nothing to merit it you really don't have the oomph to get on the bike this morning.
</heresy>
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ian on 23 February, 2017, 08:08:49 am
I have, upon my desk, an actual printed volume of the Science Citation Index that I use to scare children.

Slightly predates me, in my day, we searched MEDLINE on CD-ROM, one disk for each year...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 23 February, 2017, 08:15:05 am
And a further sign of decrepitude:

Was just on phone to accountant. Told him I had two questions I needed answers to. By the time we'd discussed the first I had forgotten the second. And I still can't remember it. :facepalm:
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ElyDave on 23 February, 2017, 08:43:56 am
I have, upon my desk, an actual printed volume of the Science Citation Index that I use to scare children.

Slightly predates me, in my day, we searched MEDLINE on CD-ROM, one disk for each year...

In my office refurb, I threw out a few trees worth of printed health and safety guidance that came from Barber's Index, a similarly CD-Rom based catalogue with monthly updates.  All of that stuff is now available as pdf free downloads, with umpteen documents on a thing the size of a postage stamp.

Despite all the available online information, this weeks client still didn't have a clue about chemical safety. Keeps me in a job  ::-)
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ian on 23 February, 2017, 08:46:20 am
Chemical safety. Don't drink it, breathe it, shake it, or leave it in daylight.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Jaded on 23 February, 2017, 09:17:56 am
And a further sign of decrepitude:

Was just on phone to accountant. Told him I had two questions I needed answers to. By the time we'd discussed the first I had forgotten the second. And I still can't remember it. :facepalm:

Excellent! I do this all the time. And something else, which I cannot remember just now.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Legs on 23 February, 2017, 10:29:56 am
In my office refurb, I threw out a few trees worth of printed health and safety guidance that came from Barber's Index, a similarly CD-Rom based catalogue with monthly updates.  All of that stuff is now available as pdf free downloads, with umpteen documents on a thing the size of a postage stamp.

Despite all the available online information, this weeks client still didn't have a clue about chemical safety. Keeps me in a job  ::-)

See also: SPON
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Eccentrica Gallumbits on 23 February, 2017, 12:15:27 pm
At the GP, discussing changing my contraception to see if it helps my depression, the GP said "well, I suppose it's possible you could still be fertile."
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 23 February, 2017, 01:04:05 pm
I bet that helped the depression.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: mrcharly-YHT on 23 February, 2017, 01:18:56 pm
At the GP, discussing changing my contraception to see if it helps my depression, the GP said "well, I suppose it's possible you could still be fertile."
Did you punch them?
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hellymedic on 23 February, 2017, 02:22:16 pm
At the GP, discussing changing my contraception to see if it helps my depression, the GP said "well, I suppose it's possible you could still be fertile."
Did you punch them?

A local dentist's wife discovered she was fertile when a little boy popped out.
She's 53....
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: LEE on 23 February, 2017, 02:29:09 pm
....when you hear someone mention "The nineteen-eighties" and you think it's recent.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Aunt Maud on 23 February, 2017, 02:42:16 pm
Gets up to let the dog in....Two minutes later, after stepping over the dog in the other room, gets up to see if the dog wants to come in.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 23 February, 2017, 03:16:20 pm
....when you hear someone mention "The nineteen-eighties" and you think it's recent.

I can remember one meeting when the boss said "now we must start planning for the 90's" and everyone said "what, already?"
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Riggers on 23 February, 2017, 03:20:27 pm
When you clicked on this Post and wondered why you did, remembered, and now forgotten what you were going to say.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: andrewc on 23 February, 2017, 03:49:08 pm
A cold that you'd previously have worked, trained & played through has you in bed for a couple of days  :sick:
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: robgul on 23 February, 2017, 03:49:36 pm
....when you hear someone mention "The nineteen-eighties" and you think it's recent.

I can remember one meeting when the boss said "now we must start planning for the 90's" and everyone said "what, already?"

Going way back (I'm old, not middle-aged) BP ran adverts for oil supplies for central heating featuring a woman called "Mrs 1970" . . . as if that was going to be the next big thing waaaay in the future.

Rob
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 23 February, 2017, 04:00:31 pm
....when you hear someone mention "The nineteen-eighties" and you think it's recent.

I can remember one meeting when the boss said "now we must start planning for the 90's" and everyone said "what, already?"

Going way back (I'm old, not middle-aged) BP ran adverts for oil supplies for central heating featuring a woman called "Mrs 1970" . . . as if that was going to be the next big thing waaaay in the future.

I still quote this one on a regular basis...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGxw8EzhlAM
https://youtu.be/gGxw8EzhlAM?t=3s
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: fuzzy on 23 February, 2017, 04:30:22 pm
.... you find yourself muttering under your breath about bloody kids and their parents having no respect or control. You then realise that the parents were kids that you used to entertain at your own kids birthday parties ::-)
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Redlight on 23 February, 2017, 04:35:02 pm
Your first response to a piece of household equipment not functioning properly, even though you have no real idea how it works, is to go to your tool box rather than throwing it away and buying a replacement.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hatler on 23 February, 2017, 04:58:00 pm
....when you hear someone mention "The nineteen-eighties" and you think it's recent.

I can remember one meeting when the boss said "now we must start planning for the 90's" and everyone said "what, already?"

Going way back (I'm old, not middle-aged) BP ran adverts for oil supplies for central heating featuring a woman called "Mrs 1970" . . . as if that was going to be the next big thing waaaay in the future.

I still quote this one on a regular basis...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGxw8EzhlAM
https://youtu.be/gGxw8EzhlAM?t=3s
As soon as times got a little tough for them they junked anything to do with Solar.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 23 February, 2017, 05:04:31 pm
Your first response to a piece of household equipment not functioning properly, even though you have no real idea how it works, is to go to your tool box rather than throwing it away and buying a replacement.

Bonus middle-aged points for actually fixing it.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Mrs Pingu on 23 February, 2017, 07:34:31 pm
At the GP, discussing changing my contraception to see if it helps my depression, the GP said "well, I suppose it's possible you could still be fertile."
Did you punch them?
:thumbsup:
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ElyDave on 25 February, 2017, 08:29:59 pm
after only one beer you fall asleep during the second half of Scotland - Wales and miss the try
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hellymedic on 25 February, 2017, 11:56:22 pm
My 'kid' brother turns 40 this year.
One of his classmates was the son of one of my classmates.

I suppose I am past middle age...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Jaded on 26 February, 2017, 03:05:32 am
after only one beer you fall asleep during the second half of Scotland - Wales and miss the try

That's funny - I didn't have a beer, dozed off at half time and woke up to see Scotland were ahead  ;D
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Morat on 27 February, 2017, 08:26:34 pm
You go to a pub and check to see if the name has changed since you last went in.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ian on 27 February, 2017, 08:42:24 pm
Usually these days it's a case of go to the pub to discover it's (a) closed and boarded up or (b) it's been turned into a stack of overpriced suburban fuckhutches. (b) is generally a corollary to (a).
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 27 February, 2017, 08:46:15 pm
More middle-aged would be when old people do that thing of giving directions using the names of pubs that aren't there, and you realise that you're understanding them.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Mr Larrington on 27 February, 2017, 08:48:23 pm
Last time I looked at beerintheevening.com there was still a review of a pub not far from Larrington Towers which was bulldozed about quarter of a century ago to widen the A406.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ian on 27 February, 2017, 09:17:35 pm
There's a curious archeology of once-upon-a-pub names on the local bus route home.

Though I guess it's better alternative than labelling the stops alternately 'Tesco Express' and 'Sainsbury's Local'.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: andrewc on 31 March, 2017, 06:30:41 pm
I've just had a very thorough eye test & examination, carried out most efficiently by Abigail (Bsc.Hons), who appeared to be about 14.  It's not just policemen....
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hellymedic on 31 March, 2017, 06:33:56 pm
A medical contemporary of mine underwent some surgery performed by a consultant born after she graduated...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: essexian on 31 March, 2017, 06:41:39 pm
Last time I looked at beerintheevening.com there was still a review of a pub not far from Larrington Towers which was bulldozed about quarter of a century ago to widen the A406.

If you are talking about the Crooked Billet, that was our local when I was in the 6th Form at what was McEntee senior school....also now gone....back in 1978 to 80!

Now that makes me feel old! I remember going to an 18th birthday party there which ended up with the birthday girl in hospital after an almighty fight with the girlfriend of a boy she was snogging and no, it wasn't me!

Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Mr Larrington on 31 March, 2017, 07:00:44 pm
Yes, the Crooked Billet.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ian on 02 April, 2017, 06:40:23 pm
Yes, it's an experience when you find yourself in a situation that requires dropping your undergarments for a perilously young female GP. I squeaked (literally) something about seeing a male doctor (yeah, yeah, I know I should have thought of that first, but I've never seen a female GP at the practice and as anyone who's ever tried to communicate with the type of Gorgon that staffs a GP surgery's reception knows, it's best not to try and communicate with them). Not one of my finer moments. My only saving grace was that I didn't try to crack a joke about it, because there are so, so many ways that could have gone wrong.

On the plus side, I just went to a see my wife perform some Sunday concert at a local church. I must have been the youngest person in the audience by a few decades.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Bledlow on 03 April, 2017, 12:38:49 am
Usually these days it's a case of go to the pub to discover it's (a) closed and boarded up or (b) it's been turned into a stack of overpriced suburban fuckhutches. (b) is generally a corollary to (a).
Or completely disappeared, turned into a mini-Tesco (I know of a few), or even, like what used to be the nearest pub to me (& which this street is named after) a Sprinkles ice-cream parlour.

The pub my teachers went to when I was a sixth former is now a Deobandi Islamic Culture and Community Centre.

http://www.closedpubs.co.uk (http://www.closedpubs.co.uk) is a very sad site.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Mr Larrington on 03 April, 2017, 02:58:48 am
One pub close to Larrington Towers got turned into a Tesco-ette, to the relief of the neighbours, the police and, in fact, anyone who wasn't a drug dealer or amateur cage fighter.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ian on 03 April, 2017, 10:28:06 am
To be fair, the one at the end of my road back in the day (The Maypole, SE4) was without a doubt the least friendly and most unpleasant pub in the entire world, so not a lot of tears were shed when that was pulled down (for some reason it took umpteen years to turn the vacant lot into fuckhutches, but I can understand the urgency to just pull the place down, probably with the grumpy fuckers still inside).
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Jaded on 03 April, 2017, 10:33:19 am
The problem is that when the pub was pulled down they went home to vote Leave and post comment on the bottom of the internet.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: PeteB99 on 03 April, 2017, 10:34:57 am
Round where I grew up  there were 2 or 3 decent pubs and one which you wouldn't go into without a stab vest. Guess which is the only one not to have been  turned into either housing or a burger restruant.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 03 April, 2017, 11:27:32 am
When the f*king pensions tw*ts badger you for details of your employment 40 years ago and you find that the mice got there first.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ian on 03 April, 2017, 12:29:59 pm
The problem is that when the pub was pulled down they went home to vote Leave and post comment on the bottom of the internet.

Probably. It was one of those places that genuinely went silent when you walked in (OK, we only went once, and that was once too often). And stayed silent for the entire five minutes it took to get served in a virtually empty pub and the next 30 seconds it took to down my pint and run back out the door.

I don't think they wanted any further customers than the four surly fuckers they already had.

It is a bit sad to see pubs disappear though and turn into anonymous flats or supermarkets (how many supermarkets do we need, they all sell the same stuff and usually within a few pence of the same price?).
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: matthew on 03 April, 2017, 12:36:55 pm
You* feel stiffer and sorer two days after replacing fence posts than you* did on the day after. All I can say is thank goodness the builders had been cheap with both the length of the posts and the concrete so there was far less to dig out.



* for you read I  :-[.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: PeteB99 on 03 April, 2017, 12:40:29 pm
When you spend a couple of days wondering where the screwdriver that's just the right size for fettleing the PIR has got to and then see it lying in plain view at the back of the kitchen worktop.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 03 April, 2017, 12:44:36 pm
When you spend a couple of days wondering where the screwdriver that's just the right size for fettleing the PIR has got to and then see it lying in plain view at the back of the kitchen worktop.

Objection:  That's normal screwdriver behaviour, whatever your age.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Torslanda on 03 April, 2017, 12:47:46 pm
...and 5mm hex keys!
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: robgul on 03 April, 2017, 02:01:43 pm
Yes, the Crooked Billet.

I used to go in there in the mid-70s when I worked in Higham Hill Road - the one thing I remembered about the roundabout was that if you entered from Billet Road you were supposed to do a complete circuit rather than sneaking across the A406/N Circ to get into Chingford Road and past the Stow dog track.

Last time I was around there I came off the M11 going south - past Gates Corner, Water works etc and was at Edmonton before I realised it had all disappeared!  Ted's cafe at Woodford, opposite the Roundabout pub went when the M11 was built :-(

Rob
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Mr Larrington on 03 April, 2017, 06:16:57 pm
It's no great secret that Larrington Towers is actually located in Higham Hill Road.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: sg37409 on 03 April, 2017, 07:39:25 pm
...and 5mm hex keys!

I tried to get round this by having at least 3 of these in the garage.  They're in cahoots or somethings, they all hide.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 16 May, 2017, 08:59:28 am
George Eliot was about 41 when she wrote:
Quote
The middle-aged, who have lived through their strongest emotions, but are yet in the time when memory is still half passionate and not merely contemplative, should surely be a sort of natural priesthood whom life has consecrated and disciplined to be the refuge and rescue of early stumblers and victims of self-despair.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Ham on 16 May, 2017, 11:58:05 am
Yes, the Crooked Billet.

I used to go in there in the mid-70s when I worked in Higham Hill Road - the one thing I remembered about the roundabout was that if you entered from Billet Road you were supposed to do a complete circuit rather than sneaking across the A406/N Circ to get into Chingford Road and past the Stow dog track.

Last time I was around there I came off the M11 going south - past Gates Corner, Water works etc and was at Edmonton before I realised it had all disappeared!  Ted's cafe at Woodford, opposite the Roundabout pub went when the M11 was built :-(

Rob

.... while I lived in Highams Park
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: andytheflyer on 16 May, 2017, 01:01:31 pm
...and 5mm hex keys!
Phew, that's a relief.  Not just me then......
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Feanor on 15 June, 2017, 09:54:46 pm
...when offered super sex, you say "I'll have the soup, please."
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Canardly on 15 June, 2017, 10:02:14 pm
You speak for yourself............Coffee for me.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Torslanda on 16 June, 2017, 12:48:27 am
What's 'soup' . . . ?
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 16 June, 2017, 07:57:37 am
When you start a sentence with "I must be getting middle-aged..." and the missus interrupts with "Hah! You'd be lucky".
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ian on 16 June, 2017, 08:39:29 am
The ladies at the pool still refer to me as 'young man' which is nice. Mind you, their average age is about 206.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: TheLurker on 16 June, 2017, 04:06:30 pm
When one of the young people at work looks at you with the look that _you_ used to use for doddery old gits talking about stuff from before the dawn of time* when you and a colleague of much the same vintage as yourself are discussing an event that happened only recently**.

*About a week last Wednesday to judge from the freshness of their faces, their utter lack of cynicism and their touching belief that there is such a thing as a "career".

**I.e. any time in the last 25 to 35*** years.

***Well, mebbe 40 or so.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ElyDave on 16 June, 2017, 05:26:14 pm
when you are telling the waitress about the book you are reading.

Blank Looks

"it's the book that Blade Runner was based on"

More blank looks
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: bobb on 16 July, 2017, 12:15:07 am
When you start thinking about mowing the lawn at 6am tomorrow morning to punish those pesky young people nextdoor. It's gone midnight - take it indoors, or feel the wrath of the mower!
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Asterix, the former Gaul. on 16 July, 2017, 07:30:28 am
Last time I looked at beerintheevening.com there was still a review of a pub not far from Larrington Towers which was bulldozed about quarter of a century ago to widen the A406.

That sounds very Douglas Adams*...


* an author, famous for writing 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' in the late 20th century.
 
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: rogerzilla on 17 July, 2017, 08:53:46 pm
...you're about to go on a narrowboat holiday.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Ian H on 17 July, 2017, 09:13:42 pm
...you're about to go on a narrowboat holiday.

I did that in my youth.

Is there no hope for me?
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: spindrift on 17 July, 2017, 09:19:20 pm
When you realise kids conceived to Don't Look Back in Anger are now teenagers.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Legs on 18 July, 2017, 08:48:35 am
When you realise kids conceived to Don't Look Back in Anger are now teenagers.
Hmmm, What's the Story Morning Glory? was released in 1995.  Many of those kids are in their 20s.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 18 July, 2017, 08:52:10 am
When your daughter turns 40.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Morat on 19 July, 2017, 08:21:04 pm
When you realise kids conceived to Don't Look Back in Anger are now teenagers.
Hmmm, What's the Story Morning Glory? was released in 1995.  Many of those kids are in their 20s.

In a similar vein, the baby on the cover of Nevermind is 26!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spencer_Elden
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: fuzzy on 01 August, 2017, 09:53:56 pm
You attend a course and one of the team of staff acting as a stooge gives a bit of life history as part of the stooging. She explains that her cycling ability has taken a bit of a beating due to childbirth 15 months ago. When providing her date of birth for the medical history section your realise she was born 6 weeks before you joined the army :o
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ElyDave on 01 August, 2017, 10:25:39 pm
I never joined the forces, so that won't happen to me. I'll stay young forever.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Pedaldog. on 01 August, 2017, 10:55:05 pm
39 years ago this September when I went into the RAF. (2nd) Ex-Mrs Dog was 4 years old when I was at St Athan.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: rogerzilla on 03 August, 2017, 10:21:50 pm
...when the office is full of people who were born after you started working for the company.

...you realise that, when you started school, WWII, yes, the one with Hitler and all that, was a more recent event (30 years) than the Falklands conflict (35 years) is to today's 5-year olds.

...you remember a man coming round to change the appliances in your house from town gas to North Sea gas.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hellymedic on 03 August, 2017, 10:48:00 pm
You realise that those born in the long hot summer of '76 are now middle-aged by others' definitions bbbbut you were already legally an adult then!
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Polar Bear on 04 August, 2017, 06:46:42 am
When you find yourself discussing with your eldest relative how you can start accessing some of your pension funds in six months time.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: andrewc on 04 August, 2017, 09:11:41 am
When you get an unexpected lump sum & are considering putting it into your pension instead of having fun spending it on holidays & toys.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 04 August, 2017, 09:14:02 am
When you remember telling which houses had TV and which didn't by the presence of an H-aerial on the roof. Unless they had set-top V aerials, but in the 50s getting that H up on the chimney was a status symbol.

A chum & I discovered that the spark in a battery-operated electric bell could screw up the signal, so we removed the bell part and mounted the rest as a Dan Dare ray-gun.  It was great fun, peeking through someone's window from a discreet distance and watching them trying to fiddle the picture back to stability.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Giraffe on 04 August, 2017, 09:15:26 am
When the limits of the viewable universe are within your near point.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ian on 04 August, 2017, 10:08:10 am
You know you're not quite middle-aged when you have ask what's a pension?
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 04 August, 2017, 10:25:46 am
When you remember telling which houses had TV and which didn't by the presence of an H-aerial on the roof. Unless they had set-top V aerials, but in the 50s getting that H up on the chimney was a status symbol.

Knowing what a Band I aerial *is* probably makes you middle aged, these days.  It won't be long before watching TV through any kind of aerial qualifies you...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 04 August, 2017, 11:05:09 am
When you remember telling which houses had TV and which didn't by the presence of an H-aerial on the roof. Unless they had set-top V aerials, but in the 50s getting that H up on the chimney was a status symbol.

Knowing what a Band I aerial *is* probably makes you middle aged, these days.  It won't be long before watching TV through any kind of aerial qualifies you...

Oh, stoppit! I'm still hoping desperately that feeling middle-aged will mean I'm only halfway though my life.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: rogerzilla on 04 August, 2017, 12:23:43 pm
When there were only three (or even two! TV channels, then Ch4 came along and sucked for years.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hellymedic on 04 August, 2017, 12:54:36 pm
When the limits of the viewable universe are within your near point.

Cyclist needs plus fours!
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: PeteB99 on 04 August, 2017, 12:57:13 pm
When there were only three (or even two! TV channels, then Ch4 came along and sucked for years.

When there were three TV channels but our old 405 line TV could only receive two of them.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 04 August, 2017, 02:56:18 pm
^^^ Our new one was like that when BBC 2 started. 1962?
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ElyDave on 04 August, 2017, 10:16:30 pm
You know you're not quite middle-aged when you have ask what's a pension?

I think you're middle aged when even though you've been contributing for year's you can still ask that question.  And more so, will I ever get my pension?
Title: Re: You know your middle aged when
Post by: Cunobelin on 05 August, 2017, 09:07:51 am
You make groaning or huffing noises when bending down to pick something up, or getting up from the floor.

When y ou don't pick up anything less than 20p because it isn't worth the effort
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 05 August, 2017, 09:27:15 am
When you look at aerobars in the LBS, then at your gut and walk away sadly.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: TheLurker on 05 August, 2017, 11:22:31 am
When you look at aerobars in the LBS, then at your gut and walk away sadly.
Ahh, but think of the money you've saved by not buying needless fripperies.  Oh. That's another sign isn't it?  Looking at shiny stuff and thinking, "I'd rather save the money for something useful / important."  :)
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 05 August, 2017, 02:11:13 pm
As it happens I still have a set of aerobars in the workshop, but I prefer my bar bag - another sign of being from the Middle Ages, I suppose.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: rogerzilla on 12 August, 2017, 08:39:32 pm
When you seek out and renovate bikes made when you were 20.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Owthathurt on 13 August, 2017, 10:03:12 pm
You couldn't care less what logo is on your shoes or clothes (as opposed to when you wouldn't leave the house without specific branding, that's if you can remember that far back)......
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: pcolbeck on 14 August, 2017, 01:05:41 am
You couldn't care less what logo is on your shoes or clothes (as opposed to when you wouldn't leave the house without specific branding, that's if you can remember that far back)......

I'm so old logos and branding on cloths wasn't a thing when I was young.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Canardly on 15 August, 2017, 12:24:00 pm
You forget to attend a Sustrans run on two occasions!
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: orienteer on 15 August, 2017, 03:01:23 pm
In contrast to most posters on here, I'm looking for confirmation that I am still middle-aged  :-\
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: BrianI on 15 August, 2017, 05:05:33 pm
The first thing you do, when visiting a shopping centre, is to find the facilities to spend a 20p!
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 16 August, 2017, 08:03:12 am
When you look at a photo you took on a ride two years ago and think "I wish I could still do that".
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ElyDave on 16 August, 2017, 10:38:38 pm
Work gives you an iPhone to replace your blackberry, you can only see any point in three features of the new phone, and secretly want to keep the blackberry
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Mrs Pingu on 16 August, 2017, 11:01:46 pm
You wish you had a BFO lamp and magnifying glass to paint your nails.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 16 August, 2017, 11:45:42 pm
You have a BFO lamp/magnifying glass, but can't remember the last time you painted your nails.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: essexian on 17 August, 2017, 07:40:21 am
You go to a non league football match at a venue without floodlights like I did last night, which kicked off late and finished 15 minutes after sunset..... someone says: "Jumpers for goalposts" and it bring back memories of playing football in the street when you were a kid.....  ;D

Then you look at your street and wonder if even a pro footballer could make a 10 yard pass down it today without hitting something or being hit  :(
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Mrs Pingu on 17 August, 2017, 10:50:16 am
You have a BFO lamp/magnifying glass, but can't remember the last time you painted your nails.

This is a relatively new thing for me, only recently having the patience for it.

Any BFO mag/light recommendations?
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 17 August, 2017, 12:17:47 pm
Any BFO mag/light recommendations?

Don't buy the one Maplin were selling 15 years ago.  The adjustment clamps are made of cheese.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Guy on 18 August, 2017, 12:14:15 pm
That's another sign isn't it?  Looking at shiny stuff and thinking, "I'd rather save the money for something useful / important."  :)

I've always been like that. But then, me dad were from Lancashire ;D
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 18 August, 2017, 12:19:17 pm
I haven't painted my nails since I was about 5, when I coloured them bright pink with a felt tip pen at my cousin's house near Hull. That was my fingernails but now that I'm almost old enough to wear SPD sandals, should I start painting my toenails?

No, of course not: I should wear socks with them. If I had them.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 24 August, 2017, 03:43:49 pm
When the payment you were certain wasn't due until next week turns out to be overdue today. Gulp.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Mr Larrington on 24 August, 2017, 11:33:43 pm
...you rant at your iPod, both in RL and on Facething, for being too short of voles even to lift itself into charging mode by its own bootstraps before realising that you're trying to resurrect the wrong one >:(
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 25 August, 2017, 01:05:41 pm
When you've been convinced all morning that it's Saturday and then get told it's really Friday.

Oh wait, that's not being middle-aged, that's being retired and not having to work another stroke for the rest of your puff. ;D ;D ;D
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: TheLurker on 25 August, 2017, 09:56:25 pm
....that's being retired and not having to work another stroke for the rest of your puff. ;D ;D ;D
You can go off people you know. :)
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: pcolbeck on 03 November, 2017, 09:15:27 am
Being unreasonably exited by the fact that their is a new teapot arriving in the post today.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Basil on 03 November, 2017, 12:34:36 pm
Failing to suppress the "ouff" noise you make as you make as you pick something up off the floor
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Polar Bear on 03 November, 2017, 12:42:59 pm
You forget to attend a Sustrans run on two occasions!

That's not middle aged Sir, that's old age!!!    :demon:
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Redlight on 03 November, 2017, 01:25:46 pm
…you are excited to discover that the kitchen radio also runs on batteries so you can take it from room to room and not miss any of Desert Island Discs
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: TheLurker on 03 November, 2017, 04:17:25 pm
When you think that 71 is a terribly young age for someone to die.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: David Martin on 03 November, 2017, 04:52:57 pm
Next year many of the new undergrads will have been born after I started working at this Uni.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 04 November, 2017, 09:33:22 am
When you think that 71 is a terribly young age for someone to die.

It doesn't get me that way.  I see an obit reading "so-and-so has died aged 62" and think "well, that's not such a bad innings"; and then think "hang on a second...".
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: mllePB on 04 November, 2017, 07:22:37 pm
When you're working with someone born this century. It's not happened yet to me but but the new office apprentice was born in the very  last month of the 20th century.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ElyDave on 04 November, 2017, 07:27:44 pm
I used to be the youngest of our auditors, now I've been here for ten years.  I'm not yet working with people born this century, but definitely born after I left university.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: SteveC on 04 November, 2017, 07:39:20 pm
When you remember one of your colleagues going on maternity leave and are now working with the result.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Guy on 06 November, 2017, 11:55:25 am
When you suddenly realise you're old enough to go on Saga holidays

Christ! I'll be taking Sanatogen and going to tea dances soon
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: menthel on 06 November, 2017, 04:18:11 pm
When you ask for a nice, comfy office chair for your birthday so that you can look after your back.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: clarion on 07 November, 2017, 03:35:23 pm
I got offered a seat on the train the other day :(
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: mrcharly-YHT on 07 November, 2017, 03:53:30 pm
I got offered a seat on the train the other day :(
Ha!

The train guard made someone get out of the priority aged/disabled seat so I could sit down one day. No, it wasn't when I had a smashed up arm, I was just having a bad migraine/vestibular day and using stick.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 07 November, 2017, 04:00:01 pm
People (presumably the ones who've never had an arm injury) can be surprisingly oblivious to how difficult/dangerous it can be to stand on public transport with a b0rked arm.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: MalRees on 07 November, 2017, 04:02:53 pm
When you ask for a nice, comfy office chair for your birthday so that you can look after your back.

+1
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Basil on 07 November, 2017, 04:29:52 pm
I got offered a seat on the train the other day :(
Happened to me once a couple of years ago.  I was flabbergasted.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Eccentrica Gallumbits on 09 November, 2017, 05:17:08 pm
I got offered a seat on the train the other day :(
Happened to me once a couple of years ago.  I was flabbergasted.
A youth offered me his seat on the bus a few months ago. I declined, but he insisted. I was displeased but also glad to sit down.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Guy on 10 November, 2017, 08:17:07 am
Digging through a folder of old papers last night I came across my Certificate of Investiture into the Cub Scouts, dated 14th February 1975.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 10 November, 2017, 08:18:12 am
Crikey.  My son's birth certificate dates from 1973.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Giraffe on 11 November, 2017, 09:21:30 am
I offer seats to people - often I seem to be the only one capable of standing.
A couple of bus drivers that I know will want to talk during the journey and this can be a drawback as
a) I will usually have walked between 2 and 10 miles already
b) I have a rucsack full of shopping
c) Also carrying a meal and 3 - 4 pints up front to balance the load

still, I'm (biologically) younger than most people on the bus.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hellymedic on 11 November, 2017, 02:58:38 pm
Dear Giraffe,
Threescore years and ten is not middle aged.
HTH & HAND
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Efrogwr on 11 November, 2017, 10:26:37 pm
When you remember that you were the second person to get a Cycling Pefiency Certificate.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Giraffe on 12 November, 2017, 08:44:43 am
Dear Giraffe,
Threescore years and ten is not middle aged.
HTH & HAND
'tis nowadays - fourscore and ten is the new version.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: rogerzilla on 12 November, 2017, 10:00:00 am
When you talk about people getting caned at school and you get looks as if you've just described going to a public hanging.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Snakehips on 12 November, 2017, 10:05:31 am
Middle Age Now Extends to Age 74, Vienna Researchers Say ........

....... which is nice because it means that I'm not too old for this thread.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hellymedic on 12 November, 2017, 10:26:38 am
Dear Giraffe,
Threescore years and ten is not middle aged.
HTH & HAND
'tis nowadays - fourscore and ten is the new version.

Middle-aged should refer to the middle third of expected lifespan so even I am approaching that last third...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 12 November, 2017, 03:49:30 pm
...when you attend a lunch with 150 of your fellow cyclotourists in civvies, look round and think "what a bunch of old farts".

Mind you, the food was good.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Giraffe on 13 November, 2017, 08:17:07 am
On that note, when an ordinary main course seems like a good meal, instead of just starters.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: clarion on 13 November, 2017, 12:24:34 pm
Dear Giraffe,
Threescore years and ten is not middle aged.
HTH & HAND
'tis nowadays - fourscore and ten is the new version.

Middle-aged should refer to the middle third of expected lifespan so even I am approaching that last third...
My expected lifespan was 30.  I lived my teenage years as a grumpy middle aged person.  I wish I'd known...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 20 November, 2017, 04:02:17 pm
When you get home from a ride and reset the current track instead of saving it.  Not only that but, realizing that something wasn't right, you do it twice.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Moleman76 on 21 November, 2017, 04:03:19 am
I remember a boss who was extremely frugal:
  - note pads were made by saving all extra printed specification pages (usually ditto'ed - another one of those you've got to be a certain age to remember the process) and sending them over to the blueprinter to be cut into quarters and made into pads with the paint-on plastic glue along one side;
  - since the office hadn't purchased a fax machine, but clients would ask for faxes instead of waiting for something to come in the mail, we had to ask for permission to send a page or two over to the same blueprinter to send them out;
  - when Post-It notes came out, their usefulness was immediately apparent; they were more useful if torn into narrow strips so that the little pad of them would last longer.

Despite those quirks, he was a great guy to work for (and later, with, as I was given permission to buy into the firm).  He was never frugal about carefully explaining how to do things better.

And, related to the how aged one is department:  About 4 years ago one of my college roommates passed away after an cerebral aneurism when jogging at lunch - age 59.  Another roommate said "We're all in the fourth quarter of life now".
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 21 November, 2017, 08:06:43 am
Cerebral aneurysms can happen at virtually any age. A ex-programmer of mine died of one at 35 while pushing his wife's car.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Guy on 21 November, 2017, 12:25:26 pm
When you spend ages hunting for your glasses, give up, and decide to make a cup of tea.You open the fridge to get the milk and...

Guess what :facepalm:
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: mrcharly-YHT on 21 November, 2017, 02:43:10 pm
"I can see clearly now the milk has come"
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: spesh on 21 November, 2017, 02:45:24 pm
ROFLMAO ;D
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 21 November, 2017, 03:44:33 pm
http://www.irishmirror.ie/news/irish-news/can-see-clerys-now-crane-2835802
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hellymedic on 21 November, 2017, 04:14:18 pm
I can see Deidre now Lorraine has gone....
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Basil on 21 November, 2017, 06:15:55 pm
You know you're no longer middle aged when people 20 years younger are calling themselves middle aged.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Giraffe on 22 November, 2017, 09:30:14 am
At some point the wee small hours become the small wee hours.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: TheLurker on 23 November, 2017, 05:18:46 pm
Giraffe wins the thread, at least for the blokes amongst us.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hellymedic on 23 November, 2017, 05:28:08 pm
Giraffe will attest that it's not just the blokes...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: phantasmagoriana on 23 November, 2017, 06:14:12 pm
That's been the case for me for years, and I'm both female and only *just* middle aged!
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Pingu on 23 November, 2017, 06:47:48 pm
I got offered a seat on the train the other day :(

Quote from: Some cheeky bugger on Facebook
Give over, grandad  ;)

 :P
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 25 November, 2017, 02:28:35 pm
You spend an hour looking for a camera then remember you gave it away six months ago.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: TheLurker on 25 November, 2017, 05:04:18 pm
You forget a PIN you have been using several times a week for over 36 years and have to ring the bank (oh and wasn't that _fun_?) to get it unlocked.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 26 November, 2017, 09:36:30 am
I usually do that on a Sunday. Our bank closes from Sat. lunchtime until Tuesday.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 05 December, 2017, 07:56:57 pm
Quote
Here was he, as young as ever; envying young people their summer time and the rest of it and more than suspecting that shift in the whole pyramidal accumulation which in his youth had seemed immovable.
So middle aged is when you're "as young as ever" but nevertheless can envy young people, and realize that things ain't what they used to be. (He's in his early 50s and it's about 1925.)
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hubner on 05 December, 2017, 08:13:00 pm
What's middle aged, 40 to 60?

Or 65-85, as some of the replies seem to suggest?
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Paul on 05 December, 2017, 11:13:17 pm
Regarding the old Warlord comics:
I seem to remember getting those whilst I was in mid-primary school ( mid-'70s ), on account of a friend being from an RAF family, and he was quite into that kind of stuffs.

I remember joining up to the 'club', and getting a little plastic wallet through the post with a top-secret membership card and a code-sheet.
Every week, the comic had a page from the HQ, from the Top Dude who went by the name of Lord Peter Flint, IIRC.
There was always a secret message to be decoded, and it helpfully told you whether it was encoded in 'Letter Code 1', 'Letter Code 2', 'Number Code 1', or Number Code 2'.

Can't remember what any of the messages were, tho!
The word Peter means Stone.

I think that was the one you had to decode to join the club. That would have been 1973/4.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Paul on 05 December, 2017, 11:18:32 pm
Oh, and to answer the question: You're training a nearly-solicitor who wasn't born when the Berlin Wall came down.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Ham on 06 December, 2017, 07:13:04 am
Regarding the old Warlord comics:
I seem to remember getting those whilst I was in mid-primary school ( mid-'70s ), on account of a friend being from an RAF family, and he was quite into that kind of stuffs.

I remember joining up to the 'club', and getting a little plastic wallet through the post with a top-secret membership card and a code-sheet.
Every week, the comic had a page from the HQ, from the Top Dude who went by the name of Lord Peter Flint, IIRC.
There was always a secret message to be decoded, and it helpfully told you whether it was encoded in 'Letter Code 1', 'Letter Code 2', 'Number Code 1', or Number Code 2'.

Can't remember what any of the messages were, tho!
The word Peter means Stone.

I think that was the one you had to decode to join the club. That would have been 1973/4.

The I-Spy Club anyone? I seem to remember OHUD NUTINGO was the coded version of "Good Hunting"
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Guy on 06 December, 2017, 08:19:59 am
When you left skool the year before the girl* who is flirting with you was born!


*early 30s :o
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: citoyen on 06 December, 2017, 10:33:15 am
When you left skool the year before the girl* who is flirting with you was born!

*early 30s :o

I was talking to a young female colleague at an office party a while ago, feeling flattered by her enthusiasm for my company even though I had no intention of taking advantage of her good nature...

Started to feel a bit weird when I realised she was only a few years older than my son.

Never mind leaving school, I graduated from uni before she was born.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Ian H on 06 December, 2017, 11:49:11 am
What's middle aged, 40 to 60?

Or 65-85, as some of the replies seem to suggest?

That leaves me in limbo (or would if the Vatican hadn't abolished it).
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Mr Larrington on 06 December, 2017, 05:36:49 pm
Like the Finn in one of William Gibson's novels telling some young whippersnapper "I've got shoes older than you", it occurred to me in the Gulag that I was wearing a jumper older than some of my fellow zeks.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: jsabine on 06 December, 2017, 05:48:11 pm
What's middle aged, 40 to 60?

Or 65-85, as some of the replies seem to suggest?

Ten years older than the person answering, shirley?
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: SteveC on 06 December, 2017, 05:55:03 pm
When you remember the colleague taking maternity leave and the cause of said maternity leave is now also a colleague.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: fuzzy on 07 December, 2017, 10:30:16 am
When you get your enema by post.....
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: mattc on 07 December, 2017, 10:32:39 am
When you remember one of your colleagues going on maternity leave and are now working with the result.

When you remember the colleague taking maternity leave and the cause of said maternity leave is now also a colleague.


I'll just leave that there ...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: phantasmagoriana on 07 December, 2017, 10:36:53 am
What's middle aged, 40 to 60?

Or 65-85, as some of the replies seem to suggest?

35-58, apparently. :'(

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/news/7458147/Middle-age-begins-at-35-and-ends-at-58.html
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ian on 07 December, 2017, 10:43:01 am
When you left skool the year before the girl* who is flirting with you was born!

*early 30s :o

I was talking to a young female colleague at an office party a while ago, feeling flattered by her enthusiasm for my company even though I had no intention of taking advantage of her good nature...

Started to feel a bit weird when I realised she was only a few years older than my son.

Never mind leaving school, I graduated from uni before she was born.

Heh, this happened to me not so long ago (sales conference, your honour). Kiss out of nowhere and a hand where! Right there, that's where! I'd like to say my first feeling was lust but after a geological era of marriage it was mostly abject terror. I've no real idea what to do with a woman who was taking her tentative steps into her twenties. There's probably a manual for these newer models but I never read the things (it's true, he never did, says my wife). While I confess to being flattered (trust me it doesn't happen often), rather than a night of torrid adultery in a hotel bed, I moved her hand somewhere more sensible and made some excuses (read babble). I still work with her and fortunately what happens at sales conferences stays at sales conferences.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Paul on 07 December, 2017, 01:06:53 pm
When you get your enema by post.....
How does that work?

Do you have to back up to the letter box?
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: PaulF on 07 December, 2017, 01:15:47 pm
When you get your enema by post.....

Our postie is very obliging and will put things round the back if we're out, but I doubt that he'd do it in that way  for us.  :demon:
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: essexian on 07 December, 2017, 01:29:36 pm
You get excited when your pension statements arrive which show that you should have a reasonably comfortable life when retirement finally arrives....  ;D

Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hellymedic on 07 December, 2017, 03:59:56 pm
When you get your enema by post.....

55th birthday present? I remember getting mine (4 years ago).
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 07 December, 2017, 04:16:16 pm
Middle aged begins when you start doing middle-aged things, like buying a house, getting a serious job, a serious partner, having kids, wearing suits and ties (or their feminine equivalents) on a regular basis.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ian on 07 December, 2017, 04:44:50 pm
Middle aged begins when you start doing middle-aged things...

I feel the need to grade myself.

Quote
like buying a house

Crap, you have me. Nearly paid for as well. And it's a palace. Of gleaming asbestos. And there's a route to Hell under the hallway floorboards.

Quote
getting a serious job

I draw kittens. Sometimes giraffes. Today I'm being abstract and drawing circles with lines coming out of them. I do get paid more than Nigel Farage and I'm possibly more useful.

Quote
a serious partner

She's not very serious but she does pull that face when I do something especially stupid. Which is daily.

Quote
having kids

Complete failure. Hate the little proto-Hitlers.

Quote
wearing suits and ties (or their feminine equivalents)

Tidy-Haired Thought Leadership™ is something you can do in corduroy. Or a dress. I'd think prefer the latter, frocks are more stylish but with the Beard of Authority® it might transgress the boundaries of odd.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 07 December, 2017, 04:54:40 pm
You get excited when your pension statements arrive which show that you should have a reasonably comfortable life when retirement finally arrives....  ;D

Then when it does all your kids park their kids with you while they go off and have fun. And the entire horde turns up for Christmas and eats your savings.

(El Prez is in this situation.  All of his kids and most of their kids have December birthdays, too.  It takes him the rest of the year to recover.)
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hellymedic on 07 December, 2017, 06:01:11 pm
Middle aged begins when you start doing middle-aged things, like buying a house, getting a serious job, a serious partner, having kids, wearing suits and ties (or their feminine equivalents) on a regular basis.

Was 41 when I bought house, 24 when I started a serious job, ?? when I had a serious partner (was 45 when D moved in), never had kids, wore serious attire for serious work.

So that had me middle-aged at 24...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 07 December, 2017, 06:14:44 pm
TBH, if you think that a serious job and buying a house are realistic propositions, you're definitely middle-aged.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: SteveC on 07 December, 2017, 06:38:23 pm
In my case, buying the house and getting the serious partner were, at least in part, attempts to prove to myself and the universe that I was grown up.
Once I got to thirty and realised that, by any definition I had to be an adult, I felt I no longer needed to pretend and got on with enjoying myself instead.
Finding myself chair of the village hall was probably a fair clue that I'd moved on to middle age, though.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hellymedic on 07 December, 2017, 06:52:57 pm
I must be middle aged; I'm discussing cutlery and dining place settings on Facebook!
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 07 December, 2017, 07:18:08 pm
TBH, if you think that a serious job and buying a house are realistic propositions, you're definitely middle-aged.
:D! To be fair that's more a generation gap than an age gap.

I must be middle aged; I'm discussing cutlery and dining place settings on Facebook!
That's not middle aged, that's middle class!  :demon:
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hellymedic on 07 December, 2017, 08:59:18 pm
TBH, if you think that a serious job and buying a house are realistic propositions, you're definitely middle-aged.
:D! To be fair that's more a generation gap than an age gap.

I must be middle aged; I'm discussing cutlery and dining place settings on Facebook!
That's not middle aged, that's middle class!  :demon:

It is the 'I Grew up in Golders Green' board/group...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Hot Flatus on 10 December, 2017, 12:43:31 pm
It has snowed overnight.

You don't get up at 6am, jump in your car,  and go and do handbrake turns and power slides in Sainsburys carpark.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: PeteB99 on 10 December, 2017, 12:49:49 pm
When your doctor says "This is what happens when middle aged people play young peoples sports".

Not said to me this time. To my partner when she sprained her ankle jumping down off a climbing wall.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 12 December, 2017, 12:09:53 pm
"A terrible confession it was but now, at the age of 53, he hardly needed people anymore."

"If you could be granted one wish... "
"To wake up one morning and feel that I was at last a grown-up person, emptied of resentment, vengeful thoughts, and other wasteful, childish emotions. To find myself, in other words, an adult."

"The thought came to him, struggling home; you don't have to be very smart to be an adult."

Wise words – words, anyway – from adults:
(click to show/hide)
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ElyDave on 13 December, 2017, 07:17:07 am
Suit,  can be counted on the fingers and toes in the last ten years. Doesn't really work when talking to a man in a field  putting up telegraph poles.

Tie, twice

Other boxes - tick.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 13 December, 2017, 07:57:41 am
In the last 20 years my remaining suit has only come out for funerals.  My ties were all bought when I was much younger, and are now too small.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Beardy on 13 December, 2017, 10:43:53 am
Your Mum forgets your birthday.
I remember the first time my mother forgot my birthday, I was gutted. Now I'd be happy if she just recognised me. :(
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: mrcharly-YHT on 13 December, 2017, 10:51:21 am
Your Mum forgets your birthday.
I remember the first time my mother forgot my birthday, I was gutted. Now I'd be happy if she just recognised me. :(
:(

My mother-in-law asked my wife about me last time she (wife) visited her "What happened to that Australian you were living with? We worried about you and him. Only the dregs were sent to Australia."
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Gus on 13 December, 2017, 06:52:47 pm
My clipboard from 1986 is older than half the students in my class  :-[
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Beardy on 14 December, 2017, 11:17:44 am
Most of the striplings that work with me these days are younger than my 'career' with the company. It's actually possible, though unlikely, that I could employ a youth whose parents are younger than my 'career'.  :(
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Polar Bear on 15 December, 2017, 06:18:39 am
Doing personal admin and I realised that I start drawing my Sharklays pension in five years and one month's time.  As a result I contacted all of my pension schemes yesterday requesting updates on my funds. 

Scary to think that I might retire in 5 years time.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 15 December, 2017, 10:27:46 am
There used to be a pension advert in the paper, a bit like the Fry's 5 Boys ad: a progressively ageing bod going from age 25 (they tell me the job isn't pensionable) to 65 (without a pension I really don't know what I shall do).

Hum. Maybe you're (more than) middle-aged when you know that Fry's 5 Boys isn't a reference to paedophilia.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Polar Bear on 15 December, 2017, 10:36:29 am
Hmm.  Well my Sharklays and other pensions start when I am 60* but of course my state pension will probably start the day after I turn my toes up at the ripe old age of one hundred and thirty three years!!!  :D

* I do in fact have various options across the schemes to start taking a reduced pension and / or drawing funds depending upon scheme from January!   :o
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Guy on 15 December, 2017, 10:37:39 am

Hum. Maybe you're (more than) middle-aged when you know that Fry's 5 Boys isn't a reference to paedophilia.

Not nessecelery. I has a jigsaw puzzle of old Cadbury's and Fry's choklit adverts (The five girls want Five Boys &c &c)
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hellymedic on 15 December, 2017, 12:24:45 pm
There used to be a pension advert in the paper, a bit like the Fry's 5 Boys ad: a progressively ageing bod going from age 25 (they tell me the job isn't pensionable) to 65 (without a pension I really don't know what I shall do).

Hum. Maybe you're (more than) middle-aged when you know that Fry's 5 Boys isn't a reference to paedophilia.

I remember the advert (was it Prudential?) and 5 boys, which was renamed as 5 centres; not my favourite confection: meh chocolate round meh-flavoured fondant in various screeching synthetic hues.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 15 December, 2017, 12:48:25 pm
5 centres was the garish but untasty cousin of Fry's chocolate cream and peppermint cream. Produced until 1992 according to Wikipedia, so you'd have to be about 30 to remember it. Which might or might not be middle aged.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 15 December, 2017, 12:59:57 pm
Fry's Chocolate Cream used to be my Dad's cycling staple.  They didn't look like the current ones, though: they were at least twice as wide and half-heartedly marked off into portions.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: mllePB on 23 January, 2018, 08:59:46 pm
You contact lost property about your umbrella left on a train this morning instead of just buying another one
.
.
.
.
(or should this be in first world problems) and they say no black umbrella was found today on a train at Birmingham New Street  :'(
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Beardy on 24 January, 2018, 08:55:20 am
apparently the number of phones handed into lost property eclipsed the number of umbrellas sometime in the 1990s
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Beardy on 08 February, 2018, 10:17:32 am
All my computers have just reminded me that my little girl is 30 at the weekend and that I should buy her presents!

Middle aged? I feel positively old!
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 08 February, 2018, 11:15:59 am
apparently the number of phones handed into lost property eclipsed the number of umbrellas sometime in the 1990s
I think this is a two-way thing. More phones to be lost, and fewer people carrying umbrellas, due to fashion or improvements in waterproof clothing or warmer workplaces or something.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Manotea on 08 February, 2018, 11:34:55 am
All my computers have just reminded me that my little girl is 30 at the weekend and that I should buy her presents!

Middle aged? I feel positively old!

Yeah, having children over 30 definitely marks you as being officially "old", or at least, an early starter.

My eldest will not be 30 till December...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 08 February, 2018, 01:38:44 pm
Mine's pushing 45. :(
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: fuzzy on 08 February, 2018, 02:16:25 pm
.... offspring get involved in the househunting game.

No.2 Son and his girlfriend have had an offer accepted on a flat.

Current occupants are now amending the conditions under which the offer was made and accepted ::-)
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Paul on 27 February, 2018, 02:37:46 pm
... your son asks when the film you're watching (Groundhog Day) was made, you start to respond "Nineteen..." and he interrupts "There was a nineteen?"
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Morat on 28 February, 2018, 08:28:44 pm
A colleague asked me what Spitting Image was  :'(
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: spesh on 28 February, 2018, 08:32:41 pm
Did you stick a deck chair up his nose for that display of cultural ignorance? ;)
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Torslanda on 28 February, 2018, 11:41:23 pm
No. Bought a jumbo jet and then buried all his clothes, before having tea with a nice Sarth Effrikken . . .
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Hot Flatus on 01 March, 2018, 07:03:51 am
You know you are middle-aged when...

...you spend an hour listening to Mussorgsky in your kitchen with the Dyno-Rod man who has just jetblasted a behemoth down your drain
Title: Re: You know you're decrepit when
Post by: T42 on 06 March, 2018, 11:21:36 am
48 km at 23 kph leaves you knackered the next day.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Andrij on 06 March, 2018, 12:10:47 pm
Went around to a friend's place for dinner on Saturday.  I was at least 20 years older than the host and the other four people there.

OK, perhaps not specifically a 'middle aged' thing, but definitely made me feel old no longer young.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Oscar's dad on 06 March, 2018, 12:32:08 pm
Went around to a friend's place for dinner on Saturday.  I was at least 20 years older than the host and the other four people there.

OK, perhaps not specifically a 'middle aged' thing, but definitely made me feel old no longer young.

Were the young people able to use their cutlery properly?

It seems a sign of my middle age is being judgemental of young people who clearly find this simple skill challenging  >:(
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Andrij on 06 March, 2018, 12:41:15 pm
Went around to a friend's place for dinner on Saturday.  I was at least 20 years older than the host and the other four people there.

OK, perhaps not specifically a 'middle aged' thing, but definitely made me feel old no longer young.

Were the young people able to use their cutlery properly?

It seems a sign of my middle age is being judgemental of young people who clearly find this simple skill challenging  >:(

Yes, they did.  There were even chopsticks in use!
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Torslanda on 06 March, 2018, 01:09:06 pm
That's just showing off...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Oscar's dad on 06 March, 2018, 03:03:00 pm
Went around to a friend's place for dinner on Saturday.  I was at least 20 years older than the host and the other four people there.

OK, perhaps not specifically a 'middle aged' thing, but definitely made me feel old no longer young.

Were the young people able to use their cutlery properly?

It seems a sign of my middle age is being judgemental of young people who clearly find this simple skill challenging  >:(

Yes, they did.  There were even chopsticks in use!

Blimey, like Tors says, that's showing off.

I hope you've been in the UK long enough to shed any colonial cutlery habits you picked up from our American cousins  ;D :-*
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: orienteer on 06 March, 2018, 03:15:33 pm
And post-Brexit we can make the cutting of potatoes with a fork, as the Germans do, illegal. :demon:
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 06 March, 2018, 03:16:55 pm
It seems a sign of my middle age is being judgemental of young people who clearly find this simple skill challenging  >:(

It's not a simple skill, that's why it's challenging.

Being judgemental about it is a traditional sign of middle age, thobut.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Oscar's dad on 06 March, 2018, 03:48:36 pm
^^^   ;D
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 06 March, 2018, 04:11:17 pm
Maybe it's because that's how long it takes to mistake something that you've had decades of practice at for something that's easy (compare: writing, walking, playing a musical instrument, speaking, using chopsticks, welding, knitting, reading etc.), but I suspect it's more to do with middle-aged curmudgeonlyness.

I'm all for a bit of tongue-in-cheek ranting about how Young People's trousers are all wrong, that USAnians don't know how to grammar, or that the internet is full of illiterate n00bs who wouldn't know RFC1855 if an avian carrier dropped it on their heads.  But there's a fine line between satirising generational culture shifts and classism or disablism, and complaints about other people's cutlery use are too often on the wrong side of that.

</humourless_feminist>
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Oscar's dad on 06 March, 2018, 04:28:38 pm
Wow!

Is another sign of middle age being able to cause offence (I think) without intending to?  If so I offer the humblest of apologies!
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 06 March, 2018, 04:42:38 pm
I'm not offended (though I accept I may be overly sensitive about it, as it's something people occasionally sneer at barakta for), just aware that most people who don't use cutlery in the 'proper' way are likely to be doing it because that's how they've been brought up, or because they lack the required dexterity.  Neither of which is their fault.

And because this sort of stuff *is* hard, and I try not to take it for granted.  Look at how long it's taken to make a bipedal robot that isn't embarrassingly shit, when most humans can walk across an uneven surface without really thinking about it.  I wrote that whole paragraph without looking at the keyboard.  Magic!
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Oscar's dad on 06 March, 2018, 05:03:14 pm
OK, fair enough  ;D  Despite turning 54 last week I will try not to go completely Victor Meldrew just yet - but its going to be hard!
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: cycleman on 06 March, 2018, 07:43:10 pm
It's a ship for carrying birds isn't it?  :)
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 06 March, 2018, 07:45:40 pm
Cutlery: several years ago now I met Flatus and Jaded. We had some beer (you could have predicted that bit, couldn't you?) and then went to an Indian restaurant. At this point I'd just returned to the UK after living in India for about three years. So I was tearing little bits off my chapati and using them to pick up small amounts of food, all one handed – and I suddenly realized they weren't. Which of course made me self-conscious about my automatic Indian eating habits. Meanwhile, I have to cancel my dinner date with OD!
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Oscar's dad on 06 March, 2018, 08:13:14 pm
Nooooo, don’t cancel!  I’ve bought you flowers and stuff! 
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ElyDave on 06 March, 2018, 08:18:53 pm
I spent 10 mins looking for the shed keys so I could lock it up and go for a ride.  Back Pocket  :facepalm:

I still cant find my steel rule, which was also in the shed
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 06 March, 2018, 08:32:05 pm
Nooooo, don’t cancel!  I’ve bought you flowers and stuff!
Ooh, in that case, I'm just slipping into my most elegant bibshorts.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Oscar's dad on 06 March, 2018, 09:13:49 pm
Nooooo, don’t cancel!  I’ve bought you flowers and stuff!
Ooh, in that case, I'm just slipping into my most elegant bibshorts.

I shall polish my helmet with renewed vigour.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 07 March, 2018, 12:16:28 am
I spent 10 mins looking for the shed keys so I could lock it up and go for a ride.  Back Pocket  :facepalm:

I still cant find my steel rule, which was also in the shed

Did I mention the time I searched a campsite washblock, my tent and a decent quantity of mud in between for my missing head torch?  You already know how this one ends.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ElyDave on 07 March, 2018, 08:04:48 am
Found it - I tidied the workshop  :-[

(https://i.imgur.com/Wi79xTh.jpg)
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 07 March, 2018, 08:13:45 am
... the internet is full of illiterate n00bs who wouldn't know RFC1855 if an avian carrier dropped it on their heads ...

I have long been very impressed at the breadth and depth of your knowledge on so many topics, Kim.

Having no idea (without searching) what a RFC1855 is (a capacitor, perhaps?) nor an avian carrier (a ship that carries aircraft or a means of passing on influenza?) I can now be identified as an illiterate n00b!

IIRC the Royal Flying Corps was founded a little later than the Crimean War, so that makes two of us. (I was hanging back in the hope that someone else would ask first.)
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ElyDave on 07 March, 2018, 08:42:30 am
Avian carrier?  Surely that's the basket the chicken goes in at the square dance?
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Tim Hall on 07 March, 2018, 08:54:13 am
Avian carriers is RFC1149 I think.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Basil on 07 March, 2018, 09:00:59 am
I assumed that avian carriers referred to birds picking up whatever a RFC1149 is and dropping it on your head.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 07 March, 2018, 09:01:34 am
Mine was like this:
(https://pictures.abebooks.com/isbn/9780140303933-uk-300.jpg)
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: clarion on 07 March, 2018, 09:20:10 am
Found it - I tidied the workshop  :-[

(https://i.imgur.com/Wi79xTh.jpg)
Now, I am a long way from OCD, but that photo is just mean.... ;DD
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ElyDave on 07 March, 2018, 09:32:09 am
Ironically I only tidied it because I had tools every where and couldn't find what I was looking for...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 07 March, 2018, 01:59:56 pm
A nurse appears to have borrowed your scissors to fettle a troublesome patient/doctor/secretary of state for health and social care.


As for RFCs, they're the documents "Request For Comments" that define the standards that make the Internet work.  Most of them are boring protocol specs, but 1855 is more like a combination of a style guide and best practice guideline.  It's one of the ones that provides guidance on how to write messages for optimal clarity, readability, compatibility, and without wasting too much bandwidth (back in the days when a few kilobytes here and there added up to real money in network/storage costs) - the sort of thing that went straight out the window when Microsoft came along and made Outlook (which breaks most of this stuff) the de-facto standard for business (and for a time, home) email users.

There's a tradition of joke RFCs being published on April 1st.  RFC1149 "IP over Avian Carriers" is probably the most famous, it being a protocol specification for implementing an internet connection over carrier pigeons.  It's useless, but it's amusingly compelling enough that it's been tested and it does actually work.

"n00b" is gamer-speak for "newbie", a common term from the heyday of Usenet and BBSes for someone who had yet to learn the technical and cultural aspects of harmonious online socialisation.  It's not inherently derogatory, but does get used as a slur against people who ought to know better when indulging in newbie-like behaviour (bad quoting, me-tooing, asking questions that have already been answered, that sort of thing), and is occasionally used self-deprecatingly as a statement of ignorance in a given field.

I don't think anyone on here qualifies as illiterate, but if you've ever had email dialogue with a Mistake Agent or similar, you'll have an idea of what I meant by "illiterate n00bs who wouldn't know RFC1855 if an avian carrier dropped it on their head".  Sort of people who quote your entire email (even though they've only read the first paragraph) then add a single line at the top to "advice" you of something, usually in HTML and with broken references and sig separators.  That this is now how email is normally used, and that my ramblings about nettiquette seem hopelessly dated is clearly a sign of being middle-aged.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: mrcharly-YHT on 07 March, 2018, 02:17:37 pm
Ahem. It is rare that I feel the need to correct teh Kim, but there is a subtle and vital distinction between 'newbie' and 'n00b'.

A 'newbie' is someone who has only just started playing a game. They are forgiven mistakes in gameplay and having inadequate gear.

A 'n00b' is someone who continues to play in an ignorant manner (usually this insult is flung at team mates who make mistakes or who have inadequate gear) but who has played for a while. Or, they have committed the cardinal sin of paying for advancement in a game and hence have reached exalted levels but have no idea of how to play.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 07 March, 2018, 02:25:29 pm
Interesting.  That's presumably a gaming-specific dialect thing that I've managed to miss (I'm not a gamer, but some of my best friends are gamers).  I only usually encounter "n00b" in the ironic or self-deprecating sense.

Ties in with a twitter thread [contains images of text] (https://twitter.com/DeannaHoak/status/970129313415749632) and an article (http://thingskidslike.tumblr.com/post/69735480938/your-ability-to-can-even-a-defense-of-internet) I was reading yesterday about internet linguistics, which may be of interest to those who are middle-aged.

(I was particularly interested in the convention of a single full stop expressing annoyance, except when the sentence is capitalised and punctuated according to traditional grammar rules, which functions as a kind of escape sequence.  That's something I've been fluent in for years, but have never really thought about.  Teh Kidz also appear to be using ellipses in exciting new ways[1].)


[1] I'll use "..." at the end of a sentence in more or less the traditional manner.  Surrounded by whitespace it translates as roughly "what the actual fuck?", often found alongside a URL to an article containing the latest instalment of brexit'n'trump, or similar.  I don't use ".." at all, and always assumed ",,," was a typo.  I was on an IRC channel for a while where "." on a line of its own was used as a sort of shorthand for "I'm still paying attention and I understand/feel for what you're saying, but I don't have anything useful to contribute at this point." - it allowed people to provide encouragement without affecting the clarity of long explanations.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 07 March, 2018, 02:52:50 pm
The angry full stop has appeared in these august pages, probably in the Grammar Cringe thread.

Also, the peculiarity of the way language is used on the internet has been remarked on by linguists etc since at least 2000. Certainly well before "to can"*. Consensus is/was that it's due to it being mostly speech in written form, but unlike speech or other writing, you can go back and alter what you said in the past, and everything you say is said to a crowd, even if addressed to a specific individual.

*Of course, English is a fairly odd language in not having "to can" as a regular word. But then, that's only the root of the meaning expressed here.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Beardy on 07 March, 2018, 03:17:24 pm
'to can' confuses me. No, that's wrong 'to can' has me completely confounded.

The only thing I can think for it is in putting food or similar in a tin can, 'to can food', but how this fits into the context of the sentence I can't work out and why we would want a word specifically for something as none day to day as canning food, I can't even begin to comprehend. All this would lead me to the conclusion that I have completely missed the point, and Google has only confused me further.

Of course, my general lack of English skills (as apposed to language skills) and dyslexia don't help at all.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 07 March, 2018, 03:24:22 pm
It's not really to 'can' it's to 'can even', which is the playful logical opposite[1] of 'can't even' as it appears in "I can't even...", a common construction denoting speechlessness with the actual verb (probably something like "begin to explain how I feel about this") being left as an exercise for the reader.

So being able to can even suggests that you're full able to articulate your emotions.  Or something.


[1] See also: Molish
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: mrcharly-YHT on 07 March, 2018, 03:27:17 pm
Interesting.  That's presumably a gaming-specific dialect thing that I've managed to miss (I'm not a gamer, but some of my best friends are gamers).  I only usually encounter "n00b" in the ironic or self-deprecating sense.
Calling oneself a n00b is a shorthand way of saying "I was a complete twit without any valid excuse"
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: robgul on 07 March, 2018, 05:40:45 pm
Found it - I tidied the workshop  :-[

(https://i.imgur.com/Wi79xTh.jpg)
Now, I am a long way from OCD, but that photo is just mean.... ;DD

I don't like to brag but . . . . . from my man-cave with everything in its place and a place for everything.
(http://www.beewee.org.uk/images/stories/toolboard-jul17-web500w.jpg)

The woodworking department is on the other wall!

Rob
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Torslanda on 07 March, 2018, 05:58:47 pm
You don't want to see my workshop!
Title: Re: You know you're RETIRED when
Post by: T42 on 08 March, 2018, 09:07:52 am
Oh well...

(http://www.pbase.com/image/167105540.jpg)

It took 30 years to get this messy.

Bike fettling down at the end, next to the Picasso.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Legs on 08 March, 2018, 09:10:16 am
I don't like to brag but . . . . . from my man-cave with everything in its place and a place for everything.
(http://www.beewee.org.uk/images/stories/toolboard-jul17-web500w.jpg)
The woodworking department is on the other wall!
Rob
Is there any logical reason why the WD40 and GT85 are on different shelves?  ;)
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: mrcharly-YHT on 08 March, 2018, 09:28:22 am
Is there any logical reason why the WD40 and GT85 are on different shelves?  ;)
Solvents on one shelf, lubricants on another?
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: clarion on 08 March, 2018, 10:42:52 am
My workshop is currently my parents' dining room.

Shhhhh!!!  Don't tell!
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Oscar's dad on 08 March, 2018, 10:46:45 am
You know you’re middle aged when you find other people’s workshop photos endlessly fascinating  ;D
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 08 March, 2018, 11:07:03 am
Bookshelf syndrome: when you lose track of what the interviewee is saying because you're trying to make out the titles in the bookshelf in the background.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Oscar's dad on 08 March, 2018, 11:54:48 am
;D

That is a good likeness to your avatar, OD. Whenever I see a grinning smiley I will be reminded of you.

 ;D  ‘Tis my legendary photo face!
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Torslanda on 08 March, 2018, 11:55:37 am
Grinning like a loon!

Cheers me up every time I see it  :thumbsup:

T42, you're workshop is bigger than my entire bike shop!
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 08 March, 2018, 01:57:03 pm
Just luck. We didn't really want a barn when we bought the house, but it was there and had the workshop set into it. I suppose it would originally have been used for storing and fettling harnesses & suchlike.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: clarion on 08 March, 2018, 02:46:37 pm
Bookshelf syndrome: when you lose track of what the interviewee is saying because you're trying to make out the titles in the bookshelf in the background.
I was middle aged as a kid, then :( :( :(
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: robgul on 08 March, 2018, 07:00:58 pm
Is there any logical reason why the WD40 and GT85 are on different shelves?  ;)
Solvents on one shelf, lubricants on another?

Sort of - the lower shelf has the more frequently used stuff - the eagle-eyed may spot that in addition to the WD40 on the upper shelf there is a spray can of 3-in-1 oil and one of Waxoyl for occasional use inside steel frames.

Rob

BTW- this workshop thing is an obsession .... I now manage an LBS and have just revamped the workshop and tool-board there.  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Butterfly on 09 March, 2018, 08:57:57 am
I don't like to brag but . . . . . from my man-cave with everything in its place and a place for everything.
(http://www.beewee.org.uk/images/stories/toolboard-jul17-web500w.jpg)

The woodworking department is on the other wall!

Rob

That makes me so happy!  :D
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: pcolbeck on 11 March, 2018, 02:43:39 pm
A new toaster makes you unreasonably happy.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Mr Larrington on 11 March, 2018, 04:30:03 pm
Chatting to a chap at last night's gig who was accompanied by his teenage son.  Discovering that we attended an awful lot of the same gigs in the 1980s.  Some of which we'd prefer to forget for e.g. a post-makeup Kiss at Wembley Arena, Hawkwind having Vera Lynn as a special guest* in Crystal Palace Park.  Thanks, Mike!

* I had forgotten that one, or at least the Vera Lynn part of it
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hellymedic on 11 March, 2018, 04:36:23 pm
You read the obit in the BMJ of the suicide doctor who was young enough to be your daughter.
 :'(
My younger sister's youngest son turned 18 this week; he is older than most of the MSD 'kids'. Said sister's oldest so turns 30 next year.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Jurek on 11 March, 2018, 04:52:20 pm
I don't like to brag but . . . . . from my man-cave with everything in its place and a place for everything.
(http://www.beewee.org.uk/images/stories/toolboard-jul17-web500w.jpg)

The woodworking department is on the other wall!

Rob

That makes me so happy!  :D

I think we are overdue a picture of Tewdric's SEEKRIT BWWWWWNKER....
I've struggled to find it....
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 14 March, 2018, 11:12:47 am
'to can' confuses me. No, that's wrong 'to can' has me completely confounded.

The only thing I can think for it is in putting food or similar in a tin can, 'to can food', but how this fits into the context of the sentence I can't work out and why we would want a word specifically for something as none day to day as canning food, I can't even begin to comprehend. All this would lead me to the conclusion that I have completely missed the point, and Google has only confused me further.

Of course, my general lack of English skills (as apposed to language skills) and dyslexia don't help at all.
It's not really to 'can' it's to 'can even', which is the playful logical opposite[1] of 'can't even' as it appears in "I can't even...", a common construction denoting speechlessness with the actual verb (probably something like "begin to explain how I feel about this") being left as an exercise for the reader.

So being able to can even suggests that you're full able to articulate your emotions.  Or something.


[1] See also: Molish
How about "to Marmite even"? Okay, I'm exaggerating, it was actually just "to Marmite" with an "even" used normally for emphasis.
"Do you even Marmite, bro?"
The context is one lot of teenagers (British) ribbing another (Australian), and suddenly it all makes sense.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 14 March, 2018, 04:00:17 pm
A topical one: ...when you know who Jim Bowen was. (I like this one cos it makes me either still young or already old!)
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Oscar's dad on 14 March, 2018, 04:07:43 pm
A topical one: ...when you know who Jim Bowen was. (I like this one cos it makes me either still young or already old!)

"Let's see what you could have won!" [Either a Mini Metro or a speed boat  ;D ]
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ian on 14 March, 2018, 04:21:46 pm
That man bears much of the responsibility for the epidemic of speedboats left parked outside council houses in landlocked parts of Britain.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 15 March, 2018, 01:00:45 pm
You burst my bubbles! I've noticed the front garden speedboat phenomenon but now instead of thinking "Young adventurer in the spirit of Donald Campbell, life on the edge, proud seafaring tradition," I shall think "Middle aged beer gut, four-pack of Carling and twenty Bensons on the sofa in front of daytime TV."
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 15 March, 2018, 01:02:42 pm
Seems like a good time to repost this thread: https://twitter.com/davidWhill14/status/959712290269429760

ETA: And this article https://inews.co.uk/sport/bullseye-and-jim-bowen-showed-just-how-to-treat-people-who-have-fallen-on-hard-times/
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 15 March, 2018, 01:56:48 pm
A topical one: ...when you know who Jim Bowen was. (I like this one cos it makes me either still young or already old!)

There has to be a name for somebody great having their death upstaged by that of a mere entertainer.

Jean d'Ormesson, one of the greatest French writers and philosophers of the last hundred years, once observed that it would be truly unfortunate to have one's death immediately followed by that of a pop singer. He died last December, and within 24 hours Johnny Hallyday kicked the bucket.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Jakob W on 15 March, 2018, 02:21:49 pm
I've seen the term 'Huxleyed' used, after Aldous Huxley, who died on the same day as JFK (as did CS Lewis).
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Jurek on 15 March, 2018, 02:32:56 pm
I've seen the term 'Huxleyed' used, after Aldous Huxley, who died on the same day as JFK (as did CS Lewis).

I understood that a JFK was a euphamism for a headache.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: clarion on 15 March, 2018, 02:43:41 pm
Seems like a good time to repost this thread: https://twitter.com/davidWhill14/status/959712290269429760
That is fascinating.  Thanks
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 15 March, 2018, 03:17:16 pm
Seems like a good time to repost this thread: https://twitter.com/davidWhill14/status/959712290269429760
That is fascinating.  Thanks
1981 was a very long time ago. Only four years after having "No Compassion" was noteworthy enough for a Talking Heads song. Though perhaps it's even the other way round; now "compassion is a virtue" and in 1981 it was normal? Or perhaps it's just Jim Bowen or his producers! But "Strike It Rich" shows it's not a one-way movement.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: TheLurker on 16 March, 2018, 07:28:10 am
You remember all too clearly how incredibly wealthy you felt when an uncle or an aunt gave you a half-crown or, wonder of wonders, a 10/- note and then you realise how very, very little such sums will buy nowadays.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: andytheflyer on 16 March, 2018, 12:12:02 pm
You remember all too clearly how incredibly wealthy you felt when an uncle or an aunt gave you a half-crown or, wonder of wonders, a 10/- note and then you realise how very, very little such sums will buy nowadays.

I recall that the first pint I bought, in my local rugby club bar after a game (and I was about 16 at the time!), was 2/6. Or 4 pints for 10 bob - not that I ever bought 4 pints.......  My dad would have had something to say about that. 

(Goes off to finish nacelle fettling - just a couple more cut-outs and screw fittings to go........)
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Beardy on 16 March, 2018, 12:22:51 pm
(Goes off to finish nacelle fettling - just a couple more cut-outs and screw fittings to go........)
Remember to cut on the right side of the line.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: andytheflyer on 16 March, 2018, 12:29:20 pm
(Goes off to finish nacelle fettling - just a couple more cut-outs and screw fittings to go........)
Remember to cut on the right side of the line.
;D

It's a twin and I did one nacelle yesterday, so now I have a template and all the dimensions! But ...................
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Giraffe on 16 March, 2018, 04:08:23 pm
You remember all too clearly how incredibly wealthy you felt when an uncle or an aunt gave you a half-crown or, wonder of wonders, a 10/- note and then you realise how very, very little such sums will buy nowadays.

I recall that the first pint I bought, in my local rugby club bar after a game (and I was about 16 at the time!), was 2/6. Or 4 pints for 10 bob - not that I ever bought 4 pints.......  My dad would have had something to say about that. 

(Goes off to finish nacelle fettling - just a couple more cut-outs and screw fittings to go........)
My first pint was 1/3 in a sort of hotel place. I was 14 at the time, but 6' 4" and also my dad had been a local licencee, so I was OK. That was for mild - bitter was a bit more.

Mind, I'd been drinking since the age of 4. The cellar of an off-licence is fun for kiddies. I think it stunted my growth.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: robgul on 16 March, 2018, 08:25:07 pm
... and a follow-on from beer at half-a-crown a pint (I think the first beer I bought was a half for  11d at a pub in Kent) - but a different liquid . ..  when I first had a car you could get 4 gallons of petrol for £1.00 (it was actually a whisker over 4 gallons as it was 4/10d per gallon (that was May 1965)

Rob
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 17 March, 2018, 08:45:42 am
When you remember what you were doing when George VI died.

(Everyone was telling everyone else the news in hushed voices. I was with my mum in Donegall Square and I had a new whistle in the shape of a locomotive, which succumbed to my deciduous incisors before we reached the bus-stop on Chichester St. I wasn't allowed to blow it, anyway.)
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Poacher on 17 March, 2018, 09:34:35 am
The met office issues a Yellow Snow Warning and your first thought is of Frank Zappa.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Jaded on 17 March, 2018, 09:41:00 am
...every time. Without fail.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ElyDave on 17 March, 2018, 09:42:43 am
I don't know the frank Zappa reference, but my immediate thought was "don't eat it!"
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: essexian on 17 March, 2018, 09:47:12 am
When you remember what you were doing when George VI died.


I don't quite remember that far back but always thought that my Grand Father looked just like the late King..... well... you never know what the Edward VII was doing in Hackney in early 1905 do you..... ;D
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Jaded on 17 March, 2018, 09:54:12 am
I don't know the frank Zappa reference, but my immediate thought was "don't eat it!"

https://youtu.be/TLIppgE45wM?t=1m56s
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: spesh on 17 March, 2018, 12:03:31 pm
The met office issues a Yellow Snow Warning and your first thought is of Frank Zappa.

 ;D :thumbsup:
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 17 March, 2018, 12:53:23 pm
I don't know the frank Zappa reference, but my immediate thought was "don't eat it!"

https://youtu.be/TLIppgE45wM?t=1m56s

Gosh, I've learned a thing.  I thought it was just general good advice.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 17 March, 2018, 01:00:50 pm
When you remember what you were doing when George VI died.


I don't quite remember that far back but always thought that my Grand Father looked just like the late King..... well... you never know what the Edward VII was doing in Hackney in early 1905 do you..... ;D

Something to do with floating a battleship, wasn't it?
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Croft on 17 March, 2018, 01:11:16 pm
...you see someone in the street with an outstretched arm taking a photo with their phone and you think the polite thing to do is to walk past behind them.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 17 March, 2018, 04:40:49 pm
Whence the sport of selfie-bombing.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hbunnet on 17 March, 2018, 06:35:21 pm
When you remember what you were doing when George VI died.

Jings yes. Our headmaster came in to the classroom to tell us.The same man had previously given me the belt for talking during lunch, which was at our desks.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 17 March, 2018, 08:46:06 pm
I don't wish to be disrespectful to King George VI's contenmporaries but I wonder at what point you realise that you are getting beyond middle age.

I've been wondering that for the last page or so...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: arabella on 17 March, 2018, 09:21:32 pm
I could mention the word 'menopause'.
It's been appearing in the graun a lot recently.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hellymedic on 17 March, 2018, 09:37:45 pm
I could mention the word 'menopause'.
It's been appearing in the graun a lot recently.

Given that this is not a new phenomenon, I would postulate that a large tranche of journalists must be experiencing menopause simultaneously.

ETA I see some ITV bird is suggesting 'M' badges for menopausal women...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-43429713 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-43429713)
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 18 March, 2018, 08:27:17 am
I don't wish to be disrespectful to King George VI's contenmporaries but I wonder at what point you realise that you are getting beyond middle age.

When the view of the daisies includes altogether too many roots.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hellymedic on 19 March, 2018, 01:46:09 pm
I must be more than past middle age. Today would have been my grandmother's 120th birthday.
She's no longer with us but I'm a little less than half of that.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: De Sisti on 19 March, 2018, 01:48:53 pm
You receive mailshots from Saga.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: rafletcher on 19 March, 2018, 02:44:46 pm
You receive mailshots from Saga.

And flyers for “retirement communities”  ::-)
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Oscar's dad on 19 March, 2018, 02:47:00 pm
You receive mailshots from Saga.

And flyers for “retirement communities”  ::-)

I'm told by those who know that some Saga holidays are absolutely brilliant so wouldn't mind giving one a try at some point.  However, I hope never to find myself living in a retirement community.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hellymedic on 19 March, 2018, 03:20:56 pm
You receive mailshots from Saga.

And flyers for “retirement communities”  ::-)

I'm told by those who know that some Saga holidays are absolutely brilliant so wouldn't mind giving one a try at some point.  However, I hope never to find myself living in a retirement community.

I am told by my colleagues in Sexual Health that Saga Louts have a jolly good time...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Tim Hall on 19 March, 2018, 03:43:03 pm
When you remember what you were doing when George VI died.

Jings yes. Our headmaster came in to the classroom to tell us.The same man had previously given me the belt for talking during lunch, which was at our desks.
King George VI gave you the belt? Blimey. (sure it wasn't the order of The Garter?)
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: JennyB on 19 March, 2018, 08:01:50 pm
I must be more than past middle age. Today would have been my grandmother's 120th birthday.
She's no longer with us but I'm a little less than half of that.

Middle age: when half your friends are dead.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ian on 19 March, 2018, 09:18:38 pm
I must be more than past middle age. Today would have been my grandmother's 120th birthday.
She's no longer with us but I'm a little less than half of that.

Middle age: when half your friends are dead.

I think that's being Median Aged.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Ian H on 19 March, 2018, 09:26:41 pm
I become an official OAP next month. Can I still claim to be middle-aged?
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Somnolent on 19 March, 2018, 09:27:13 pm
I must be more than past middle age. Today would have been my grandmother's 120th birthday.
She's no longer with us but I'm a little less than half of that.

Middle age: when half your friends are dead.

I think that's being Median Aged.
When you find yourself becoming pedantic about mathematical terminology....
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Greenbank on 19 March, 2018, 09:42:54 pm
I must be more than past middle age. Today would have been my grandmother's 120th birthday.
She's no longer with us but I'm a little less than half of that.

Middle age: when half your friends are dead.

I think that's being Median Aged.
When you find yourself becoming pedantic about mathematical terminology....

That was pre-puberty for me.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hellymedic on 19 March, 2018, 11:05:33 pm
I must be more than past middle age. Today would have been my grandmother's 120th birthday.
She's no longer with us but I'm a little less than half of that.

Middle age: when half your friends are dead.

Five years ago, my MOTHER complained I was going to too many funerals. Bob Kynaston, Dave Lewis and John Snuggs died within a few days of each other  :'(
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 20 March, 2018, 09:47:19 am
I must be more than past middle age. Today would have been my grandmother's 120th birthday.
She's no longer with us but I'm a little less than half of that.

Middle age: when half your friends are dead.

I think that's being Median Aged.
40.0 apparently, its highest ever figure, having risen from 33.9 in 1974.
(https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/2k4AAOxyJs5Rc98S/s-l500.jpg)
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: andytheflyer on 28 March, 2018, 07:50:56 am
I bought some double sided sticky foam pads to stick electronic bits into my model aeroplanes.  I know I did because eBay says so.  So I must have.

I recall using a few, but not many. I don't recall where I put the packet when I'd done that.  I do know that it's not where I used to put the previous packet until that ran out.

I've bought another packet.  Presumably the part-used packet will turn up today, at about the same time as the postman.

This never used to happen to me 20 years ago.......


EDIT: The postie brought the second batch of sticky pads, purchased from the original supplier, loose in a plain envelope. The first batch did not show up at the same time.

In hunting for the first batch, I was looking for some sort of proprietary packaging, but I now suspect that I probably re-packaged the pads into a packet/bag/box of my own choosing.  Which is going to make it even harder to find them. 

Is my brain really fading that fast? Is there any hope.......?
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Polar Bear on 28 March, 2018, 08:36:57 am
Hmmmm - SAGA and retirement communities.

Having the 'not PiL' living locally now in a retirement community, planning his SAGA cruise in April and insuring his car through SAGA, all I can say is that middle age is for the relatively well off.   None of the above represents anything like good value for money imo and I shall endeavour to remain stubbornly NOT OLD!!!

Bah effing humbug!!!   :hand:
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Torslanda on 28 March, 2018, 09:04:24 am
Growing old is mandatory, growing up is optional!

Did I read somewhere that the SAGA lot tend to have something of a ribald and uninhibited time on cruises? Along with all kinds of interesting infections...?

Maybe it's all a gummint plot to kill off the oldies who've done equity release so they can piss it up for another 10 years before popping off and leaving their descendants to discover that their inheritance is now the property of an insurance company... [STOP IT! - Ed]
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Polar Bear on 28 March, 2018, 09:36:05 am
To be honest I'd not begrudge the old boy a bit of a ribald excess but the insurance company will be disappointed - he's not done any ER.   :D
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Oscar's dad on 28 March, 2018, 09:38:22 am
Growing old is mandatory, growing up is optional!

True that is.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 28 March, 2018, 09:56:07 am
Growing old is mandatory, growing up is optional!

True that is.

Not according to Mrs T42, she's always telling me to grow up*.

* lie. She just says "well, it's your decision" with one of those looks.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Beardy on 28 March, 2018, 10:14:03 am
Growing old is mandatory, growing up is optional!

True that is.

Not according to Mrs T42, she's always telling me to grow up*.

* lie. She just says "well, it's your decision" with one of those looks.
Thats a trap, that is.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Mr Larrington on 28 March, 2018, 11:11:59 am
SAGA = Send All Grannies Away.  Trufax.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: andytheflyer on 28 March, 2018, 11:18:20 am
There used to be a Sand And Gravel Association...  Never could understand why the aggregate industry was into older people's holidays.....

Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 28 March, 2018, 01:35:46 pm
Growing old is mandatory, growing up is optional!

True that is.

Not according to Mrs T42, she's always telling me to grow up*.

* lie. She just says "well, it's your decision" with one of those looks.
Thats a trap, that is.

Reminiscent of those adverts there used to be on the front page of The Times where Col. Onceover-Litely would announce that he would no longer be responsible for his wife's debts.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Guy on 29 March, 2018, 09:09:51 am
... you get really really really enthusiastic about buying a new pair of slippers.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Giraffe on 30 March, 2018, 09:12:12 am
You need Viagra just to get your hopes up!
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 30 March, 2018, 09:19:00 am
Heh. What was that one again? "When you're young you're afraid she'll say no. When you're older you're afraid she'll say yes."
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 30 March, 2018, 12:58:11 pm
Paging Jaques...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Beardy on 30 March, 2018, 02:38:44 pm
When you pause while climbing a very steep hill1, doubled over due to a hernia spasm, and a chap just getting something out of his car offers to give you a lift, even though you’ve told him you’ve only got 50m to go2. And is quite insistant.

1. We’re holidaying in Ilfracombe. Our lodgings is quite a way up the hill. Dr Beardy (Mrs) likes to walk into town3

2. Vertically as well as horizontally. Did I say it’s a steep hill

3. Which is at the bottom of the hill
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Beardy on 02 April, 2018, 10:46:30 am
When you think that putting Radio 2 on is a good idea. It didn’t last though, so I think I’m safe for a bit longer.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: TheLurker on 02 April, 2018, 04:31:17 pm
When you think that putting Radio 2 on is a good idea. It didn’t last though, so I think I’m safe for a bit longer.
Or when you hear Radio 2 and it's playing something by "The Clash" and it doesn't strike you as odd.

In other thoughts.  When you wake up and the first thought that flits through your mind is that you can't remember the last time you saw a television set with horizontal and vertical hold controls.



Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 02 April, 2018, 04:37:28 pm
Canonically, it's turning the radio on, getting Radio 2 and thinking it's Radio 1.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ian on 02 April, 2018, 05:29:05 pm
Looking around the crowded Friday evening trendy hipster taproom and realising you just might be oldest two people in the place. Fortunately we did eventually spot a couple of people who might have been older. We decided they were anyway.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: pcolbeck on 02 April, 2018, 05:46:53 pm
In other thoughts.  When you wake up and the first thought that flits through your mind is that you can't remember the last time you saw a television set with horizontal and vertical hold controls.

There is nothing wrong with your television set. Do not attempt to adjust the picture. We are controlling transmission. If we wish to make it louder, we will bring up the volume. If we wish to make it softer, we will tune it to a whisper. We will control the horizontal. We will control the vertical. We can roll the image, make it flutter. We can change the focus to a soft blur or sharpen it to crystal clarity. For the next hour sit quietly and we will control all that you see and hear. We repeat: there is nothing wrong with your television set.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ian on 02 April, 2018, 05:59:44 pm
Adjusting the tracking on a VHS. Ah, happy evenings.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 02 April, 2018, 06:06:30 pm
Adjusting the tracking on a VHS. Ah, happy evenings.

The one generation who knew how to work the timer on a VCR are now middle-aged.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ian on 02 April, 2018, 06:14:01 pm
It was the splendid vintage era where you rented the video from the shop that featured a rotating rack of the current selections (even Blockbuster hadn't appeared). Each of the twenty cassettes on offer had been played so many times that it required 'dynamic tracking control' a feature supplied on my parent's VHS model by their small son lying on the floor and twiddling with the tracking dial for the entire length of the movie.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Jurek on 02 April, 2018, 06:20:29 pm
Blimey:
Tracking.

Blimey II:
VHS

Azimuth:
Bless me.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ian on 02 April, 2018, 06:54:51 pm
For added awesomes, top loading.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ElyDave on 02 April, 2018, 07:09:39 pm
Adjusting the tracking on a VHS. Ah, happy evenings.

The one generation who knew how to work the timer on a VCR are now middle-aged.

I certainly am

And I am also one of that generation who still has a casette player in their car, courtesy of LandRover's speed of embracement of newness.  I get to play all those scratchy tapes from my late teens and early twenties all over again.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 02 April, 2018, 07:10:41 pm
Advanced VHS skill:  Knowing to reject tapes with an obviously creased lower edge before they cause excessive wear on your VCR's rollers[1].


[1] Worn rollers tending to cause the tape to slip downwards, causing tracking problems and creasing the lower edge of the tape.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Jurek on 02 April, 2018, 07:15:13 pm
For added awesomes, top loading.
Oooooff!
That's just hauled me back to something like 1982 and Hitachi.

In other news....
Julie, with whom I shared a flat for ~ 8 years, is the only person I know who managed to insert  two VHS tapes into a machine only ever designed to accommodate one.
As a result, to this day, I treat her accordingly, with utmost respect.
(Some on here may've met her following a FNRTTC to widdersbel)
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 02 April, 2018, 07:29:22 pm
You could only mistake Radio 2 for Radio 1 if you thought that somehow R1 had the exact same DJs playing the exact same music today as 20 or more years ago.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: orienteer on 02 April, 2018, 07:37:35 pm
What's this with numbered programmes? The Light Programme, Third Programme, and Home Service surely.  ???
 
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Tim Hall on 02 April, 2018, 08:23:27 pm
What's this with numbered programmes? The Light Programme, Third Programme, and Home Service surely.  ???
2LO
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Jaded on 02 April, 2018, 08:30:59 pm
...you saw Logan's Run on a LaserDisk player.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Beardy on 02 April, 2018, 08:34:04 pm
You could only mistake Radio 2 for Radio 1 if you thought that somehow R1 had the exact same DJs playing the exact same music today as 20 or more years ago.
That was certainly part of the problem yesterday morning. Steve Wright is still as much an annoying twunt as he was 35 years ago!
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Beardy on 02 April, 2018, 08:35:20 pm
...you saw Logan's Run on a LaserDisk player.
Ah, JA. Sigh.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hellymedic on 02 April, 2018, 09:11:42 pm
What's this with numbered programmes? The Light Programme, Third Programme, and Home Service surely.  ???
2LO

That's NOT MIDDLE-aged!
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: pcolbeck on 02 April, 2018, 09:15:17 pm
What's this with numbered programmes? The Light Programme, Third Programme, and Home Service surely.  ???
2LO

That's NOT MIDDLE-aged!

And Radio Caroline and those cheeky pirates for the young people.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 03 April, 2018, 08:29:00 am
You remember hearing that Simon Dee was down to his last £1000.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ian on 03 April, 2018, 09:06:36 am
Adjusting the tracking on a VHS. Ah, happy evenings.

The one generation who knew how to work the timer on a VCR are now middle-aged.

I certainly am

And I am also one of that generation who still has a casette player in their car, courtesy of LandRover's speed of embracement of newness.  I get to play all those scratchy tapes from my late teens and early twenties all over again.

Our car has a cassette player, though given it's only about 11 or 12 years old (OK, ancient for a car*, but still, who used cassettes in 2006?), I can only assume it was a punishment gesture from Ford for buying the cheapest car they made. I think it worked out a £1000 more if you wanted a CD player and locks on the inside of the doors.

*now 100 miles off the big 10k. We have a suspicion that when the meter clicks over from 9999 that the entire thing will come apart like a clown car leaving us sitting in the middle of the road.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Guy on 03 April, 2018, 03:24:22 pm
You could only mistake Radio 2 for Radio 1 if you thought that somehow R1 had the exact same DJs playing the exact same music today as 20 or more years ago.

Did somebody just mention Steve Wright in the afternoo-hoo-hoon?
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: LEE on 03 April, 2018, 03:43:28 pm

Our car has a cassette player, though given it's only about 11 or 12 years old (OK, ancient for a car*, but still, who used cassettes in 2006?), I can only assume it was a punishment gesture from Ford for buying the cheapest car they made. I think it worked out a £1000 more if you wanted a CD player and locks on the inside of the doors.

*now 100 miles off the big 10k. We have a suspicion that when the meter clicks over from 9999 that the entire thing will come apart like a clown car leaving us sitting in the middle of the road.

Cassette players are more useful than a CD player in a car.  At least you can stick a tape-adapter in and plug it into your MP3 player.  Much better than an FM transmitter.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 03 April, 2018, 05:00:02 pm
Frank Muir's infant found that a small bar of Kit-Kat fitted perfectly into his car cassette player.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Moleman76 on 06 April, 2018, 08:03:52 am
.... you check this topic every few days to see if you are there yet
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Efrogwr on 06 April, 2018, 10:05:05 am
... your sister had a Betamx VCR.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: andytheflyer on 06 April, 2018, 10:09:40 am
I bought some double sided sticky foam pads to stick electronic bits into my model aeroplanes.  I know I did because eBay says so.  So I must have.

I recall using a few, but not many. I don't recall where I put the packet when I'd done that.  I do know that it's not where I used to put the previous packet until that ran out.

I've bought another packet.  Presumably the part-used packet will turn up today, at about the same time as the postman.

This never used to happen to me 20 years ago.......


EDIT: The postie brought the second batch of sticky pads, purchased from the original supplier, loose in a plain envelope. The first batch did not show up at the same time.

In hunting for the first batch, I was looking for some sort of proprietary packaging, but I now suspect that I probably re-packaged the pads into a packet/bag/box of my own choosing.  Which is going to make it even harder to find them. 

Is my brain really fading that fast? Is there any hope.......?

Update:  Found them, as predicted, when I was looking for something else.  I hadn't re-packaged them, just put them somewhere safe.........  I now have more than a lifetime's supply of double-sided sticky foam pads.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 06 April, 2018, 10:46:19 am
.... you check this topic every few days to see if you are there yet

...or still here, as the case may be.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Butterfly on 07 April, 2018, 09:23:23 am
Cassette players are more useful than a CD player in a car.  At least you can stick a tape-adapter in and plug it into your MP3 player.  Much better than an FM transmitter.
Absolutely. You can run a DAB radio through them as well. After we killed the peugeot and bought Red Ted, we had to buy a DAB car radio, because it had a CD player. It also has a USB slot for playing your MP3. A lot of spend to get where we were, and we can't play tapes on it.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 07 April, 2018, 01:09:18 pm
Trick is to have old enough cars that you can just slot the radio out and install one of your choosing.  Better than having to buy a tape recorder to copy things to tape for the car.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Oscar's dad on 09 April, 2018, 05:24:32 pm
You need Viagra just to get your hopes up!

If the massive window poster in the Keswick branch of Boots is to be believed Viagra is available without prescription now  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ian on 09 April, 2018, 05:51:00 pm
Trick is to have old enough cars that you can just slot the radio out and install one of your choosing.  Better than having to buy a tape recorder to copy things to tape for the car.

We just have a singalong. We invent songs from musicals that don't exist but really, really should, like Sharknado: the Musical which feature such epics as Let's Give Thanks to the Elasmobranchs. We made the sharks the heros. Well, people dressed as sharks, the American Humane society monitors such things.

I will accept off-Broadway offers.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Jurek on 24 April, 2018, 08:36:30 pm
You are the only person in your place of work who has watched a black and white film.  :o
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Phil W on 24 April, 2018, 08:49:30 pm
You remember spending pound notes
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Basil on 24 April, 2018, 09:49:26 pm
You  remember a good  night out on a ten bob note.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Tim Hall on 25 April, 2018, 07:42:56 am
You are the only person in your place of work who has watched a black and white film.  :o
I used to work with a bloke who wouldn't watch black and white films on TV as he'd paid for a colour licence and was damn well going to get his money's worth.

Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Polar Bear on 25 April, 2018, 07:49:31 am
You  remember a good  night out on a ten bob note.

Blimey.  I can remember black and white television but I cannot remember ten bob notes.   You must be very old Basil.   :P
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Basil on 25 April, 2018, 07:52:40 am
You  remember a good  night out on a ten bob note.

Blimey.  I can remember black and white television but I cannot remember ten bob notes.   You must be very old Basil.   :P

You're right.  That's beyond middle-aged, isn't it?
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Polar Bear on 25 April, 2018, 08:07:06 am
You  remember a good  night out on a ten bob note.

Blimey.  I can remember black and white television but I cannot remember ten bob notes.   You must be very old Basil.   :P

You're right.  That's beyond middle-aged, isn't it?

I had to go and check when ten bob notes were finally phased out and it was 1970:  I was seven.  My memories of money of my early childhood doesn't extend beyond thruppeny bits and sixpences.   

Ah, those were the days.   ::-)    :D
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: andytheflyer on 25 April, 2018, 08:09:06 am
You  remember a good  night out on a ten bob note.

They were brown, a bit like the tenner now.  Isn't that inflation for you?  A 10 bob note would have been 4 pints, so a reasonable night out in those days.  I'd be fast asleep now after 3 pint zzzzzzzzz.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hellymedic on 25 April, 2018, 02:07:26 pm
I collected the cash for Kosher dinners at 1/9 each and was handed ten bob notes for a week's dinners till the 50p coin was introduced.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Mr Larrington on 25 April, 2018, 04:18:19 pm
They were still legal tender when we moved back from Germany in 1970 but 50p coins had practically taken over by then.  Not that I ever had that much money back then ;D
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ian on 25 April, 2018, 04:57:34 pm
I was quite surprised when the machine gave me £5s the other day. That's not even a beer token in 2018 London (£6.50 for a 330ml can as it turned out).

ETA: of course, complaining about the price of beer is another symptom of middle age. Though that was bloody expensive (the price of rooftop drinking).
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: rower40 on 25 April, 2018, 05:17:28 pm
You get thanked for letting someone out of an HST, by dint of knowing that there’s no internal door handle.
Bonus points for remembering when HSTs DID have internal door handles.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 25 April, 2018, 06:41:29 pm
I don't remember HSTs every having internal door handles. I do remember when you had to lower the window and use the external door handle, before they introduced the push buttons. I also remember when HST referred (in the UK) to only one type of train.  :D
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hellymedic on 25 April, 2018, 09:03:49 pm
They had internal door handles until unfortunate folk leant against them in moving trains, with predictably disastrous results.

I suppose this proves I am OLD...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: TheLurker on 25 April, 2018, 09:24:46 pm
You  remember a good  night out on a ten bob note.
And you* start repeating yourself without realising you're doing so. See posts starting here (https://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=87402.msg2267700#msg2267700)

*That's a collective, "you" not a dig at Basil who is venerable rather than old middle-aged.  :)
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Basil on 25 April, 2018, 09:40:17 pm
 ;D. Yes.  I realised when the price of ye olde beer came up that we'd been here several times before.

That's the trouble with YACF now being ten years old.  We're starting to go round in circles a bit.

You know YACF is middle aged when ...............
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: andrewc on 25 April, 2018, 09:44:53 pm
I was quite surprised when the machine gave me £5s the other day. That's not even a beer token in 2018 London (£6.50 for a 330ml can as it turned out).

ETA: of course, complaining about the price of beer is another symptom of middle age. Though that was bloody expensive (the price of rooftop drinking).


I was paying £4.80 a pint in Southwark a couple of weeks ago.  Last week we ended up somewhere in Liverpool paying about £2......   thats cheap, usually £3.80 for decent real ale.

Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Torslanda on 25 April, 2018, 10:14:08 pm
You know you're middle aged when . . .

...you can't remember what you were going to say.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ian on 25 April, 2018, 10:16:15 pm
Bar Elba, on a rooftop opposite Waterloo. You pay for the roof terrace, I guess. That's a bit steep (for a can of Dead Pony anyway) even by London standards. It was sunny and warm though, which isn't necessarily standard for London.

A pint of boutique beer is usually upwards of a fiver in most places these days.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: andrewc on 25 April, 2018, 10:29:38 pm
£4.80 was in "The Ring" opposite Southwark station.  Good beer as well.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Jaded on 25 April, 2018, 11:07:09 pm
They had internal door handles until unfortunate folk leant against them in moving trains, with predictably disastrous results.

I suppose this proves I am OLD...

There a significant number of bodies found trackside, people that had been on trains. I think the buffet cars were responsible for a good proportion of them.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 26 April, 2018, 12:07:29 am
I also remember when HST referred (in the UK) to only one type of train.  :D

I'm fairly sure it still does, at least in a train-spotter/cycle-space-nerd sense.  I'd expect 'HST' to mean "Class 43 with mark 3 coaches" (the ones with the silly door handles), as found on the Great Western and East Coast routes, and occasionally CrossCountry when you least expect it.

The Greater Angular electric loco hauled trains do a passable impression from a non-cyclist passenger perspective, but don't actually count.  If I had my way, that's what every inter-city service would use.

(I never used to be a train spotter.)
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Jaded on 26 April, 2018, 07:13:33 am
I think they were introduced as 225s, rather than HSTs

225s were suppposed to replace 125s as the amazing workhorse train. The ones I’ve been on in the last few years have been nothing of the sort, whilst the venerable 125 HSTs just keep on going.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Oscar's dad on 26 April, 2018, 08:09:03 am
The HS125 was in service and regarded with much awe during my train spotting phase (1976/77 ish). It’s bonkers to think they are still going although I imagine they are much like Trigger’s Broom and have been rebuilt a few times.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: TheLurker on 26 April, 2018, 08:25:06 am
Quote from: Jaded
... the venerable 125 HSTs ...
Stupidly I still think of these as "new" and stuff like the 33s and 47s as "old" when the classification should be "old" and "ancient" respectively or possibly even "ancient" and "antediluvian".

Anyway the reason I dropped by.  Another clue that you're middle-aged is that not only do you remember "old" money you still have half a ton of scrap metal and odd bits of scrap paper stuffed away in various boxes about the house.

(https://farm1.staticflickr.com/951/39903783490_254834f5fe_z_d.jpg)

Still at least I'm ready for Brexit and a return to all things "proper" where Britain resumes her rightful role in the world as a piratical free-booter looting the wealth of other countries whilst other countries are suitably grateful for our attentions and our unrivalled gifts of parliamentary democracy, free speech and knowing how to form a proper queue. And most importantly we return to a sensible and rational currency system which confuses the blazes out of Johnny Foreigner and lets us feel immeasurably superior (as is our right) once more.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ian on 26 April, 2018, 08:53:55 am
I know nothing of trains, other than the fact my American colleague failed to detrain at Didcot owing to a lack of internal door handle (he was quite reasonably puzzled by the omission and unhelped by the only other person trying to get off being an American tourist). A lucky escape you may think. Except in is second attempt to get back to Didcot from Paddington he got a train that didn't stop at Didcot. So he ended up going to Swindon.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: andytheflyer on 26 April, 2018, 09:00:12 am
Quote from: Jaded
... the venerable 125 HSTs ...
Stupidly I still think of these as "new" and stuff like the 33s and 47s as "old" when the classification should be "old" and "ancient" respectively or possibly even "ancient" and "antediluvian".

Anyway the reason I dropped by.  Another clue that you're middle-aged is that not only do you remember "old" money you still have half a ton of scrap metal and odd bits of scrap paper stuffed away in various boxes about the house.

(https://farm1.staticflickr.com/951/39903783490_254834f5fe_z_d.jpg)

Still at least I'm ready for Brexit and a return to all things "proper" where Britain resumes her rightful role in the world as a piratical free-booter looting the wealth of other countries whilst other countries are suitably grateful for our attentions and our unrivalled gifts of parliamentary democracy, free speech and knowing how to form a proper queue. And most importantly we return to a sensible and rational currency system which confuses the blazes out of Johnny Foreigner and lets us feel immeasurably superior (as is our right) once more.

^  What he said.  And doesn't the Queen look young?
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 26 April, 2018, 09:41:43 am
You get thanked for letting someone out of an HST, by dint of knowing that there’s no internal door handle.
Bonus points for remembering when HSTs DID have internal door handles.

How about remembering the APT, and how it was cancelled because BR were too skint to build the special track it needed and passengers got seasick when it ran on existing rails?

And when they had to re-jig the timetable of the Edinburgh-Glasgow service so that trains in opposite directions didn't cross in tunnels and strike sparks off each other.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 26 April, 2018, 10:11:40 am
Some of the HST 125s have been rebuilt and sent to Scotland and Cornwall. They're withdrawing them from GWML, at least supposedly. What I was thinking of though was that it was the first train type in the UK at least to be officially classified as "high speed train". As for the door handles, despite having used those trains since the early 80s (certainly long before I was old enough to get drunk in the buffet car – in fact I don't think I've ever consumed alcohol on a train other than in the compartment with a big group travelling on a multiday sleeper train journey) I really don't remember them ever having internal door handles. I remember having to lower the window and use the external door handle before the falling out stuff, which led to the introduction of internal press buttons. And the problem, AFAIR, was (in addition to drunken passengers) that the doors had a two-stage lock; they would latch before being fully closed, which meant they appeared to be closed but could still be opened (either deliberately using the external handle or far more likely by leaning on them) from inside. So they introduced interlocks, meaning the train can't move until doors are locked.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ian on 26 April, 2018, 10:45:29 am
I confess I miss the death-defying nostalgia of the old carriage and multiple door trains that use to run to the south coast from London town. Proper day out those, lashings of beer, and the works. Always smelt a bit mouldy though. Unlike the new trains which just smell of stale sick and unemptied chemical toilets.

Mind you, it's unwise to trust the newfangled electrickery trains. I once, after a long evening, opened the door at the station and about to step out, my befuddled brain fortunately registered the lack of platform and any lighting before I stepped out. Long train had stopped at the 4-car sign...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 26 April, 2018, 10:48:17 am
When your eBike falls over and it's too heavy to pick up:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/25/older-men-using-e-bikes-behind-rising-death-toll-among-dutch-cyclists
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ElyDave on 26 April, 2018, 03:02:02 pm
taught my daughter that early on.  I actually struggle with digital to a degree, particularly the multi segment type things and those that don't have curves, so can be confusing when upside down.

Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: robgul on 26 April, 2018, 07:30:14 pm
Quote from: Jaded
... the venerable 125 HSTs ...
Stupidly I still think of these as "new" and stuff like the 33s and 47s as "old" when the classification should be "old" and "ancient" respectively or possibly even "ancient" and "antediluvian".

Anyway the reason I dropped by.  Another clue that you're middle-aged is that not only do you remember "old" money you still have half a ton of scrap metal and odd bits of scrap paper stuffed away in various boxes about the house.

(https://farm1.staticflickr.com/951/39903783490_254834f5fe_z_d.jpg)

Still at least I'm ready for Brexit and a return to all things "proper" where Britain resumes her rightful role in the world as a piratical free-booter looting the wealth of other countries whilst other countries are suitably grateful for our attentions and our unrivalled gifts of parliamentary democracy, free speech and knowing how to form a proper queue. And most importantly we return to a sensible and rational currency system which confuses the blazes out of Johnny Foreigner and lets us feel immeasurably superior (as is our right) once more.

That 10 bob note is a bit tatty - for some unknown reason I kept a mint one, and pound note when they disappeared - and believe it or not I have an old white fiver ... and a few coins including a couple of silver threepenny pieces (round, like a current 5p - not the brass coloured with straight edges)

... and of course a Coronation Crown and a Churchill Crown   (that's 5 shillings, or 25p to you youngsters)


Rob
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Canardly on 27 April, 2018, 10:23:31 am
Ah those were the days, ten bob note, gallon of fuel, out into the countryside, pie and a pint, come back with change. Sigh......
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Oscar's dad on 27 April, 2018, 10:29:27 am
Ah those were the days, ten bob note, gallon of fuel, out into the countryside, pie and a pint, come back with change. Sigh......

Nostalgia  :sick:   ;D

But how long did it take the average person to earn 10 bob?  You could probably do the same today with a 20 quid note and perhaps it would take the same amount of time to earn.  Obviously you'd need to make some careful choices as these days you could easily blow the best part of £20 on a pie and a pint.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: barakta on 27 April, 2018, 11:32:02 am
https://www.moneysorter.co.uk/calculator_inflation2.html

I have seen articles which say if pay kept up with inflation min wage should be about £17 an hour.  Putting ten bob into the above calculator and selecting 1970 and 1960 suggests £5 and £8ish respectively...

£5 doesn't even do the fuel, or the pie or pint...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: David Martin on 27 April, 2018, 03:46:20 pm
Ah those were the days, ten bob note, gallon of fuel, out into the countryside, pie and a pint, come back with change. Sigh......

Nostalgia  :sick:   ;D

But how long did it take the average person to earn 10 bob?  You could probably do the same today with a 20 quid note and perhaps it would take the same amount of time to earn.  Obviously you'd need to make some careful choices as these days you could easily blow the best part of £20 on a pie and a pint.

Just look it up in your pocket reckoner.
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4689/25427110058_83d192a3a0_k.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/EJUzXh)20171223_133231 (https://flic.kr/p/EJUzXh) by David Martin (https://www.flickr.com/photos/davidmam/), on Flickr
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4642/39266422382_a87a9e44e9_k.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/22PQFms)20171223_133319 (https://flic.kr/p/22PQFms) by David Martin (https://www.flickr.com/photos/davidmam/), on Flickr
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Oscar's dad on 27 April, 2018, 03:54:30 pm
Bloody hell  ;D
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: David Martin on 27 April, 2018, 03:58:21 pm
It was my Father in Law's, not mine. I'm barely pre-decimal myself.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Hot Flatus on 27 April, 2018, 04:16:48 pm
In answer to the OP:

You can no longer see the hairs growing out of your ears
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 27 April, 2018, 05:05:05 pm
I'm still annoyed that my grandfather's slide rule (which he gave me when I didn't really know enough maths to use it properly) wasn't amongst the things I liberated from my parents' house.  He had one of those Sinclair calculators too, but I suspect that got binned after he died, because nobody had really cottoned onto the idea of Sir Clive's creations ever being collectable classics.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: SteveC on 27 April, 2018, 05:09:09 pm
I have my father's 5-figure logarithm book somewhere.
And I'm sufficiently old that, in the sixth form I was more accurate and faster than the calculators then available.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 27 April, 2018, 05:21:06 pm
I'm still annoyed that my grandfather's slide rule (which he gave me when I didn't really know enough maths to use it properly) wasn't amongst the things I liberated from my parents' house.  He had one of those Sinclair calculators too, but I suspect that got binned after he died, because nobody had really cottoned onto the idea of Sir Clive's creations ever being collectable classics.
If you'd just like a slide rule, I might be able to bring one to Long Itch. If you want one with memories, then obviously I can't.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 27 April, 2018, 05:59:58 pm
Thanks, but it's mostly the memories.  It's a bit late to turn up to a maths exam with one for comedy value, which is the main application I can think of for one.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: tiermat on 27 April, 2018, 06:02:27 pm
... The people you went to school with start dying, of natural causes...

First one that I am aware of, today.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ElyDave on 27 April, 2018, 07:47:58 pm
I still have my circular slide rule from when I was learning to fly light aircraft.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Phil W on 27 April, 2018, 07:51:40 pm
I have my father's 5-figure logarithm book somewhere.
And I'm sufficiently old that, in the sixth form I was more accurate and faster than the calculators then available.

Did both my O level and A level maths exams with log books.  I forgot my calculator both times.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Torslanda on 27 April, 2018, 08:51:44 pm
... The people you went to school with start dying, of natural causes...

First one that I am aware of, today.

Yeah, that's happened a few times (but then I am <mumble> years older) and it sucks.

Sympathies. I would offer to make you a coffee but you're waaaayyyy better at it than I am...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: tiermat on 28 April, 2018, 07:32:44 am
... The people you went to school with start dying, of natural causes...

First one that I am aware of, today.

Yeah, that's happened a few times (but then I am <mumble> years older) and it sucks.

Sympathies. I would offer to make you a coffee but you're waaaayyyy better at it than I am...

Thanks, T.

Spent the evening drinking beer and reminiscing. I had lost touch with Nigel, only just getting back in touch, via FB, a couple of months ago. Remind me, the next time we meet up, to tell you the pigeon story, remembering it, last night, made me smile!
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Torslanda on 28 April, 2018, 09:27:25 am
As much as the level crossing 6 years ago?  ;D  :demon:

SIX YEARS! We're way overdue another silly bike adventure . . .
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Giraffe on 28 April, 2018, 09:32:52 am
I have my father's 5-figure logarithm book somewhere.
And I'm sufficiently old that, in the sixth form I was more accurate and faster than the calculators then available.
I have an old logarithm/trig. function book (that I can't find atm), a slide rule that I used at work in the mid-60s and also a 120-year calendar that ran out 2 years ago! It was published in '57.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Basil on 28 April, 2018, 10:10:08 am
Surely that was a 60 year calendar then?
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: TheLurker on 28 April, 2018, 10:27:15 am
From The Lurker Archive, second shelf from the top, left hand bookcase, just above all the programming and algorithm reference books.  The 1941 reprint of the 1930 edition.  It still impresses me that in the middle of a war that it was possible to print books on decent quality paper.  I have a 1979/80 paperback edition of 4 figure log tables and the paper in that started disintegrating 10 or more years ago.

This set of tables intended for Navigators.  Includes traverse tables and copious notes on using trig. for navigational purposes.

(https://farm1.staticflickr.com/956/41753758531_04445a19e9_m_d.jpg) (https://farm1.staticflickr.com/831/41035948874_8eee91d6ee_m_d.jpg)

(https://farm1.staticflickr.com/973/41753757231_3d05f1a205_m_d.jpg) (https://farm1.staticflickr.com/951/41712441242_cddae46bef_m_d.jpg)

(https://farm1.staticflickr.com/946/41035945514_f1a7008d5b_m_d.jpg)

Bigger pictures here  : https://www.flickr.com/photos/41392773@N02/sets/72157696185250635
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Jakob W on 28 April, 2018, 01:36:47 pm
Impressive; most of the wartime books I've got are printed to 'war standard', which meant cheap paper and bindings. Most of them have held up OK, mind - better than most of the 50s/60s paperbacks I've got (though obviously paperbacks are more fragile).
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Giraffe on 29 April, 2018, 08:03:40 am
Surely that was a 60 year calendar then?
It's from an insurance company, so it could be for start/finish dates of policies - some of those are 60-years+.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: mllePB on 06 May, 2018, 09:31:59 pm
You local heritage railway is running trains of your childhood, not steam

(https://farm1.staticflickr.com/829/28064764008_4a0799567c_z.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/JKZfzw)
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: arabella on 07 May, 2018, 08:37:11 pm
... with doors that you can open from the inside
iirc a slidey thing so not accidentally openable when crowded
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Polar Bear on 07 May, 2018, 09:08:26 pm
Nah.  mllePB is a professional train spotter.  That is, she gets paid for doing things railways related.  She was just out looking for rolling stock for the project that she's working on at the moment.   :demon:  :D   
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hellymedic on 07 May, 2018, 09:19:30 pm
.. former schoolmate posts a profile picture on Facebook and looks like a witch.
You come to the realisation that you probably also look like a witch!
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 08 May, 2018, 08:47:07 am
There's a boggart in our bathroom mirror.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Jakob W on 08 May, 2018, 04:56:26 pm
You local heritage railway is running trains of your childhood, not steam

(https://farm1.staticflickr.com/829/28064764008_4a0799567c_z.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/JKZfzw)

I know distance lends enchantment and all that, but that is a rather handsome livery.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: mllePB on 08 May, 2018, 09:56:27 pm
Nah - that's just the colour of a vehicle that's lovingly hand-washed prior to day's outing, rather than the original 1970s grime colour.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ian on 16 May, 2018, 09:21:49 am
I flew back from Berlin yesterday and the as usual, and while the pilot fidgeted in the cockpit (presumably trying to find the switch that turns the foglights off) the first officer was charged with the usual say goodbye to the deplaning passengers duty. No issues with that, but I swear she didn't look old enough to have passed her driving test.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Oscar's dad on 16 May, 2018, 09:46:52 am
I flew back from Berlin yesterday and the as usual, and while the pilot fidgeted in the cockpit (presumably trying to find the switch that turns the foglights off) the first officer was charged with the usual say goodbye to the deplaning passengers duty. No issues with that, but I swear she didn't look old enough to have passed her driving test.

Regrettably, even in 2018, female commercial pilots seem to be in the minority although I gather numbers are increasing  :thumbsup:  I was getting off a plane sometime ago, when female pilots really were rare and a female pilot was doing goodbye duty.  A bloke in front of me couldn't help himself, "Nice parking love!"   ::-)  was offered as he went through the door.  To her credit she just smiled.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ian on 16 May, 2018, 09:52:40 am
I suspect there's some rule about punching passengers no matter how well deserved that punch might be.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Oscar's dad on 16 May, 2018, 09:55:50 am
I suspect there's some rule about punching passengers no matter how well deserved that punch might be.

I imagine so. Having dead or unconscious knob head passengers lying in the aisles would impede evacuation of the aircraft in the event of an emergency.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: menthel on 01 September, 2018, 11:00:47 am
You spend the morning ordering a bin store and a wood store and think it all rather exciting...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: LEE on 01 September, 2018, 11:30:07 am
I get excited by off-cuts of wood that will make ideal paint-stirrers at some point in the future.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Torslanda on 01 September, 2018, 12:28:36 pm
is this you...? (http://www.walesoncraic.com/man-uses-piece-of-wood-he-put-in-garage-in-1982-because-it-might-come-in-handy-in-the-future-2/)
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Andrij on 06 September, 2018, 08:37:22 pm
... you finally give in and buy reading glasses.  :(
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 07 September, 2018, 09:13:56 am
When drying off after your shower, you discover one armpit still full of soap.  And realize it's not for the first time.

I get excited by off-cuts of wood that will make ideal paint-stirrers at some point in the future.

Hah! I'm currently rooting through off-cuts from jobs I did 25 years ago in search of pieces of timber suitable for guitar necks because the DIY shops don't stock anything decent any more.  And realizing that that metre-long 20 x 50mm chunk of sapele that I casually used for the last one will probably be the last I see unless I order on-line.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Guy on 07 September, 2018, 09:58:04 am

I get excited by off-cuts of wood that will make ideal paint-stirrers at some point in the future.

Hah! I'm currently rooting through off-cuts from jobs I did 25 years ago in search of pieces of timber suitable for guitar necks because the DIY shops don't stock anything decent any more.  And realizing that that metre-long 20 x 50mm chunk of sapele that I casually used for the last one will probably be the last I see unless I order on-line.

Get some Birds-eye Maple. It's only three-ha'pence a foot.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: spesh on 07 September, 2018, 11:52:07 am

I get excited by off-cuts of wood that will make ideal paint-stirrers at some point in the future.

Hah! I'm currently rooting through off-cuts from jobs I did 25 years ago in search of pieces of timber suitable for guitar necks because the DIY shops don't stock anything decent any more.  And realizing that that metre-long 20 x 50mm chunk of sapele that I casually used for the last one will probably be the last I see unless I order on-line.

Get some Birds-eye Maple. It's only three-ha'pence a foot.

A ha'penny too much...
Penny a foot's more the mark
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Guy on 07 September, 2018, 12:21:37 pm
He's doing guitar necks, not finishing the side of his bunk.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: mattc on 07 September, 2018, 12:27:46 pm
When drying off after your shower, you discover one armpit still full of soap.  And realize it's not for the first time.

that's not middle-age! What a terrible suggestion.

It's because my mind fills up with Very Important Matters while I shower (and other times).
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: andytheflyer on 07 September, 2018, 12:59:01 pm

I get excited by off-cuts of wood that will make ideal paint-stirrers at some point in the future.

Hah! I'm currently rooting through off-cuts from jobs I did 25 years ago in search of pieces of timber suitable for guitar necks because the DIY shops don't stock anything decent any more.  And realizing that that metre-long 20 x 50mm chunk of sapele that I casually used for the last one will probably be the last I see unless I order on-line.

Get some Birds-eye Maple. It's only three-ha'pence a foot.

A ha'penny too much...
Penny a foot's more the mark

And when it rains...….
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 07 September, 2018, 01:31:30 pm
Get some Birds-eye Maple. It's only three-ha'pence a foot.

Hard to find here. On line a chunk of quilted maple 95 x 10 x 3.5 cm will rush you > 100€. I'd settle for ash but that's around 60€.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 30 November, 2018, 12:18:37 pm
At school parents evening, there's a new maths teacher so while waiting to see him I ask my son what he's like.
"Like a maths teacher. Not as dull as the last one. Middle aged."
When we got to see him, he was about 30! But then... viewed chronologically, never mind from the point of view of a teenager, that is most definitely middle aged. "You start to lose all your youth when you're past 30."
More interestingly, he was wearing a tie with a bicycle pattern.  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Adam on 01 December, 2018, 05:20:15 pm
You local heritage railway is running trains of your childhood, not steam

(https://farm1.staticflickr.com/829/28064764008_4a0799567c_z.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/JKZfzw)
There is a 3 carriage unit shuttling up & down the Coastway line (Portsmouth to Brighton) which is done up in the old BR livery.  Took me by surprise the first time I saw it.

https://www.railmagazine.com/news/fleet/br-blue-repaint-for-pioneer-class-313
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: TheLurker on 01 December, 2018, 10:15:51 pm
...don't know what you got till it's gone. See Paradise...

OK not Paradise, but strikes me the old BR livery had a degree of elegance and restraint lacking in some of the more recent TOC liveries.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Wowbagger on 01 December, 2018, 10:30:41 pm

I get excited by off-cuts of wood that will make ideal paint-stirrers at some point in the future.

Hah! I'm currently rooting through off-cuts from jobs I did 25 years ago in search of pieces of timber suitable for guitar necks because the DIY shops don't stock anything decent any more.  And realizing that that metre-long 20 x 50mm chunk of sapele that I casually used for the last one will probably be the last I see unless I order on-line.

Get some Birds-eye Maple. It's only three-ha'pence a foot.

A ha'penny too much...
Penny a foot's more the mark

And when it rains...….

Oh purleeze! If you are going to continue the poem, do your best to make it accurate!  :P

"A penny a foot, and when rain comes..."
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: andytheflyer on 02 December, 2018, 08:38:48 am

I get excited by off-cuts of wood that will make ideal paint-stirrers at some point in the future.

Hah! I'm currently rooting through off-cuts from jobs I did 25 years ago in search of pieces of timber suitable for guitar necks because the DIY shops don't stock anything decent any more.  And realizing that that metre-long 20 x 50mm chunk of sapele that I casually used for the last one will probably be the last I see unless I order on-line.

Get some Birds-eye Maple. It's only three-ha'pence a foot.

A ha'penny too much...
Penny a foot's more the mark

And when it rains...….

Oh purleeze! If you are going to continue the poem, do your best to make it accurate!  :P

"A penny a foot, and when rain comes..."

 ;D  (goes off to see where he parked his Ark, before offering a lift....)
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: lou boutin on 02 December, 2018, 09:50:23 am
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: fuzzy on 02 December, 2018, 09:54:58 am
I can go with the cold weather one Lou.

I used to be the one wandering round, de icing cars whilst wearing a t shirt and shorts. I was also the go to bed warmer. Mrs F used to rely on me going to be 10 minutes before her as I used to get pleasure from climbing into a chilled bed and warming up. Too chuffing cold for that nowdays.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: lou boutin on 02 December, 2018, 10:04:33 am
I can go with the cold weather one Lou.

I used to be the one wandering round, de icing cars whilst wearing a t shirt and shorts. I was also the go to bed warmer. Mrs F used to rely on me going to be 10 minutes before her as I used to get pleasure from climbing into a chilled bed and warming up. Too chuffing cold for that nowdays.

 ;D   Being a woman and middle-aged means that I am the one to warm up the bed.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Torslanda on 02 December, 2018, 12:50:06 pm
T. M. I.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ElyDave on 02 December, 2018, 05:37:10 pm
Being a woman and middle-aged means that I am the one to warm up the bed.

In contrast, my middle-aged wife is the block of ice who sleeps in PJs in a sleeping bag under her duvet and blankets, often aided by a hot water bottle while I am one of nature's radiators who sleeps naked under a summer duvet.

I'm with you RR, though not literally  ;D
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: fuzzy on 02 December, 2018, 09:45:44 pm
I can go with the cold weather one Lou.

I used to be the one wandering round, de icing cars whilst wearing a t shirt and shorts. I was also the go to bed warmer. Mrs F used to rely on me going to be 10 minutes before her as I used to get pleasure from climbing into a chilled bed and warming up. Too chuffing cold for that nowdays.

 ;D   Being a woman and middle-aged means that I am the one to warm up the bed.

 ;D
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Wowbagger on 02 December, 2018, 09:48:57 pm
i have often wondered whether there was a living to me made, offering my bed-warming services to thermally-challenged ladies...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Ian H on 02 December, 2018, 10:06:06 pm
i have often wondered whether there was a living to me made, offering my bed-warming services to thermally-challenged ladies...

On heat?  At your age?
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Wowbagger on 02 December, 2018, 10:08:41 pm
i have often wondered whether there was a living to me made, offering my bed-warming services to thermally-challenged ladies...

On heat?  At your age?

Santa comes down a lot of people's chimbleys* at this time of year...

*And brings along his chimbley brush.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: tonycollinet on 02 December, 2018, 10:11:35 pm
You are Wow - as ever - delightfully crude  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Moleman76 on 03 December, 2018, 02:59:17 am
The eye doctor tells you "Your distance vision is improving" followed by "It's a side effect of your cataracts getting larger".

A short discussion of "when they do the lens implant, you'll have fixed vision and use readers to see things up close, but no more need for distance-vision correction"

and "we will let you know when you need to talk to the eye surgeons about this"
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: tonycollinet on 03 December, 2018, 06:19:38 am
When what is in your brain to say

"We never did get that greenhouse this year"

And what (nearly) comes out:

"We never did get that wing mirror this year"
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Ham on 03 December, 2018, 10:06:47 pm
People of reasonably (?) advanced years come out with stuff like this https://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=11510.msg2347668#msg2347668

Middle aged? that made me feel old.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: pcolbeck on 04 December, 2018, 02:27:04 pm
You really cant remember if you bought that set of pliers to put in the toolbox your filling for Pcolbeck junior for when he leaves home after Christmas and if you did buy them where the hell you put them.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hellymedic on 31 December, 2018, 08:46:13 pm
'Little' Jimmy Osmond, several years your junior, is treated for a stroke.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-46721950 (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-46721950)
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 01 January, 2019, 02:37:07 pm
When you can't be arsed watching the New Year's fireworks.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hellymedic on 01 January, 2019, 02:53:54 pm
When you go can't be arsed watching the New Year's fireworks.

Our neighbours' pyrotechnics were such that I only needed to turn my head slightly...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 01 January, 2019, 04:08:01 pm
Yeah, we had the usual Bierut impressions going on up & down the street. We got up at midnight to keep the dogs company until it died down, but they weren't really worried to start with, since there were no municipal whizzbangs: they're usually so powerful that you feel the shockwave in your ribcage.

Lots of firework débris on my ride today, including the blown-off door of someone's mailbox. There are some dumb sods around.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: lou boutin on 01 January, 2019, 06:15:40 pm
Ditto.  I sat in bed watching them after a bit of a snooze
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: lou boutin on 01 January, 2019, 06:19:37 pm
You realise that you have socks older than the undergrads that you meet on a daily basis around work and your work tea towel is older than most of then people that you share an office with (tea towel was a hideous engagement gift in 1988 that was kept at the back of the draw and never used. It was pulled out and taken to work rather than throwing it away.)
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 01 January, 2019, 06:20:13 pm
Yeah, we had the usual Bierut impressions going on up & down the street.
I don't know why anyone would want to do impressions of the 1950s president of communist Poland!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolesław_Bierut
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: yorkie on 01 January, 2019, 06:28:20 pm
Yeah, we had the usual Bierut impressions going on up & down the street.
You know you're middle aged when loud firework displays going on all night are compared to Beirut!  ;) ;) :-*


That said, what's the modern equivalent? Sana'a? Mogadishu?
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hellymedic on 01 January, 2019, 06:44:51 pm
Homs?
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Giraffe on 02 January, 2019, 08:36:31 am
You realise that you have socks older than the undergrads that you meet on a daily basis around work and your work tea towel is older than most of then people that you share an office with (tea towel was a hideous engagement gift in 1988 that was kept at the back of the draw and never used. It was pulled out and taken to work rather than throwing it away.)
Youngster - I still have tea towels that my mother bought in the '70s. They are getting a bit worn but are still thicker and more absorbent than the modern ones.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 02 January, 2019, 09:25:49 am
Yeah, we had the usual Bierut impressions going on up & down the street.
You know you're middle aged when loud firework displays going on all night are compared to Beirut!  ;) ;) :-*


That said, what's the modern equivalent? Sana'a? Mogadishu?

AFAIK Bierut's the only one that became idiom. There were only three shots in Dealy Plaza and 'Harvest Music Festival' would be in bad taste.

Yeah, we had the usual Bierut impressions going on up & down the street.
I don't know why anyone would want to do impressions of the 1950s president of communist Poland!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolesław_Bierut (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolesław_Bierut)

Apparently somebody did and got shot for his pains.

(did a bit of an FTFY there - old link fooled by the ł )
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Ham on 02 January, 2019, 09:55:01 am
'Little' Jimmy Osmond, several years your junior, is treated for a stroke.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-46721950 (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-46721950)

AND you discover somewhere along the way you have forgiven him for THAT single. OK, maybe not.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: yorkie on 02 January, 2019, 03:56:31 pm
Yeah, we had the usual Bierut impressions going on up & down the street.
You know you're middle aged when loud firework displays going on all night are compared to Beirut!  ;) ;) :-*


That said, what's the modern equivalent? Sana'a? Mogadishu?

AFAIK Bierut's the only one that became idiom.
Troo dat!
Must admit to thinking "Golly gosh** Sounds like Beirut out there!!" as 2018 swung sideways with tyres burning into 2019, accompanied by enough airborne ordinance to fight a reasonably accurate re-enactment of the 6 Day War!
I suppose that makes me middle-aged as well!!


** May actually have sounded more like "Clucking Bell" to be truthful!  ;)
Title: Re: You know you're more than middle aged when
Post by: hellymedic on 07 January, 2019, 01:14:57 pm
Today's email...

Quote
Dear All,
It is with great sadness that I forward a message from [Mrs year mate] .
**** passed away peacefully in hospital on 3rd January from aspiration pneumonia as a complication of his dementia. She is clearly shocked but is well supported by friends and family . She requested that I share the news with all of his medical school colleagues .
With best wishes to you all

Art is long, life is short.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 07 January, 2019, 01:22:52 pm
Aye. I remember my father being remarkably cast down by the first natural death among his 1930s cycling gang.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hellymedic on 07 January, 2019, 01:57:13 pm
Several contemporaries have died.

Cancer is 'natural' and sad.

Dementia...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 07 January, 2019, 04:15:07 pm
My father had vascular dementia when he died: lifelong smoker, turned diabetic at about the same age as I did, died at 73. Showed first signs about 5 years before, was largely 'elsewhere' for the last couple.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hellymedic on 07 January, 2019, 04:43:25 pm
I believe my colleague was a Professor of Public Health and a non-smoker in his early 60s.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Basil on 10 January, 2019, 10:41:34 pm
You know you're beyond middle aged when (do we need a separate thread for this?) you receive a letter from the DVLA inviting you to reapply for your driving licence.
Surely you don't need to do that until you're 70?
Oh. Hang on.
Bugger.   :facepalm:
Title: Re: You know you're more than middle aged when
Post by: JennyB on 11 January, 2019, 10:46:57 am
Today's email...

Quote
Dear All,
It is with great sadness that I forward a message from [Mrs year mate] .
**** passed away peacefully in hospital on 3rd January from aspiration pneumonia as a complication of his dementia. She is clearly shocked but is well supported by friends and family . She requested that I share the news with all of his medical school colleagues .
With best wishes to you all

Art is long, life is short.

You know you're middle-aged when half your friends are dead. Fortunately, there's  a cure for that - make more friends.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: lou boutin on 11 January, 2019, 06:49:50 pm
You know you are middle aged when it's your birthday and this time next year you will be changing the first number as well as the second.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 11 January, 2019, 07:54:48 pm
On that reckoning, lou, middle age comes round time and time again; in fact, every 10 years!

Middle age is when you start counting in hexadecimal to try to reduce that...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Basil on 11 January, 2019, 08:16:17 pm
On that reckoning, lou, middle age comes round time and time again; in fact, every 10 years!

Middle age is when you start counting in hexadecimal to try to reduce that...

 :D Hey.  I'll be only 46 in March.   :thumbsup:
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: lou boutin on 11 January, 2019, 08:35:59 pm
True, but this first number change is definitely a big sign of middle age :(
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: mattc on 12 January, 2019, 01:59:23 pm
Don't worry Lou - I'm finding 29 tough too  :-*
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: SteveC on 12 January, 2019, 02:03:13 pm
I have a similar problem, Lou, except some people will think I'm leaving middle age this year...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: lou boutin on 12 January, 2019, 05:01:05 pm
Don't worry Lou - I'm finding 29 tough too  :-*

He he! I wish.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: De Sisti on 12 January, 2019, 06:55:03 pm
All you think about when in work is about retiring.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ElyDave on 12 January, 2019, 07:47:23 pm
One of my son's carer's said that both me and SWMBO look younger than our years. 
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 13 January, 2019, 10:25:33 am
Don't worry Lou - I'm finding 29 tough too  :-*

The man's in his prime. Me too, but as of next week I won't be.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: rafletcher on 08 February, 2019, 10:14:18 am
When you check the LInkedIn page of the graduate who's leaving, to discover that she must at least be in her early 30's.  :-\
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: mrcharly-YHT on 08 February, 2019, 10:22:34 am
When you check the LInkedIn page of the graduate who's leaving, to discover that she must at least be in her early 30's.  :-\
When you think that "early 30's" is young, because you have two children older than said graduate.

Next significant birthday of one child (well, step-child) is her 40th.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Jaded on 08 February, 2019, 10:48:36 am
When you look at medium sized trees and think “If I planted trees like that now, I’d never see them that size.”
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Redlight on 08 February, 2019, 11:47:57 am
You go to a gig and, at the interval, the queue for the tea, coffee and hot chocolate is twice as long as the one for the beer
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Tim Hall on 08 February, 2019, 11:58:14 am
On that reckoning, lou, middle age comes round time and time again; in fact, every 10 years!

Middle age is when you start counting in hexadecimal to try to reduce that...
The Tom Lehrer approach (giving his age in Celcius) works well too.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 08 February, 2019, 12:21:46 pm
On that reckoning, lou, middle age comes round time and time again; in fact, every 10 years!

Middle age is when you start counting in hexadecimal to try to reduce that...
The Tom Lehrer approach (giving his age in Celcius) works well too.

Only for people old enough to have been counting in Fahrenheit from the outset.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Marco Stefano on 08 February, 2019, 12:36:17 pm
All you think about when in work is about retiring.
^This.

Relatively good day = retire end of May 2019 after 59th birthday.
Dealing-with-numpties day = retire early Jan 2019 at 30 years service.

So far this year, it's a walk-over for the numpties.  ::-)
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Sergeant Pluck on 26 February, 2019, 08:29:52 pm
You do the following when reading that someone has died:

- ascertain cause of death (always a disappointment when not provided)
- consider age of person relative to own age
- evaluate risk factors for cause of death; compare with own
- symptoms check



Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: fuzzy on 26 February, 2019, 08:54:17 pm
You collect your first pair of varifocals.

Cue lots of wierdness and nausea.....
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: andrewc on 26 February, 2019, 09:12:56 pm
You walk through the buildings canteen area & don't recognise a single person you used to work with.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ElyDave on 26 February, 2019, 09:16:24 pm
You collect your first pair of varifocals.

Cue lots of wierdness and nausea.....

Don't! SWMBO keeps on at me to get my eyes checked for those.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: andrewc on 26 February, 2019, 09:26:24 pm
You collect your first pair of varifocals.

Cue lots of wierdness and nausea.....


Careful going down stairs !   Actually I've more or less abandoned contact lenses now & am a full time vari wearer.  A great improvement on my old single distance ones.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: andytheflyer on 27 February, 2019, 07:52:23 am
You collect your first pair of varifocals.

Cue lots of wierdness and nausea.....


Careful going down stairs !   Actually I've more or less abandoned contact lenses now & am a full time vari wearer.  A great improvement on my old single distance ones.

I've worn varifocals for years, without many problems.  But, although my prescription changed only slightly, I needed new ones recently.  I went for ones with a wider 'sweet' spot so I don't have to turn my head so much (I have 4 fused cervical vertebrae).

These have been a real learning curve.  Stairs are an issue I never had before and even after a couple of months I'm still not fully acclimated.  I also bought (with the free second pair offer) a pair with a fixed distance at about 4 feet - for reading music.  These are brilliant for this, but get up and walk to the kitchen to get a coffee and it's a near-death experience.  That and the nausea.

Getting older sucks.  I get my pension this year too.


Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Plug1n on 27 February, 2019, 01:13:37 pm

I also bought (with the free second pair offer) a pair with a fixed distance at about 4 feet - for reading music. 


That's a failing of varifocals for me too.  Being a clarinet player, the tilt of the head and position of the throat just does not work with my varifocal prescription.

I have a pair of half glasses on an older prescription that helps, but must get something better.  It's a good excuse for the occasional wrong note :)

Varifocals also don't work for cycling with me as I lower me head and look upwards to compensate (not that I have pretensions of being aero....).
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: LittleWheelsandBig on 27 February, 2019, 01:34:39 pm
I got a couple of sets of varifocals specifically for cycling so that I could see both the road and the handlebars in focus with a normal cycling head position. The transition between prescriptions is accordingly somewhat higher than is standard.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Torslanda on 27 February, 2019, 03:08:44 pm
@Fuzzy I may be around a decade ahead of you but you do get used to them. So much so that my latest pair of Fakeleys are useless for driving because distance is crystal clear but the dash is all blurry with single vision lenses and the lens carrier is too small...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Basil on 27 February, 2019, 04:34:49 pm
You usually, depending on the supplier I suppose, get to discuss the shape of the varifocal areas of your lenses. For example, I requested that the long distance top area extended to the sides for over the shoulder glancing when cycling.

Agree about the going down stairs thing.  That still catches me out after 12 years of use.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: andytheflyer on 27 February, 2019, 05:39:43 pm

I also bought (with the free second pair offer) a pair with a fixed distance at about 4 feet - for reading music. 

That's a failing of varifocals for me too.  Being a clarinet player, the tilt of the head and position of the throat just does not work with my varifocal prescription.

Exactly.  Turn the head to see the music and you change the embouchure.  Got to keep sax and head together.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: nicknack on 27 February, 2019, 05:48:48 pm

I also bought (with the free second pair offer) a pair with a fixed distance at about 4 feet - for reading music. 

That's a failing of varifocals for me too.  Being a clarinet player, the tilt of the head and position of the throat just does not work with my varifocal prescription.
Exactly.  Turn the head to see the music and you change the embouchure.  Got to keep sax and head together.
It's even worse playing baritone. Got this great big lump of curly brass in front of you - right where the relevant bit of your varifocals is. Definitely single vision is the way to go for reading music.

Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: SteveC on 27 February, 2019, 06:34:33 pm
You remember Fabs appearing for the first time

https://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=11510.msg2373393#msg2373393 (https://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=11510.msg2373393#msg2373393)

My sisters' favourites - the combination of the Lady Penelope branding and the hundreds and thousands seemed irresistible
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: IanDG on 27 February, 2019, 06:58:27 pm
You decide the 'fast bike' no longer serves a purpose and you replace it with a 'tourer'.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Butterfly on 27 February, 2019, 07:13:51 pm
I've had varifocals since I got prescription glasses 18 months ago. I've had no problems with stairs since the first day. I have avoided reading music whilst playing an instrument since I was about 12, so that hasn't been a problem (also helped with the back ache). I take them off to drive in the dark, unless I need to see the sat nav on my phone, but that is the only time I do.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hellymedic on 27 February, 2019, 07:17:23 pm
Would you believe it? Earlier this month I got an extra pair of glasses so that I can read music which sits just beyond an arm's length away, in my case on my iPad, which does not display quite as large as A4.

I am sure I have posted previously about David's single vision 'keyboard' specs on yacf...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: chrisbainbridge on 28 February, 2019, 08:14:27 am
I now have varifocals for out and about and then separate varifocals for work.  The work ones are optimised with 2 vision settings.  the lower half is for keyboard and patient examination, the upper half is for looking at computer screens and patients faces.  They have completely removed my neck pain at the end of a days clinic.

Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: fuzzy on 28 February, 2019, 10:00:24 am
I have one pair at the moment and the second is on hold until I decide to stick with them.
I may just ask for the second set to be reading glasses as, away from home, the most use my glasses get is when acting as apprentice grease monkey in the workshop. The angle for the close work lens might be a bit crippling when working under a bb shell trying to thread a fubar'd internal cable routing.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Phil W on 28 February, 2019, 10:08:27 am
You can no longer be fagged to drive to the Lake District, Wales (including Pembrokeshire) or some such to go climbing for the weekend. You just can't be fagged with how long it now takes due to traffic.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Greenbank on 28 February, 2019, 10:18:12 am
Surely all this talk of varifocals signals reaching the end of 'middle aged'.

[EDIT] If there's denial about entering 'middle aged' then I'm sure there's even more denial about leaving it...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: mrcharly-YHT on 28 February, 2019, 03:17:00 pm
The father of your (step)grandchildren turns 40.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hellymedic on 28 February, 2019, 05:42:55 pm
The father of your (step)grandchildren turns 40.

Likewise my primary schoolmates' kids are turning 40 or parents are celebrating their Ruby Weddings.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Phil W on 28 February, 2019, 06:14:14 pm
The father of your (step)grandchildren turns 40.

That is a sign that he is turning middle aged.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 28 February, 2019, 06:31:47 pm
You have entire conversations about nothing but the family's medical conditions.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 01 March, 2019, 09:27:27 am
And they go a bit like Bridge bidding or a medical version of the Four Yorkshiremen. "I'll see your rotator cuff and raise you my diverticulosis".
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 01 March, 2019, 12:19:00 pm
And they go a bit like Bridge bidding or a medical version of the Four Yorkshiremen. "I'll see your rotator cuff and raise you my diverticulosis".

Barakta usually wins.

"5 cases in the literature, one associated with my syndrome.  The radiologist was quite upset."
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: CommuteTooFar on 01 March, 2019, 12:38:33 pm
I gave up on varifocals. I used to work with multiple computer monitors at varying angles and distances.  The varifocals were a nuisance. I now use two pairs of glasses. Distance and computer distance (10cm beyond my finger tips). I usually read without glasses. (I have also given up work)
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hellymedic on 01 March, 2019, 12:40:55 pm
And they go a bit like Bridge bidding or a medical version of the Four Yorkshiremen. "I'll see your rotator cuff and raise you my diverticulosis".

Barakta usually wins.

"5 cases in the literature, one associated with my syndrome.  The radiologist was quite upset."

I'm a loser...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hellymedic on 01 March, 2019, 12:51:58 pm
A former schoolmate just Facebooked a photo of André Previn shaking his hand.

hey BOTH seemed so young then...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Greenbank on 01 March, 2019, 04:48:05 pm
And they go a bit like Bridge bidding or a medical version of the Four Yorkshiremen. "I'll see your rotator cuff and raise you my diverticulosis".

For my parents generation it's the numbers of hips, stents and bypasses.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hellymedic on 01 March, 2019, 06:36:11 pm
And they go a bit like Bridge bidding or a medical version of the Four Yorkshiremen. "I'll see your rotator cuff and raise you my diverticulosis".

For my parents generation it's the numbers of hips, stents and bypasses.

Thankfully, my parents (83, 88) have lost that one, with a grand total of 0 though maternal aunt has just had her 2nd knee replaced.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 02 March, 2019, 08:15:45 am
I gave up on varifocals. I used to work with multiple computer monitors at varying angles and distances.  The varifocals were a nuisance. I now use two pairs of glasses. Distance and computer distance (10cm beyond my finger tips). I usually read without glasses. (I have also given up work)

Same here.  Every time I turned my head wearing varifocals a wave traversed my desk-top. Made me quite ill.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hellymedic on 02 March, 2019, 07:53:49 pm
Varifocals are mainly fine for a mostly sessile, chairbound desk jockey like me.

Suspect they would annoy ifI were more mobile.

Anyway, I wear single vision distance specs for films and exhibitions.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hbunnet on 02 March, 2019, 08:52:32 pm

Anyway, I wear single vision distance specs for films and exhibitions.

That's interesting Helly. I prefer Varifocals for these situations; Bifocal for outdoors though.
I think the story is that Varifocals are a good  compromise, but single vision is better for specific applications.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 03 March, 2019, 08:31:33 am
When 20 kph gusting 60 seems like a good reason to stay home.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Moleman76 on 04 March, 2019, 05:05:18 am
When looking at the total on your restaurant bill, you notice that you've been given a "senior discount".

And you hadn't asked for it.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hellymedic on 04 March, 2019, 11:37:53 am
When 20 kph gusting 60 seems like a good reason to stay home.

Such discretion might mean you'll meet another stage...
Served me well so far.

Risk-averse of Edgware.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 04 March, 2019, 01:19:23 pm
Having packed halfway round a 600 after x hours of 35 gusting 75, the idea of doing it for fun seems a little bit unattractive.

We currently have 40 gusting 100: I'm staying in my nice warm office and drinking tea.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ElyDave on 04 March, 2019, 06:59:54 pm
I went for a swim instead
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Ham on 05 March, 2019, 01:29:46 pm
I gave up on varifocals. I used to work with multiple computer monitors at varying angles and distances.  The varifocals were a nuisance. I now use two pairs of glasses. Distance and computer distance (10cm beyond my finger tips). I usually read without glasses. (I have also given up work)

Same here.  Every time I turned my head wearing varifocals a wave traversed my desk-top. Made me quite ill.

Serves you right. That's what you get for surfing the web.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 05 March, 2019, 02:35:04 pm
I gave up on varifocals. I used to work with multiple computer monitors at varying angles and distances.  The varifocals were a nuisance. I now use two pairs of glasses. Distance and computer distance (10cm beyond my finger tips). I usually read without glasses. (I have also given up work)

Same here.  Every time I turned my head wearing varifocals a wave traversed my desk-top. Made me quite ill.

Serves you right. That's what you get for surfing the web.

What's really depressing is that that was before TBL released his first browser to the general public.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: De Sisti on 05 March, 2019, 03:04:06 pm
All you think about when in work is about retiring.
^This.

Relatively good day = retire end of May 2019 after 59th birthday.
Dealing-with-numpties day = retire early Jan 2019 at 30 years service.

So far this year, it's a walk-over for the numpties.  ::-)


I could retire now take my pension and with my lump sum pay of the mortgage.
Alternatively, take a smaller pension, larger lump sum, pay off mortgage and have a small
nest-egg for a rainy day (not enough for me). Will probably wait another 12 months before
it's a definate option.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 05 March, 2019, 03:46:36 pm
If you live another 20 - 30 years a smaller pension will definitely not feel like the better choice.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hubner on 05 March, 2019, 08:18:28 pm
Surely all this talk of varifocals signals reaching the end of 'middle aged'.

[EDIT] If there's denial about entering 'middle aged' then I'm sure there's even more denial about leaving it...

60 is the new 40!
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 06 March, 2019, 08:21:08 am
Surely all this talk of varifocals signals reaching the end of 'middle aged'.

[EDIT] If there's denial about entering 'middle aged' then I'm sure there's even more denial about leaving it...

60 is the new 40!

Unfortunately, 70 is not the new 50.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: mrcharly-YHT on 06 March, 2019, 08:47:07 am
As long as I can train against people 25years younger than me and reduce them to heaps of gasping jelly, I refuse to believe I'm passing middle age.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 06 March, 2019, 09:04:17 am
Certainly if you have a very good pension to look forward to then the larger lump sum could be attractive, but if you spread that lump sum over your remaining life expectancy does it more than cover the reduction in pension?
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Jaded on 06 March, 2019, 10:40:18 am
It depends a lot on how long you are going to live.

The sums are quite easy, the length of future life is the hard bit...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: CommuteTooFar on 06 March, 2019, 04:14:22 pm
All pensions depend on if you are lucky enough to have saved enough. If you have a big enough fund you can choose a low yield and watch the money grow above inflation.

In my case my pension is invested in  investment trusts, open ended funds and a few shares.  This will provide an income of 4%. If I was richer I would have chosen a lower yield. Funds that yield 2% grow more and in time produce more income than the 4% funds that grow more slowly.

As for taking a lump sum. I never will. I will stay invested and take the cash free element with each withdrawal.

I am retired at 56.  [I look after my octogenarian mother]
I am currently living on less that 10,000 income generated by my ISA (tax free)
At 60 I will change my Pension funds from growth to income funds and take uncrystallised lump sums
At this point my retirement income will be higher than my modest finishing pay after tax.
At state retirement age the government will probably give me some more money.
 
If I stayed at work and carried on paying into my pension to state pension age I would probably have become a millionaire. That was a really impressive number when I left school but was not a big enough incentive now.

Just in case anyone thinks I am totally on top of my finances. In the last 12 months my wealth has dropped by £100,000. Eeek!
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Adam on 06 March, 2019, 09:48:22 pm
All pensions depend on if you are lucky enough to have saved enough. If you have a big enough fund you can choose a low yield and watch the money grow above inflation.

In my case my pension is invested in  investment trusts, open ended funds and a few shares.  This will provide an income of 4%. If I was richer I would have chosen a lower yield. Funds that yield 2% grow more and in time produce more income than the 4% funds that grow more slowly.

As for taking a lump sum. I never will. I will stay invested and take the cash free element with each withdrawal.

I am retired at 56.  [I look after my octogenarian mother]
I am currently living on less that 10,000 income generated by my ISA (tax free)
At 60 I will change my Pension funds from growth to income funds and take uncrystallised lump sums
At this point my retirement income will be higher than my modest finishing pay after tax.
At state retirement age the government will probably give me some more money.
 
If I stayed at work and carried on paying into my pension to state pension age I would probably have become a millionaire. That was a really impressive number when I left school but was not a big enough incentive now.

Just in case anyone thinks I am totally on top of my finances. In the last 12 months my wealth has dropped by £100,000. Eeek!

I've put on bold the bits about not taking the 25% tax free cash, and taking uncrystallised lump sums.


If the income you need each year is less than the personal allowance, then I can see the logic in doing it that way.  If not, then you end up paying more tax.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: CommuteTooFar on 07 March, 2019, 12:04:05 pm
Not quite tax free.

I will 'earn' £28k, £10k from ISA, £18K from pension.
£4,500 is tax free lump sum and leaving 13,500 of taxable income.
Next year the personal allowance is £12,500 so I need to pay 20% of 1000.
Or £200 tax.

The 100k drop in wealth reduces my income to £24k so no tax will be payable then.

The real sign of middle age. You start doing pension calculations.

Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ian on 07 March, 2019, 12:27:15 pm
Think on the good side, anyone who isn't middle-aged by now won't have to worry about pension calculations.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Jaded on 07 March, 2019, 03:16:49 pm
Yes, for several reasons...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: fuzzy on 13 March, 2019, 12:09:58 pm
My reason for taking the maximum lump sum was weekly orders. Spending 26 and a bit years reading weekly orders and seeing reports of 'Death of Police Pensioner' where more than was coincidental, were getting less than 10 years as a pensioner..........

Full rotating shift work, unhealth working conditions and high levels of stress do not generally make for a long and happy retirement.

Learning of someone who had died after 20 or 30 years of retirement generally got a standing ovation in my office.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hellymedic on 02 April, 2019, 11:06:33 pm
OS 1 inch (1:63 360) maps were 6/6 back in the day...

I think the first 1:50 000 sheets were 80p.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: De Sisti on 03 April, 2019, 08:15:19 am
Just in case anyone thinks I am totally on top of my finances. In the last 12 months my wealth has dropped by £100,000. Eeek!
If you're talking in terms of £x00,000 then you must be very well off.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 03 April, 2019, 11:58:27 am
It is really, really, really irritating. Almost as irritating as the new car not having a built in CD player!!!!
When a technology that was new and shiny when you were a teenager is now obsolete.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 03 April, 2019, 01:03:05 pm
It is really, really, really irritating. Almost as irritating as the new car not having a built in CD player!!!!
When a technology that was new and shiny when you were a teenager is now obsolete.

Oh aye. When I was a nipper stereophonic record players were new. Microgroove records too. Not to mention retractable ballpoints. And my dad was highly tickled the first time his packet of Players had a cellophane wrapper with a wee ribbon to pull.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 03 April, 2019, 01:14:55 pm
It is really, really, really irritating. Almost as irritating as the new car not having a built in CD player!!!!
When a technology that was new and shiny when you were a teenager is now obsolete.

I dunno, as someone who grew up with Moore's Law, I consider that sort of obsolescence to be normal and ordinary and just part of the way the world works.

Middle age is when you stop caring about the new stuff...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: essexian on 03 April, 2019, 01:35:21 pm
It is really, really, really irritating. Almost as irritating as the new car not having a built in CD player!!!!
When a technology that was new and shiny when you were a teenager is now obsolete.

I dunno, as someone who grew up with Moore's Law, I consider that sort of obsolescence to be normal and ordinary and just part of the way the world works.

Middle age is when you stop caring about the new stuff...

Of course, Kim is right. I don't care about new stuff. I simply want to play the 800 odd CD's (and trust me, some of them are very odd) I own in the car.  And while I am at it.... I have a number of 78's I would like to play as well.....
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 03 April, 2019, 01:52:49 pm
I bought my first CD in 1994 (though I think my parents had a player in about 1990 or so?), when I was 15.  I bought my last one in 2018.  I lived through the transition from cassette copied from cassette or vinyl, to cassette copied from CD, to minidisc copied from CD[1], to MP3 file on hard disk ripped from CD, to CD copied from CD, to flash memory of various file formats ripped from CD.  Throw in occasional file-sharing and listening to original media on non-portable equipment, and lingering tapes for the car.

These days I listen to music by playing FLAC files from a local (or LAN-based) storage device - the CDs themselves live in a couple of large wallets on a shelf, as backup), and don't see the point in this newfangled Spotify rubbish.  Barakta seems to spend an alarming amount of time listening to music via Youtube.  I attribute this to network bandwidth and computing power being ludicrously cheap, and her hearing aid making more of a mess of the music than the codec does.

I reckon those 16bit/44kHz PCM recordings will be around for a while, even if the computing substrate changes...


[1] There was technically a point before minidisc went mainstream where portable CD players became a thing, but teenagers generally didn't use them, because they were bulky and required carrying precious original media around, rather than the option of copying music from your friends.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: essexian on 03 April, 2019, 02:03:00 pm
Thanks Kim.

Sadly, I must be in late middle age as I failed to understand about 75% of what you wrote.  :(

Give me a bit of plastic any day of the week (I still have my 7 inch singles from back in the late 1960s!)
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Si S on 03 April, 2019, 02:36:50 pm
When you read this ...

... the half inch Snowdonia map that's next to me and is older than me, cost on the cover, 55p

... and your first thought is that someone who thinks a decimal price is old must be really young.

I used to have a Bartholomews 3s/6d map of Mull.

Unfortunately road-runner when you think someone in their early forties is really young you possibly don't qualify for this thread anymore

 ;) ;D
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 03 April, 2019, 02:39:09 pm
Barakta seems to spend an alarming amount of time listening to music via Youtube.
Youtube has become probably my favourite music listening method, simply because it's available, has far more stuff on it than I would ever own, is free, etc. Oh and because the CD player is broken. Laptop speakers are pretty crap, I often use headphones, it's still not good sound quality but that's not hugely important.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 03 April, 2019, 02:41:48 pm
Yeah, Youtube's brilliant because you can go and find out what almost anything is.  But I'm still a luddite and if I want to make a habit of listening to a track I want a half-decent file on a disk or something.

I used to think I cared about sound quality out of technical snobbery, but I've come to realise that my hearing is so biased towards the higher frequency components of speech that any kind of singing quickly becomes a mush if bandwidth-limited or subject to excessively lossy codecs.  Same reason I can't think properly when trying to hear someone on the phone.

I expect I'm going to become immensely irritating when my age-related hearing loss (which is currently somewhere between the 8kHz where audiometrists stop caring and the 15.625kHz of whistly fly-back transformers in PAL CRTs) starts to impact on speech IRL.  At this point it only seems to affect teenager repellants and rubbing disc brakes[1].


[1] Standing order for cyclists younger than me:  If you get irritated by the inadequate lubrication of my chain on a ride then *say something*
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: rafletcher on 03 April, 2019, 02:49:35 pm
And here am I, with a good 20 years on Kim, listening on Spotify. Quality for me is fine, especially when listening to digitally remastered files over Sonos speaker. Probably because the quality of my original vinyl collection (disposed of 30 years ago at the local charity shop by me ex..) was mainly crap '70's pressings. And it gives me access to things I've never listed to before, plus it's portable at a time when actually sitting listening is a luxury - my musical tastes are not shared by my wife, and I find wearing headphones when she's around impolite. So having the ability to stream music in the gym via earpods, or in the shed over the Sonos is brilliant. Horses for courses.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 03 April, 2019, 03:04:07 pm
And here am I, with a good 20 years on Kim, listening on Spotify. Quality for me is fine, especially when listening to digitally remastered files over Sonos speaker. Probably because the quality of my original vinyl collection (disposed of 30 years ago at the local charity shop by me ex..) was mainly crap '70's pressings. And it gives me access to things I've never listed to before, plus it's portable at a time when actually sitting listening is a luxury - my musical tastes are not shared by my wife, and I find wearing headphones when she's around impolite. So having the ability to stream music in the gym via earpods, or in the shed over the Sonos is brilliant. Horses for courses.

Heh.

Having lived with a paritally deaf person for about 18 years, nearly all my listening is with headphones, as playing audio into the room is impolite (music's just a source of noise, and speech is distressingly indistinguishable from a random person in the house).  As such, I've got out of the habit of listening to music other than when sitting down to specifically listen to music (rare), to drown out the leakage of barata's beepy euro-pop[1], or when travelling.  So I do very little of it, and 20 odd gigabytes of FLACs on my phone is usually sufficient.  I'm so completely out of touch with music I don't already know that streaming would be wasted on me.


[1] Ironically, barakta spends more time listening to music than I do, as it helps her manage tinnitus.  Thanks to Newton's third law, her BAHA shares a tinny little version of what going into her skull with the rest of the room, in a manner similar to original Walkman headphones.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hellymedic on 03 April, 2019, 03:04:29 pm
When you read this ...

... the half inch Snowdonia map that's next to me and is older than me, cost on the cover, 55p

... and your first thought is that someone who thinks a decimal price is old must be really young.

I used to have a Bartholomews 3s/6d map of Mull.

Unfortunately road-runner when you think someone in their early forties is really young you possibly don't qualify for this thread anymore
 ;) ;D

I started a thread for oldies like r-r & me... (r-r's a couple of months my junior.)
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Mrs Pingu on 03 April, 2019, 05:51:20 pm
It is really, really, really irritating. Almost as irritating as the new car not having a built in CD player!!!!
When a technology that was new and shiny when you were a teenager is now obsolete.

I dunno, as someone who grew up with Moore's Law, I consider that sort of obsolescence to be normal and ordinary and just part of the way the world works.

Middle age is when you stop caring about the new stuff...

Of course, Kim is right. I don't care about new stuff. I simply want to play the 800 odd CD's (and trust me, some of them are very odd) I own in the car.  And while I am at it.... I have a number of 78's I would like to play as well.....

But now you can! All 800 of them! On a device the size of a shrew!
Might mean you need to buy a new shiny thing though....

(Yes I know you won't get 800 flac albums on but if you can tell the difference between flac and mp3 while driving around I'll eat my hat).
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Mrs Pingu on 03 April, 2019, 05:54:24 pm
Speaking of which, I was just moaning to Pingu that I need to remove my music off my work laptop to generate some space and I can't put it on my external hard drive now because we're banned from moving files to USB.
Pingu piped up, you've just bought a 256Gb SD card for that new phone, you could get our entire music collection on there.

Oh yes. Of course.
Truly, WTTF.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Canardly on 03 April, 2019, 09:24:42 pm
You can get a hair cut for 2/3 the cost  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 04 April, 2019, 08:19:18 am
Yebbut the finder's fee is a killer.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 04 April, 2019, 11:19:19 am
Yeah, Youtube's brilliant because you can go and find out what almost anything is.
That neverendingness is also the problem with using it. That and the fact you're staring at a screen.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 13 April, 2019, 08:06:48 am
When people start lamenting the death of some "significant" pop musician you've never heard of.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ElyDave on 13 April, 2019, 11:15:49 am
And here am I, with a good 20 years on Kim, listening on Spotify. Quality for me is fine, especially when listening to digitally remastered files over Sonos speaker. Probably because the quality of my original vinyl collection (disposed of 30 years ago at the local charity shop by me ex..) was mainly crap '70's pressings. And it gives me access to things I've never listed to before, plus it's portable at a time when actually sitting listening is a luxury - my musical tastes are not shared by my wife, and I find wearing headphones when she's around impolite. So having the ability to stream music in the gym via earpods, or in the shed over the Sonos is brilliant. Horses for courses.

Heh.

Having lived with a paritally deaf person for about 18 years, nearly all my listening is with headphones, as playing audio into the room is impolite (music's just a source of noise, and speech is distressingly indistinguishable from a random person in the house).  As such, I've got out of the habit of listening to music other than when sitting down to specifically listen to music (rare), to drown out the leakage of barata's beepy euro-pop[1], or when travelling.  So I do very little of it, and 20 odd gigabytes of FLACs on my phone is usually sufficient.  I'm so completely out of touch with music I don't already know that streaming would be wasted on me.


[1] Ironically, barakta spends more time listening to music than I do, as it helps her manage tinnitus.  Thanks to Newton's third law, her BAHA shares a tinny little version of what going into her skull with the rest of the room, in a manner similar to original Walkman headphones.

As a tinnitus sufferer myself, I fully get that, its about enough other noise to drown out the constant drone/whine in my head. I always listen to something in the car, couple tinnitus with a land rove and you get LOUD. Wife does not get this, or my tendency to have the news on in the background for the same reason.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ElyDave on 13 April, 2019, 11:18:24 am
Speaking of which, I was just moaning to Pingu that I need to remove my music off my work laptop to generate some space and I can't put it on my external hard drive now because we're banned from moving files to USB.
Pingu piped up, you've just bought a 256Gb SD card for that new phone, you could get our entire music collection on there.

Oh yes. Of course.
Truly, WTTF.

Just about to go there myself, shiny new laptop due anytime soon, couldn't justify the 1tb hard drive, but a nice big SD card will work very well for a lot less.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 17 April, 2019, 09:28:42 am
When you start working up a mouthful of spit to seal an envelope with a self-adhesive flap.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: lou boutin on 18 April, 2019, 11:58:23 am
You know you are old when you stand in a queue in Starbucks, admire the funky hair colours of the young lady in front you - jet black with a silver streak dyed into her fringe  - and realise that you dye your hair so that it doesn't look exactly like that!!
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 18 April, 2019, 12:16:13 pm
When a story written a few years before you were born contains a description of someone's "navel peeping out above his belt, because he wore his white Levis so low on his hips"* and you think how it might be nice to be able to find trousers so high-waisted they were as high as those low-waisted ones.

*Or better written words to that effect. But they were white Levis.**
**But I don't want white Levis!
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: rafletcher on 18 April, 2019, 12:25:23 pm
I though navel-covering trousers were a Simon Cowell thing!
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: pcolbeck on 18 April, 2019, 12:38:49 pm
I though navel-covering trousers were a Simon Cowell thing!

Or Stan and Olie
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 21 April, 2019, 04:08:40 pm
When you find one of these in your toolbox:

(https://pbase.com/image/169087129.jpg)
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Man in a tree on 21 April, 2019, 04:10:26 pm
I'm sure I came in here for something, but I can't remember what it was now.


Oh, they're on my head.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Feanor on 21 April, 2019, 04:22:40 pm
I'm sure I came in here for something, but I can't remember what it was now.


Oh, they're on my head.

Over 10 years ago, I got in a panic about losing a small child in Legoland.
He was on my shoulders...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Man in a tree on 21 April, 2019, 04:51:53 pm
 ;D
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 22 April, 2019, 11:10:32 am
I'm sure I came in here for something, but I can't remember what it was now.


Oh, they're on my head.

Over 10 years ago, I got in a panic about losing a small child in Legoland.
He was on my shoulders...
"What the utter re!" as the young ones say.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: essexian on 23 April, 2019, 09:54:59 am
You know you're middle aged when..... you get quite upset at being sold "seniors rate" at the football AGAIN!

That's four times this season.  :facepalm:
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: CommuteTooFar on 26 April, 2019, 05:13:10 pm
I'm sure I came in here for something, but I can't remember what it was now.


Oh, they're on my head.

Your underpants ?
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 27 April, 2019, 08:14:23 am
You suspect you lost karma points somewhere by having to use Google to find out who Craig David is/was.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: nicknack on 27 April, 2019, 10:22:38 am
 
You suspect you lost karma points somewhere by having to use Google to find out who Craig David is/was.
:thumbsup:
No idea.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 27 April, 2019, 11:18:43 am
I thought Dave Craigid was the product of middle aged people continuing to spend money on recorded music, pretending they were teenagers. But with matured bad taste.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 27 April, 2019, 06:02:42 pm
...you shop at Debenhams. Or when you don't shop at Debenhams.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/apr/27/memo-to-debenhams-stop-reminding-customers-they-are-middle-aged

(I'm sure that in practice reading the Guardian online is far more middle aged than shopping at Debenhams... )
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ian on 29 April, 2019, 09:38:45 am
I know who Craig David is, though I've never knowingly listened to a Craig David song. That said, I'm so familiar with the concept of Craig David, I fear I'd recognize it as originating from the man himself.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Man in a tree on 29 April, 2019, 09:55:08 am
I'm sure I came in here for something, but I can't remember what it was now.


Oh, they're on my head.

Your underpants ?

Happens all the time.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 29 April, 2019, 04:44:39 pm
When you can remember what was referred to by the slogan "Grab yourself a fistful of big red power!"
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: spesh on 12 May, 2019, 12:22:36 pm
When you learn that Vyvyan/Eddie Hitler is moving to Albert Square.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-48220537
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hellymedic on 12 May, 2019, 01:34:42 pm
A Facebook friend posts 60th birthday pics of her dad showing wonderful happy family group, including 8 grandchildren and you realise he's nearly  year your junior.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 12 May, 2019, 04:53:13 pm
Friends send you an invitation to their golden wedding celebrations and you got married in the same year.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Mrs Pingu on 12 May, 2019, 05:09:57 pm
When you learn that Vyvyan/Eddie Hitler is moving to Albert Square.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-48220537
Good grief.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: pcolbeck on 24 May, 2019, 09:44:14 pm
One of your mates turns up at the pub with a broken foot in plaster caused by a bizarre bee keeping accident (dropped one of the frames on it and it landed on edge). Does anyone under 40 keep bees ?
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 24 May, 2019, 10:44:07 pm


Does anyone under 40 keep bees ?

Not deliberately.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Tim Hall on 24 May, 2019, 10:47:00 pm


Does anyone under 40 keep bees ?

Not deliberately.
We kept bees at school.Mr Edmondson, the head teacher, was bee wrangler in chief and over 40, but his willing assistants were 11.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: rafletcher on 21 June, 2019, 03:45:48 pm
In conversation with two colleagues (in their mod-thirties), neither has heard of Cream, or Jack Bruce or Ginger Baker...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: TheLurker on 21 June, 2019, 06:33:55 pm
In conversation with two colleagues (in their mod-thirties), neither has heard of Cream, or Jack Bruce or Ginger Baker...
Aye and the reverse holds.  When they talk about musicans (that's not music, it's a bloody racket) you've never heard of.
 The last time I was even vaguely in touch with current trends was when Nirvana were a thing and I only knew about them because my younger colleagues keep blethering about them.  I couldn't name a single one of their tunes.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ian on 21 June, 2019, 09:58:24 pm
In conversation with two colleagues (in their mod-thirties), neither has heard of Cream, or Jack Bruce or Ginger Baker...

Me neither, and I'm in my forties. You must have been born in the late Jurassic.

Currently listening to Zola Jesus, I have latent symptoms of late-teen gothery – reminds of the time my wife a photo of me in my Robert Smith phase – a stratosphere-scraping black-purple forest atop my head supported only by spray cans of industrial polymer, all I remember is being absolutely terrified of rain, even the slightest drizzle could have been catastrophic – anyway she laughed for two entire weeks.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Mr Larrington on 22 June, 2019, 09:14:41 am
Then my tenuous claim to fame of knowing the son of the former drummer of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers will cut no ice?
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: caerau on 22 June, 2019, 09:51:54 am
I've heard of Ken Bruce ;)


When you try and talk about comedy with your junior colleagues and are stonewalled by them never having heard of Pete and Dud.
I did at least manage to get them to work out who Pete was as they'd at least seen Blackadder, I failed with Dudley Moore.  Is it normal to feel sorry for them as a result?


Having watched Graham Norton last night I'm left wondering what middle-age is defined as these days as Tom Hanks admitted to 'middle age' at the age of 62.  Does that really count as middle aged these days?*




*This may be the wrong forum to say this.... forgive me, I am still a whippersnapper at 48 ;)
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: caerau on 22 June, 2019, 09:54:48 am
When you learn that Vyvyan/Eddie Hitler is moving to Albert Square.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-48220537 (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-48220537)


He's a little lost without 'Wik'. he was in Holby City/Casualty (are these actually different these days?) for some time a while back.  besides Eastenders has never been the same since I realised the vicar in it is Vila from Blake's Seven
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 22 June, 2019, 03:41:56 pm
I've heard of Ken Bruce ;)


When you try and talk about comedy with your junior colleagues and are stonewalled by them never having heard of Pete and Dud.
I did at least manage to get them to work out who Pete was as they'd at least seen Blackadder, I failed with Dudley Moore.  Is it normal to feel sorry for them as a result?


Having watched Graham Norton last night I'm left wondering what middle-age is defined as these days as Tom Hanks admitted to 'middle age' at the age of 62.  Does that really count as middle aged these days?*




*This may be the wrong forum to say this.... forgive me, I am still a whippersnapper at 48 ;)
Well I've vaguely heard of Jack Bruce, also of Lenny Bruce but had to google Ken Bruce. Hmm, you may be a whippersnapper but if you're listening to Radio 2, that's the definition of middle aged!
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: caerau on 22 June, 2019, 06:51:04 pm
I said I'd heard of him, not that I listened to him  :P O:-)
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ian on 24 June, 2019, 10:13:10 am
When you learn that Vyvyan/Eddie Hitler is moving to Albert Square.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-48220537 (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-48220537)


He's a little lost without 'Wik'. he was in Holby City/Casualty (are these actually different these days?) for some time a while back.  besides Eastenders has never been the same since I realised the vicar in it is Vila from Blake's Seven

I've never seen Eastenders, but I'm old enough to remember Blake's 7. (Ish – don't expect me to provide detail plot summaries, I only remember some splendid fashion, a round computer called Zen, and a lot of action in a gravel pit.)

I also remember Sapphire & Steel, which my wife doesn't and for a while believed was something I was making up to mess with her head. I did once have the opportunity (name drop alert! name drop alert!) to ask Joanna Lumley what it was all about and her response was a perfectly Lumleyesque none of us knew, my dear, not a clue.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: caerau on 24 June, 2019, 10:41:11 am
when I was young, my sister's NOT TO BE MESSED WITH UPON PAIN OF DEATH - viewing habits were - weekdaily at least - Neighbours, then Eastenders, then Coronation Street, then Brookside, then Prisoner Cellblock H - she may even have included Home and Away and other worse Aussie soaps.  I forget the intimate details but it was 24-7 relentless  :facepalm: :facepalm: :facepalm: :hand: :hand: :hand:


Whilst I managed to studiously avoid coronation street and Brookside mostly, it was not possible to avoid it all unless I wanted to be outside permanently and not-socialise with the rest of my family.


I now thank the lord that my wife *only* insists on 'Enders and Corrie.


I did initially, when we first met, try to insist on not watching Corrie - as it was a matter of pride for me back in 2000 that I'd never knowingly watched it.  But to avoid being too much of a twat about it, I gave in.  She watches it, and therefore so must I.


I could however, give you good plot details on Blake's 7! That was awesome, until they got ride of Gan, Jemma and Blake at least.  My young childhood was almost defined by Dr Who, Star Wars and Blakes 7.


I'll rather bet my sister thinks that is as sad as I think her viewing habits were.




Now if this post doesn't define me as middle aged, then there is no middle age  :-D
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ian on 24 June, 2019, 10:58:13 am
Didn't everyone in Blake's 7 die horribly and en masse?

My parents watch soaps 24/7 and always have. Those and crap game shows. Honestly, I don't think the TV was ever turned off during the first 18 years of my life. I think they may have watched the sinister test pattern back when TV went to bed. The only time it went off was when we were short of a 50p for the TV or electricity meter (metered TV, from Radio Rentals, you had to feed it money periodically, now that must make me middle-aged). I only remember that because it was my childhood job to run around the neighbours to cadge a 50p piece. I once bought back a ferret. Mostly because it had clamped its teeth through my finger and wasn't letting go. I remember my dad looking up from the blank TV and uttering 'just strangle it, it'll let go, did you bring the 50p?' Anyway, it worked, ferrets let go if you strangle them a bit. We learn stuff from our parents, we do.

It was quite exciting to get to university and find out what life was like without the constant drone of a TV in the background.

I do remember Prisoner Cell Block H in some detail.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: essexian on 24 June, 2019, 11:03:44 am
Most...if not all...of Blakes 7 is on Youtube.

I know as I rewatched most of it a few weeks back  :facepalm:

No.... I don't have a life anymore.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Gus on 24 June, 2019, 12:13:08 pm
The undergraduatees, I've Been studying alting for three
Years have that are younger than me.👴👴
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: TheLurker on 24 June, 2019, 07:44:31 pm
Didn't everyone in Blake's 7 die horribly and en masse?
They did.  I was doing some ironing while watching it. I was so shocked I nearly burnt my freshly pressed trousers.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: caerau on 24 June, 2019, 08:15:01 pm
Didn't everyone in Blake's 7 die horribly and en masse?
They did.  I was doing some ironing while watching it. I was so shocked I nearly burnt my freshly pressed trousers.


Yes *and* no.  Everyone that was still in it by then certainly - probably even Servelan we all suspected - though I haven't rewatched it on Youtube.  I did once watch some reruns on Gold about 20 years ago and I decided it was best left to memory.  Though it was the dire last series I was watching. So that's the 'no' bit - because classic characters such as Gan and Jemma were long gone by then - and it was a bit of a joke even calling it Blake's 7 for a looong time since he wasn't actually in it until the very last episode.  Also The Liberator, Zen and Orac were long gone by then too.


[/nerd]
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ian on 24 June, 2019, 08:28:32 pm
Yeah, I think the memories weather the passage of time better than the actual programmes. I think that's usually the case with nostalgia tv. Filmmakers should be aware of this – it'd spare us terrible remakes of 70s/80s TV. I've not sure who greenlit a Dukes of Hazzard remake, for instance, but really, oh really, it was awful back then (other than for a teenage boy's appreciation for Daisy Duke's short shorts), but beyond a giddy round of every sexist and racist trope going, it was astoundingly awful even then. Really, you thought time would make it better? That's against every rule of television.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: CommuteTooFar on 24 June, 2019, 08:44:08 pm
I find when watching iconic TV from a short time ago I find the anachronisms quite jarring. When I watch something that is older I am happy to accept it for what it is.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: caerau on 24 June, 2019, 08:51:25 pm
One thing that always gets my goat when you get 'rerun' tv compilations is that you always get someone talking about how TV shows are more 'nuanced' these days as the audience has got 'more sophisticated'


Really?  We are inundated with X_factor, Love Island, Big Brother and I'm a has-been- get me out of here.


(and *that* family in the USA  :sick:  )


Sophisticated my arse.


Give me Sapphire and Steel or The Goodies any day of the week
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: fuzzy on 24 June, 2019, 11:19:00 pm
Mrs F has most of the 70's (and a lot of the 60's and 80's) on DVD. This includes Blakes 7, Star Trek TOS, Department S, Jason King, The Persuaders, Catweazle, Children of the Stones, Star Maidens, The Professionals, Man in a Suitcase,  ect ect.

Woe, Woe and thrice Woe!
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Manotea on 25 June, 2019, 12:57:47 am
And now for the weather forecast :)
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 26 July, 2019, 01:10:40 pm
When your son finds out he needs false teeth.  Although to be fair, his teeth don't fix calcium properly.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hellymedic on 26 July, 2019, 01:25:14 pm
I was discussing fractures and radiological healing thereof with my brother. Pointed out healing on film lags WAY behind real mending, pointing out Baby Brother had been taken out of plaster when I could see almost NOTHING joining his forearm bones.
(click to show/hide)

He was 9
You are 52...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: nicknack on 25 August, 2019, 12:24:28 am
You go a pub to see a band that you used to play in and you just want a quiet (ok - noisy) evening sitting having a few beers but about 4 numbers from the end this woman gets in your face and tries to drag you up to dance. Early 20's, quite attractive, tall, pissed. I'm 66 for fuck's sake. Just leave me alone. I presumed either she had some sort of fetish or left her glasses at home. She didn't stop pestering me until the band had finished (they were pissing themselves). Acutely embarrassing (and ever so slightly gratifying  ;D ). Had I been 40 years younger...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 25 August, 2019, 08:23:50 am
When you use a somewhat neglected word that only had one meaning for the first 50 years of your life and find that it has been commandeered by ignorant youth and now means something different and probably louche.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Beardy on 25 August, 2019, 09:39:47 am
When the couch to 5k seems like an uphill struggle.  :-\
Feeling very sweety
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 13 September, 2019, 08:11:57 am
When you can't find the two packs of pencils you bought last week.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: mrcharly-YHT on 13 September, 2019, 03:26:05 pm
The cheapest car insurance you can buy is from Saga (that one really annoyed my wife).
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Phil W on 13 September, 2019, 03:38:16 pm
When you talk of something like it was yesterday, but it was 30 years ago. Old age will be when that becomes 50 years ago.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Regulator on 13 September, 2019, 03:39:47 pm
You get told off for perving at young policemen. 
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 13 September, 2019, 03:57:41 pm
You get told off for perving at young policemen.

Rightly so, given that policemen are all about 12 these days...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ElyDave on 13 September, 2019, 05:43:16 pm
perving at young police officers, please
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Phil W on 13 September, 2019, 06:08:43 pm
perving at young police officers, please

Is that a request for the weekend?
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ElyDave on 13 September, 2019, 06:17:26 pm
If I'm allowed out on my own  :P
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: essexian on 14 September, 2019, 08:17:44 am
..... you go on a train line (Worcester to Pershore) on the "new" (they have been out a year or so) 800 class remembering back to the fact that the last time you travelled on this line was in around 1977 on one of the then new Intercity 125's!  Frankly, I thought the 125 was far better than the new rolling stock!

And.... stay with me with this one.... Stoke Speedway track is closing later today. I've never been but used to go to see Hackney ride now and again when I lived in the far south. Anyway, that got me thinking about sports stadiums I have known and lost over the years including one near where my Great Aunty Queenie lived. I knew it was somewhere near Lea Bridge Road and knew that it wasn't the old Leyton Football Club ground as I had been there countless times. So, was it Lea Bridge Road Speedway Stadium or Clapton Dogs.

Well, as Lea Bridge speedway was in the wrong place (the north side of Lea Bridge Station), it must have been Clapton dogs and some online photo spotting confirmed this to me. As did a quick look at Google Maps which pinpointed the actual group of houses Great Aunty Queenie lived in. The last time I went to her house.... around 1970!

The houses....not sure which one but they have all been done up since I went there: https://goo.gl/maps/PMiXfKGFDg9K6Ah78

If you spin the photo around, the new houses across the green is where the stadium was.

Memories eh!
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Jurek on 14 September, 2019, 08:34:06 am
I cross that park every day on my way into work.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: BrianI on 17 September, 2019, 06:21:25 pm
The cheapest car insurance you can buy is from Saga (that one really annoyed my wife).

Wouldn't recommend SAGA car insurance though. Mother is having no ends of trouble getting them to update the Motor Insurance Database, so while the car is insured, it's not showing as such on the askmid site... So mum is currently worried about driving anywhere incase she gets picked up by ANPR traffic cameras...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 18 September, 2019, 12:53:09 pm
(https://i.imgur.com/X6eElNu.png)

When you see this photo and think 3d (thruppence, not three-dimensional).

And you remember being given a brand-new one just after the Coronation.

I spent mine a week later.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 19 September, 2019, 01:52:27 pm
https://twitter.com/realmandeville/status/1174610815288336384?s=21 (https://twitter.com/realmandeville/status/1174610815288336384?s=21)


The “B” Ark.
Wow! I'm officially old enough to take a Saga cruise. This can only mean I'm beyond middle-aged into the official senile age group. Or do you only get there when you actually want to take a Saga cruise?
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: andytheflyer on 23 September, 2019, 06:17:43 pm
https://twitter.com/realmandeville/status/1174610815288336384?s=21 (https://twitter.com/realmandeville/status/1174610815288336384?s=21)


The “B” Ark.
Wow! I'm officially old enough to take a Saga cruise. This can only mean I'm beyond middle-aged into the official senile age group. Or do you only get there when you actually want to take a Saga cruise?

What has the Sand and Gravel Association got to do with cruises?  I'm confused....
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: TheLurker on 23 September, 2019, 08:49:29 pm
Quote from: andytheflyer
I'm confused....
Aye, that's another sign of middle age.  :)
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Wowbagger on 04 October, 2019, 11:12:16 pm
OS 1 inch (1:63 360) maps were 6/6 back in the day...

I think the first 1:50 000 sheets were 80p.

I have 4 sheets of the whole of the Isle of Skye in 1:63360. I bought them in a second hand shop in Southend shortly after I started teaching, so that would probably have been 1975 or 1976. I think they cost me 5p each. After decimalisation and after the introduction of the 1:50000 "bodged" sheets, anyway. I remember thinking "One day I will go to the Isle of Skye and these maps will come in useful!" Three are marked 40p. One is marked 8/- (40p).

They did come in useful. Jan and I visited Skye in ... 2010 I think.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 05 October, 2019, 08:21:00 am
S'funny... 40p seems cheap but 8/- seems quite dear.  I don't think I ever paid more than 3/6d.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: robgul on 05 October, 2019, 09:14:38 am
OS 1 inch (1:63 360) maps were 6/6 back in the day...

I think the first 1:50 000 sheets were 80p.

I have 4 sheets of the whole of the Isle of Skye in 1:63360. I bought them in a second hand shop in Southend shortly after I started teaching, so that would probably have been 1975 or 1976. I think they cost me 5p each. After decimalisation and after the introduction of the 1:50000 "bodged" sheets, anyway. I remember thinking "One day I will go to the Isle of Skye and these maps will come in useful!" Three are marked 40p. One is marked 8/- (40p).

They did come in useful. Jan and I visited Skye in ... 2010 I think.

I must be older than you - the 1" to the mile OS reddish-orange covered maps were 3/6d when I bought my first one (which I still have - No 161) ..... I remember when this was all fields ....... etc

Rob
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 05 October, 2019, 09:49:16 am
In Norn Iron I occasionally used my dad's, mostly for runs down the Ards - I think they might have cost 6d when he was cycling.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Tim Hall on 05 October, 2019, 11:41:00 am
In Norn Iron I occasionally used my dad's, mostly for runs down the Ards - I think they might have cost 6d when he was cycling.
Could you get Ordnance Survey maps in Norn Iron? I thought they were a GB rather than a UK thing due to some historical reason or another.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Canardly on 05 October, 2019, 11:55:52 am
I have a football league cup final ticket from 1974, Man City V Wolves at Wembley. Cost 80p.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: orienteer on 05 October, 2019, 12:46:41 pm
Still have the English language guidebook for EXPO 70 in Osaka.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 05 October, 2019, 02:12:12 pm
In Norn Iron I occasionally used my dad's, mostly for runs down the Ards - I think they might have cost 6d when he was cycling.
Could you get Ordnance Survey maps in Norn Iron? I thought they were a GB rather than a UK thing due to some historical reason or another.

Might not have been OS. 'Twas long, long ago, when Paisley was just a flowery pattern.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Paul on 05 October, 2019, 04:54:06 pm
I have a ticket for (I think) the Eiffel Tower for 10ff. If it is for la Tour it would have been 1990. Mid-day, midsummer's day, 1990, to be precise, because that was the arrangement I'd made with someone 5 years beforehand*.

(*No-show).
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hellymedic on 05 October, 2019, 07:32:37 pm
S'funny... 40p seems cheap but 8/- seems quite dear.  I don't think I ever paid more than 3/6d.

They were mostly 6/6 when I bought them just before decimalisation. They seemed quite pricey then.

The NEW 1:50,000 were 80p on launch but there was much inflation in the late '60s/early '70s.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ElyDave on 05 October, 2019, 08:03:28 pm
The first rugby match I saw at Twickenham was England V SA when they came back into internationals in 1992/93. Cost me the gramd total of £9.  That'll just about buy a pint there these days.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 05 October, 2019, 08:22:01 pm
You know you're middle aged when you're pretty sure the people talking about buying anything more expensive than pick-n-mix with pre-decimal currency are in the wrong thread...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hellymedic on 05 October, 2019, 09:03:31 pm
Some of my former classmates now have kids that are over 40 years old.

I must be more than middle-aged.

But I won't admit it...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Moleman76 on 06 October, 2019, 08:14:38 am
when you learn that someone you've worked with for several years was born in the year you went off to college
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Tim Hall on 06 October, 2019, 09:36:07 am
when you learn that someone you've worked with for several years was born in the year you went off to college
In my new job, my Teh Boss is a couple of years younger than my daughter. A colleague was at school with my son in law.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Mr Larrington on 06 October, 2019, 11:36:24 am
"Kid, I've got shoes older than you" ~ The Finn
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: spesh on 06 October, 2019, 11:59:37 am
"Kid, I've got shoes older than you" ~ The Finn

I understood that reference.  :thumbsup:

ETA - realising how long ago "Count Zero" was published makes me feel middle-aged.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hellymedic on 06 October, 2019, 04:08:21 pm
when you learn that someone you've worked with for several years was born in the year you went off to college

A medical contemporary friend had major surgery performed by a consultant born after they qualified...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: chrisbainbridge on 06 October, 2019, 04:37:44 pm
All of my trainees for about the last 5 years were born after I started training.   U suspect the newest consultant was born after I got my fellowship!

The problem is the respect they seem to have invested me with which I am sure I do not deserve.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: fuzzy on 06 October, 2019, 10:56:47 pm
You discover a colleague in their early 20's was born on your 30th birthday.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Karla on 06 October, 2019, 11:08:02 pm
"Kid, I've got shoes older than you" ~ The Finn

I'm really quite worried that I got that reference.

Tell me something, when does middle age start?
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 06 October, 2019, 11:10:43 pm
Tell me something, when does middle age start?

Thursday.  I could never get the hang of Thursdays.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: spesh on 06 October, 2019, 11:12:56 pm
I try to kid myself that age is just a state of mind...

<beat>

Which works as long as I don't mind the state I'm in...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 07 October, 2019, 09:14:54 am
Tell me something, when does middle age start?

Thursday.  I could never get the hang of Thursdays.
Thursday is when the weekend starts (unless it's a long weekend), ergo middle age is the weekend.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: spesh on 07 October, 2019, 11:33:40 am
Tell me something, when does middle age start?

Thursday.  I could never get the hang of Thursdays.
Thursday is when the weekend starts (unless it's a long weekend), ergo middle age is the weekend.

Douglas Adams applies.

“In the end, it was the Sunday afternoons he couldn't cope with, and that terrible listlessness which starts to set in at about 2:55, when you know that you've had all the baths you can usefully have that day, that however hard you stare at any given paragraph in the papers you will never actually read it, or use the revolutionary new pruning technique it describes, and that as you stare at the clock the hands will move relentlessly on to four o'clock, and you will enter the long dark teatime of the soul.”
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 10 October, 2019, 10:12:35 am
The beep emitted by the continuity tester in your multimeter is beyond your auditory range.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Bledlow on 10 October, 2019, 10:13:48 pm
You discover a colleague in their early 20's was born on your 30th birthday.
In my case, I discovered that an ex-girlfriend recently bought a house with her partner. He was born when I was 27.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 10 October, 2019, 10:17:08 pm
The beep emitted by the continuity tester in your multimeter is beyond your auditory range.

That's a bit worrying.

And another reason[1] why they should have the option to flash the backlight like those nice Brymen ones.


[1] See also: Continuity testing in loud or noise-sensitive environments.  Both if you're a soundie.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: mllePB on 11 October, 2019, 07:26:43 pm
In the 80's I did a Computer sci degree. 

Last month I had a work laptop 'upgraded' to windows 10 and I had to ask PB for help finding the shutdown command. How was I to know it was no longer an English  word :-[
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 11 October, 2019, 07:34:18 pm
In the 80's I did a Computer sci degree. 

Last month I had a work laptop 'upgraded' to windows 10 and I had to ask PB for help finding the shutdown command. How was I to know it was no longer an English  word :-[
So what on earth does it say? It still says "Shut down" on mine, which is Windows 8. Have Microsoft invented a new word???!
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 11 October, 2019, 08:58:05 pm
So how do you get it to shut down completely?
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ian on 11 October, 2019, 09:03:00 pm
Weight it down and drop it in the Mariana Trench.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 12 October, 2019, 01:26:44 pm
The beep emitted by the continuity tester in your multimeter is beyond your auditory range.

That's a bit worrying.

And another reason[1] why they should have the option to flash the backlight like those nice Brymen ones.


[1] See also: Continuity testing in loud or noise-sensitive environments.  Both if you're a soundie.

Yeah.  I can still just hear it.  It's about 15 years since I stopped being able to hear the out-of-bpm-range beep from my HRM. No loss.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Mr Larrington on 12 October, 2019, 03:10:53 pm
This Unit uses and endorses Classic Shell, which makes current versions of Windows look like the versions us wrinkly oldsters grew up with as opposed to a Fisher-Price toy with a touch screen.  See rants passim re touch screens.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: phantasmagoriana on 13 October, 2019, 08:24:13 am
Tell me something, when does middle age start?

35, apparently. :'( 

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/news/7458147/Middle-age-begins-at-35-and-ends-at-58.html (https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/news/7458147/Middle-age-begins-at-35-and-ends-at-58.html)
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 15 October, 2019, 09:16:58 am
When an hour and a half in the workshop feels like a whole morning.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Duckfoot1606 on 15 October, 2019, 11:14:21 am
Tell me something, when does middle age start?

35, apparently. :'( 

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/news/7458147/Middle-age-begins-at-35-and-ends-at-58.html (https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/news/7458147/Middle-age-begins-at-35-and-ends-at-58.html)

Crap, I’m about to turn old 😢
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 15 October, 2019, 12:25:01 pm
Ctrl-Alt-Del is thataway==============> (region of your numeric keypad). This topic is about decrepitude.  Oh, wait... OK, go on talking about Windows 10.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: The Movers on 15 October, 2019, 02:33:27 pm
Win 10 matters have been split off and moved to Ctrl-Alt-Del.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 15 October, 2019, 02:47:06 pm
 :thumbsup:
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ian on 15 October, 2019, 02:49:31 pm
Surely you're middle-aged if you remember Windows 3.1.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: mrcharly-YHT on 15 October, 2019, 02:55:14 pm
Surely you're middle-aged if you remember Windows 3.1.
I remember when people got excited about Windows 3.0
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ian on 15 October, 2019, 03:05:33 pm
I wrote my PhD thesis on a Windows 3.1 machine (I think, whatever Windows for Workgroups was). I found an entire IBM PS 3/2 in a skip and set it up in the basement of our building, making myself a nice space to play solitaire contemplate molecules.

Everyone was really impressed that I had my own computer and an office space that didn't smell like radioactivity. I never did tell anyone that I put the computer in the skip in the first place so I could 'find' it, and I never actually asked about the basement space, I just annexed it. Anything done with enough confidence is indistinguishable from being officially authorized.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Guy on 15 October, 2019, 03:53:18 pm
I don't know what the OS was, but when I started using computers at work I was writing documents in WordPerfect 3.1.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 15 October, 2019, 04:04:29 pm
Surely you're middle-aged if you remember Windows 3.1.

I remember being underwhelmed by Windows 2.0, having had previous experience of Amiga Workbench and GEM.  That machine had the first colour inkjet printer I ever saw attached to it, which was somewhat more impressive.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Tim Hall on 15 October, 2019, 04:20:11 pm
I don't know what the OS was, but when I started using computers at work I was writing documents in WordPerfect 3.1.
I'll see your WordPerfect 3.1 and raise you WordStar on a CP/M terminal connected to the Magic Box using RS232 electric string.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Regulator on 15 October, 2019, 04:22:21 pm
Pah!  Amateurs...  @Wowbagger wrote his dissertation in cuneiform on a clay tablet.    ;D
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: robgul on 15 October, 2019, 04:26:06 pm
Does Wordwise on BBC micro score any points?? - that's where I started writing stuff.    IIRC the prog was on a plug-in chip.

Rob
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 15 October, 2019, 04:42:12 pm
You know you're middle aged when you reminisce about old computer programs you used to use.

Nahh, I've been doing that since I was about 17.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 15 October, 2019, 09:07:53 pm
You know you're middle aged when you reminisce about old computer programs you used to use.

Nahh, I've been doing that since I was about 17.
I think you've just proved roadrunner's point.  :D
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: chrisbainbridge on 15 October, 2019, 10:17:04 pm
I remember agonising with my wife whether we bought a spectrum or BBC Micro. We bought the BBC and colleagues gave me blown EPROMs of view as the worprocessor and a couple of games.

We made 35mm slides for lectures on the computer and photographed the screen before we bought for the department  a special projector thing to which we attached a camera. Then the film was sent for processing score we got it back and mounted the slides. Fastest we could do a lecture in was 48 hours with overnight delivery.

Now I write the lecture whilst the previous speaker is talking.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 15 October, 2019, 10:29:55 pm
We made 35mm slides for lectures on the computer and photographed the screen before we bought for the department  a special projector thing to which we attached a camera. Then the film was sent for processing score we got it back and mounted the slides. Fastest we could do a lecture in was 48 hours with overnight delivery.

In the early 90s, I used to make 35mm lecture slides for my father using a variation on this process[1], on account of my naturally superior Young Person computer skills[2].  One of the computer programs I would have been reminiscing about when I was 17 was Harvard Graphics 3.0 for DOS.  A package which - although limited in countless respects - Microsoft Office has yet to beat in terms of actual graph-drawing ability.  Imagine a user-friendly version of gnuplot, with rudimentary PowerPoint-style presentation features.

I still get nostalgic for the colours that worked well on 35mm slides.  Medium yellow text on dark blue backgrounds was much easier on the eye than the harsh contrast that you need on the underpowered video projectors of the early 2000s (and today's low-end projectors of equivalent spec).


[1] I *think* the hospital or the MRC or someone had a machine that would expose film directly with EPS-style vector graphics, possibly using lasers or an oscilloscope-style vector CRT or something.  The image quality (in the early days of XGA displays) was phenomenal.
[2] Gen-Z-ers: Ask your parents.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Jaded on 15 October, 2019, 10:36:03 pm
OMG. I thought I was odd creating graphs and stuff on a QL, then photographing the screen for use in a presentation.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ian on 15 October, 2019, 10:51:20 pm
Blimey Harvard Graphics, that’s a blast from the past. I recall Word 2 on the diddy Mac being awesomely WYSIWYG after years of colour-coded, function key-hammering WordPerfect.

Cantankerous lab equipment (hplc, capillary electrophoresis, and the giant first generation DNA sequencers that graced the age) always seemed to run on OS/2 Warp.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: fuzzy on 16 October, 2019, 01:36:57 am
People you work with were born after you got your first mobile phone.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: chrisbainbridge on 16 October, 2019, 09:42:16 am
Does reaching for the smallest adjustable spanner in your tool kit which you inherited from your father on his death who got it from his father count.

Even if it doesn't, it was a really strange feeling taking up a tool which is quite possibly 100years old.  Almost a Star Wars moment.  "I am a self taught tinkerer and mechanic like my father (and my grandfather)".

I have two sons, one of whom is also a tinkerer/mechanic and all being well he will inherit the spanner as well  which will make the tool an heirloom through 4 generations.  I just have to make sure one of my granddaughters has a STEM interest :D

My other son will inherit the walking stick made from the propeller of the Sopwith my grandfather flew in WW1.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 16 October, 2019, 10:01:39 am
My other son will inherit the walking stick made from the propeller of the Sopwith my grandfather flew in WW1.
Wow. Quite an heirloom.  :thumbsup:

Only two objects survive from my grandfather's WWI experiences: a photo of him, looking ridiculously young and impish, in his brand new 1915 uniform (complete with SWORD) and his partially forged Red Cross release papers six years later. I expect he'd be prouder of the latter.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: mrcharly-YHT on 16 October, 2019, 10:47:09 am
My other son will inherit the walking stick made from the propeller of the Sopwith my grandfather flew in WW1.
One heck of an heirloom.

I have a sweater I treasure. It is a hairy brown thing.

My mother knitted it for my father when he was about the age my son is now.

I think that definitely qualifies me as middle aged.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 16 October, 2019, 12:57:39 pm
Does reaching for the smallest adjustable spanner in your tool kit which you inherited from your father on his death who got it from his father count.

Even if it doesn't, it was a really strange feeling taking up a tool which is quite possibly 100years old.  Almost a Star Wars moment.  "I am a self taught tinkerer and mechanic like my father (and my grandfather)".


I have tools that go back that far, a mix from both sides of the family.  I don't know where they'll go after me, though, since neither of my kids are makers: one's a musician, the other's a consumer.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ElyDave on 16 October, 2019, 09:20:37 pm
I have a bunch of woodworking tools that came from my father through my granddad. Sadly I'm not much of a woodworker myself, more mechanically biased.  On that front I have a beautiful micrometer in it's original case, probabaly 50's/60's when my dad was starting out as an engineering apprentice.  I did have a lovely steel rule that had metric and imperial, including down to 1/16th inch, though how you could use it accurately I don't know.

Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ElyDave on 16 October, 2019, 09:22:38 pm
Musing on my flight this afternoon with a quick trip to the loo and the various No Smoking  and no Cigarrette Disposal signs, I can still remember when aircraft armrests had ashtrays, and when trains had smoking carriages.  Does that qualify?
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: rafletcher on 17 October, 2019, 08:45:43 am
I can remember being on a plane where people smoked. I was at the front of the no-smoking area, but the curtain didn't do much to stop smoke intrusion from the smoking area in front.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 17 October, 2019, 09:01:29 am
And why was smoking at the front of the plane but the back of the bus? I remember the theory for the bus was that air currents would carry smoke back anyway, also that it would rise and that's why it was allowed on the top deck of double-deckers. None of which had any practical effect, of course, any more than did the absence of theory in restaurants.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Panoramix on 17 October, 2019, 10:54:30 am
You know you are middle aged when ... you realise the London AZ in your hands was published in 2003 (15 years ago!) whereas you were under the impression that "it wasn't that old".

At least the millenium dome is on it!
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 17 October, 2019, 11:08:19 am
And why was smoking at the front of the plane but the back of the bus? I remember the theory for the bus was that air currents would carry smoke back anyway, also that it would rise and that's why it was allowed on the top deck of double-deckers. None of which had any practical effect, of course, any more than did the absence of theory in restaurants.

Lufthansa short-haul flights had smokers up one side and non-smokers up the other, with the air circulation arranged to contain the smoke. It worked, if you could manage to get a non-smoker window seat.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 17 October, 2019, 12:03:28 pm
I can remember being on a plane where people smoked. I was at the front of the no-smoking area, but the curtain didn't do much to stop smoke intrusion from the smoking area in front.

I've never been on a plane where people didn't smoke.   :sick:
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hellymedic on 17 October, 2019, 12:19:19 pm
You know you are middle aged when ... you realise the London AZ in your hands was published in 2003 (15 years ago!) whereas you were under the impression that "it wasn't that old".

At least the millenium dome is on it!

I hate to inform you that we're now at the tail end of 2019 and 2003 was at least 16 years ago...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Giraffe on 17 October, 2019, 03:47:16 pm
You know you are middle aged when ... you realise the London AZ in your hands was published in 2003 (15 years ago!) whereas you were under the impression that "it wasn't that old".

At least the millenium dome is on it!
About 15 years ago I dumped a road atlas that I remember my father buying. Decided it was not current as the M1 wasn't on even as a proposed road.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 17 October, 2019, 03:50:11 pm
That wasn't something to dump, that was an antique!
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 17 October, 2019, 04:01:19 pm
Not a metre from my elbow I have a 1999 Michelin road atlas of France, complete but for the pages I ripped out to mark cycling routes on.

Oh, important tip: when marking a route on a map, do not use an orange highlighter if you're going to be going through sodium-lit towns at night. DAHIKT.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 17 October, 2019, 07:30:47 pm
Oh, important tip: when marking a route on a map, do not use an orange highlighter if you're going to be going through sodium-lit towns at night. DAHIKT.

Reminds me of the time I labelled all the channels on a lighting desk in blue biro...  :facepalm:
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: TheLurker on 17 October, 2019, 08:37:21 pm
You know you are middle aged when ... you realise the London AZ in your hands was published in 2003 (15 years ago!) whereas you were under the impression that "it wasn't that old".

At least the millenium dome is on it!

I hate to inform you that we're now at the tail end of 2019 and 2003 was at least 16 years ago...
Another indicator of middle age.  You round the number of years between a past event and now down to try and soften the mental blow.  :)
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 18 October, 2019, 09:34:03 am
You know you are middle aged when ... you realise the London AZ in your hands was published in 2003 (15 years ago!) whereas you were under the impression that "it wasn't that old".

At least the millenium dome is on it!

I hate to inform you that we're now at the tail end of 2019 and 2003 was at least 16 years ago...
Another indicator of middle age.  You round the number of years between a past event and now down to try and soften the mental blow.  :)

Older yet, you've stopped caring.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Panoramix on 19 October, 2019, 07:20:38 am
You know you are middle aged when ... you realise the London AZ in your hands was published in 2003 (15 years ago!) whereas you were under the impression that "it wasn't that old".

At least the millenium dome is on it!

I hate to inform you that we're now at the tail end of 2019 and 2003 was at least 16 years ago...
Another indicator of middle age.  You round the number of years between a past event and now down to try and soften the mental blow.  :)

Older yet, you've stopped caring.



Envoyé de mon Action-X3 en utilisant Tapatalk

Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 21 October, 2019, 03:08:11 pm
On the topic of long-lived items, when we moved in here in 1989 I installed a fluorescent light from our old kitchen in my workshop.  The tube has just begun to die: it must be around 36 years old.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 21 October, 2019, 05:30:25 pm
When you're riding along and start whistling/humming a childhood tune to yourself but suddenly stop because you remember it's now musica non grata, to coin a phrase.
(click to show/hide)
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ElyDave on 21 October, 2019, 07:37:03 pm
On a trip back to Bath with MrsED, where i studied, we wandered into an art gallery where the bus station used to be and almost bought a Rolf. 

Lucky escape there
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hellymedic on 21 October, 2019, 10:09:44 pm
I pointed out the lyrics to 'The Sun Has Got Its Hat On' to a guest, as a passing ice cream van chimed the tune.
Very incorrect.
Shame!
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 22 October, 2019, 08:55:24 am
As I climbed the steps to our front door behind our Labs the other evening I found myself singing "Two little chums had two little bums/Both had a woolly arse", which I suppose would be even more non grata these days, as well as being grammatically dubious.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 22 October, 2019, 08:59:54 am
... it's now musica non grata ...

That Americal civil war song, written in 1902 by Morse and Madden and sung by many artists must surely have what it takes to outlive its association with Rolf Harris. I sure hope so as it is a great song.
I hope it does, but at the moment it still feels a bit like songcrime to sing it.

I pointed out the lyrics to 'The Sun Has Got Its Hat On' to a guest, as a passing ice cream van chimed the tune.
Very incorrect.
Shame!
The sun has got his hat on
Hip hip hip hooray
The sun has got his hat on
And he's coming out to play

is all I've ever known of that song.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Jaded on 22 October, 2019, 09:22:02 am
It's the second verse...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Efrogwr on 22 October, 2019, 09:34:20 am
As I climbed the steps to our front door behind our Labs the other evening I found myself singing "Two little chums had two little bums/Both had a woolly arse", which I suppose would be even more non grata these days, as well as being grammatically dubious.

"Each had a woolly arse" would be OK.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Efrogwr on 22 October, 2019, 09:35:55 am
I pointed out the lyrics to 'The Sun Has Got Its Hat On' to a guest, as a passing ice cream van chimed the tune.
Very incorrect.
Shame!

I attended the same school as the perpetrator of that song.

But not at the same time...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Ham on 23 October, 2019, 12:49:38 pm
...your wife goes off to a Quilting Retreat for four days (bet you didn't know that existed) and not only do you not make any plans, but you also take no advantage of the holiday. She's back tomorrow.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Clare on 23 October, 2019, 01:28:33 pm
...your wife goes off to a Quilting Retreat ... (bet you didn't know that existed)

You should have learned by now not to assume, of course I know these things exist.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 23 October, 2019, 02:38:39 pm
As I climbed the steps to our front door behind our Labs the other evening I found myself singing "Two little chums had two little bums/Both had a woolly arse", which I suppose would be even more non grata these days, as well as being grammatically dubious.

"Each had a woolly arse" would be OK.

I was going to put that but it would have added another mod to the original.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hellymedic on 23 October, 2019, 03:14:23 pm
...your wife goes off to a Quilting Retreat for four days (bet you didn't know that existed) and not only do you not make any plans, but you also take no advantage of the holiday. She's back tomorrow.

Wonder if she'll meet the wife of my First Love, who is a quilter in Cardiff...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: andytheflyer on 24 October, 2019, 09:38:23 am
...your wife goes off to a Quilting Retreat for four days (bet you didn't know that existed) and not only do you not make any plans, but you also take no advantage ...............
I must be middle aged, at 65.  Yebbut sometimes the aches and wobbles make me feel what I think old-age must feel like.  Dunno.  Mine buggers off at short notice for a Bridge weekend, and I get the dog to supervise so I can't go far away from home, and the dog hates going in the car so away-from-base walkies are out.  Yes, yes, I know it was on the calendar months ago, but how am I supposed to notice that?
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 24 October, 2019, 02:06:09 pm
My sister's in that lark. Currently trying to get Downpatrick renamed Downpatchwork. OK for her, she lives near Lisburn.

Being shown the 748 photos she took at the European Quilting shindig in Ste-Marie-des-Mines would make anyone feel middle-aged. Or if they're already past that mark, suicidal.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Ham on 24 October, 2019, 03:12:09 pm
Imagine having to find different ways of saying "oh that's nice dear"


With what has to pass for enthusiasm.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 24 October, 2019, 03:34:14 pm
Unfortunately I don't have to imagine it. To be fair, though, 748 was hyperbole. It wasn't more than 200.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ian on 24 October, 2019, 03:38:25 pm
I first heard of quilting in the US, where it's a big thing (families have quilts). Of course, I initially assumed it was some kind of sex thing, like pegging or some such.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 24 October, 2019, 04:26:55 pm
I thought knights used to tilt at it.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: TheLurker on 24 October, 2019, 09:03:18 pm
Quote from: Ham
Imagine having to find different ways of saying "oh that's nice dear"
With what has to pass for enthusiasm.
MrsLurker is available for tutoring.  Reasonable rates.  Extra training in,  "Looking REALLY pleased at being shown some product of a niche and slightly odd activity." available.  Apply BOX 405....

MrsLurker's qualifications include many, ohh many and many, years of not sighing deeply and trying to brain me when being shown bits of model aeroplanes in various stages of construction as well as interesting fragments of code presented for her inspection. 
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Jaded on 24 October, 2019, 09:35:52 pm
I first heard of quilting in the US, where it's a big thing (families have quilts). Of course, I initially assumed it was some kind of sex thing, like pegging or some such.

I believe that is quiltbagging.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: matthew on 24 October, 2019, 09:42:43 pm
Imagine having to find different ways of saying "oh that's nice dear"


With what has to pass for enthusiasm.

You mean you aren't being asked your opinion on the colour combinations or how to arrange the blocks into the quilt or which of the fabric to use as the binding.

Sometimes I am so glad to have moved out of my mothers house, dad is known not to have an artistic or athstetic bone in his body.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Ham on 25 October, 2019, 07:24:41 am
Imagine having to find different ways of saying "oh that's nice dear"


With what has to pass for enthusiasm.

You mean you aren't being asked your opinion on the colour combinations or how to arrange the blocks into the quilt or which of the fabric to use as the binding.

Sometimes I am so glad to have moved out of my mothers house, dad is known not to have an artistic or athstetic bone in his body.

No. I don't mean that AT ALL.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Tim Hall on 25 October, 2019, 10:17:18 am
I'm sitting in the office. The radio is on, playing Anarchy in The UK, by that popular beat combo The Sex Pistols.

All of my colleagues were born after it came out.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ian on 25 October, 2019, 10:19:47 am
Yes, but they have Justin Bieber.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: chrisbainbridge on 25 October, 2019, 10:21:42 am
My research trainee has been alive for less time than I have been in this job
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Greenbank on 25 October, 2019, 10:24:24 am
Same here, one of the grads was born after I started here.

I'm only 43.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: LittleWheelsandBig on 25 October, 2019, 10:27:11 am
A few years ago, I realised that the engineer sitting in the next desk over was young enough to be my daughter. She then went on maternity leave. I felt quite old after that...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: jsabine on 25 October, 2019, 12:30:17 pm
Some of my colleagues are younger than my beard.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ElyDave on 25 October, 2019, 12:38:24 pm
you can have a discussion about tickets for Elton John and talk about the "original band", or debate the merits of Fleetwood Mac with or without Lindsay
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hatler on 25 October, 2019, 12:51:47 pm
Lindsey, surely ?
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Mr Larrington on 25 October, 2019, 01:03:49 pm
Bloke on Farcebok.  Talking about Fleetwood Mac.  Had to have "Dog And Dustbin" explained to him :facepalm:
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Hot Flatus on 25 October, 2019, 01:08:47 pm
in answer to thread title.

...its midday, on a friday, and you are tucking into a healthy and nutritious pint, whilst slightly grumpily perusing one's online world, which is only possible with reading glasses.

My ass used to be beautiful. That it should come to this...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ElyDave on 25 October, 2019, 01:18:54 pm
Lindsey, surely ?

Tryping is not my forty
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ian on 25 October, 2019, 01:43:37 pm
I know nothing of Fleetwood Mac (other than one song) but I am now forced to acknowledge that I need those varifocal contacts or, alternatively, that I can operate my computer by squinting at it from the other side of the office, using a stick to bash letters out of the keyboard. Admittedly the latter might improve my spelling.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 25 October, 2019, 02:46:02 pm
...When a bloke demonstrating a gadget on YouTube says "this is an amazingly flexible tool" and you think "aye, so's mine these days".
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 25 October, 2019, 04:09:22 pm
I don't even know one song.  I thought they were a cross between Fisherman's Friends and a dodgy mortgage set-up.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 25 October, 2019, 04:21:08 pm
I discovered them relatively recently.  They seem quite good, and come from the heady days of music that was recorded with dynamic range.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ian on 25 October, 2019, 04:22:49 pm
They sound more than a bit Dad Rock. For those who find Dire Straits a bit racy.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: andytheflyer on 25 October, 2019, 05:27:02 pm
...When a bloke demonstrating a gadget on YouTube says "this is an amazingly flexible tool" and you think "aye, so's mine these days".
;D ;D ;D
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Greenbank on 25 October, 2019, 05:34:24 pm
I remember taking a Fleetwood Mac Greatest Hits album on a school ski-trip in 1988.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ian on 25 October, 2019, 05:40:02 pm
I only read this thread to make me feel young(er).

The only thing floppy about me is my disk.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Ham on 25 October, 2019, 06:12:07 pm
All 3 1/2"
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ian on 25 October, 2019, 06:49:00 pm
It's not the size, it's the capacity.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ElyDave on 25 October, 2019, 07:52:06 pm
All 720kb?
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ian on 25 October, 2019, 08:40:42 pm
Pah, I'm high density.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hellymedic on 26 October, 2019, 12:49:46 am
... and realise refocusing eyes twixt screen and scene requires effort/head movement/other specs etc.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 26 October, 2019, 07:42:27 am
... and realise refocusing eyes twixt screen and scene requires effort/head movement/other specs etc.
You just reached the stage I was at 30 years ago.  I recall feeing slightly insulted when the optician had a chuckle and said "happens to us all".


The only thing floppy about me is my disk.

Lumbar, presumably?  ;D
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ElyDave on 26 October, 2019, 08:00:49 am
... and realise refocusing eyes twixt screen and scene requires effort/head movement/other specs etc.

In my case, I need an automatic glasses-flipper-upper
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hellymedic on 26 October, 2019, 03:55:18 pm
... and realise refocusing eyes twixt screen and scene requires effort/head movement/other specs etc.
You just reached the stage I was at 30 years ago.  I recall feeing slightly insulted when the optician had a chuckle and said "happens to us all".

I probably reached that stage 15 years ago and really valued the optical viewfinder in my Canon IXUS 70 and the film cameras before.

I don't take photos now much as my left eye and right hand don't work well..
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 27 October, 2019, 01:05:32 pm
You know you're middle aged when you get out your camera to take a photo and notice everyone else is using their smartphone.

...and you're the only one photographing the landscape with the long axis of the sensor horizontal.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: orraloon on 27 October, 2019, 03:05:29 pm
....you do a scan as you shop in a branch of that well known supermarket chain, spot their 25% off 6 or more bottles of wine offer, dutifully scan in 6 to see the discount appear, get home to find you only bagged 5.  Rats.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hellymedic on 27 October, 2019, 03:54:45 pm
Someone recently did similar with tinned soup elsewhere in this forum...
... we are all middle-aged...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Jaded on 27 October, 2019, 04:33:20 pm
I'm glad someone else did that with tinned soup.

There I was getting ready for Brexit on Tuesday and when I got home I discovered I was missing the tenth tin of soup and the discount  >:(
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ElyDave on 27 October, 2019, 05:32:03 pm
I'm glad someone else did that Wirth tinned soup.

There I was getting ready for Brexit on Tuesday and when I got home I discovered I was missing the tenth tin of soup and the discount  >:(

yes, I think that was you, upthread
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: TheLurker on 27 October, 2019, 08:44:14 pm
...you remember being asked in a job interview if working in a non-smoking office would be a problem.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 28 October, 2019, 08:42:07 am
Continuing my camera theme, perhaps to confirm middle-age: at an extended family get-together today my mother-in-law takes a photo, sighs loudly and says, "What a pity, that's the last one; we'll have to buy a new film."

Four-seasons films, our old village photographer used to call them.  Back when we collected cameras we'd often get one with a film in it - the last the previous owner had taken before dying.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ian on 28 October, 2019, 09:30:25 am
I remember that my first digital camera was a Kodak. Took, I think, 600x400 protographs.

I can't say I've used a non-phone digital camera in a decade, there's a Panasonic Lumix and a Canon Powershot in the cupboard.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 29 October, 2019, 11:31:59 pm
You discover that Young People have adopted one of your family neologisms[1], and given it a completely different meaning[2].


[1] Dench v. To damage through careless bashing or scraping.
[2] https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Dench
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Jaded on 30 October, 2019, 08:34:28 am
I'm glad someone else did that Wirth tinned soup.

There I was getting ready for Brexit on Tuesday and when I got home I discovered I was missing the tenth tin of soup and the discount  >:(

yes, I think that was you, upthread

Ah yes! I wondered why I had 18 tins of soup...  ;D
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 30 October, 2019, 08:45:18 am
You discover that Young People have adopted one of your family neologisms[1], and given it a completely different meaning[2].


[1] Dench v. To damage through careless bashing or scraping.
[2] https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Dench


Even worse when you find that an everyday expression of your youth has taken on utterly filthy connotations.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 30 October, 2019, 08:59:28 am
Urban Dictionary implies dench came from Judi, whereas the young persons say it came from hench, a contraction of henchman, used by muscled bodybuilders.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Ruthie on 30 October, 2019, 09:24:31 pm
 ... you can finally stop pretending you enjoy clubbing.

Nightclubbing.  Not seal clubbing.  Never done that.

Don't like golf clubbing either.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 30 October, 2019, 10:09:37 pm
I've been not enjoying clubbing since I was about 16, never saw the need to pretend.  I was already deeply uncool for eschewing drinkohol, so didn't really have anything to prove.

Straight clubs: Terrible music, smoking, too loud to hear - let alone think, obnoxious drunk men, people who are on drugs, homophobic bouncers.
Gay clubs: Cheesy music, even more smoking, too loud to hear - let alone think, scary gropy women, people who think you're on drugs, slightly less homophobic[1] bouncers.
Golf clubs: Ballsport for Scots and rich people.  What's the point when they don't even have a windmill?
Seal clubbing I leave to the mathematicians[2].

 :hand:

If I'm going to damage my lungs/cochlea, I'd rather go to a gig, where at least the music stands a chance of being decent.


ETA: I've just realised all my nightclub (and indeed golf club) experience predates the smoking ban.  I think the last time was when Hanananananah The Astronononononomer was DJing, which was a fantastic night out with above-average music, that culminated in a large dose of prednisolone.   :facepalm:


[1] IIRC when I was a PSO the Stupid Union famously had to pass a motion threatening not to renew Right Wing Security's contract if they kept refusing people access to the gay night for looking a bit quiltbaggy, and then renewed it anyway.  Because Canterbury really is that shit.
[2] In-joke too obscure to be worth explaining.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hellymedic on 30 October, 2019, 10:29:14 pm
[Not really middle-aged any more]

Sister (younger than me) sadly announced death of a former classmate on Facebook.

I think she would have turned 60 today.  :'(
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ian on 31 October, 2019, 09:52:11 am
Clubs mostly existed to clobber your inhibitions senseless so you could attempt to meet the sort of sexual partners you'd probably regret meeting the following morning. Sometimes you'd even go out a couple of times, slowly realising that really all you had in common was mutual incomprehension and a biological urge. That was a good outcome*. Mostly you'd go home and eat chips with your similarly unsuccessful flatmates.

Actually, it was good fun. I used to love it. I remember we used to go to a place called Macmillans in Liverpool. Sweat would drip from the ceilings and you had to dance to prevent your feet becoming permanent bonded to the floor. It was £5, if I recall, and they'd serve vodka and tizer. There were nights at the student union, of course, though we used to go downmarket to the poly on account we thought the women were more attractive there (I'm not sure they were, but for the same reason we'd always go the humanities library**, better scenery***) and also that they'd be more liberal with their attentions (in my experience, no).

I think my most recent clubbing experience landed us in a former-bank basement in Philadelphia (the place we were supposed to go was closing, so this was Uber-driver roulette) a few years back. We only got in because my colleague loudly and poshly declared 'but we're British!' (you have to have ID, it's the US of course). I think we were twenty years older than every other customer. We were drunk enough for it to be fun. It was mostly an interesting anthropological experience that I'm not keen to repeat.


*well, many people seem to get married with less in common.
**children, ask your parents. A large building with books in it. Actual books.
***sorry, but this is how men of a certain age (anywhere between 11 and 85) think. Women, I suspect, too.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 31 October, 2019, 10:00:16 am
This has prompted me to dig out the T-shirt I "won" in Crystal nightclub, Apia, in 1996. Says nightclub on the T-shirt but more of a disco in a village hall really. Lots of cheesy polynesian pop and a "raffle" in which, by some amazing coincidence, all the tourists won T-shirts and all the other prizes (cigarettes and alcohol, and no they didn't, in fact they probably didn't even know it) went to locals. Music and dancing are fun if you can escape the pressure to be cool stuff.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 31 October, 2019, 10:05:35 am
For my 60th birthday I'm going to grow a long blond ponytail, squeeze myself into a leopard skin suit, or failing that a YACF jersey, and go out on the town. For extra points I'll insist that the DJ (do they still have human DJs? Will they then? Won't it all be robots?) play something by Rod Stewart.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Torslanda on 31 October, 2019, 05:57:52 pm
You wouldn't suggest that if you had SEEN THIS (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqOh4z2ASdk)
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 31 October, 2019, 06:02:09 pm
That's exactly what I have seen!
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: spesh on 31 October, 2019, 06:03:40 pm
You wouldn't suggest that if you had SEEN THIS (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqOh4z2ASdk)

 ;D ;D ;D
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: andrewc on 31 October, 2019, 06:12:43 pm
I remember we used to go to a place called Macmillans in Liverpool. Sweat would drip from the ceilings and you had to dance to prevent your feet becoming permanent bonded to the floor. It was £5, if I recall, and they'd serve vodka and tizer.



Sounds like most of the better Liverpool clubs.  I was a regular at The Cabin, which was basically a private club for nurses from every hospital in Liverpool, somehow I blagged a membership from Brian, the grumpy bloke who owned it & used to give lollipops to everyone as they left.  The Casa on Hope St & Razz on Fleet St were good as well. 
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Tim Hall on 01 November, 2019, 11:43:13 am
As noted upthread, my colleagues are mostly Young People.  I made a passing reference to Minder and Arthur Daley, which was met with blank looks.

They only understood it when I linked Terry McCann to Denis Waterman to Little Britain.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Jurek on 01 November, 2019, 11:57:02 am
As noted upthread, my colleagues are mostly Young People.  I made a passing reference to Minder and Arthur Daley, which was met with blank looks.

They only understood it when I linked Terry McCann to Denis Waterman to Little Britain.
Apropos of nothing in particular, when I worked at the Science Museum, our workshop was located in what was known as Hut K.
In a previous life, when Thames Television occupied Blythe House in West London, Hut K was Arthur Daley's lock up.
We had a photo of him hanging on the wall.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 02 November, 2019, 10:15:05 am
You know you're middle aged when you're a swing voter, according to the La Guardian.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: perpetual dan on 02 November, 2019, 05:49:38 pm
I used to enjoy clubs, but carefully vetted for music and decent people. So maybe a bit like gigs. The Banshee in Manchester put its entrance up to 1p while I lived there. I met my wife in a nightclub too. Though the incomprehension Ian mentions creeps in occasionally.

I went to a club in London a year or two back, to see Kieran Hebden DJ. It was good fun, though I did feel a bit old and needed my bed by 2am, though the rest were still going strong. So maybe middle age is creeping up on me.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Jaded on 02 November, 2019, 06:32:01 pm
You know you're middle aged when you're a swing voter, according to the La Guardian.

Does that mean more involvement than car keys in the bowl?
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 09 November, 2019, 03:35:29 pm
When you're riding along and start whistling/humming a childhood tune to yourself but suddenly stop because you remember it's now musica non grata, to coin a phrase.
(click to show/hide)
And this ties in with the current OK Boomer meme. There was a Rolf Harris Christmas album, made sometime in the 70s, which included this song, surprisingly still found on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/hlSsffF2xhA

Apparently a boomer is a type of kangaroo.

Edit: But if you are a boomer of the non-kangaroo sort, you probably aren't really middle aged...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 21 November, 2019, 03:49:47 pm
...when a name you and your friends made up for a laugh at school is now a real name of a real, famous – okay, known to a niche – person.
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2019/nov/21/portraits-salon-des-refuses-rejected-taylor-wessing-prize-in-pictures

It's Jimothy. I do like the double pun of Ché-Loui.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 21 November, 2019, 04:20:59 pm
1. When you make a noise like Monica Selles hitting a ball every time you get up.

2. When you know what Monica Selles sounded like.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Auntie Helen on 21 November, 2019, 04:23:39 pm
1. When you make a noise like Monica Selles hitting a ball every time you get up.

2. When you know what Monica Selles sounded like.
3. When you know how Monica Seles spelled her surname  ;)
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 21 November, 2019, 04:41:43 pm
When the orthopaedic surgeons get reluctant to hack your bones up, because they aren't sure they'll stick back together again.   :-\
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 21 November, 2019, 04:57:13 pm
1. When you make a noise like Monica Selles hitting a ball every time you get up.

2. When you know what Monica Selles sounded like.
3. When you know how Monica Seles spelled her surname  ;)

:thumbsup:  Right enough. I used to have a colleague called Sellès; maybe his spelling sorta leaked through the myelin.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 21 November, 2019, 05:01:12 pm
When the orthopaedic surgeons get reluctant to hack your bones up, because they aren't sure they'll stick back together again.   :-\

BTDT but there wasn't an option since the bone was already broken.  All the same the ortho hacker took a somewhat sadistic pleasure in telling me that my diabetic bones probably wouldn't knit, and kept it up at every visit until - surprise - it did.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 18 December, 2019, 09:25:59 pm
How about this... Your teenage offsprung has got into rap and plays you recent stuff. Hmmm. So far so normal. So you show him where it all began, play him Grandmaster Flash, Melle Mel and so on. So far so dad. But he gets into the 80s rap and is now playing you stuff from 'your' era. Oh generation mix ups! This is his latest: https://youtu.be/phOW-CZJWT0 "The intro is a bit weird" he says.

If he starts dressing in baggy trackies and a gold chain, I might have to say it's gone too far...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Mrs Pingu on 18 December, 2019, 09:53:24 pm
You spend the evening grovelling around in a wintry loft looking for the login details of long ago (17 and 21 yrs) deferred occupational pensions to see how many groats you may be able to cobble together in your dotage.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: SteveC on 19 December, 2019, 07:25:34 am
Work Christmas do. One of my managers is talking about plans for his 30th birthday next year.
He's not too sure what he's going to do as his dad will be celebrating his 60th and they might do something together.

I was 60 this year.  :-\
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ian on 19 December, 2019, 08:41:52 am
Someone's leaving do. You should go. But the bars in the wrong direction. You'll have to put up and take down the Brompton. It's raining. It's a bar. It's Christmas. You'll have to shout to be heard. You won't hear anything. You were only going for one. Anyway. The hoards, oh, the roiling, rampant hoards of festive Vikings.

So I 'forgot' and pointed my bike homeward.

(Got soaked and suffered an outbreak of terminal headwind as karma.)
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 19 December, 2019, 09:26:23 am
When your coevals start having prostate problems.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: arabella on 20 December, 2019, 08:42:16 pm
How about this... Your teenage offsprung has got into rap and plays you recent stuff. Hmmm. So far so normal. So you show him where it all began, play him Grandmaster Flash, Melle Mel and so on. So far so dad. But he gets into the 80s rap and is now playing you stuff from 'your' era. Oh generation mix ups! This is his latest: https://youtu.be/phOW-CZJWT0 "The intro is a bit weird" he says.

If he starts dressing in baggy trackies and a gold chain, I might have to say it's gone too far...

you read the above and realise that you don't have teenagers any more, they're in their 20s.
well, I just feel old, not just middle aged
acid house ftw (or not)
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: tonyh on 20 December, 2019, 08:49:56 pm
....and realise that you don't have teenagers any more, they're in their 20s....

...and when you notice that those ex-teenagers have a couple of offspring who are in their 20s, you begin to realise that you're not at all middle-aged!
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hellymedic on 20 December, 2019, 08:55:46 pm
Some of my primary school classmates now have 40 year old offspring...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 20 December, 2019, 09:09:20 pm
How about this... Your teenage offsprung has got into rap and plays you recent stuff. Hmmm. So far so normal. So you show him where it all began, play him Grandmaster Flash, Melle Mel and so on. So far so dad. But he gets into the 80s rap and is now playing you stuff from 'your' era. Oh generation mix ups! This is his latest: https://youtu.be/phOW-CZJWT0 "The intro is a bit weird" he says.

If he starts dressing in baggy trackies and a gold chain, I might have to say it's gone too far...

you read the above and realise that you don't have teenagers any more, they're in their 20s.
well, I just feel old, not just middle aged
acid house ftw (or not)
Massive Attack and Portishead today. And I've just calculated that Dummy came out almost half my life ago. I'm not sure it feels it.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 20 December, 2019, 09:10:42 pm
Today I described a paper-based procedure, with lots of stapling receipts and such like, as "20th century". "Remember when that sounded modern?" came the reply.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: rr on 20 December, 2019, 11:00:17 pm
How about this... Your teenage offsprung has got into rap and plays you recent stuff. Hmmm. So far so normal. So you show him where it all began, play him Grandmaster Flash, Melle Mel and so on. So far so dad. But he gets into the 80s rap and is now playing you stuff from 'your' era. Oh generation mix ups! This is his latest: https://youtu.be/phOW-CZJWT0 "The intro is a bit weird" he says.

If he starts dressing in baggy trackies and a gold chain, I might have to say it's gone too far...

you read the above and realise that you don't have teenagers any more, they're in their 20s.
well, I just feel old, not just middle aged
acid house ftw (or not)
Massive Attack and Portishead today. And I've just calculated that Dummy came out almost half my life ago. I'm not sure it feels it.
That is the joy of the modern way of playing music, they can be far more eclectic and experimental than we ever could be. Currently I am being treated to Girls aloud and grime.

Sent from my moto x4 using Tapatalk

Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Jaded on 20 December, 2019, 11:38:28 pm
How about this... Your teenage offsprung has got into rap and plays you recent stuff. Hmmm. So far so normal. So you show him where it all began, play him Grandmaster Flash, Melle Mel and so on. So far so dad. But he gets into the 80s rap and is now playing you stuff from 'your' era. Oh generation mix ups! This is his latest: https://youtu.be/phOW-CZJWT0 "The intro is a bit weird" he says.

If he starts dressing in baggy trackies and a gold chain, I might have to say it's gone too far...

you read the above and realise that you don't have teenagers any more, they're in their 20s.
well, I just feel old, not just middle aged
acid house ftw (or not)
Massive Attack and Portishead today. And I've just calculated that Dummy came out almost half my life ago. I'm not sure it feels it.

Just dumped the soundtrack from Sicario and put Portishead on.

Thanks.

Although, I've been to Portishead, but never to Sicario.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: TheLurker on 21 December, 2019, 10:32:21 am
Today I described a paper-based procedure, with lots of stapling receipts and such like, as "20th century". "Remember when that sounded modern?" came the reply.
Yes. 1978.  :)

"She's so 20th century...."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZH2fknRMLE
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 21 December, 2019, 01:31:31 pm
Have they borrowed their drummer from AC/DC?
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hellymedic on 01 January, 2020, 11:00:03 pm
The model on the 'senior dating' ad on Facebook looks younger than me...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Robh on 01 January, 2020, 11:13:30 pm
You can legitimately refer to the Prime Minister as ‘sonny’(though you prefer to refer to him as ‘twat boy’).
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: TheLurker on 06 January, 2020, 03:13:29 pm
You use the phrase, "Gone for a Burton." in a chat window and a 40 something colleague has to look it up on everyone's favourite search engine.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 06 January, 2020, 04:57:28 pm
...when you can remember a time when a googling 'burton' wouldn't immediately yield a page of ads for clothing shops.

AIUI, a burton with a small B was a type of block used aboard sailing ships, and 'gone for a burton' was an excuse for an absent shipmate.  Of course, you'd only know this if you'd read your Patrick O'Brian, which would make you middle-aged, or maybe just aged.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 06 January, 2020, 05:10:27 pm
I read that it was because Burton-on-Trent was a big brewing centre and when WW2 pilots crashed in the North Sea or wherever, they were "in the drink". But it's the kind of phrase that people make up derivations for.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: TheLurker on 06 January, 2020, 08:13:56 pm
I generally go with Mr. Quinion's opinion on these matters.

http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-gon1.htm

Regardless of the phrase's origin it's still a bit of a shaker when a phrase that I've known and used since I was a very small lurker is now uncommon enough that *middle aged* colleagues have to look it up.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Wowbagger on 07 January, 2020, 02:24:49 pm
Someone's leaving do. You should go. But the bars in the wrong direction. You'll have to put up and take down the Brompton. It's raining. It's a bar. It's Christmas. You'll have to shout to be heard. You won't hear anything. You were only going for one. Anyway. The hoards, oh, the roiling, rampant hoards of festive Vikings.

So I 'forgot' and pointed my bike homeward.

(Got soaked and suffered an outbreak of terminal headwind as karma.)

I developed the skill of being able to fall asleep in loud discos at work "Christmas Dos".
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: orraloon on 07 January, 2020, 02:53:30 pm
When you forget the first 3 of the 6 digit passcode you have been using for years, and years, to access your online banking.  Might be due to this new fangled fingerprint touch validation tech, don't log in the old school way that much any more.

The number came back... for now...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ElyDave on 07 January, 2020, 03:05:32 pm
having been off for three weeks, I struggled to remember the PIN to my company credit card when refuelling the hire car this lunchtime
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: lou boutin on 07 January, 2020, 05:35:43 pm
you know that you are middle-aged when in a few days 'the age of a baby Yoda, I am'
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 08 January, 2020, 10:33:22 am
When you forget the first 3 of the 6 digit passcode you have been using for years, and years, to access your online banking.  Might be due to this new fangled fingerprint touch validation tech, don't log in the old school way that much any more.

The number came back... for now...

When you forget the cunning mnemonic you invented to remind you of your PIN but do remember the PIN itself.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: andrewc on 18 January, 2020, 01:45:41 pm
When something as trivial as a cold knocks you onto your arse for nearly 2 weeks.  I had to get something from town yesterday. Just walking a couple of miles had me soaked in sweat.  I’ve got to go again today, so have just had a shower, that tired me sufficiently that I felt like a rest  :facepalm:
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ian on 19 January, 2020, 06:05:28 pm
That's probably the flu though, not a cold. I'm still zonked over a week later (and a tiresome hypersensitive throat) and mostly doing stuff takes a lot more effort than it should. I forced myself to do sixty lengths in the pool earlier and I could have taken a nice long nap in the changing room afterwards. Must be sleeping about 9-10 hours a night too, and peculiar dreams that I mostly don't remember because I never remember my dreams but I was very concerned yesterday about the two dead bodies in our living room and the need to do something about them. This worry lasted till half-way through my shower when it occurred to me that there weren't any dead bodies in my living room.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: andrewc on 19 January, 2020, 06:40:59 pm
 ???  I had a flu jab late last year.  Temperature has been mostly OK, no aching, just fatigue, lassitude & coughing up sufficient grot to have a special glass to spit it out into,  that only seems to be mornings though.  Appetite is mostly OK.     I'm going to have to venture out to the Co-op again,  I've run out of whisky  :(
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ian on 19 January, 2020, 06:57:19 pm
Flu jabs are strain-specific, they make an educated guess as to the ones in play during the season, the vaccination isn't a guarantee (and sometimes you'll still get it, but the symptoms will be lessened).

That said, there are lots of viruses and the majority aren't necessarily easily classifiable.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: andrewc on 18 April, 2020, 03:49:34 pm
When carrying a load of shopping from M&S in a courier bag,  up the hill to the flat _hurts_.     I'm starting to contemplate a wheelie trolley  :facepalm:
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 29 April, 2020, 09:19:49 pm
...Lakota is closing.
https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/whats-on/music-nightlife/confirmed-legendary-bristol-nightclub-lakota-4089206
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hellymedic on 05 July, 2020, 04:14:41 pm
A former school classmate posts photos of celebrations marking her 40th wedding anniversary...
... (in masks cos COVID, obv...)
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cpt Sisko on 06 July, 2020, 09:36:35 pm
So, it was a couple weeks ago, right in the middle of that shot hot spell and I was driving into town. On the pavement we four teens wearing, shall we say, skimpy summer attire. In the cycle path next to them was a bloke riding a really nice Burgundy coloured Brompton. I thought, nice bike!

Not just middle aged but ..........
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: andrewc on 25 October, 2020, 10:45:39 am
When carrying a load of shopping from M&S in a courier bag,  up the hill to the flat _hurts_.     I'm starting to contemplate a wheelie trolley  :facepalm:


(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ekrv61pW0AAoxsQ?format=jpg&name=large)



It's a clumsy thing to drag around & keeps catching my right heel.  It took all the stuff from yesterdays visits to Tesco, M&S and Aldi,  but I still had to drag it up the hill.  The stair climbing bit works well though.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Zipperhead on 12 January, 2021, 07:30:57 pm
Watching something on television with my 21 yo daughter. Onto the screen comes an image of a telex machine printing an urgent missive from the colonies.

"Is that a fax machine?" asks she.

No, it's a telex (brief description of telex follows"

"Oh, I don't know what a fax machine looks like either"
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Feanor on 12 January, 2021, 08:17:36 pm
... when you slip over on ice and land on your arse...

Is the general response to:

a) point and laugh; or
b) look concerned and ask if the 'old guy' is alright?
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hellymedic on 12 January, 2021, 08:29:33 pm
When carrying a load of shopping from M&S in a courier bag,  up the hill to the flat _hurts_.     I'm starting to contemplate a wheelie trolley  :facepalm:


(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ekrv61pW0AAoxsQ?format=jpg&name=large)



It's a clumsy thing to drag around & keeps catching my right heel.  It took all the stuff from yesterdays visits to Tesco, M&S and Aldi,  but I still had to drag it up the hill.  The stair climbing bit works well though.

Very green transport mode. Pity these things are mostly designed for folk nearly a foot shorter than you!
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: andrewc on 12 January, 2021, 10:21:55 pm
So’s your wheelchair! The handles could do with being a bit higher to avoid me getting a bad back.  I’d still probably drive you into people though  :facepalm:


The trolley is Ok , and the fact that you can take the bag off & use it as a platform trolley was useful when I had 4 boxes of wine delivered.  2 boxes securely strapped on & dragged up the stairs as opposed to 4 trips up 8 flights of stairs with a box in my arms.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hellymedic on 12 January, 2021, 10:59:11 pm
Sorry! SO much is designed for the 5'4" female! To be fair, this means the average 99cm 3-year-old can push a baby buggy with ease but my house-husband friends get backache.
D uses shopping trolley to transport astronomical kit to Baker Street Irregular Astronomers' meets at The Hub, Regent's Park. He's average height fora bloke but the trolley bags are too weak for heavy astro kit. I think I'll buy a golf trolley one day.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: andrewc on 12 January, 2021, 11:50:44 pm
That trolley will take 106Kg of me standing on the platform for short periods. The bag seems fairly well put together, though not Carradice or Ortlieb standard.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: L CC on 13 January, 2021, 07:53:11 am
... when you slip over on ice and land on your arse...

Is the general response to:

a) point and laugh; or
b) look concerned and ask if the 'old guy' is alright?
Yes.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Giraffe on 13 January, 2021, 09:20:03 am
So’s your wheelchair! The handles could do with being a bit higher to avoid me getting a bad back.  I’d still probably drive you into people though  :facepalm:


The trolley is Ok , and the fact that you can take the bag off & use it as a platform trolley was useful when I had 4 boxes of wine delivered.  2 boxes securely strapped on & dragged up the stairs as opposed to 4 trips up 8 flights of stairs with a box in my arms.
+1 re. the wheelchair. Pushing that with Helly, tech. gear and baggage does get the back, especially when having my own heavy pack as well.
Same with her bike - couldn't use saddle as head fell round; bars too low, I had pack with camping gear.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: TheLurker on 06 March, 2021, 07:51:26 pm
.... you get an invitation for a covid jag and you're not especially poorly.  Considering your age.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Jaded on 07 March, 2021, 08:36:06 am
You get a leaflet advising you about the COVID jab. Your wife does too.

Yours is for “Older adults”, hers for “Adults”.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 07 March, 2021, 09:41:00 am
When your friends start getting eBikes.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Lightning Phil on 07 March, 2021, 09:51:14 am
When you cycle up a long hill and get clapped at the top and refrains of “well done”.  Would they have done that if I was younger?
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: fd3 on 07 March, 2021, 10:19:15 am
^Yebbut maybe it was because you were on a lying down bike and they thought you waz disabled.

When I started teaching my Physics colleague would use the example of the Tacoma bridge (fimed in black and white) as an example of resonance - the f'in dinosaur!  I use the much more current example of the millennium bridge... which was 3-5 years before my students were born!

Also, when your colleagues listen to the same music as you do, but in an ironic/retro fashion (because 80/90s music is now "classic rock" in the same way as the Rolling Stones and Pink Floyd were in the 90s).
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 07 March, 2021, 10:26:29 am
It seems this thread has become "You know you used to be middle aged..."  :demon:
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 07 March, 2021, 10:30:40 am
When a university friend subscribes to The Oldie.  :facepalm:
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hubner on 07 March, 2021, 11:02:43 am
It seems this thread has become "You know you used to be middle aged..."  :demon:

60 is the new 40 or even 70 is the new 40, as I wrote before  ;D.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hatler on 07 March, 2021, 11:42:22 am
When you cycle up a long hill and get clapped at the top and refrains of “well done”.  Would they have done that if I was younger?
My experience is that if you're very small you do get clapped at the top of a hill (as in I've witnessed it happening, not that I've been small and astride a bike at the top of a big hill).
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hatler on 07 March, 2021, 11:42:52 am
.. you no longer bounce when you fall off your bike.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: TheLurker on 07 March, 2021, 11:43:13 am
Quote from: Cudzoziemiec
It seems this thread has become "You know you used to be middle aged..."
It's one of those irregular declensions isn't it?

 I am middle aged and could pass for young in favourable light*.
 You are getting a bit long in the tooth and are you sure you're up to it?
 He or she is a decrepit old has-been and hasn't got long for this world.


*Nothing brighter than 20W.

Quote from: hubner
60 is the new 40 ....
I have thought long and hard about this comparing my current capacities both mental and physical with my 40 YO self and have come to a conclusion.  To wit. Balls, utter balls. :)
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 07 March, 2021, 12:43:16 pm
^Yebbut maybe it was because you were on a lying down bike and they thought you waz disabled.

When I started teaching my Physics colleague would use the example of the Tacoma bridge (fimed in black and white) as an example of resonance - the f'in dinosaur!  I use the much more current example of the millennium bridge... which was 3-5 years before my students were born!

Also, wasn't the Tachoma Narrows bridge collapse due to some sort of It's A Bit More Complicated Than That aerodynamic effect, rather than simple resonance?

Anyway, now I'm feeling old.  I thought the Millennium Bridge only just opened...


(And yes, people do occasionally cheer you on or tell you that you're cripspirational when you ride up a hill on a recumbent.  It's slightly less annoying than the ones who mansplain that recumbents can't climb hills.)
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Mr Larrington on 07 March, 2021, 12:59:25 pm
Tacoma Narrows Bridge Disaster: great band.  Endorsed by Amplifier's Sel Balamir.

(https://live.staticflickr.com/715/21138804373_e0fbf46ed1_o.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/ycXU5n)
The Tacoma Narrows Bridge in 2015, yesterday (https://flic.kr/p/ycXU5n) by Mr Larrington (https://www.flickr.com/photos/mr_larrington/), on Flickr
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: LittleWheelsandBig on 07 March, 2021, 01:18:05 pm
The Tacoma Narrows Bridge failure was a combination of resonance (torsionally too-flexible deck, primitive supporting cables) and Von Karman vortices forcing the oscillation once it started to twist.

The well-known Millennium Bridge oscillation was preceded by the very much larger Auckland Harbour Bridge doing much the same thing when it was turned over to pedestrians for a public holiday. Only motor vehicles ever get to go over it now.

An ex-boss was the first engineer who advised the Millennium Bridge to be closed on opening day and was part of the team validating the corrective refit.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: andytheflyer on 07 March, 2021, 01:24:20 pm
When you cycle up a long hill and get clapped at the top and refrains of “well done”.  Would they have done that if I was younger?
A few years ago, I was standing in crowds by the road in Whitchurch (Salop) at the top of a small rise, waiting for the Tour of Britain to pass by.  A lady on her shopping bike. c/w handlebar basket, came out of Tesco's and up the hill, at a suitably sedate pace, but well done her.  She got a rousing chorus of clapping when she got to the top.  Magic!  Don't think she knew what was going on and why we were all there!
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: MattH on 07 March, 2021, 01:44:25 pm
^^^ ;D Unlike the posters in this thread, this video never gets old https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOur8qXvpnk&t=1s
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 07 March, 2021, 03:42:04 pm
The Tacoma Narrows Bridge failure was a combination of resonance (torsionally too-flexible deck, primitive supporting cables) and Von Karman vortices forcing the oscillation once it started to twist.

The well-known Millennium Bridge oscillation was preceded by the very much larger Auckland Harbour Bridge doing much the same thing when it was turned over to pedestrians for a public holiday. Only motor vehicles ever get to go over it now.

Hands up everyone who has never walked in step with a bunch of chums over a footbridge just to see what would happen.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: yorkie on 07 March, 2021, 03:55:04 pm
The Tacoma Narrows Bridge failure was a combination of resonance (torsionally too-flexible deck, primitive supporting cables) and Von Karman vortices forcing the oscillation once it started to twist.

The well-known Millennium Bridge oscillation was preceded by the very much larger Auckland Harbour Bridge doing much the same thing when it was turned over to pedestrians for a public holiday. Only motor vehicles ever get to go over it now.

Hands up everyone who has never walked in step with a bunch of chums over a footbridge just to see what would happen.


My favourite cartoon on this subject was many years ago in an issue of Scouting Magazine. There are two Boy Scouts (that dates it!!) approaching the Forth Road Bridge, the elder scout is shouting "Break Step!"  :-D
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 07 March, 2021, 06:15:47 pm
It seems this thread has become "You know you used to be middle aged..."  :demon:

For which we have topics such as:

Things that make you feel old (https://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=63892.0)

You know you're getting on when... (https://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=111177.0)

Plus others, no doubt.
So we do. Their relative brevity and dormancy makes my point, I feel...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 17 September, 2021, 12:05:26 am
The trainee GP asked if I was barakta's daughter. I suppose we're all equally ancient when you're about 12.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 17 September, 2021, 08:37:02 am
I only noticed a month or two back that our GP was getting a bit grizzled. Turns out he's retiring at the end of the month.  When we first knew him he was in his early 30s.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 17 September, 2021, 08:44:28 am
The trainee GP, asked if I was barakta's daughter. I suppose we're all equally ancient when you're about 12.
Oops! I guess also they get into a routine of seeing people cared for by their offsprungs. FWIW I made the very same mistake recently: was talking to a woman in a village who must have been late 50s or early 60s. She then called a man to the door, I initially assumed her husband but he seemed significantly older and the way she was talking about him – he was recalling some village history from the 1960s and she was saying to him "Aren't you mixing that up with the recent ship getting stuck in the Suez Canal?" and to me "He gets terribly confused about things nowadays" – then made me think he was her father. But no, he was her husband.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: pcolbeck on 17 September, 2021, 09:13:03 am
Our GP that we had had for 20 years retired and now his son is our GP.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: nicknack on 17 September, 2021, 09:35:02 am
My wife (65, 152cm) has, on more than one occasion, been asked if I (68, 195cm) was her son.

In a similar vein - for the very first time ever, last week, a lady at the checkout queried whether I was old enough to buy booze. Although, to be fair, I was wearing a mask.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Regulator on 17 September, 2021, 09:40:27 am
Our GP that we had had for 20 years retired and now his son is our GP.

We had that when we first came back to the UK.  We registered with Paddy Headon's (friend of the family) practice and, when he retired, his daughter Olivia took it over.  We stayed with them for a number of years after we moved out of their practice area.  Paddy and Olivia were two of the best GPs I've ever had (and I've had quite a few).
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Mrs Pingu on 17 September, 2021, 05:30:19 pm
My wife (65, 152cm) has, on more than one occasion, been asked if I (68, 195cm) was her son.

In a similar vein - for the very first time ever, last week, a lady at the checkout queried whether I was old enough to buy booze. Although, to be fair, I was wearing a mask.

One year in Germany a woman thought that Pingu was mine and my brothers son.
I am 11 years younger than both of them. I was affronted.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Lightning Phil on 17 September, 2021, 05:40:40 pm
When you stop upgrading the number of “speeds” on the cassette on your bike.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: robgul on 17 September, 2021, 07:28:53 pm
When you stop upgrading the number of “speeds” on the cassette on your bike.

Surely it's when you continue to squeeze the rear mech back to accommodate more teeth on the largest cassete sprocket?
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ian on 17 September, 2021, 08:39:02 pm
My wife (65, 152cm) has, on more than one occasion, been asked if I (68, 195cm) was her son.

In a similar vein - for the very first time ever, last week, a lady at the checkout queried whether I was old enough to buy booze. Although, to be fair, I was wearing a mask.

One year in Germany a woman thought that Pingu was mine and my brothers son.
I am 11 years younger than both of them. I was affronted.

My wife literally did a fistpump when she got carded the other year at the Other Half taproom in Brooklyn. Then the doorman deadpanned 'we have to do that for anyone who looks under fifty' so she floored him. I'm glad he said it first.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 17 September, 2021, 08:44:41 pm
That's a point there. If our driving licences go app, as DVLA have kind of suggested, will they be checkable by randoms? And if not, what will we use a proof of age? (another special proof of age card of course)
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 17 September, 2021, 09:12:25 pm
I expect there will be an exemption for white people over the age of 50 from conservative-leaning constituencies.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Lightning Phil on 17 September, 2021, 09:17:36 pm
When you stop upgrading the number of “speeds” on the cassette on your bike.

Surely it's when you continue to squeeze the rear mech back to accommodate more teeth on the largest cassete sprocket?

No, I’d say that’s when you know you are old aged.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: robgul on 18 September, 2021, 08:03:13 am
When you stop upgrading the number of “speeds” on the cassette on your bike.

Surely it's when you continue to squeeze the rear mech back to accommodate more teeth on the largest cassete sprocket?

No, I’d say that’s when you know you are old aged.

.... that's accompanied by the electrical assistance!
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 18 September, 2021, 08:18:11 am
When you stop upgrading the number of “speeds” on the cassette on your bike.

Surely it's when you continue to squeeze the rear mech back to accommodate more teeth on the largest cassete sprocket?

No, I’d say that’s when you know you are old aged.

The trouble with that is when the granny gear gets so short that your age-impaired sense of balance can no longer keep the bike upright at 4 kph.

Quote
.... that's accompanied by the electrical assistance!

And the trouble with that is that all the eBikes on the market have been snaffled by neophytes and there are no bloody bits available to build more.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: andrewc on 18 September, 2021, 08:23:42 am
You are camping, and need to work out the least painful way of getting up from sitting on the ground, rather than just springing nimbly to your feet.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Tim Hall on 18 September, 2021, 12:28:33 pm
You are camping, and need to work out the least painful way of getting up from sitting on the ground, rather than just springing nimbly to your feet.
And doing it silently.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Polar Bear on 18 September, 2021, 12:32:25 pm
Getting down to the ground can be equally entertaining for onlookers.   O:-)
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: nicknack on 18 September, 2021, 01:00:56 pm
Getting down to the ground can be equally entertaining for onlookers.   O:-)
Yes, you get so far down and drop the rest of the way.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: nobby on 18 September, 2021, 05:08:44 pm
Not so much middle aged as old aged but this morning I met a six year old African lad at the bus stop with his Dad and as we parted I gave him a £1 for sweets.
He said to me, "Thank you, Grandpa". I was quite touched.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: cycleman on 18 September, 2021, 06:16:41 pm
Did he buy you a werthers original nobby  :D
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ElyDave on 18 September, 2021, 08:54:42 pm
You are camping, and need to work out the least painful way of getting up from sitting on the ground, rather than just springing nimbly to your feet.
And doing it silently.

I got up from the sofa the other day, one of the carers said "That was a very Dad-type noise to make"
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ElyDave on 18 September, 2021, 08:56:42 pm
When you stop upgrading the number of “speeds” on the cassette on your bike.

Surely it's when you continue to squeeze the rear mech back to accommodate more teeth on the largest cassete sprocket?

Then I ain't middle aged yet, this year is my fastest average speed since 2013, but with about 4 x the volume of cycling
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ian on 18 September, 2021, 09:02:47 pm
I used to climb trees a lot. I saw a tree that looked climbable and I climbed it. A couple of years back I got halfway up a tree and released that was it, I no longer had the strength to pull myself up another branch. So I hung there like a stranded monkey for several minutes before giving up and letting go and letting gravity make a fool out of me. The ground really did have it in for me too.

My wife, rather than offer sympathy and medical attention, just raised an eyebrow and said 'so you've done with that then?"

I hate it now when I see a good tree and I can't climb it.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Canardly on 18 September, 2021, 09:29:08 pm
I have been accused of making noises getting up and down when camping. Is there such a thing as camping knee pads?
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 19 September, 2021, 10:58:36 am
To deaden the creak?

Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 07 December, 2021, 10:18:01 am
Zoe Williams is most definitely not middle aged. Oh no, no, no.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/dec/07/i-am-not-yet-50-so-why-does-everyone-keep-calling-me-middle-aged
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: orienteer on 07 December, 2021, 11:21:34 am
I didn't admit to being middle aged until 50, and nearly three decades later I'm not yet considering myself old  :smug:
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hatler on 07 December, 2021, 11:57:14 am
I didn't admit to being 50 until I was about 55.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: tom_e on 07 December, 2021, 12:05:41 pm
I remember having that discussion with my parents as a teenager, with obvious directions of disagreement.  Compromised that middle age had to have begun by the time you reach half-way through a typical lifespan.  So 40+.  I'm not hypocritical enough to change that assessment just coz I got there!
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 07 December, 2021, 12:21:58 pm
Quite.  Also back pain, and not getting harassed in the street by random young men.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: andrewc on 07 December, 2021, 12:37:17 pm
...the soloists start looking younger.   I saw Anastasia Kobekina play a couple of weeks ago (Shostakovich) & thought she looked about 17, my friends agreed.  She's actually 27. 


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ripK5pwZobY
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Basil on 07 December, 2021, 12:57:14 pm
I seem to have completely missed middle aged. I went straight from fit and cheerful to very old and grumpy almost overnight.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: andytheflyer on 07 December, 2021, 01:17:18 pm
I seem to have completely missed middle aged. I went straight from fit and cheerful to very old and grumpy almost overnight.
That's a relief.  Thought it was just me....
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Polar Bear on 07 December, 2021, 01:28:01 pm
A quick Google seems to suggest that it can start as early as age 35 and linger until at least age 65.   I'm of the opinion that it's a construct of mindset and perception which has no real value in it's meaning which some folk take incredibly seriously yet others are completely nonplussed about.

Me?  Meh.  I haven't started to go grey yet so why worry.  😉



Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 07 December, 2021, 02:23:13 pm
...the soloists start looking younger.   I saw Anastasia Kobekina play a couple of weeks ago (Shostakovich) & thought she looked about 17, my friends agreed.  She's actually 27. 


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ripK5pwZobY
And the police of course. On which topic, a weekend or two ago I was in Manchester, where amongst other things I visited my cousin, whose partner has been an hossifer of the Greater Manchester Police for 27 years. She pointed out it's not just an illusion, the police really are younger; there are plenty of old police (she has the very same birthday as me, fwiw) but only the young ones are out beating the streets and patrolling, cos you need to be young, fit and (at times) fast and strong for that. Also to cope with the shifts. She's been in CID for the last I don't know how many years and no longer does shifts.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: De Sisti on 07 December, 2021, 04:15:05 pm
When you qualify for free prescriptions. At our local pharmacy I am no longer asked if I have
to pay for mine.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 07 December, 2021, 04:21:07 pm
When you qualify for free prescriptions.

Objection: Middle age is Shirley the period during which you specifically don't qualify for things like that.  See also: Railcards.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: De Sisti on 07 December, 2021, 04:24:26 pm
When you qualify for free prescriptions.

Objection: Middle age is Shirley the period during which you specifically don't qualify for things like that.  See also: Railcards.
I'm middle-aged, not an OAP. Oh, wait, I'm getting a work's pension!
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Tim Hall on 07 December, 2021, 04:29:08 pm
Is middle age the bit between juvenile and senile?  Just plain Nile, I suppose.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Wowbagger on 07 December, 2021, 04:31:42 pm
My daughter was pontificating 40. Which she is - for another month or so. "It's a real watershed. It's when you start to go to your friends' parents' funerals." Which she did a few weeks ago.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: mrcharly-YHT on 07 December, 2021, 05:31:19 pm
When you qualify for free prescriptions. At our local pharmacy I am no longer asked if I have
to pay for mine.
Just live in Scotland.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: phantasmagoriana on 07 December, 2021, 05:34:52 pm
When you qualify for free prescriptions. At our local pharmacy I am no longer asked if I have
to pay for mine.
Just live in Scotland.

Or Wales, or Northern Ireland...anywhere other than England, really. ;D
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: De Sisti on 07 December, 2021, 08:23:27 pm
When you qualify for free prescriptions. At our local pharmacy I am no longer asked if I have
to pay for mine.
Just live in Scotland.
I remember when prescriptions were 20p (back in 1979) when I worked for the
Prescription Pricing Authority; Processing Division 11.
 
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Mrs Pingu on 08 December, 2021, 06:24:27 pm
I've bitten the bullet and bought a dressing gown.
(Mainly because I feel rather exposed in the kitchen in the morning at kitty breakfast time. Not used to having windows that can be overlooked.)
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ElyDave on 08 December, 2021, 08:44:44 pm
I has a dressing gown, I don't think it's done anything other than hang on the back of the bedroom door for the last 4-5 years
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: The Family Cyclist on 08 December, 2021, 08:47:16 pm
I've bitten the bullet and bought a dressing gown.
(Mainly because I feel rather exposed in the kitchen in the morning at kitty breakfast time. Not used to having windows that can be overlooked.)

Sorry but dressing gowns aren't at all middle age, I not even eligible for a booster yet and love my dressing gown (it may be worth mentioning I live in a pretty cold house)
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ian on 08 December, 2021, 08:59:38 pm
When you have cats that regard humans as mobile trees that are daring to be climbed, dressing gowns are useful.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: rogerzilla on 08 December, 2021, 09:05:08 pm
When the new agey rebel leader woman from the first Star Wars film starts to look vaguely attractive.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: John Stonebridge on 08 December, 2021, 09:09:03 pm
when you *get* a prescription for the 1st time in your adult life (yesterday aged 56).

Had no idea what to do.

cant believe our right wing populist government in Scotland makes these things for free for people who can well afford them
 
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: phantasmagoriana on 08 December, 2021, 09:14:50 pm
When you realise your dressing gown is old enough to vote (and then some - I bought it on 9/11).
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ElyDave on 08 December, 2021, 09:38:22 pm
When the new agey rebel leader woman from the first Star Wars film starts to look vaguely attractive.

What do you mean "when"?

BTW I'll never be middle aged, i fundamentally refute that proposition.  I will go grumpily into decrepitude as a cyborg
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hellymedic on 09 December, 2021, 01:31:11 am
I have a bathrobe and a lightweight dressing gown.

I've had them since my early forties but have hardly worn them in the past decade.

Now that almost all overnight accommodation has facilities en suite, there seems little reason to have these.

D spends much time in his dressing gown and it is he that answers to door to callers.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 09 December, 2021, 02:11:05 pm
When you find yourself about to post in the "Fecking Div" thread, think "no, not again" and get out.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: TheLurker on 09 December, 2021, 04:16:36 pm
Quote from: T42
When you find yourself about to post in the "Fecking Div" thread, think "no, not again" and get out.
...or when you find yourself posting on a "rant" thread yet again. :)
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: MikeFromLFE on 20 January, 2022, 07:42:50 pm
You know you're old when your daughter announces that she's joined the WI.
I think it might be a militant lodge she's been sucked into because she's very interested in something called The Pudding Club  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: rogerzilla on 19 February, 2022, 08:39:57 pm
When you read the BBC headline today, "McColgan breaks 21-year British record" and think, "Wow, at her age too".

It's Liz McColgan's daughter  :facepalm:
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: citoyen on 19 February, 2022, 09:12:12 pm
Quote from: T42
When you find yourself about to post in the "Fecking Div" thread, think "no, not again" and get out.
...or when you find yourself posting on a "rant" thread yet again. :)

...or indeed a "grammar that makes you cringe" thread.

(I mean, kids these days - don't they learn anything at school?)
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: citoyen on 19 February, 2022, 09:14:58 pm
When you read the BBC headline today, "McColgan breaks 21-year British record" and think, "Wow, at her age too".

It's Liz McColgan's daughter  :facepalm:

Lately, I've seen several stories about Brooklyn Beckham in the news* and each time wondered who is that 20-something grown adult in the accompanying pictures...


*fsvo news
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Basil on 19 February, 2022, 09:44:50 pm
When you read the BBC headline today, "McColgan breaks 21-year British record" and think, "Wow, at her age too".

It's Liz McColgan's daughter  :facepalm:

I remember seeing a press photo of mccolgan training pushing some sort of all terrain push chair.  In my mind, they still do that.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Canardly on 13 March, 2022, 02:24:20 pm
You stop buying sweets as you might damage your tooth.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Jurek on 13 March, 2022, 04:30:47 pm
You stop buying sweets as you might damage your tooth.
You have just the one?
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Canardly on 13 March, 2022, 04:36:05 pm
Not really no.  :-D
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: rafletcher on 13 March, 2022, 04:42:12 pm
You realise you bought your first LP (nearly) 50 years ago. Ziggy Stardust, not a bad start.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: mrcharly-YHT on 13 March, 2022, 06:53:11 pm
You start to regret that braces are no longer fashionable.

I have some waterproof army surplus trousers that have braces. They are so comfortable, never have issues with stuff coming untucked and creating a draft.

Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: SteveC on 13 March, 2022, 07:02:19 pm
You realise you bought your first LP (nearly) 50 years ago. Ziggy Stardust, not a bad start.
Only forty-four and a half years ago and it was a cassette, not an LP, but it was the same album.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Mr Larrington on 13 March, 2022, 07:27:49 pm
You stop buying sweets as you might damage your tooth.
You have just the one?

He's also known as “Dai Central-Eating”.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: rafletcher on 13 March, 2022, 09:09:53 pm
You realise you bought your first LP (nearly) 50 years ago. Ziggy Stardust, not a bad start.
Only forty-four and a half years ago and it was a cassette, not an LP, but it was the same album.

And it’s just come back to me, it was Revolver Records in Crowborough, East Sussex, a proper record shop, where I bought it.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 14 March, 2022, 07:24:47 am
You stop buying sweets as you might damage your tooth.
You have just the one?

And you remember that old joke "your teeth are like stars - round your neck on a string".
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: road-runner on 14 March, 2022, 09:38:35 am
And you remember that old joke "your teeth are like stars - round your neck on a string".

In my school it was: Your teeth are like stars; they come out at night.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 14 March, 2022, 09:42:31 am
See what I mean? ;)
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 20 September, 2022, 02:33:13 pm
"Any allergies?  You're not on blood thinners?"  *Glances at DOB on screen* "Any chance you could be pregnant?"
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Panoramix on 20 September, 2022, 03:04:20 pm
You rent a white van to install your daughter in a student flat!
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 20 September, 2022, 04:28:01 pm
A month's rent on your son's student flat is more or less equal to a year's student loan back in your day.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: The French Tandem on 20 September, 2022, 05:59:54 pm
You rent a white van to install your daughter in a student flat!

That's exactly when the fun begins. When your children are small, they have smaller problems. When they grow up, they have bigger problems  :P
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: mrcharly-YHT on 20 September, 2022, 07:03:30 pm
You rent a white van to install your daughter in a student flat!

That's exactly when the fun begins. When your children are small, you they have smaller problems. When they grow up, youthey have bigger problems  :P
FTFY
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Peter on 20 September, 2022, 07:17:44 pm
You can never know when you are middle-aged.  Only your survivors can work that out.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: TheLurker on 20 September, 2022, 07:58:48 pm
Pshaw!  Middle-aged is a state of mind.  I've been middle-aged since I was a toddler and I shall still be middle-aged the day I die.  :)
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ElyDave on 20 September, 2022, 08:17:57 pm
You rent a white van to install your daughter in a student flat!

That's exactly when the fun begins. When your children are small, they have smaller problems. When they grow up, they have bigger problems  :P

Week after next, hopefully my X-Trail will suffice
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hellymedic on 20 September, 2022, 08:19:35 pm
"Any allergies?  You're not on blood thinners?"  *Glances at DOB on screen* "Any chance you could be pregnant?"

I booked a Covid booster online today after receiving an invitation from the NHS.

After entering my 1958 year of birth, the website STILL asked if I could be pregnant...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: orraloon on 20 September, 2022, 08:32:10 pm
A month's rent on your son's student flat is more or less equal to a year's student loan back in your day.
Student loan?  Did you mean student grant?
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: MattH on 20 September, 2022, 08:34:07 pm
Week after next, hopefully my X-Trail will suffice

Moved my youngest from his post-grad student house to his first "real" house this weekend. Took two loads of our VW T5.
When my eldest came home from Uni after three years, his girlfriend's ovlov estate was full of his stuff - just room for her in it - and the crew cab pickup I was using at the time was similarly full, both inside the cab and the bed loaded high.

Good luck.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ElyDave on 20 September, 2022, 10:36:46 pm
First year, and we're only going from ely to Cambridge
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 21 September, 2022, 08:26:30 am
A month's rent on your son's student flat is more or less equal to a year's student loan back in your day.
Student loan?  Did you mean student grant?
I did, of course, sorry.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ian on 21 September, 2022, 09:35:11 am
How things change, I remember rocking up at Nottingham train station with an acoustic guitar, one boombox, and a holdall full of everything else (mostly cassettes and hopefully a couple of pairs of clean pants, then again, male student, so who knows). Having got the bus that far.

I don't think I came back any more stuff, probably less, as it was the age before laptops and the like, and there wasn't much point in keeping anything of value in early 90s Liverpool, unless you fancied buying it back from the local market periodically.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Andy W on 21 September, 2022, 10:58:13 am
I took my eldest daughter to University exactly 20 years old. She was excited, I returned home utterly bereft.
Im only 61 and I run a bit , cycle some, hopefully my self maintenance will sustain middle aged status for an extended time.
Looking at photos of my grandparents when they were 60 ish they looked properly old.
Title: Re: You know you're AN OLD FART when
Post by: T42 on 21 September, 2022, 11:12:20 am
A month's rent on your son's student flat is more or less equal to a year's student loan back in your day.
Student loan?  Did you mean student grant?
I did, of course, sorry.

I remember someone back then observing that our £300 annual grant was the minimum income that one would require to live as a gentleman in London, in 1895.

Meanwhile I, needing to cook some chicken before it became carrion, just spent a bootless 5 minutes looking up how long it would take in the microwave before realizing that I was looking at the instructions for the air fryer.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ian on 21 September, 2022, 11:29:04 am
In the (19)90s, I got an offer of a PhD at Imperial and from a look at the stipend, hmm, eating would have been a luxury after rent, plus my prospective supervisor was the sort that viewed PhD students as gloried lab technicians. Got a more generous stipend in Scotlandshire with a supervisor more aligned with 'welcome to my lab, let's talk again in three years' time.' Even then I left with a weighty overdraft.

I did get a lift up there though, having accumulated heady accoutrements of 90s life, such as a CD player.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: orraloon on 21 September, 2022, 09:42:23 pm
...having accumulated heady accoutrements of 90s life, such as a CD player.
Having moved a few months ago, I have a crate of CDs, along with 2 of vinyls.  Some CDs still have the price sticker. £13.99 (or more) in 80s/90s money... 😳  Vs just put on free Spotify.  And via FireStick I get no annoying ads.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ian on 21 September, 2022, 09:53:48 pm
I also had a box of vinyl (still in the loft, decades later) and the CD was a proper separate, alone with amp and deck, courtesy of a post-degree splurge in Richer Sounds (or whatever the 90s equivalent was, probably Richer Sounds). Back in the era when every CD player came with a free Brothers in Arms or Automatic for the People disk. No other CDs were available, one or the other. Make your choice. Thus were dividing lines drawn.

I had, fortunately, got rid of the acoustic guitar, on the grounds that the only women attracted by my toneless strumming were the ones I should be running away from. A lesson that took me three years to learn. It might have been quicker to learn to play the guitar better.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Lightning Phil on 21 September, 2022, 10:04:20 pm
You rent a white van to install your daughter in a student flat!

How things change. I went to Uni on a train with my bike, a rucksack, and some panniers.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 22 September, 2022, 12:44:02 am
I think I went to uni with a car boot of clothes, CD, books, computer, a small box of electronics tools and - because mothers - too many saucepans and assorted non-perishable comestibles.  I came home a year later with two computers, toolbox, slightly more books, papers and CDs, and no comestibles (there may have been some saucepan attrition).  I think it all fitted.

Of course, I was persona non grata soon afterwards, and left with what I could carry in a random holdall.

I think the lesson here is that parents (and indeed students) have more access to motor vehicles then they did in 1973, data (be it your music collection or academic work) is a hell of a lot easier to lug about than it used to be, everyone should have access to a bicycle and that you should always know where your passport/birth certificate/bank documents/etc are in case you have to leave in a hurry.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Hot Flatus on 27 October, 2022, 04:11:32 pm
You start cycling down towpaths listening to podcasts
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hellymedic on 27 October, 2022, 06:07:05 pm
You are old enough to be the Prime Minister's PARENT.

Maybe that is OLD!
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: De Sisti on 28 October, 2022, 08:28:29 am
When you don't identify with podcasts (they're just recorded radio programs).(https://www.pistonheads.com/inc/images/yes.gif)
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Jaded on 28 October, 2022, 09:48:05 am
... with added self indulgent drivel and shitverts.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Hot Flatus on 28 October, 2022, 09:56:08 am
... with added self indulgent drivel and shitverts.

When you say things like this.

 ;D
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: rafletcher on 01 November, 2022, 12:11:35 pm
When younger members of staff wearing wooly hats in the office really annoy you.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 01 November, 2022, 01:01:21 pm
When your son complains about his arthritis. Poor lad's only 49, too.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: TheLurker on 01 November, 2022, 05:43:32 pm
Quote from: rafletcher
When younger members of staff wearing wooly hats in the office really annoy you.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 01 November, 2022, 05:44:39 pm
When younger members of staff wearing wooly hats in the office really annoy you.

Hang on, aren't you supposed to be annoyed with them for turning up the heating rather than wearing warm clothes?  It's hard to keep track...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: rafletcher on 01 November, 2022, 06:10:02 pm
As I was in a polo shirt it wasn’t exactly freezing - and neither was he shaven headed so air con breezes weren’t an issue. It seems to be a “fashion” thing. Also, similar aged colleagues wandering around in over-the-ear headphones.    >:(
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 01 November, 2022, 06:10:32 pm
You're obviously not keeping track Kim and have failed to notice that woolly hats are now worn all year round.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 01 November, 2022, 06:22:03 pm
Also, similar aged colleagues wandering around in over-the-ear headphones.    >:(

Yeah, that's definitely a thing.  It's like earbuds are only allowed if they're those silly Apple ones, so now everyone looks like an autistic person wearing noise-cancelling headphones.

Still, I'm not going to complain, as they are at least using headphones (and ones that do a reasonable job of containing the sound) rather than sodcasting.  I suppose it helps keep the hats in place.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Mr Larrington on 01 November, 2022, 07:02:45 pm
I blame that Dave Evans off of U2.  Because I can.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ian on 02 November, 2022, 10:11:23 pm
Good god, I'm on a fashion site (not a euphemism, people) on a hunt for cheap shoes and the things people seem willing to wear. Bright orange moccasins. For the love of the little sweet baby cheesus. Orange moccasins! Designer Crocs. I need drugs for my eyes! I'm not sure whether they're intended for young people or very mad old people. They have a physical concept store which I think is modern speak for a shop. Or digital touchpoints. Which I think is a website. I'm probably about to undertake a digital transaction experience. Maybe some kind of financial intimacy.

Anyway, I'm going to look the primo duds in those mocs. The red trousers will be stealthy in comparison. I think I understand why some people wear sunglasses indoors. They're going to need to.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Jaded on 02 November, 2022, 10:21:30 pm
... with added self indulgent drivel and shitverts.

When you say things like this.

 ;D

I learned it from you at that funny cycle track brewery.  ;D
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Clare on 02 November, 2022, 11:29:02 pm
Also, similar aged colleagues wandering around in over-the-ear headphones.    >:(

Yeah, that's definitely a thing.  It's like earbuds are only allowed if they're those silly Apple ones, so now everyone looks like an autistic person wearing noise-cancelling headphones.


(My bold)

Which has got to be a good thing if it helps stop gobby twats harassing autistic people for 'being different'.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 03 November, 2022, 08:46:17 am
Good god, I'm on a fashion site (not a euphemism, people) on a hunt for cheap shoes and the things people seem willing to wear. Bright orange moccasins. For the love of the little sweet baby cheesus. Orange moccasins! Designer Crocs. I need drugs for my eyes! I'm not sure whether they're intended for young people or very mad old people. They have a physical concept store which I think is modern speak for a shop. Or digital touchpoints. Which I think is a website. I'm probably about to undertake a digital transaction experience. Maybe some kind of financial intimacy.

Anyway, I'm going to look the primo duds in those mocs. The red trousers will be stealthy in comparison. I think I understand why some people wear sunglasses indoors. They're going to need to.
Make sure your psychedelic moc crocs are spd compatible. You don't want to be be thought of as a young person who only rides flats, probably attached to a fixie.
(https://bikepacking.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Valcko-SPD-Crocs-26-960x960.jpg)
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ian on 03 November, 2022, 09:59:19 am
It's all too horrific for me to post links. You can google, but honestly, I'd rather have Rogerzilla's entire browser history than have that in there. Australia, I think, brought us Uggs too. It's the land of stupid footwear. Honestly, how long do we have the wait for the local wildlife to sort out the 'Australian problem.'
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Mr Larrington on 03 November, 2022, 10:38:42 am
I think the climate will do for Captain Cook's Mistake long before the wildlife.  And then it’ll be be “Bloody Australians, comin' over 'ere!  With your two hundred words for being sick!”
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ian on 03 November, 2022, 11:27:35 am
Indeed, in a decade or two, they'll be clamouring to be let into Indonesia. Not in those shoes, and by the way, we have a spare and very remote island over there. Here's your tent, mate.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: rogerzilla on 03 November, 2022, 11:30:55 am
Are slag wellies Uggs still a thing?  I think I last saw some 4 years ago in Cirencester.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 03 November, 2022, 12:40:29 pm
Are slag wellies Uggs still a thing?  I think I last saw some 4 years ago in Cirencester.
Aggs in Uggs?
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ian on 03 November, 2022, 01:22:47 pm
No idea. They seems absurdly impractical footwear. First experience of rain and it looks like you've got elephantiasis. Basically boots that don't, erm, serve the purpose of boots.

Still, Crocs with heels.

I'm not authority on fashion, however. Which makes me feel better about myself.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: andrewc on 07 November, 2022, 08:50:41 am
Things start hurting for no apparent reason.  In this instance my right knee has decided to inflict occasional stabs of pain on me, even when it's at rest. 
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Slave To The Viking on 10 November, 2022, 11:51:17 pm
When you realise the socks you're wearing are older than the schoolkids you're sharing the train carriage with.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: rr on 11 November, 2022, 12:00:13 am
No idea. They seems absurdly impractical footwear. First experience of rain and it looks like you've got elephantiasis. Basically boots that don't, erm, serve the purpose of boots.

Still, Crocs with heels.

I'm not authority on fashion, however. Which makes me feel better about myself.
Mini has a pair of white, platform Crocs

Sent from my motorola edge 20 using Tapatalk

Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 11 November, 2022, 08:38:05 am
Things start hurting for no apparent reason.  In this instance my right knee has decided to inflict occasional stabs of pain on me, even when it's at rest.

Wait until it's your left arm.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Slave To The Viking on 11 November, 2022, 10:37:58 am
Things start hurting for no apparent reason.  In this instance my right knee has decided to inflict occasional stabs of pain on me, even when it's at rest.

Wait until it's your left arm.

Mine's done that for my entire life. If I get chest pain of any description, for any reason (heavy coughing, out of breath, eat something too hot, hit by a football, violent sneeze - anything at all) then my left arm hurts. Always has. Horrible pain; not really severe, just...nasty, somehow.

Referred down a nerve, I suspect.

Chuff knows how I'll know if I ever do have a coronary.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 11 November, 2022, 10:47:55 am
Chuff knows how I'll know if I ever do have a coronary.

They can hurt in various places, not necessarily the left arm. Some hurt like hell and some don't hurt at all.  Once I got past 55 my doc started sending me for a stress test every two years: fortunately it didn't turn up an incipient coronary until after PBP 2007 and they fixed it PDQ.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Slave To The Viking on 13 November, 2022, 01:42:44 am
You look forward - for about a week - to defrosting the freezer.

Then you enjoy defrosting the freezer.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: graculus on 13 November, 2022, 08:37:40 am
You look forward - for about a week - to defrosting the freezer.

Then you enjoy defrosting the freezer.
And have a warm glow of satisfaction when it's done?
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: nicknack on 13 November, 2022, 09:14:49 am
Ok, it's not exactly middle aged, but when you receive a letter telling you it's time to renew your driving licence.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hatler on 13 November, 2022, 10:17:11 am
... you get deeply irritated by unnecessarily loud, thumping (and unnecessary) music blasted out at every non-action moment at a sporting event.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Slave To The Viking on 13 November, 2022, 11:36:53 am
You look forward - for about a week - to defrosting the freezer.

Then you enjoy defrosting the freezer.
And have a warm glow of satisfaction when it's done?

In a purely figurative sense, yes. My fingers were glowing, but there was nothing warm about them.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 13 November, 2022, 03:12:43 pm
... you get deeply irritated by unnecessarily loud, thumping (and unnecessary) music blasted out at every non-action moment at a sporting event.

...when you don't give a shit about sporting events.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Socks on 13 November, 2022, 03:27:03 pm
When you get a letter asking if you want to claim your state pension.  Although I suppose that means I'm old rather than middle aged.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 13 November, 2022, 06:16:22 pm
... you get deeply irritated by unnecessarily loud, thumping (and unnecessary) music blasted out at every non-action moment at a sporting event.

...when you don't give a shit about sporting events.

I've been not giving a shit about sporting events since the age of 5 or so.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Slave To The Viking on 13 November, 2022, 06:28:31 pm
... you get deeply irritated by unnecessarily loud, thumping (and unnecessary) music blasted out at every non-action moment at a sporting event.

...when you don't give a shit about sporting events.

I've been not giving a shit about sporting events since the age of 5 or so.

Was thinking largely the same.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: RichForrest on 13 November, 2022, 06:53:53 pm
Ok, it's not exactly middle aged, but when you receive a letter telling you it's time to renew your driving licence.

I got one at 45 and 50. Due again at 55, 60 and 65 then every year after that (if I keep on working).
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 13 November, 2022, 08:11:34 pm
You momentarily forget who the prime minister is.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Pingu on 13 November, 2022, 08:42:38 pm
You momentarily forget who the prime minister is.

That's rather more easy to do at the moment, thobut.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Slave To The Viking on 13 November, 2022, 11:13:24 pm
You momentarily forget who the prime minister is.

That's rather more easy to do at the moment, thobut.

Oddly enough, when I read this, my first thought was picture of Theresa May and the name of Liz Truss.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Slave To The Viking on 13 November, 2022, 11:14:00 pm
You momentarily forget who the prime minister is.

That's rather more easy to do at the moment, thobut.

Oddly enough, when I read this, my first thought was picture of Theresa May and the name of Liz Truss.

I never, ever want that to happen, ever again, under any circumstance. I shall now go and hunker down under a running shower and sob the theme to The Crying Game.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Jaded on 14 November, 2022, 01:02:01 am
You momentarily forget who the prime minister is.

That's rather more easy to do at the moment, thobut.

Oddly enough, when I read this, my first thought was picture of Theresa May and the name of Liz Truss.

When I read this I had to check if this was a public forum.  :P
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: mrcharly-YHT on 14 November, 2022, 10:50:11 am
Go go into a pub and find that the crowd, loud bursts of laughter and shouty conversation is utterly unbearable.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Basil on 14 November, 2022, 11:11:25 am
Go go into a pub and find that the crowd, loud bursts of laughter and shouty conversation is utterly unbearable.

Oh this. ^  Oh very much this.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Panoramix on 14 November, 2022, 02:52:29 pm
You rent a white van to install your daughter in a student flat!

That's exactly when the fun begins. When your children are small, they have smaller problems. When they grow up, they have bigger problems  :P

 ::-)  :'(
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 18 November, 2022, 11:12:40 am
You get out your torque wrench and find yet again that you didn't reset it last time you used it. :facepalm:
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: De Sisti on 18 November, 2022, 03:38:09 pm
Go go into a pub and find that the crowd, loud bursts of laughter and shouty conversation is utterly unbearable.
I felt like this in my 30s.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 18 November, 2022, 07:11:35 pm
Speaking of pubs, I was considering the general improvement in the management of my asthma over the last 15 years or so, which I've usually attributed to a combination of not living with minging students and riding bikes and wotnot.  I'd completely overlooked the important change in the law a couple of years after I last needed a course of oral steroids...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ian on 18 November, 2022, 09:14:35 pm
I ended up dancing on a table at 4 am at a Halloween party the other week. Firstly, unlike proper table dancers I didn't get paid, but as a Tidy Haired Thought Leadership™ professional I kept my clothes on. Secondly, the following morning I felt like I'd run two marathons and lost a fight with a bear.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: fd3 on 18 November, 2022, 11:27:58 pm
Everything goes dark whenever you stand up.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Lightning Phil on 19 November, 2022, 09:41:02 am
Everything goes dark whenever you stand up.

Head poking through a hole into your loft?
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 19 November, 2022, 04:55:40 pm
Everything goes dark whenever you stand up.

Happens to teenagers too so there's hope for you yet.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: nicknack on 19 November, 2022, 06:37:03 pm
Everything goes dark whenever you stand up.

Happens to teenagers too so there's hope for you yet.
Indeed. My son was afflicted thus when he was a teen. He's now 37.

Now it's just me.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: rafletcher on 22 November, 2022, 09:36:11 am
When you get an official letter that you can claim your state pension. A bit puzzled as I was born in 1957 I was under the impression that I wouldn't get it until I was 67. Oh well, I suppose I should do something about the various odds and sods of pensions I have, it might add up to a meal out a month.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: neilrj on 22 November, 2022, 11:55:40 am
66 for you sir, from 6th April - 5th May (then monthly) it's tapers from age 66 and 1 month, to the full on actual 67 at 5th March 1961.
Current plan, of course it might change :-\
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 02 December, 2022, 01:24:31 pm
...when you still think a radio station is something that broadcasts to air, rather than to Youtube and Soundcloud.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 02 December, 2022, 01:48:56 pm
...when you still think a radio station is something that broadcasts to air, rather than to Youtube and Soundcloud.

Huh?  Whence radio in that case?
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 02 December, 2022, 01:54:39 pm
...when you still think a radio station is something that broadcasts to air, rather than to Youtube and Soundcloud.

Huh?  Whence radio in that case?

WiFi, innit.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 02 December, 2022, 02:00:17 pm
"Turn on the wireless, it's time for The Archers."
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 02 December, 2022, 02:01:03 pm
"Turn on the wireless, it's time for The Archers."

Obviously you need to allow it sufficient time to boot up...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 02 December, 2022, 02:03:44 pm
"Turn on the wireless, it's time for The Archers."

Obviously you need to allow it sufficient time to boot up...
And find the spare PP9 battery.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 02 December, 2022, 02:05:15 pm
...when you still think a radio station is something that broadcasts to air, rather than to Youtube and Soundcloud.

Huh?  Whence radio in that case?
Because they are doing what a radio station does: broadcasting music and/or words, but not via radio waves.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Jaded on 02 December, 2022, 02:17:40 pm
You keep the house tidier than you used to because they might find it like this after they have broken in.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 02 December, 2022, 02:53:12 pm
...when you still think a radio station is something that broadcasts to air, rather than to Youtube and Soundcloud.

Huh?  Whence radio in that case?
Because they are doing what a radio station does: broadcasting music and/or words, but not via radio waves.

Well that's half-arsed, innit?
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 02 December, 2022, 03:04:06 pm
...when you still think a radio station is something that broadcasts to air, rather than to Youtube and Soundcloud.

Huh?  Whence radio in that case?
Because they are doing what a radio station does: broadcasting music and/or words, but not via radio waves.

Well that's half-arsed, innit?

Hardly a new phenomenon, though.  Hospital radio is usually closed circuit, and student radio stations were often distributed by induction loop when they couldn't get a low-power FM licence (I assume they just use internet streaming these days).  Also retailers have been pretending to have their own radio stations (which were in fact a long-playing tape) for yonks.  The idea of 'radio station' meaning 'a technology-agnostic thing that plays radio programmes on its own schedule' was well-understood, even before internet streaming and podcasts became a thing.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Tim Hall on 02 December, 2022, 03:09:02 pm
In Thee Olden Days, United Biscuits had a closed circuit "radio" network, imaginatively,  called United Biscuits Network.  Many of the DJs came there from Proper Pirate Radio and then went on to ILR stations. (Roger Scott, Peter Young, Graham Dene ect ect)
Title: Re: You know you're a decrepit old fart when
Post by: T42 on 02 December, 2022, 03:38:00 pm
...when you still think a radio station is something that broadcasts to air, rather than to Youtube and Soundcloud.

Huh?  Whence radio in that case?
Because they are doing what a radio station does: broadcasting music and/or words, but not via radio waves.

Well that's half-arsed, innit?

Hardly a new phenomenon, though.  Hospital radio is usually closed circuit, and student radio stations were often distributed by induction loop when they couldn't get a low-power FM licence (I assume they just use internet streaming these days).  Also retailers have been pretending to have their own radio stations (which were in fact a long-playing tape) for yonks.  The idea of 'radio station' meaning 'a technology-agnostic thing that plays radio programmes on its own schedule' was well-understood, even before internet streaming and podcasts became a thing.

I surrender. 

That's nice, though: I'm very pleased to be merely middle-aged.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 02 December, 2022, 05:42:30 pm
Is there a linguistic term for the effect where words lose their technical meanings as they become part of everyday vocabulary?  'Digital' is a prime example, but 'FM' probably qualifies.

The next one to fall victim to this seems to be 'WiFi', which is losing its IEEE 802.11 implication, to become a generic term for wireless internet access (no longer distinct from cellular connections), or possibly even internet connectivity in general (the perpetrators likely being unaware of wired networking).
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 02 December, 2022, 06:15:45 pm
Is there a linguistic term for the effect where words lose their technical meanings as they become part of everyday vocabulary?  'Digital' is a prime example, but 'FM' probably qualifies.

The next one to fall victim to this seems to be 'WiFi', which is losing its IEEE 802.11 implication, to become a generic term for wireless internet access (no longer distinct from cellular connections), or possibly even internet connectivity in general (the perpetrators likely being unaware of wired networking).
Semantic shift.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 02 December, 2022, 07:19:36 pm
That's the badger.  Of course, it goes both ways.  eg. the way 'wireless' has come to mean IEEE 802.11 specifically rather than any kind of radio communications.

Contrast with 'cordless', which now means 'battery powered'.  cf. "cordless screwdriver"
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Andy W on 02 December, 2022, 07:26:09 pm
66 for you sir, from 6th April - 5th May (then monthly) it's tapers from age 66 and 1 month, to the full on actual 67 at 5th March 1961.
Current plan, of course it might change :-\
for myself  66 and 10 months as a January 61 birthday
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Slave To The Viking on 02 December, 2022, 10:41:21 pm
Is there a linguistic term for the effect where words lose their technical meanings as they become part of everyday vocabulary?  'Digital' is a prime example, but 'FM' probably qualifies.

The next one to fall victim to this seems to be 'WiFi', which is losing its IEEE 802.11 implication, to become a generic term for wireless internet access (no longer distinct from cellular connections), or possibly even internet connectivity in general (the perpetrators likely being unaware of wired networking).

Is it? I've only ever encountered WiFi as meaning wireless connectivity to a router, specifically distinct from cellular data.

Granted, I'm a sample size of one, but I work in digital marketing with a bunch of twenty- and thirty-somethings, and I have both primary- and secondary-age kids, and I still don't recognise the use of WiFi as meaning anything other than WiFi.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Jaded on 02 December, 2022, 11:02:50 pm
Nowadays most people I speak to think WiFi = Internet

I infer from that that it has gone the way of infer.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 03 December, 2022, 12:03:54 am
I've certainly come across people using 'WiFi' to mean internet generally, and given the branding of 802.11ax as "WiFi 6"[1] it's understandable that people might consider it the successor to "5G".  I recall someone recently had a phone salesoik insit that 4G was the same thing as WiFi (which is why 5G is better) but that's the sort of thing you expect from salesoiks[2].  I expect the teenagers will continue to understand the difference, if only on a who's-paying-for/censoring/throttling-what level.  Meanwhile there must be plenty of people like my MIL, whose mental model doesn't even extend to the difference between an SMS and a message sent over an internet connection, and are likely to use terms at random.


[1] 802.11ac gets retconned to 'WiFi 5' and 802.11n becomes 'WiFi 4' and so on...
[2] I had one tell me that computers were getting out of date in 1991, apparently because Super Nintendos[3] were faster and better.
[3] A childhood in which Super Nintendos were new and exciting now qualifies you as middle-aged.  Terrifying thought.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Mr Larrington on 03 December, 2022, 01:34:04 am
Even the bloody BBC, who ought to know better, are guilty of the “WiFi = Internet” dumbfuckery.  A year or three back Virgin had a big outage in SW Londonton which the Beeb reported as “leaving thousands of customers without WiFi” :facepalm:
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 03 December, 2022, 11:01:39 am
It's a bit like phones "running out of battery" when they've gone flat.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: TheLurker on 03 December, 2022, 11:20:15 am
Quote from: T42
It's a bit like phones "running out of battery" when they've gone flat.
My new portable telephone is permanently flat, well, not very deep.  Sorry (not sorry). :)
Title: Re: You know you're a decrepit old fart when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 10 December, 2022, 07:36:19 pm
...when you still think a radio station is something that broadcasts to air, rather than to Youtube and Soundcloud.

Huh?  Whence radio in that case?
Because they are doing what a radio station does: broadcasting music and/or words, but not via radio waves.

Well that's half-arsed, innit?

Hardly a new phenomenon, though.  Hospital radio is usually closed circuit, and student radio stations were often distributed by induction loop when they couldn't get a low-power FM licence (I assume they just use internet streaming these days).  Also retailers have been pretending to have their own radio stations (which were in fact a long-playing tape) for yonks.  The idea of 'radio station' meaning 'a technology-agnostic thing that plays radio programmes on its own schedule' was well-understood, even before internet streaming and podcasts became a thing.

I surrender. 

That's nice, though: I'm very pleased to be merely middle-aged.
As if on cue, the BBC:
Quote
This glimpse of the near future came with arrival of ITV’s new digital home, ITVX, last Thursday and also in the resounding words of the BBC’s director general, who the day before politely asked the nation’s audiences to “imagine a world that is internet-only, where broadcast TV and radio are being switched off and choice is infinite”. Tim Davie went on to declare: “A switch-off of broadcast will and should happen over time, and we should be active in planning for it.” And so, while the BBC claims to continue to be committed to live broadcasting, over the next two decades the closure of individual “linear” channels, and radio stations, is already accepted.
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2022/dec/10/is-this-the-end-of-tv-broadcasters-prepare-for-online-only-switch

It's still a plan for the next 10 years or thereabouts, so not exactly imminent.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: quixoticgeek on 10 December, 2022, 11:15:47 pm
Is there a linguistic term for the effect where words lose their technical meanings as they become part of everyday vocabulary?  'Digital' is a prime example, but 'FM' probably qualifies.

The next one to fall victim to this seems to be 'WiFi', which is losing its IEEE 802.11 implication, to become a generic term for wireless internet access (no longer distinct from cellular connections), or possibly even internet connectivity in general (the perpetrators likely being unaware of wired networking).

I recently came across a gootube video of a youngen who had found the secret to a reliable wifi connection for gaming.

His secret?

An ethernet cable...

J
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Mr Larrington on 11 December, 2022, 12:01:10 am
Reminds me of the young'un who, during the opening overs of teh Plague, expressed a yearning for “something like a podcast but constantly updated”.

“It's called 'radio'!” said some, though I expect there were those who referred to it as “wireless” just to confuse the poor bairn.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 11 December, 2022, 12:51:39 am
I recently came across a gootube video of a youngen who had found the secret to a reliable wifi connection for gaming.

His secret?

An ethernet cable...

Ah, you mean a WiFi cable.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: FifeingEejit on 11 December, 2022, 05:18:40 am
Is there a linguistic term for the effect where words lose their technical meanings as they become part of everyday vocabulary?  'Digital' is a prime example, but 'FM' probably qualifies.

The next one to fall victim to this seems to be 'WiFi', which is losing its IEEE 802.11 implication, to become a generic term for wireless internet access (no longer distinct from cellular connections), or possibly even internet connectivity in general (the perpetrators likely being unaware of wired networking).

I recently came across a gootube video of a youngen who had found the secret to a reliable wifi connection for gaming.

His secret?

An ethernet cable...

J
Interesting, I found that the best Internet at work is to be founf on the WiFi and not the cable, 20mbps vs 2...

I suspect the cabling predates cat 5

Sent from my IV2201 using Tapatalk

Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 11 December, 2022, 02:20:56 pm
Is there a linguistic term for the effect where words lose their technical meanings as they become part of everyday vocabulary?  'Digital' is a prime example, but 'FM' probably qualifies.

The next one to fall victim to this seems to be 'WiFi', which is losing its IEEE 802.11 implication, to become a generic term for wireless internet access (no longer distinct from cellular connections), or possibly even internet connectivity in general (the perpetrators likely being unaware of wired networking).

I recently came across a gootube video of a youngen who had found the secret to a reliable wifi connection for gaming.

His secret?

An ethernet cable...

J
Interesting, I found that the best Internet at work is to be founf on the WiFi and not the cable, 20mbps vs 2...

I suspect the cabling predates cat 5

Older Ethernet (that would run on cat3 or coax) could still manage 10Mbps, so it's likely there's another bottleneck beyond just old wiring. Of course those technologies had the same sort of scalability problems as wirless, in that everything had to share a single medium (resulting in collisions when two stations try to transmit at once), rather than directing packets to specific destinations as modern switches do.

The WiFi infrastructure's going to be newer than that, and hopefully not operating under quite the same constraints.  It's easier to run a decent cable to a couple of access points than every computer.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Mrs Pingu on 11 December, 2022, 02:45:19 pm
I had the same issue, Teams was always dropping out in the office. This was rectified when I disconnected the LAN cable.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 11 December, 2022, 02:59:08 pm
This is like when your cellular connection became more reliable than random people's WiFi, isn't it?

(https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/wifi_vs_cellular_2x.png) (https://xkcd.com/1865/)


Teams merely uses flaky networking as a convenient excuse for its day-to-day crapness.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: JellyLegs on 11 December, 2022, 03:22:52 pm
I had the same issue, Teams was always dropping out in the office. This was rectified when I disconnected the LAN cable.

Not just Teams specific, but some software struggles if you have both Ethernet and Wi-Fi network adapters connected at the same time.  Iirc Teams has an issue where it continually asks you to re validate in this situation.  Disabling either adapter will usually solve it (as will pulling the LAN cable which has pretty much the same effect).
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ElyDave on 11 December, 2022, 03:27:50 pm
We used to be told to turn wifi off when in the office adn connected to adocking station to avoid that, doesn't seem to be an issue these days though
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: campagman on 12 December, 2022, 09:09:35 pm
When your pepper grinder needs refilling, eventually get round to buying some peppercorns but then can't find said grinder. I've looked everywhere, I'm sure I have. Even looked in cupboards that I haven't opened in months. This was irritating me earlier but I have calmed down now.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 12 December, 2022, 09:51:17 pm
You probably put it somewhere unusual to remind you to buy peppercorns...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Mrs Pingu on 12 December, 2022, 09:51:59 pm
It's probably right in front of you.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Pickled Onion on 12 December, 2022, 10:07:17 pm
You probably put it somewhere unusual to remind you to buy peppercorns...

Have you checked your pockets?
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: nicknack on 12 December, 2022, 10:49:53 pm
Have you checked your left hand?
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: quixoticgeek on 12 December, 2022, 10:53:21 pm
When your pepper grinder needs refilling, eventually get round to buying some peppercorns but then can't find said grinder. I've looked everywhere, I'm sure I have. Even looked in cupboards that I haven't opened in months. This was irritating me earlier but I have calmed down now.

I did the opposite. I bought a new pepper mill. Then got home and realised I have no peppercorns to go inside...

J
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Wowbagger on 12 December, 2022, 11:04:53 pm
I bet you put it with the trombone mouthpiece.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 13 December, 2022, 12:35:21 am
You probably put it somewhere unusual to remind you to buy peppercorns...

Have you checked your pockets?

The only thing in my pockets is the valve cap that I put in my pocket to remind me to put on the mountain bike two days ago...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Mr Larrington on 13 December, 2022, 01:00:28 am
Fort Larrington had more boxes, bags and jars of peppercorns than was seemly when the Prof and I did a big clearout last summer.  I think she half-inched most of 'em.  Meanwhile, my pepper grinder became empty, peppercorns had I none, a fresh supply was purchased and put in the cupboard…

…next to the barely-touched jar of peppercorns already in the cupboard wot I'd searched at least twice while muttering “I'm sure I saw peppercorns in here only last week!”.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: campagman on 14 December, 2022, 09:11:22 pm
Thanks for your concern guys and you'll be pleased to know that the peppermill is found. It was in the right cupboard but not the right shelf. I looked at it many times but didn't register that that was what I was searching for. Doh!
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 15 December, 2022, 02:53:33 pm
Nae worry, laddie. I couldn't find the snow shovel this morning because it was upside-down.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Mrs Pingu on 15 December, 2022, 04:34:30 pm
I couldn't find the snow shovel this morning because it was behind a pile of bikes, and not loafing about in the roof supports where I was looking for it.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 15 December, 2022, 04:45:09 pm
I couldn't not find the snow shovel because I don't have a snow shovel.  But if I did, it would undoubtedly have been under a pile of snow.  Which I also do not have[1].


[1] I expect the baby elephant could help with this, at sufficiently low ambient temperatures.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 15 December, 2022, 05:15:24 pm
Baby elephants do not like low temperatures. This is the other reason I don't have a baby elephant.

The reason I don't have a snow shovel is that living in Brizzle, it would be more useful to have a shovel for drizzle.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Slave To The Viking on 17 December, 2022, 01:52:58 am
Nae worry, laddie. I couldn't find the snow shovel this morning because it was upside-down.

I once couldn't find my bike leathers because I'd already put them on. It wasn't until I tried running upstairs - to see if I'd absentmindedly put them somewhere untoward - and I felt the resistance inherent in trying to run upstairs in a pair of armoured leather trousers, that I became aware of their whereabouts.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 17 December, 2022, 09:55:19 am
Nae worry, laddie. I couldn't find the snow shovel this morning because it was upside-down.

I once couldn't find my bike leathers because I'd already put them on. It wasn't until I tried running upstairs - to see if I'd absentmindedly put them somewhere untoward - and I felt the resistance inherent in trying to run upstairs in a pair of armoured leather trousers, that I became aware of their whereabouts.

I once put on my knee-warmers then once outside decided it was too cold for them, went back inside & put bib tights on over them. That made for phunny pedalling.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: rafletcher on 17 December, 2022, 02:25:19 pm
Longs over knee warmers is SOP for me for winter cycling.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 17 December, 2022, 02:29:30 pm
Longs over knee warmers is SOP for me for winter cycling.

Yebbut with Windstopper tights it doubles up the elastic you're pushing against every stroke.  It also doubles up the thickness of cloth behind your knee.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hellymedic on 02 February, 2023, 04:09:29 pm
You can view x-rays posted on social media better than you ever did at work...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 02 February, 2023, 06:01:11 pm
You can view x-rays posted on social media better than you ever did at work...

I've suddenly realised those lightbox things for viewing x-ray films have gone the way of the floppy disk drive without anyone really noticing...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Hot Flatus on 02 February, 2023, 06:06:28 pm
When you try and learn to use new pieces of software and you don't even notice various control buttons, let alone press them to see what happens.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Polar Bear on 02 February, 2023, 06:07:22 pm
Lots of people that you know are retiring ...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hellymedic on 02 February, 2023, 10:16:15 pm
You can view x-rays posted on social media better than you ever did at work...

I've suddenly realised those lightbox things for viewing x-ray films have gone the way of the floppy disk drive without anyone really noticing...

Someone Tweeted an image which I was able to enlarge and view MUCH better than I ever had with 'wet films'.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hellymedic on 02 February, 2023, 10:42:42 pm
You have to tell folk on Twitter how to tell a cooked egg's hardness by spinning it.

I thought *everyone* knew this.

They don't! 
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: perpetual dan on 03 February, 2023, 07:45:58 am
You have to tell folk on Twitter how to tell a cooked egg's hardness by spinning it.

I thought *everyone* knew this.

They don't!
Today I learnt. There again mostly I scramble them.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 03 February, 2023, 01:07:20 pm
New coffee machine supposedly goes beep on entering temperature-setting mode. Supposedly.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 08 February, 2023, 02:31:41 pm
...you understand Jeremy Clarkson's references to obsolete technology:
Quote
"But there's something you don't know about James. He virtually lives in the socialist cesspit that is Twitter, where he follows not just Sir Starmer but also the deranged London Mayor, Sadiq Khan. He even follows that Cycling Mikey man who rides round London on his children's toy, videotaping anyone in a car who he thinks might be Tory.
From Clarkson's Sun column via road.cc
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 08 February, 2023, 06:34:19 pm
Twitter, or the videotape?   :)

Meanwhile, I've just learned that the freedb.org CDDB database is no longer a thing (https://gnudb.org/).  How is my CD player supposed to work out what the tracks are now?

This is definitely a middle-aged problem, as can be confirmed by that list of discs.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: tonyh on 08 February, 2023, 06:49:49 pm
… you can’t find the other sock, because you’ve put both socks on the same foot.
(In “my friend’s” defence, all his socks are black, and he was attempting to put on a second pair.)
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Tim Hall on 08 February, 2023, 06:56:21 pm
Twitter, or the videotape?   :)

Meanwhile, I've just learned that the freedb.org CDDB database is no longer a thing (https://gnudb.org/).  How is my CD player supposed to work out what the tracks are now?

This is definitely a middle-aged problem, as can be confirmed by that list of discs.
https://musicbrainz.org/ (https://musicbrainz.org/) any good?
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Mrs Pingu on 08 February, 2023, 07:13:23 pm
Twitter, or the videotape?   :)

Meanwhile, I've just learned that the freedb.org CDDB database is no longer a thing (https://gnudb.org/).  How is my CD player supposed to work out what the tracks are now?

This is definitely a middle-aged problem, as can be confirmed by that list of discs.

Just saw something on Mastodon that I have hopefully just tooted in your direction.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 08 February, 2023, 07:30:08 pm
Twitter, or the videotape?   :)

Meanwhile, I've just learned that the freedb.org CDDB database is no longer a thing (https://gnudb.org/).  How is my CD player supposed to work out what the tracks are now?

This is definitely a middle-aged problem, as can be confirmed by that list of discs.

Just saw something on Mastodon that I have hopefully just tooted in your direction.

Yes, that's where I learned that freedb was no more...  Bonus points if you saw it because I boosted it.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 08 February, 2023, 07:42:19 pm
Surely having a CD collection is in itself a sign of middle age? Never mind the Nevermind.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: andrewc on 08 February, 2023, 09:58:16 pm
Surely having a CD collection is in itself a sign of middle age? Never mind the Nevermind.


Does having a large rack of "vinyls" and the equipment to play them qualify me as a youthful hipster type ?
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Lightning Phil on 08 February, 2023, 10:10:20 pm
Is there a linguistic term for the effect where words lose their technical meanings as they become part of everyday vocabulary?  'Digital' is a prime example, but 'FM' probably qualifies.

The next one to fall victim to this seems to be 'WiFi', which is losing its IEEE 802.11 implication, to become a generic term for wireless internet access (no longer distinct from cellular connections), or possibly even internet connectivity in general (the perpetrators likely being unaware of wired networking).

I recently came across a gootube video of a youngen who had found the secret to a reliable wifi connection for gaming.

His secret?

An ethernet cable...

J
Interesting, I found that the best Internet at work is to be founf on the WiFi and not the cable, 20mbps vs 2...

I suspect the cabling predates cat 5

Sent from my IV2201 using Tapatalk

20 mbps whilst only one person is using your nearest Wi-Fi access point …
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Lightning Phil on 08 February, 2023, 10:11:36 pm
Lots of people that you know are retiring ...

Jeremy Hunt wants you off the golf course.  Why, is he getting held up during his round?
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 09 February, 2023, 08:55:24 am
Surely having a CD collection is in itself a sign of middle age? Never mind the Nevermind.


Does having a large rack of "vinyls" and the equipment to play them qualify me as a youthful hipster type ?
No.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: TheLurker on 09 February, 2023, 03:19:05 pm
Quote from: Cudzoziemiec
Quote from: andrewc
Quote from: Cudzoziemiec
Surely having a CD collection is in itself a sign of middle age? Never mind the Nevermind.


Does having a large rack of "vinyls" and the equipment to play them qualify me as a youthful hipster type ?
No.
Oh.  Another delusion shattered.  *sniff*
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Pingu on 10 February, 2023, 12:06:50 am
My PussBook feed has loadsa shitverts for vinyl  :demon:
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 10 February, 2023, 08:59:30 am
I've never been quite sure what hipster meant.  First time I saw it was on a label on a pair of jeans with the waistline so low you'd get builder's cleavage standing up straight. Apparently it now refers to something else.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: CrazyEnglishTriathlete on 10 February, 2023, 01:54:53 pm
Lots of people that you know are retiring ...

Retiring?  In middle-age.  That will be a thing of the past.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hubner on 10 February, 2023, 09:21:05 pm
Quote from: Cudzoziemiec
Quote from: andrewc
Quote from: Cudzoziemiec
Surely having a CD collection is in itself a sign of middle age? Never mind the Nevermind.


Does having a large rack of "vinyls" and the equipment to play them qualify me as a youthful hipster type ?
No.
Oh.  Another delusion shattered.  *sniff*

Wait a few years and CDs will became hip, but only if you weren't around the first time round.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: rafletcher on 10 February, 2023, 09:25:39 pm
When your hair and beard trimming extends to eyebrows, ears and nostrils.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 10 February, 2023, 09:37:11 pm
Quote from: Cudzoziemiec
Quote from: andrewc
Quote from: Cudzoziemiec
Surely having a CD collection is in itself a sign of middle age? Never mind the Nevermind.


Does having a large rack of "vinyls" and the equipment to play them qualify me as a youthful hipster type ?
No.
Oh.  Another delusion shattered.  *sniff*

Wait a few years and CDs will became hip, but only if you weren't around the first time round.
We've already had cassettes becoming hip, but it didn't last long because, whatever the power of nostalgia and/or retro projected fantasy, they're fundamentally a bit crap.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Hot Flatus on 10 February, 2023, 09:54:00 pm
Quote from: Cudzoziemiec
Quote from: andrewc
Quote from: Cudzoziemiec
Surely having a CD collection is in itself a sign of middle age? Never mind the Nevermind.


Does having a large rack of "vinyls" and the equipment to play them qualify me as a youthful hipster type ?
No.
Oh.  Another delusion shattered.  *sniff*

Wait a few years and CDs will became hip, but only if you weren't around the first time round.
We've already had cassettes becoming hip, but it didn't last long because, whatever the power of nostalgia and/or retro projected fantasy, they're fundamentally a bit crap.

Who can forget those moments of quizzical amusement as your cassette player seemed to take on a life of its own, momentarily possessed, before the horrific realisation that the machine was stretching and chewing up your favourite album
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 10 February, 2023, 09:57:49 pm
Whereas CDs are basically a pretty decent way of storing recorded music, so although we're probably a way off them becoming hip yet, it will happen and they will stick around. Probably.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Pingu on 10 February, 2023, 10:43:08 pm
When your hair and beard trimming extends to eyebrows, ears and nostrils.

Is that a hipster?
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: robgul on 11 February, 2023, 08:06:00 am
Quote from: Cudzoziemiec
Quote from: andrewc
Quote from: Cudzoziemiec
Surely having a CD collection is in itself a sign of middle age? Never mind the Nevermind.


Does having a large rack of "vinyls" and the equipment to play them qualify me as a youthful hipster type ?
No.
Oh.  Another delusion shattered.  *sniff*

Wait a few years and CDs will became hip, but only if you weren't around the first time round.
We've already had cassettes becoming hip, but it didn't last long because, whatever the power of nostalgia and/or retro projected fantasy, they're fundamentally a bit crap.

Who can forget those moments of quizzical amusement as your cassette player seemed to take on a life of its own, momentarily possessed, before the horrific realisation that the machine was stretching and chewing up your favourite album

. . .  and then sitting in a traffic jam on a dual carriageway with all the discarded cassette tapes littering the central reservation along with Coke cans and fag packets
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 11 February, 2023, 12:54:54 pm
. . .  and then sitting in a traffic jam on a dual carriageway with all the discarded cassette tapes littering the central reservation along with Coke cans and fag packets

It's been a while since I saw any unspooled tape at the roadside.  And the last time was VHS, from an organised fly-tipping effort.

Roadkill USB cables are now fulfilling the same ecological niche.

You do still get the odd CD from time to time...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 11 February, 2023, 04:44:28 pm
. . .  and then sitting in a traffic jam on a dual carriageway with all the discarded cassette tapes littering the central reservation...

All of them Queen's Greatest Hits.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Lightning Phil on 11 February, 2023, 04:48:12 pm
. . .  and then sitting in a traffic jam on a dual carriageway with all the discarded cassette tapes littering the central reservation...

All of them Queen's Greatest Hits.

Is this the reel life …
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 16 February, 2023, 10:49:21 am
Geriatric millenial? Dark night of the shed? (https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/feb/16/whatever-happened-to-middle-age-the-mysterious-case-of-the-disappearing-life-stage)
Further proof that the Grauniad is written by scanning old YACF threads.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 16 February, 2023, 04:19:45 pm
Geriatric millenial? Dark night of the shed? (https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/feb/16/whatever-happened-to-middle-age-the-mysterious-case-of-the-disappearing-life-stage)
Further proof that the Grauniad is written by scanning old YACF threads.

Dunno about middle-aged, but Madonna has definitely decamped to Uncanny Valley:

(https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/21965b35a97b3031c9e4f8aead04dee9e5dd8f13/0_111_2735_1640/master/2735.jpg?width=620&quality=85&dpr=1&s=none)
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Hot Flatus on 16 February, 2023, 04:27:02 pm
When it gets to about 4 o'clock and you have to go and give it a bit of a wipe
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Ian H on 16 February, 2023, 05:45:22 pm
When it gets to about 4 o'clock and you have to go and give it a bit of a wipe

What?  The clock?  You need one with bigger numerals.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 23 February, 2023, 07:26:22 am
When you pick up the milk to make your breakfast cappuccino and just stop short of pouring it into the grinder.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: barakta on 23 February, 2023, 12:35:45 pm
I poured boiled kettle water into my shreddies last week. I am blaming being ill!
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 23 February, 2023, 12:36:59 pm
I poured boiled kettle water into my shreddies last week. I am blaming being ill!
Boil wash for your undies?
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 23 February, 2023, 02:34:39 pm
I poured boiled kettle water into my shreddies last week. I am blaming being ill!

Aye, but you can get better.  Only one cure for anno domini.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 23 February, 2023, 02:38:18 pm
I poured boiled kettle water into my shreddies last week. I am blaming being ill!

At least you remembered to boil the kettle...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Lightning Phil on 23 February, 2023, 02:42:09 pm
Geriatric millenial? Dark night of the shed? (https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/feb/16/whatever-happened-to-middle-age-the-mysterious-case-of-the-disappearing-life-stage)
Further proof that the Grauniad is written by scanning old YACF threads.

Dunno about middle-aged, but Madonna has definitely decamped to Uncanny Valley:

(https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/21965b35a97b3031c9e4f8aead04dee9e5dd8f13/0_111_2735_1640/master/2735.jpg?width=620&quality=85&dpr=1&s=none)

Blimey, can she stretch the rubber mask any tighter?
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Hot Flatus on 23 February, 2023, 07:25:07 pm
She looks better than pretty much any 64 year old man I can think of.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 02 March, 2023, 11:21:10 am
Waiting in the LBS yesterday I found myself admiring their rather wonderful Park workstands, one of which appeared to be motorized, doubtless for dealing with eBikes.  The techie using one saw me watching. I wanted to say "great workstand" but I couldn't remember the French expression.

Remembered it once home: "pied d'atelier", which a translation program might well render as "studio foot".  Aargh.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: robgul on 07 March, 2023, 08:54:08 am
When refitting a bathroom you install a "comfort height" toilet pan.


My excuse is that I'm tall . . .  and only class myself, at 75, as being "late middle-aged"
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 07 March, 2023, 09:47:45 am
And I class myself as "too-late middle-aged".

Haven't done anything specifically middle-aged today (yet) but I just spent 10 minutes trying to fit a chain with the bike standing on the floor because it was hard to see anything and it was murdering my back.  Ended up moving to the studio foot to finish.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Beardy on 07 March, 2023, 01:08:00 pm
The think you thought would be good to add to this thread has been forgotten by the time you find your fondleslab
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Canardly on 08 March, 2023, 11:36:12 pm
Eh?
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 09 March, 2023, 08:14:37 am
Not sure it's a sign of middle age impending senility or not, but I came to "While you were away" this morning after finishing yesterday's cryptic in the Graun and started reading the thread titles as if they were clues.

"Chinese cultural norms for baby care"... OK, how many letters?

Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Andy W on 09 March, 2023, 08:39:36 pm
When im attempting to carry out bike maintenance in the garage, with the door closed because of the cold weather ,2 flourescent lights not ample so i have  Makita battery powered high power lights as well, wearing reading glasses, and because im no longer supple and have diminished fine motor skills, im becoming slower, even grumpier than i ever imagined.
I get there in the end , but close up fine work is more challenging. Now, when i go for a solo night ride in the countryside i dread getting a puncture. Ah well, hop on the turbo and listen to Boom Radio!
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 10 March, 2023, 09:31:53 am
When im attempting to carry out bike maintenance in the garage, with the door closed because of the cold weather ,2 flourescent lights not ample so i have  Makita battery powered high power lights as well, wearing reading glasses, and because im no longer supple and have diminished fine motor skills, im becoming slower, even grumpier than i ever imagined.
I get there in the end , but close up fine work is more challenging. Now, when i go for a solo night ride in the countryside i dread getting a puncture. Ah well, hop on the turbo and listen to Boom Radio!

Dunno what kind of riding you're doing, but last year I got around 6500 km out of a pair of Schwalbe Durano Plus tyres.  I have Slime tubes in them but there were no green splats in the casing when I changed the rear last month.  The old tyre still had tread visible on the contact surface but the overall profile had got a bit "squared-off". There was still as much rubber on it as there was on a new GP4000 (RIP), though.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 14 March, 2023, 10:09:04 am
When you go to put the new insurance certificate (wee green thing like a large stamp here) in the holder on the windscreen and discover that the one already in there expired a year ago.
Title: Re: You know you're a decripit old fart when
Post by: T42 on 16 April, 2023, 10:28:57 am
You can't remember what it was you were trying to remember just now.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 20 April, 2023, 04:18:19 pm
Middle age ends somewhere before 55. It's official, I've just read it in the Grauniad.
Quote
The machine I’m currently using was supplied by my partner and has extra big buttons designed for sight-impaired folk, or elderly folk such as myself.” Carole, 55, Huddersfield
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/apr/20/fun-way-consume-music-why-sales-of-cassette-tapes-soaring
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 20 April, 2023, 11:48:00 pm
You know you're middle aged when the presbycusis makes cassette tape sounds decent...

(This is a bit unfair to the medium.  We tend to associate cassette with Woolies C90 mix tapes, Walkmans with dying batteries, dictation-oriented recorders from the 1970s and albums turning into Queen's Greatest Hits because they've been in the car too long.  But if you used a good quality tape on a machine with Dolby S, the results were surprisingly good.)
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 21 April, 2023, 08:51:57 am
Cassettes were my main mode of music listening in the 80s and 90s, because they were cheaper than CDs, I didn't have a CD player, and they were more portable than vinyl. But from my present point of view, they offer poor sound quality and are reminiscent of the past of recorded music without some of its best aspects, such as the album sleeve artwork and the visual qualities of vinyl (and to a lesser extent CDs) themselves.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 21 April, 2023, 01:19:24 pm
I only really discovered music some time after my parents had a CD player, so my MO was to buy (or more usually, borrow) albums on CD (which wasn't significantly more expensive than cassette) and immediately copy them to cassette for my own use, on the basis that tapes get eaten and I'd probably own a CD player eventually.  By my late teens I owned a Minidisc[1] recorder and a CD-ROM drive, so cassette was functionally relegated to playing music in the car.  Or would have been if I'd had a car.


[1] An underappreciated format that set out to do everything cassette did but better, and succeeded.  Unfortunate that it was rendered obsolete by Moore's Law a few years later.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: MattH on 21 April, 2023, 02:34:31 pm
I tended to buy music on vinyl, then record onto my own cassettes for use in the car/walkman/whatever. Maxell XLII (or XLIIS if I was feeling flush) Chrome blanks were pretty expensive and not massively cheaper than a prerecorded tape, but sounded far better.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: FifeingEejit on 21 April, 2023, 02:46:35 pm
I only really discovered music some time after my parents had a CD player, so my MO was to buy (or more usually, borrow) albums on CD (which wasn't significantly more expensive than cassette) and immediately copy them to cassette for my own use, on the basis that tapes get eaten and I'd probably own a CD player eventually.  By my late teens I owned a Minidisc[1] recorder and a CD-ROM drive, so cassette was functionally relegated to playing music in the car.  Or would have been if I'd had a car.


[1] An underappreciated format that set out to do everything cassette did but better, and succeeded.  Unfortunate that it was rendered obsolete by Moore's Law a few years later.

The history of the MiniDisc is much more interesting than it appears from Western European/USAnian eyes
Annoyingly I can't find the article about it's purpose in Japanese music retail/rental.

I used MDs in the car until Summer last year cos I got a new car forcing me to use USB and miniDisc players on e-bay being stupidly expensive. (My two portable that I could connect over an FM thingy, one has a dodgy anti-skip memory and the other a duff battery bay)
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 21 April, 2023, 03:07:43 pm
The history of the MiniDisc is much more interesting than it appears from Western European/USAnian eyes
Annoyingly I can't find the article about it's purpose in Japanese music retail/rental.

Yes, they actually bought the pre-recorded ones over there, which was basically unheard of in the West. 

Over here it was the recordability that was the killer feature, and it took years for the price to reach a level where it became a mainstream consumer product rather than a no-brainer replacement for Fidelipac and loops of open-reel tape in professional applications.  In its heyday playback-only walkmans were common here, but they were always backed up by access to a recorder.  I think I've encountered exactly one pre-recorded MD in the wild, and that was bundled with a MZ-1 (which dates it to before MD became mainstream).

There's probably a parallel universe where the data version wasn't made deliberately incompatible with the audio discs and it became the de-facto standard of the pre-flash-memory era rather then Iomega Zip.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ian on 21 April, 2023, 09:19:22 pm
I'm still pleased to say that our car still has a cassette player (the only one in our possession, unless there's something buried under the VHS player in the loft). That said, I think that's only there because Ford wanted to punish us for buying their cheapest car.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 21 April, 2023, 09:25:26 pm
That's quite an achievement, ian. Even my last car (sold 2007) had a CD player.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 21 April, 2023, 09:34:51 pm
I think I may have re-installed the OEM cassette player in my last car before selling it at around the same time.

The CD player (which was posh and could play MP3s from CD-Rs and SD cards) languished in a box along with the 'never again' voltmeter for a few years, until I decided that if I were to end up owning another motor vehicle it would be far enough in the future that there wouldn't be anywhere to install it.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ian on 21 April, 2023, 09:40:04 pm
That's quite an achievement, ian. Even my last car (sold 2007) had a CD player.

If I recall we bought the car brand new in 2006, so definitely punishment for our parsimony by Ford. Henry would have been on our side.

That said we never listen to music in the car because we sing. It's a glorious thing. The musicals we've written and forgotten.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 21 April, 2023, 09:41:53 pm
CD players seem to break down a lot IME. The one in that car didn't work. I don't think it worked when we bought the car and it definitely didn't work when we sold it (but the bloke who bought it didn't notice). The one in the Sony hifi that has somehow followed us through multiple house moves since ~2002 gave up the ghost about a decade ago, but the radio and cassette player still work. We don't have any cassettes now though... And the cheapo portable CD player I bought to replace it doesn't work too well either. Oh, and the one in the bookchazzer where I occasionally pretend to help, which is a rather posh separates set-up (can't remember the brand, but no directional cables or deoxygenated copper USB ports) swallows CDs.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ian on 21 April, 2023, 09:49:05 pm
I have a duffel bag of cassette mix tapes in the loft, basically uranium-dense nostalgia and a catalogue of now demised relationships. You probably can't explain to young people the ceremonial courtship exchange of mix tapes that had to happen before you came close to exchanging bodily fluids. Never mind the coruscating judgement as she leisurely inspected your taste in sonic entertainment. So much work would go into the selection of the tunes, knowing that any single one could trip you up. One mistake and you definitely weren't getting any. Well, I liked Rock Me Amadeus.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Mr Larrington on 21 April, 2023, 09:53:19 pm
I have one of those folding crates full of C90s under the desk in the Estate Office.  Not from misplaced nostalgia but rather because it's the exact size and density to stop the pedals attached to the PC in there from sliding forwards under heavy braking.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 21 April, 2023, 09:55:10 pm
I lost count of the number of computer optical drives I've managed to kill over the years.  I had a second-hand 2x SCSI CD writer that was utterly bulletproof, but everything since seems to have stopped recognising discs or turned into a coaster factory at some point.  (Special award for the one that could only read the discs it had burned itself.  Something must have been badly out of spec.)  I recall dismantling a dead one (I think in the hope of scavenging a motor for something or other) and discovering a disc that I'd ostensibly lost a couple of years previously had become permanently wedged in the space above the tray mechanism, without imparing its function.

That said, it's not like cheap cassette mechanisms were a paragon of reliability either.  They had the analogue advantage of some failure modes causing them to sound bad rather than stop working entirely, but that doesn't excuse the ones that turned your favourite tape to salad, or a faulty eject button meaning you had to listen to Abba: The Album over and over until your parents bought a new car.

VHS deserves special mention for being far more robust than it had any right to be.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 21 April, 2023, 09:57:57 pm
I have one of those folding crates full of C90s under the desk in the Estate Office.  Not from misplaced nostalgia but rather because it's the exact size and density to stop the pedals attached to the PC in there from sliding forwards under heavy braking.

Similarly, barakta has a SPARCStation on ergonomic foot-rest duty.  It probably still works, but it's hard to tell as we got rid of the associated monitor years ago because I wasn't happy with keeping that much depleted uranium in the house.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Adam on 03 May, 2023, 07:58:31 pm
I'm sure other people have posted this one before, and no doubt everyone apart from me realised it anyway, but I was surprised to discover that I'll qualify for free prescriptions from next month when I'm 60. 

I thought it was 65.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 26 May, 2023, 01:15:02 pm
...when you stop noticing that your knee hurts and start noticing when it doesn't.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Mrs Pingu on 07 October, 2023, 07:06:05 pm
When you decide you need to invest in a vacuum cleaner for upstairs.
It's only a matter of time before I batter the feck out of the walls humphing the current one up the stairwell.
(In my defense we never had an upstairs to hoover before).
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Canardly on 07 October, 2023, 07:42:54 pm
Oh how true lol...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 07 October, 2023, 08:11:35 pm
When you decide you need to invest in a vacuum cleaner for upstairs.
It's only a matter of time before I batter the feck out of the walls humphing the current one up the stairwell.
(In my defense we never had an upstairs to hoover before).

Traditionally that one's self-solving, as you ought to inherit one from some deceased relation in your parents generation at around the same time.  Of course, it only works properly when vacuum cleaners last forever as long as they're fed enough bags and belts, and maybe have their motor re-wound by the nice man in the little shop every couple of decades.  Nobody wants to inherit a well-worn Dyson.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: robgul on 07 October, 2023, 08:16:45 pm
When you decide you need to invest in a vacuum cleaner for upstairs.
It's only a matter of time before I batter the feck out of the walls humphing the current one up the stairwell.
(In my defense we never had an upstairs to hoover before).

Or compromise with a "big one" and a "small portable one" - we seem to have a corded upright Dyson and a cordless sort of stick Dyson (my wife likes Dyson, I don't - all design and poor function)

My workshop sports a Henry (that also powers the woodwork dust extraction system) and cordless Einhell using the same battery as a lot of the power tools.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: TheLurker on 07 October, 2023, 08:37:02 pm
Quote from: Kim
,,,Nobody wants to inherit a well-worn Dyson.
FTFY
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Mrs Pingu on 07 October, 2023, 08:38:49 pm
To be fair to Dyson, mine's been going strong for the thick end of 20 years (ok, it needed a new motor this year) and I really like it. Probably helps that I'm a slutty housewife and don't hoover often enough, though it has had to deal with a LOT of car hair.
We have a handheld Dyson from before they went all stick cordless, it's alright for spot jobs and the car but I don't think I'd like one for proper hoovering, plus it's noisy as hell. I'm thinking of going for one of the more recent small ball models.
I wouldn't buy a new one though cos he's a filthy Brexiter.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Mr Larrington on 07 October, 2023, 08:57:41 pm
Car hair?

(https://i.chzbgr.com/full/7797703168/h7EF4F31E/furry-car)
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Mrs Pingu on 07 October, 2023, 09:58:45 pm
 ;D
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 08 October, 2023, 08:47:55 am
I'm imagining what that would have looked like after 500k on the autoroute 30 years ago, before we killed off all the bugs.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Asterix, the former Gaul. on 08 October, 2023, 09:50:05 am
..you remember bugs.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 08 October, 2023, 09:54:26 am
Dear God, was it that long ago?   :o
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: TheLurker on 08 October, 2023, 02:30:55 pm
Quote from: Mrs Pingu
To be fair to Dyson, mine's been going strong for the thick end of 20 years (ok, it needed a new motor this year) and I really like it.
We had a series of Dyson's hoovers (hee hee) the first one, about 25 years ago was good.  It died after a DIY *ahem* incident.  Who knew that much plaster dust was bad for hoovers?  Not me.  Anyway, we got another, it wasn't as good as the first, but it was still OK.  I won't go any further as you can see where this is going, can't you?  TLDR; I wouldn't give a new Dyson house room.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: rafletcher on 08 October, 2023, 03:31:18 pm
We junked the Dyson we had as its weight was a pain up and down a narrow staircase. Got a Bosch Athlet. Nicely balanced and my wife liked it, but it, and the next one, suffered from a common fault where the connector between the 2 parts of the handle fails. Plus it was nigh on impossible for me, let alone my wife, to get the brush head off to use attachments. We now have a VAX cordless. Not as well balanced (too heavy) and a small dust container, but effective, and dead easy to swap bits about, making for a good handheld for the car. I still get to tote it up and down the stairs (my wife at 79 doesn’t feel confident doing so, what with the stairs being 45 degrees with a 90 degree turn over 4 steps at the bottom) but that’s ok. And we have a Miele with a bag for spring cleaning and a Henry for soot and ash.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Giraffe on 08 October, 2023, 05:38:23 pm
I have: downstairs, upstairs and loft. Lazy buggers - never do any work, just leave all the muck around.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Asterix, the former Gaul. on 08 October, 2023, 09:47:48 pm
To be fair to Dyson, mine's been going strong for the thick end of 20 years (ok, it needed a new motor this year) and I really like it. Probably helps that I'm a slutty housewife and don't hoover often enough, though it has had to deal with a LOT of car hair.
We have a handheld Dyson from before they went all stick cordless, it's alright for spot jobs and the car but I don't think I'd like one for proper hoovering, plus it's noisy as hell. I'm thinking of going for one of the more recent small ball models.
I wouldn't buy a new one though cos he's a filthy Brexiter.

They don’t make ‘em like they used to, you know. 

I like my old Henry - much more powerful than new ones, a destroyer of worlds, it is..
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: De Sisti on 08 October, 2023, 10:10:29 pm
I have a VAX model 121 (https://support.vax.co.uk/121-multifunction-vacuum-cleaners), purchased in 1989 that is still going strong.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Asterix, the former Gaul. on 09 October, 2023, 08:56:32 am
I have a VAX model 121 (https://support.vax.co.uk/121-multifunction-vacuum-cleaners), purchased in 1989 that is still going strong.

Five castor model, nice bit of kit.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 09 October, 2023, 09:30:43 am
I have a VAX model 121 (https://support.vax.co.uk/121-multifunction-vacuum-cleaners), purchased in 1989 that is still going strong.

Not running Windows then.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: MattH on 09 October, 2023, 10:03:49 am
You know you're middle aged when you get that joke :-)

I spend a lot of time at work with the youngsters looking confused and pityingly at me and similar aged colleagues when we make comments like that.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ian on 09 October, 2023, 10:27:04 am
Solve the Dyson problem by getting a cleaner. Never really had an issue with the Dyson, but it weighs more than a busload of sumo wrestlers and basically doubled the time it took to vacuum the house. The cleaner uses a Henry which everyone raves about, but we have a little cordless Vax blade thing that, from my occasional forays into cleaning when I or the cats knock something over, certainly gets a lot more stuff out of the carpet than the cleaner and her Henry.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: De Sisti on 09 October, 2023, 11:06:17 am
I have a VAX model 121 (https://support.vax.co.uk/121-multifunction-vacuum-cleaners), purchased in 1989 that is still going strong.

Not running Windows then.
??? ???
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ian on 09 October, 2023, 11:12:12 am
Computer joke, your honour (VAX was a type of computer from DEC, once the most popular in the world, before it lost out to generic Unix systems and eventually consumer OSs like Windows).
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 09 October, 2023, 11:27:06 am
 ;D ;D ;D
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ian on 09 October, 2023, 11:34:33 am
I think my first interaction with a grown-up computer was VAX/VMS – ed.ac.uk – I think they moved to Unix soon afterwards. None of it was very friendly for non-nerds.

Well, we did have four BBC Model Bs at school, but grubby pupils weren't allowed to touch them unsupervised. I never got as close as the same classroom. Actually, I tell a lie, my supervisor during my degree let me borrow his little Mac to write up my project, the alternative was booking 30-minute sessions in the library computer 'lab.' Wordperfect before WYSIWYG, with the keyboard function key decoder for formatting.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: De Sisti on 09 October, 2023, 12:05:59 pm
Computer joke, your honour (VAX was a type of computer from DEC, once the most popular in the world, before it lost out to generic Unix systems and eventually consumer OSs like Windows).
I'm not computer literate, so thanks for the explanation.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: TheLurker on 10 October, 2023, 08:29:26 pm
Quote from: ian
Solve the Dyson problem by getting a cleaner...cordless Vax blade thing that, from my occasional forays into cleaning ...certainly gets a lot more stuff out of the carpet than the cleaner and her Henry.
Ermm.  That rather suggests the whole, "Get a cleaner" thing isn't quite working as you might expect?
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: tom_e on 11 October, 2023, 04:36:21 pm
Quote from: ian
Solve the Dyson problem by getting a cleaner...cordless Vax blade thing that, from my occasional forays into cleaning ...certainly gets a lot more stuff out of the carpet than the cleaner and her Henry.
Ermm.  That rather suggests the whole, "Get a cleaner" thing isn't quite working as you might expect?

I'm guessing the "my occasional forays" bit may be key to understanding why the cleaner is more satisfying and effective, even if they don't suck quite as hard.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Mrs Pingu on 13 October, 2023, 11:43:08 pm
Messaged the local bloke who fixed our Dyson a year ago when it made magic smoke and he has several 'light balls' for 50 squids so that'll do.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 14 October, 2023, 09:24:17 am
When your son turns 50 and complains of arthritis.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ian on 15 October, 2023, 05:39:49 pm
Quote from: ian
Solve the Dyson problem by getting a cleaner...cordless Vax blade thing that, from my occasional forays into cleaning ...certainly gets a lot more stuff out of the carpet than the cleaner and her Henry.
Ermm.  That rather suggests the whole, "Get a cleaner" thing isn't quite working as you might expect?

I'm guessing the "my occasional forays" bit may be key to understanding why the cleaner is more satisfying and effective, even if they don't suck quite as hard.

The cleaner is called Karen and the vacuum is Henry. Hth!
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: vorsprung on 15 October, 2023, 09:44:57 pm
You know you're middle aged when you get that joke :-)

I spend a lot of time at work with the youngsters looking confused and pityingly at me and similar aged colleagues when we make comments like that.

I think a bit older than actual middle aged
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 02 November, 2023, 04:06:36 pm
When there is a request for "someone young" to lift a heavy object out of a car boot and you realize that, in context, that means you.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: mrcharly-YHT on 02 November, 2023, 04:55:23 pm
When there is a request for "someone young" to lift a heavy object out of a car boot and you realize that, in context, that means you.
I think you are middle aged when it is you that is making the request.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 02 November, 2023, 05:18:59 pm
When there is a request for "someone young" to lift a heavy object out of a car boot and you realize that, in context, that means you.
I think you are middle aged when it is you that is making the request.
The person making the request was well into her 70s.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 02 November, 2023, 05:24:04 pm
I seem to find myself asking people to 'do some manly lifting' and/or 'apply a bit of ham-fisted monkey-force to that' a lot more in recent years.  I think my arms are getting noodly.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: hubner on 02 November, 2023, 09:03:39 pm
I think I've said it or something similar already somewhere in this thread, this thread's title should be "You know you're past middle aged when".

 ;D
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Mr Larrington on 03 November, 2023, 12:25:46 am
I seem to find myself asking people to 'do some manly lifting' and/or 'apply a bit of ham-fisted monkey-force to that' a lot more in recent years.  I think my arms are getting noodly.

Kim has noodly appendages?  :o
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 03 November, 2023, 07:15:29 am
I seem to find myself asking people to 'do some manly lifting' and/or 'apply a bit of ham-fisted monkey-force to that' a lot more in recent years.  I think my arms are getting noodly.

Wait until you buy something that weighs ~5 kg and they offer to carry it out to your car. :(
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Regulator on 03 November, 2023, 10:01:30 am
Three days of squat focused work in the gym and my thighs feel as if I'm in my 80s...
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Lightning Phil on 03 November, 2023, 10:30:17 am
I have a VAX model 121 (https://support.vax.co.uk/121-multifunction-vacuum-cleaners), purchased in 1989 that is still going strong.

Others just DOS round the house
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: mrcharly-YHT on 03 November, 2023, 11:40:11 am
I seem to find myself asking people to 'do some manly lifting' and/or 'apply a bit of ham-fisted monkey-force to that' a lot more in recent years.  I think my arms are getting noodly.

Kim has noodly appendages?  :o

All hail they and their noodly appendages!
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 03 November, 2023, 12:34:51 pm
I seem to find myself asking people to 'do some manly lifting' and/or 'apply a bit of ham-fisted monkey-force to that' a lot more in recent years.  I think my arms are getting noodly.

Wait until you buy something that weighs ~5 kg and they offer to carry it out to your car. :(

That happened when I bought our (subject of rants passim) microwave.  I took great delight in telling them that I'd come by bicycle.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Regulator on 03 November, 2023, 12:47:54 pm
I seem to find myself asking people to 'do some manly lifting' and/or 'apply a bit of ham-fisted monkey-force to that' a lot more in recent years.  I think my arms are getting noodly.

Wait until you buy something that weighs ~5 kg and they offer to carry it out to your car. :(

That happened when I bought our (subject of rants passim) microwave. I took great delight in telling them that I'd come by bicycle.

Adapted for the noodly appendages?
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 03 November, 2023, 12:52:57 pm
I seem to find myself asking people to 'do some manly lifting' and/or 'apply a bit of ham-fisted monkey-force to that' a lot more in recent years.  I think my arms are getting noodly.

Wait until you buy something that weighs ~5 kg and they offer to carry it out to your car. :(

That happened when I bought our (subject of rants passim) microwave.  I took great delight in telling them that I'd come by bicycle.
I remember someone otp, I'm afraid I can't remember who, saying that next time shop staff offered to "carry it to your car for you", they'd accept and just keep them walking till they reached their car, which was of course parked in front of their house at the time.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 04 November, 2023, 07:25:10 am
This seems appropriate:

(https://pbase.com/johnewing/image/151017709.jpg)

Jesus, missus, did you say the white car?
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 07 November, 2023, 06:26:18 pm
Middle-aged people in the past looked like old people today.
Quote
Just a few days before New Year’s Eve in 2019, as a world-altering pandemic was silently brewing, former baseball pitcher Brandon McCarthy tweeted, “this is nonsense but did people in the past look older when they were younger?” The floodgates were opened, with Twitter users sharing old photos of their mature-looking parents accompanied by a shockingly young age. A balding man looking not unlike George W. Bush during his presidency was 23. A woman with a haircut now associated with the elderly is said to be in her 40s. A man hugging a child clearly looks to be in his 70s… but he is only 45 in the photo, and the child is his son.

https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/critical-thinking-history-general-science/we-used-look-older
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Peter on 07 November, 2023, 06:33:46 pm
Twenty year-olds in cavalry twill trousers.  It really happened.  I was there.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: spesh on 07 November, 2023, 06:52:28 pm
Middle-aged people in the past looked like old people today.
Quote
Just a few days before New Year’s Eve in 2019, as a world-altering pandemic was silently brewing, former baseball pitcher Brandon McCarthy tweeted, “this is nonsense but did people in the past look older when they were younger?” The floodgates were opened, with Twitter users sharing old photos of their mature-looking parents accompanied by a shockingly young age. A balding man looking not unlike George W. Bush during his presidency was 23. A woman with a haircut now associated with the elderly is said to be in her 40s. A man hugging a child clearly looks to be in his 70s… but he is only 45 in the photo, and the child is his son.

https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/critical-thinking-history-general-science/we-used-look-older

1980s footballers aging badly, anyone?  :D

https://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=117443.0
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Mr Larrington on 07 November, 2023, 06:53:52 pm
Twenty year-olds in cavalry twill trousers.  It really happened.  I was there.

Peter, how many times do you have to be told not to hang around the Conservative Party conference :demon:
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Peter on 07 November, 2023, 07:04:06 pm
But I observe - I do not and never have, and never will, wear! ;)
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: road-runner on 05 December, 2023, 09:40:21 am
(https://i.imgur.com/Ttf9nmL.png)

I saw this and thought of this topic.
Title: Re: You know you're a decrepit old fart when
Post by: T42 on 05 December, 2023, 02:35:27 pm
When you reach the podiatrist's in good time for your appointment and realise that the 3 pairs of shoes he asked you to bring are still in the car, 10 minutes' walk away.  :facepalm:

Allasame, I managed to do it in both directions in time.

Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: andrewc on 05 December, 2023, 03:48:40 pm
I was at a concert last night & I'm pretty sure I was the youngest member of the audience !     I don't think the younger generation really dig chamber music....
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Basil on 05 December, 2023, 04:36:59 pm
(https://i.imgur.com/Ttf9nmL.png)

I saw this and thought of this topic.

Ouch!

But the good news is that I cannot develop early onset dementia.   It's far too late for 'early onset'.
 ;D
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: rafletcher on 05 December, 2023, 05:09:26 pm
You mention Formica to a (much younger) colleague, and they say “what’s that?” 
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 05 December, 2023, 05:31:25 pm
So you explain to them about the extraterrestrial invasions of the 1950s:

(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a1/Piatto_in_melammina.jpg/1280px-Piatto_in_melammina.jpg)
Formica UFO or "flying saucer"

(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/03/A_Formica_rufa_collecting.jpg)
Melamine ant which arrived on earth as a passenger on the Formica UFO.

Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: TheLurker on 05 December, 2023, 07:56:00 pm
Quote from: rafletcher
You mention Formica to a (much younger) colleague, and they say “what’s that?”
You can really confuse the little darlings when you start talking about counterpanes instead of duvets.  :)
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Basil on 05 December, 2023, 08:09:38 pm
I still occasionally refer to 'cross
bars'.
I mean, how can you give a crozzie on a top tube?
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: PhilO on 06 December, 2023, 01:38:37 pm
Oy! I still call 'em 'cross bars', and I'm...

er...

Ok. As you were...  :-[
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: rafletcher on 06 December, 2023, 03:55:15 pm
Quote from: rafletcher
You mention Formica to a (much younger) colleague, and they say “what’s that?”
You can really confuse the little darlings when you start talking about counterpanes instead of duvets.  :)

I'll try with eiderdown first I think!
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: andrewc on 06 December, 2023, 06:37:26 pm
Cellular blankets..... are those 4G or 5G ? 


Oh wow!  You can still buy them.  https://www.thewoolcompany.co.uk/products/wool-cellular-blanket
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Wowbagger on 06 December, 2023, 06:45:43 pm
Cellular blankets..... are those 4G or 5G ? 


Oh wow!  You can still buy them.  https://www.thewoolcompany.co.uk/products/wool-cellular-blanket

In our day we all buggered off to Brentford Nylons and bought our blankets for £notalot. I've forgotten whether I bought some for my house at college - I probably did - and they may well have transferred themselves into our married life. We certainly had some. I think the originals were blue, but I seem to recall that there were some lemon yellow ones as well.

Edit: Jan tells me the yellow ones arrived with us from my parents' house. I think we may still have them.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 06 December, 2023, 07:02:38 pm
Oh wow!  You can still buy them.  https://www.thewoolcompany.co.uk/products/wool-cellular-blanket

Cor, I used to suck my thumb with one of those when I was a small.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: robgul on 07 December, 2023, 07:49:19 am
Cellular blankets..... are those 4G or 5G ? 


Oh wow!  You can still buy them.  https://www.thewoolcompany.co.uk/products/wool-cellular-blanket

In our day we all buggered off to Brentford Nylons and bought our blankets for £notalot. I've forgotten whether I bought some for my house at college - I probably did - and they may well have transferred themselves into our married life. We certainly had some. I think the originals were blue, but I seem to recall that there were some lemon yellow ones as well.

Edit: Jan tells me the yellow ones arrived with us from my parents' house. I think we may still have them.

Brentford Nylons - a real rave from the grave - remember the TV ad for them where Alan Fluff Freeman drove an open-top Triumph Stag up onto the top of the Brentford Nylons building on the Great West Road? - and the very shiny Bri-nylon bed sheets.   

Ah, nostalgia,
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: road-runner on 07 December, 2023, 08:59:11 am
... remember the TV ad for them where Alan Fluff Freeman drove an open-top Triumph Stag up onto the top of the Brentford Nylons building on the Great West Road?

Not 'arf, pop pickers.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Jaded on 07 December, 2023, 05:40:43 pm
https://youtu.be/Jwl82kcFHZE
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: robgul on 08 December, 2023, 07:39:28 am
https://youtu.be/Jwl82kcFHZE

Brilliant - I hadn't got round to searching the tube - it had to be there!

. . . I assume the "mail order" terms were to send your cheque or postal order and allow 28 days for delivery?

. . . and while we're on old ads I was reminded of the Scotcade ads that first appeared in the Sunday Times in the late 60s/early 70s for all sorts of "luxury" items.  [I'm sure someone is going to find some images of them]
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 08 December, 2023, 07:51:10 am
I remember the ads from before that with Alan Freeman plugging Omo: "even white nylon stays white". And the ould bugger plucking at his own shirt to imply that he wore the stuff, though I can't imagine he'd tolerate it for more than 5 minutes after the shoot.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Mr Larrington on 08 December, 2023, 10:45:23 am
(https://c8.alamy.com/comp/EXREG6/1970s-uk-scotcade-magazine-advert-EXREG6.jpg)
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: T42 on 08 December, 2023, 02:02:38 pm
^^^ aye, and burnt-in TV screens.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Regulator on 12 December, 2023, 02:57:22 pm
Cellular blankets..... are those 4G or 5G ? 


Oh wow!  You can still buy them.  https://www.thewoolcompany.co.uk/products/wool-cellular-blanket

Cellular blankets are still widely used in the NHS.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: alfapete on 19 December, 2023, 03:07:50 pm
...you excitedly explain your analogy for the climate crisis being the final scene from Thelma and Louise. And the assembled young adults look blankly back at you - they'd not even HEARD of the film, less still were they familiar with the final scene.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: rafletcher on 19 December, 2023, 03:39:59 pm
You work out what the £10 payment from the DWP was all about.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: robgul on 19 December, 2023, 08:52:06 pm
You work out what the £10 payment from the DWP was all about.

I may be missing something here . . .  a quick Google suggests that the DWP £10 is payable if you receive the State Pension  .. . .   is that correct? 

I receive State Pension as my only "benefit"  (and have a letter saying I'm getting £500 Winter Fuel Allowance although I've not seen the money yet) . . . should I get the £10?  (I don't recall getting it in previous years - I can't access bank stuff before Jan 23 at the moment to check)
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Tod28 on 20 December, 2023, 01:51:36 pm
Yes, if you are in receipt of state pension.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Blazer on 20 December, 2023, 02:32:49 pm
You know you are middle aged when you think the winner of Sports Personality of the Year forgot to put a top on over her underwear
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: chrisbainbridge on 20 December, 2023, 02:37:55 pm
You know you are middle aged when you think the winner of Sports Personality of the Year forgot to put a top on over her underwear
😂😂
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: robgul on 20 December, 2023, 02:47:21 pm
Yes, if you are in receipt of state pension.

Thanks - perhaps it dribbled through my bank account in the past and I didn't notice in previous years - I shall keep an eye out for this year (no sign yet)
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Kim on 20 December, 2023, 08:00:43 pm
Yes, if you are in receipt of state pension.

Thanks - perhaps it dribbled through my bank account in the past and I didn't notice in previous years - I shall keep an eye out for this year (no sign yet)

They're usually accompanied by a Scary Brown Envelope™.  Though if you're a pensioner rather than someone living in fear of sanctions/investigations/re-assessments, that may not have the same salience when it arrives on your doorstep.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: jsabine on 21 December, 2023, 12:18:01 am
Yes, if you are in receipt of state pension.

Thanks - perhaps it dribbled through my bank account in the past and I didn't notice in previous years - I shall keep an eye out for this year (no sign yet)

You should have had it a couple of weeks ago I think - try between 4th and 8th of December
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: robgul on 21 December, 2023, 07:34:55 am
Yes, if you are in receipt of state pension.

Thanks - perhaps it dribbled through my bank account in the past and I didn't notice in previous years - I shall keep an eye out for this year (no sign yet)

You should have had it a couple of weeks ago I think - try between 4th and 8th of December

Aha! - found it on 14 Dec payment - it was an extra tenner on my state pension rather than a separate transaction as expected - presumably that's why I didn't notice it in previous years?   Winter fuel cash arrived in my account on 27 November

When my state pension started in 2012 they asked me if I'd like annual, quarterly or monthly payments (all apparently in arrears with no benefit of interest etc) . .  just to be awkward I said no pay it weekly, so they do.

. . . and good news on the Scary Brown Envelopes front  - HMRC's missive yesterday said I overpaid £400 or so in tax for 22-23 . . .  no idea how, possibly something to do with my non-working, non-pensioned wife transferring part of her allowance to me?
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: andytheflyer on 21 December, 2023, 02:19:21 pm
Thx all!  I wondered why DWP gave me £10.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ian on 21 December, 2023, 07:03:37 pm
In a pique of efficiency, I did my self-assessment yesterday which appears, for also mysterious reasons*, to have them owing me somewhere north of £3k, which is nice.


*my tax code is forever changing despite a stable income the majority of which is through PAYE and the only variable is an annual bonus, so every time I correct it, they change it to something else, and it appears random.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Jaded on 22 December, 2023, 09:27:27 am
Thx all!  I wondered why DWP gave me £10.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-67787666

It could be a lot more…
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: andytheflyer on 22 December, 2023, 04:56:56 pm
Not sure why I got it as I only get my pension from DWP, nothing else.  I thought you had to be in receipt of other benefits to qualify.  Did get the £500 Winter Fuel Payment though.  Which was nice...............
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ElyDave on 22 December, 2023, 08:58:25 pm
In a pique of efficiency, I did my self-assessment yesterday which appears, for also mysterious reasons*, to have them owing me somewhere north of £3k, which is nice.


*my tax code is forever changing despite a stable income the majority of which is through PAYE and the only variable is an annual bonus, so every time I correct it, they change it to something else, and it appears random.

I have the same to look forward to, the only benefit being that Mrs ED's tax year for her business is June-Jun, so she does all the numbers for the properties for me.  Mine will be complicated this year by heading towards the top tax bracket and the declining free allowance.

Mine is on a list and will probably be done on the 28th/29th
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: ian on 23 December, 2023, 12:15:13 pm
In a pique of efficiency, I did my self-assessment yesterday which appears, for also mysterious reasons*, to have them owing me somewhere north of £3k, which is nice.


*my tax code is forever changing despite a stable income the majority of which is through PAYE and the only variable is an annual bonus, so every time I correct it, they change it to something else, and it appears random.

I have the same to look forward to, the only benefit being that Mrs ED's tax year for her business is June-Jun, so she does all the numbers for the properties for me.  Mine will be complicated this year by heading towards the top tax bracket and the declining free allowance.

Mine is on a list and will probably be done on the 28th/29th


They always count my personal allowance wrong on the tax code, which I don't understand because it's a very, very simple number. I think they got it wrong years ago and now I'm cursed to keep over- or underpaying in some curious financial oscillation. They did send me a note saying it's fine not to complete the assessment, but erm, no, not until you can do the sums right.


I suppose tax forms are a middle-aged thing. Mind you, I did my 1040s in the US some time ago*. Oh happy times.


*technically I looked at them, thought fuck this and took them to little tax shop in the mall. They said 'where are your receipts?' and I realised I was in a very foreign land. Apparently, if I'd religiously saved and filed every receipt I could have saved up $36.63 or somesuch. Americans have a very peculiar love-hate relationship with tax.
Title: Re: You know you're ready for the booby-hatch when
Post by: T42 on 03 February, 2024, 09:11:52 am
When you remember removing that used varus insert from among the bars, gels & so forth in the cycling-fodder box but can't remember where you stashed the bloody thing.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: CAMRAMan on 03 February, 2024, 10:15:14 am
I'm officially post-middle-aged, as bus drivers now wait for me to take my seat. Either that, or I'm too used to West Midlands bus drivers who couldn't give a toss and Warwickshire's are more patient.
Title: Re: You know you're middle aged when
Post by: Cudzoziemiec on 05 February, 2024, 09:49:07 am
I went to a birthday party on Friday. The birthday girl (who I didn't know) was 61 (I think) but everyone there was a friend of her daughter (or in my case a friend of a friend of her daughter). There were balloons. No, not nitrous balloons, just standard inflatable rubber balloons, that we all had a great time batting around in a room full of music. Some of the balloons had sequins inside and everyone know and again one would hit the empty light socket and burst, showering us with discs of sparkle. Afterwards, Becky, 431/2, sound "I never knew middle-aged people could have such fun with balloons. I thought they were just for children."