The Seniors Thread :-)

[darksideofthemoon]

"This is for the Senior members of CS, those born before 1947. Baby Boomers and Generations X & Y are welcome providing you are over 18 🙂

But this is definitely for people who are facing the last long haul.  We have survived babyhood, childhood, being teens and twenties... We have learned to read and write, to drive, have probably been married and the women have survived child birth.

The challenges are constant and the near misses of death are also there.  If we have become a senior we have learned to survive so much, and along the way we have, of course, gathered a great deal of knowledge about life.

The  belief that age diminishes us is not true, it changes us and not all of it is bad.  Yes there can be various forms of dementia for some, but that is also a disease that can happen in younger people.  Alzheimer's can also occur - it is another form of dementia and generally occurs in people over 65, although that can occur much earlier too and not everyone is going to get it.

Most of us keep our mental alertness up to the moment of death, even if we lose our hearing and our eyesight, but of course this can happen at any age too.

What changes is our physical strength, which diminishes but our mental strength and patience grows, it has to of course, to deal with this aging thing.

Arthritis, heart trouble, strokes - all these things associated with age can happen at any time in your life - arthritis can happen when you are a child but they don't like giving out new hips and knees until you are in your 50s and 60s or later.  We can talk about that too.

Cancer can happen any time and that is also something we can discuss here if you like.

The point of this thread is to give the Seniors a chance to talk about how they are coping with age, the challenges it presents and the fears that can come with it... loss of hearing or sight, aging spouses, living alone, retirement villages, even death...

So I will ask that the Juniors treat us in kindly fashion and remember, all this is going to happen to you too - providing you avoid death before you get here 🙂

So, onward and upward.  Let's go...."

[jean2579]

Did anyone watch ACA last night? they had a segment where older Aussies were starting small businesses from home in a big way and succeeding. Sounds like a great idea. I am so over on trying to make do on the agged pension. Last week I had a run in with a bank over a mortgage short payment of $64. You would think that it was the national debt and that I was about to flee the country. We have one of those mortgages where you don't know the monthly payment until they deduct it and so have to guess each month how much to pay each time. A bit like russian roulette actually. My mornings gripe. Will sit down now and think of a money making enterprise.:^O

[grandmoon]

I have hip replacements.

About 15 months ago I had both hips replaced at the same time.  After 2 months I gave up the crutches

[rosieglen]

I used an old sylvester switchboard. And an old manual typewriter - thought we were wonderful when electric typewriters came in.

Also a telex machine.

How things have changed!

[bluepanda555]

I have hip replacements.

About 15 months ago I had both hips replaced at the same time.  After 2 months I gave up the crutches

Both at the same time?   omg is all i can say, though i know that's the way they seem to do it these days.

A friend of mine had a knee replacement last year ..  she's 80.... she was doing so well then had complications so it took a long time to heal.  She really should have used a frame for a while but refused to, and one day decided to 'run' for the tram and yes, fell over.

She's very stubborn about not using walking aids, and worries the life out of her friends. 

[bluepanda555]

I'm so glad you recovered so well Darki.....   and I had to grin at that man in pain not wanting to have it done because of the pain. 😛

[grandmoon]

Both at the same time?   omg is all i can say, though i know that's the way they seem to do it these days.

A friend of mine had a knee replacement last year ..  she's 80.... she was doing so well then had complications so it took a long time to heal.  She really should have used a frame for a while but refused to, and one day decided to 'run' for the tram and yes, fell over.

She's very stubborn about not using walking aids, and worries the life out of her friends. 

The hips are working well but the computer isn't I sent the post before I had finish typing it.

Yes I had both done at once.  Sometimes the Doctors will operate on both hips at once if the hips are as bad as each other.  After coming out of hospital I was using the crutches inside the house for about 3 weeks but I used them outside for about 2 months and then used the walking stick for about another month. 

I am surprised at people who say that they wouldn't have the op because of the pain.  I was in a lot of pain before the op and have only had some discomfort since then. 

The worst part of the recovery was having to sleep flat on my back for 4 or some months.  It annoyed me when I made a cup of tea and then couldn't carry it from the kitchen to the lounge.

[kwozie1]

well not much going to get done here today...

you know those boxes that you put in the shed to sort later, when you move to a new place, .. its been nearly 2 years now since I moves and finally got to the shed, sorting boxes and came across Mum and Dad's old records and tapes, sooooooo I have been happily sitting here listening and singing along to The Inkspots, The Platters, Jim Reeves, Acker Bilk, Vera Lynn omg I will be reminiscing all week lol.

I remember the strop too, my Pa had one and when he passed it hung in the water cupboard, Mum called it "tickle toby" and if we or later the grandchildren were naughty it was always "do you want a bit of tickle toby",  no thanks  !!!!!!

is that grey stuff you are talking about a poultus * ? I remember my sister having a stinky grey stuff on material round her neck when she had mumps.

well back to the record player, have a nice w/e all

[grandmoon]

I remember the old fashion baby's prams that didn't fold up.  In Perth they had hooks on the back of the buses to hang the prams on. 

We did take bub out of the pram before we hung them on the bus.

[kayedonproducts]

Well finally got back here and read through the posts I'd missed - wish eBay would never had changed these threads - hate not being able to look back - is anybody from eBay listening???? Guess Not!!!!  Probably not interested in an thread for Seniors anyway :-x

Hopscoth was one of my favourite games, also fiddlesticks and jacks (knicklebones).  We used to save the knuckle from legs of lamb (they use to be cheap way back the in the olden days), to use when we couldn't;t find a full set of plastic jacks.

If we didn't have chalk for the hopscotch game we used to jump the fence of our neighbours across the road and pick up bits of plaster from the plaster factory - was great for chalk!!!!

JV are you still trying to sell you house - that's bad news.  We may have to sell ours this year - not sure yet, just trying to work things out with a financial counsellor.  We need to do a few things before we sell it, but I haven't been well so haven;t done much at all - OH has done a bit.  Think it would be easier if we were about 20 years younger when I remember painting inside until midnight.

My parents swore by Vicks vaporub, and Mum used it every time we had a cold.  Mum & Dad use to swallow a bit if they had a sore throat - I could never come at that - YUCK!!!.  We had some yellow ointment in a round tin which Mum used to buy from a man at the door - think it was  "The Rawlings (SP?) Man".  We also bought a lot of things from Waltons - one thing at a time and a guy used to come and collect the money from the door.  That's how I got my first sewing machine - Mum paid the deposit and I used to give her the instalment from my pay when I was 17.

One job I used to have to do was polish all the taps and door handles with Brasso.  We're in a fairly old house and it has made me think of doing the door handles as they are brass but don't look like it just now lol!

Richo, you sound like you were a bit of a scoundrel - didn't know my OH at all did you??

We both are Westies from Bankstown in NSW - it was considered in the bush when I started work in Sydney!!!  I first worked at the AMP when it was the tallest building in Sydney, and you could pay 2 shillings to go to the top floor (26) and look at the view.  Money went to the Red Cross I think.

Darki - I'm picturing you practising to get that whistle working.

Well best close and get back to bed - have had a strange day and felt lousy so spent most of the day asleep.

[kayedonproducts]

I remember the old fashion baby's prams that didn't fold up.  In Perth they had hooks on the back of the buses to hang the prams on.

We did take bub out of the pram before we hung them on the bus.

My Mum had a beautiful cane pram for my youngest sister.  Sadly she lent it out and never got it back - the borrower chucked it under theri house when they were finished with it :_|  Imagine what it would be worth today.

One day Mum left my younger sister in the pram outside a shop and was nearly home when she met a friend who asked where the baby was today.  Poor Mum nearly had a fit, raced back to the shop and was sister was still there not even crying.

This sister was always  very placid and a lovely nature.  Sadly we lost her to a brain tumour just before she was 21 and only married 6 months.  This was the time before CT scans MRIs etc.

Many medical and technical  advances in later years have made for a better life for us.