Countdown To Fifty

As a product of the 70’s and 80’s, like many folks, I did my fair share of partying.

And, not unlike many of my peers, my memory of these events is, well, cloudy.

And then came Facebook.

Maybe Facebook  is the great flashback machine.

After all, I have connected with more people I have known from those wacky days in the last 6 months than in the last 25 years.

In conversation with many of them I am reminded of events that have long been tucked away, and forgotten, in the deepest recesses of the brain.

Just last week I got a call out of the blue from a ‘friend’ circa 1974-1978. We had not spoken, or communicated in any form, in 30 years.

As we stumbled down memory lane I had some genuine flashbacks of people, places and things way long forgotten.

Perhaps, as I approach 50 with full blown CRS (can’t remember shit), I should be glad that Facebook stands ready to deliver to my computer and telephone long forgotten events.

Maybe.

With age comes cynicism, at least in my case.

Once I would trust, at face value, the statements of others. Today, well, not so much.

Rest assured I am not a discriminating cynic.  I question people, companies, services, causes, and beliefs all equally.

For instance, last week I received a delivery from Arrowhead Water. It was the usual water service in every way, except one.

Arrowhead Water, since last December, has been migrating to a new and improved five gallon bottle. The new Arrowhead bottle has a super convenient handle embedded into side of the bottle.

While this made for much easier carrying it also caused me great suspicion.

How could a new 5 gallon bottle, seemingly the same in every way to the old bottle, still hold 5 gallons with a chuck taken out of it for the handle?

After a look on the Arrowhead Water web site and a call to customer service I was not satisfied that I wasn’t getting ripped off. So with help of New Media and video expert Ron (who did the camera work but left the editing to me and edited my 15 minute hack job to a viewable 5 minutes), I offer the following video.

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Sure, there are pills, potions, programs and classes all designed to show you the way to eternal youth.

You can drink the waters and allegedly stay young. For some the solution is plastic surgery.

I have found a stay young alternative.

A method to stay mentally alert, test my reflexes, demonstrate my foot speed, and practice my stretching.

Meet Oliver:

Oh, there’s nothing like chasing after a 14 week old puppy to keep you young and on your toes!

In February I had to write the ode to our old girl Tessa.

Now we have lost our second and last “child”, Annie. She died on October 11th.

Annie was the boss of the house. It was her world and my wife and I simply lived in it. She brought us 14 years and 4 months of pure happiness.

She was playful, loving, kind, gentle, fussy, messy, hysterical, neurotic, insecure, shy, possessive, wacky, fun and fabulous.

In the period of 5 days she went from happy and mobile (albeit crotchety) to paralyzed. She died at home on the bed she slept in for her entire life – our bed.

We miss her deeply and painfully each and every day.

There are ghosts of her that still inhabit our home.

The silence of no dogs in the house is deafening.

Unlike most birthday’s of my past, my 48th this past May 7 was downright unusual. Not bad, just unusual. As mentioned in earlier posts I have started a new gig: shorespeak. In this role I am traveling the country as a speaker/consultant/coach. Timing being what it is I got booked for a job in Baltimore prior to a conference in Washington DC. This meant that for the first time in memory (which is suspect to begin with) I was not home to celebrate.

Instead I spent the day:

• working out – a 90 minute cardio and weight program in the hotel gym
• a long self guided tour through our nations capital
• dinner with my DC based nephew and his girlfriend

The good news: it was a pleasant day albeit one spent primarily alone. But hey, if I can’t be with myself after 48 years then who can I be with?

The bad, self inflicted news: WAY to much good cheer. In fact I was as hung over the following morning as anytime in recent history.

Perhaps we never learn.

As I’m now 2 weeks into the 48 year I have been reflecting on:

• where exactly did my eye sight go and how could it go so quickly – if I do not have the cheaters at the ready I am effectively handicapped. Yes, handicapped. I cannot see shit up close without glasses and it is getting worse quickly. I have finally made an appointment for an optometrist visit.
• working out 2-3 times per week is not enough – I have added yoga to the mix to alleviate stiffness and back pain
• the spark that powered by frenetic career existence for 30 years has dimmed. No not gone out by any means, simply gone down a notch. Making the most money possible as quickly as possible is not the goal anymore. Enjoying what I do and having a schedule that is mine is much more attractive.
• the inevitable decline of parents is imminent – Dad just isn’t the same as he is showing signs of wear at 76 years of age
• marriage is a full time job and one that is damn hard as well as cyclical
• making new friends later in life is exponentially more difficult than when you are young
• cell phones are the greatest invention in the history of communication as well as the greatest curse
• pets are like Valium on four legs…calming

to be continued……………