bitteroldhag

My God, I don't think we need to hassle younger women who find older men interesting. I just wish some younger men would find me interesting. Actually, one does, but he's only about 5 years younger. Some people are just born older and understand older people. BetsyJane -- I relate. My mother is 87 and lives with me. I'm the servant. She's not in good shape, but I think she's going to live forever just to spite me. I had a dream once that we died at the same time and met my uncle on the road to heaven. It was like driving through Nebraska or Western Kansas and heaven was in the mountains. Well, he's dead and we're still alive and I'm getting worried. What if I do die when she does, assuming she ever does? That would really irritate me. Mother had colon cancer earlier this year. She had it removed and the doc told her she could live another 10 years. Since I intend to die at 72, that will leave me exactly 2 years of freedom. I'm rather upset about this. Maybe I should live longer just to spite her. What do you think?

I can't believe you had your skin tags surgically removed. I just cut mine off with scissors. I cut one on my neck off tonight. God, I hate skin tags. I had some sort of old age thing on my leg and asked my doctor about it. She said it was an old age thing. So I cut it off and it hasn't returned. Botox is ridiculous. I note the ads in TV and the models are about 30 at the most. I didn't need Botox at 30. Besides it is botulin toxin. I don't think I'm going to willingly have botulin toxin injected until I'm really senile.

Very weird. I can't even feel my port. I recommend you check with a doctor about it. Maybe it has floated to some part of your abdomen that is sensitive. My port certainly has floated all over the place. If you had it stitched into place, maybe the stitches are tearing.

I think you are buying into the mainstream media's horse patootie. They want everyone to be thin, boring and vapid like they are. I was a very, very thin child and I gained weight due to clinical depression in my late 20s. I've recently read that some fat people carry a virus that turns stuff into fat cells. I think there are many reasons why people are fat and easy answers are not going to be forthcoming. Be happy that you are doing something about it. Be happy that you can afford to do something about it. Lots of people can't.

Oh, heavens. I'm fat and an arrogant bitch. Weight has nothing to do with arrogance or bitchiness.

I hate the hunk, but I'm old. I like the library couple except he's old and she's young. What does that say? Maybe two old people or two young people would be better. Or you could have an old lady and a young man. But I hate most all advertising despite my years in an ad agency. So what do I know?

I have to chew, chew, chew or I throw up. I sometimes throw up even if I chew. But I have the most trouble with stuff like apple skin, tomato skin, peach skin, and meats without something to grease the skids. I usually cut meats in Chiclet sized pieces (thanks TOM) and chew them over 30 times. I eat a lot of pork chops because the go down pretty well if I cut them really small. I can eat potatoes very well and soft vegetables, but fresh vegetables are out except tomatoes without skins. I have eaten about 2 salads since being banded and they went down, but I had to chew so much that I think I lost any nutrition in the chewing. Slime is a major problem. I think it actually stops up the hole to the stomach. I find that chocolate kisses help things go down, and sometimes I just wait around and it finally goes down. I eat bacon and scrambled eggs every day for lunch at about 2-3 p.m. Before that I can't eat, so I drink Unjury every morning. I have noticed that if I'm upset about something, stuff won't go down. My air conditioner stopped up and water ran all over the carpet in the hall and Mother's room the other day, and I couldn't eat anything. Since I had that fixed, I can eat. Weird, isn't it?

Good for you. I had surgery with Dr. Rodriguez. It was wonderful. In a year, you'll be thin little thing.

Can you say martyr? You are trying to do too much. Some of these folks should be able to manage for themselves and you must let them. You can't do everything. Believe me, I know. A person can be overwhelmed easily because we try to do too much. Just tell them you can't do everything and get some help. I have a cleaning lady and home health for Mother. It helps a lot. Look for some way to help yourself and don't be a martyr to other people. Sorry if I seem mean, but I know you have to stand up for yourself.

You're lucky you are 37. A sixty year old man is not interested in a 60 year old woman. In fact, I don't really know any 60 year old single men. But I know some who are younger and one of them seems to like me. He just lost a whole bunch of weight so he probably weighs less than I do, but I'm just thrilled that I weigh less that the starting line at the Super Bowl. One never knows about men.

I'm always very interested to see what people who don't teach think of education. They always think it's terrible. I taught one year of junior high and high school and quit for 15 years. The reason is that parents insisted on putting their kids who were special education students in regular classes. There is nothing I can do with a kid with an I.Q. of 30. Also the principal at the junior high called me in and told me to pass a kid who was a troublemaker. I said if I passed him, I'd have to pass everyone and he said, "Go right ahead." So I did. The kid with the I.Q. of 30 went to high school. People don't realize the pressures on teachers. Personally, I wouldn't teach high school for a million dollars a year, and I'd do a lot for a million dollars. I have taught at the university level for 24 years. I am one of the two full professors in our department who teaches Freshman Comp. I. I love Comp. I because I just love messing around with the students' minds. I lose about 1/5 to 1/4 of my class every semester, but the others hang in there and learn something. In fact, my students this semester decided to name me Dr. Hot Stuff! I wonder what that means since I'm 60 and definitely not hot stuff. But I'm really getting sick of parents blaming teachers. If you do not have a book in the house, how do you expect the kids to learn to read? I tell my students to read whatever interests them, including pornography though that's really boring. But students are probably more literate that we think. They manage to use the internet which primarily consists of the written word. Okay, "you tube" is big too. We must allow teachers to teach, not fart around with standardized tests. Every good college professor has learned that standardized tests are a waste of time. We wanted to get rid of that requirement for our M.A. program, but the president of the university demands standardized tests which cost the students big bucks. We simply ignore the results, and our grad. students are really, really good. Basically I just want to retire though. I'm sick of this crap.

I'm so glad you all are experiencing some of the same things I am. I have lost weight, but I'm wrinkled and droopy. I just hate gravity. Mother wants me to have a facial to get rid of wrinkles, but I claim that I worked for every wrinkle and deserve them. But I'm hanging in there, at least for 12 more years. That is unless something untoward happens and I croak early. The ice floe was a good plan. Maybe we should call Al Gore and complain. My brother and I intended to go up in the Rockies and freeze to death which is a nice way to go except one's limbs get really heavy when they are frozen according to Jack London. In "The Law of Life," he discusses the "being left in the cold plan" which didn't work for his protagonist who was eaten by wolves. That was a drag. Of course, there's always the "driving into a bridge abutment" plan, but you might destroy the whole bridge. That happened here in Oklahoma when a barge captain had a heart attack and drove his barge into a bridge abutment and knocked down the bridge. Killed several people and two horses. However, with the state of bridges in the U.S., maybe I can just drive back and forth across a bridge and eventually it will fall down. But I expect I will end up in a nursing home, drooling on myself and hungry enough to actually eat their miserable food. When I'm 70, I intend to remove the water from my band and eat everything in sight. Hopefully, I will have a year or two of decent food before I end up in the nursing home with "institutional food." It's a sad thing that the only things in life I seem to value are food, drink and naps. But that's age for you. Maybe I can find a nice man. Nah, takes too much energy.

I also used Dr. Arturo Rodriguez in Monterrey. It was a good experience. I picked the expensive hospital because I have heart problems and it was the nicest hospital I've ever been in. Everything is marble and granite with gold faucets. We stayed in the Hilton and had an English speaking guide available all the time. I had some pain the first day from the air they pumped in there so take some pain pills. I live in eastern Oklahoma and go to a physician's asst. in Coffeyville, KS for fills. I went and got the correct fill and haven't been back in about a year. I highly recommend Dr. Rodriguez, but make sure he's the right one. Apparently someone else has been calling himself Arturo Rodriguez, and they were upset and sent emails to all of his patients.

Though I turned 60 in late July, I'm still depressed. I been noting things about myself that are generally problems of old people. First, my nose hairs seem to grow an inch or two overnight. This may not be so bad since I can blend them in with my beard which is heavier than most of my male students. True, I noticed the nose hair problem at age 55, but it seems to be worse. At least I don't have hair in my ears. My brother who is 58 worries about hair in his ears. I had a neighbor who had a whole tuft of hair in each ear. He looked like a Hobbit or something. But he got sent to the pen for raping a 14 year old girl when he was 69 and barely able to walk. I never did believe that story. I don't think Homer was capable of raping a street sign, much less a 14 year old girl. But he did take care of his retirement with good medical care. But I digress. In addition to nose hairs, I have a bad back, a bad heart, allergies, and a balding pubic area. I suspect there are some more bad physical problems, but I don't want to know. But the worst thing is that I have started reminiscing. I have actually started thinking about how things were better when I was a kid. Naturally, things were better. I didn't have to work and support the dogs, cats and mother. I was thin and attractive. We had a big old Buick which weighed the earth and used gas like crazy. It also overheated when we ran the air conditioner, and we lived in East Texas. But I had some good times in that Buick. I do things like think about the clothes we wore in high school (everything matched -- sweater, skirt and socks). I actually had a dream about people's noses. Is this strange or what? I think I may be put in the nursing home sooner than I had planned. I plan to die at age 72 which will give me 8 years of boring retirement before I go over the rainbow bridge. But my nightmare is being put in a nursing home where people beat me up, and I don't have any kids to protect me! My students have promised to protect me, but I suspect that means a more brutal nursing home. So things are looking bleak for me. I hope you all are younger and have kids. Be nice to them. They may save you from being beat up in the nursing home. For myself, it's all over because I'm officially old. God!!!

BJean -- I think I have finally figured out all the gadgets though I had to read the manual to do it. I even figured out the cruise control which is rather weird in my opinion. Maybe I should have bought a used car from your husband rather than this crappy dealership. I finally got the title today, but I have to sign for it and was busy selling my old car, so I'll have to go get it Monday when school starts and spend a whole lot of money on taxes to get a car tag. I sincerely hope I either die or get put in the nursing home before I ever have to buy another car.

I sold the old RAV and am supremely depressed. That was my favorite car of all time except for my Ford Pinto that I had years ago. Yes, it was the kind that would blow up if you were rear-ended. Luckily a very nice lady bought the old RAV. She needed it because her 86 year old father can't get in cars that are low. My 87 year old mother can't get in cars that are high. So it worked out. She was the only person who called for two weeks, and then I sold it to her yesterday and a guy called this afternoon. She's a much savvier buyer than I am a seller. She wanted to give me her keys while she did a test drive and I couldn't figure out why. It would never occur to me to steal a car on a test drive. Anyway, she kept trying to make sure that I knew she wouldn't steal the car. I finally told her that I didn't think she'd steal the car and if she did, I had her car sitting in my driveway. That seemed to satisfy her. Thank God I'm a professor. I would never make it in business. I'm so gullible and honest that I assume everyone else is too. I'd be broke in a month.

We have a grocery store that uses paper bags for the heavy stuff. I love it. They are so useful. They use plastic for drippy stuff and whatever the bag people can use them for without getting an earful from the customers. But I think I told you all about visiting Colorado where they not only used paper bags, but the guy took my groceries to my car!!! I almost fainted. In fact, he had this big cart which he put the bags in, and I asked if I was supposed to take it to my car. That's when he informed me that he'd be taking my bags to the car. Be still my heart. I want to move to that town just to shop at that store. About Walmart's cleanliness, I go along the aisles and pick up stuff people have knocked off of the shelves. I wonder how much money Walmart loses every year on stuff that people destroy. I have noticed that the other stores here don't have that problem. Apparently Walmart's attitude toward its customers makes the customers have a bad attitude toward Walmart. Or Walmart just attracts a lousier level of customers. I still shop there but I spend a fraction of what I used to spend. I only buy things I can't get anywhere else. I have discovered the Dollar store. They are great for cleaning supplies and stuff like that. I went to the Dollar Tree and bought 3 pairs of sunglasses for $3.00. I can't do that at Walmart. I destroy or lose sunglasses very quickly so cheap sunglasses are great. They also have superior gift wrapping. But our housekeeper (who recently quit, alas, sob) works at Walmart and she says she thinks the new practices have resulted in loss of business. They may be more efficient for the store, but customers are apparently voting with their feet.

I don't really mind changing things around though my furniture stays in the same place for at least 10 years. It's just that no one can find anything. Even the clerks can't find anything. But that's merchandising for you.

I will pack my own cart and rush out of Wal-Mart in the future since I really don't want to impact a clerk's paycheck. Actually, the clerks usually help load the cart so they can get on to the next customer. About loading stuff, I have a bad back. My spine is pressing on my nerves and it hurts. But I can usually load the car, unless my back is really throwing a tantrum. It's just that I'm old. I remember when someone always carried your groceries or whatever and put the paper sacks in your car. I remember when you pulled up to a gas station and an attendant not only filled up your car, but checked the oil, washed the windshield and vacuumed out the floorboards. And gas cost 39 cents a gallon! I remember going to department stores where elevator men in uniform took you to whatever floor you wanted. Then the clerks wrapped up your purchases in brown paper and string. Stores smelled good then. I suspect I was just spoiled as a child and should not mind all the wonderful advances we are experiencing today. Alternatively, maybe I'm senile and starting to reminisce rather than getting on with life.

I took me 3 days to read the final book due to interruptions. I think I'll read it again sans interruptions. I loved it though it is very dark, but I guess magical Armaggedon should be dark. I think I spelled armaggedon wrong.

Dickens killed off characters right and left. People in America were waiting at to the docks to get the latest to learn if Little Nell died. She did.

I sort of like the name Hag. So use that.

I love my eBay Cadillac and I just got a new, used RAV 4 which is really fancy. I love, love the Cadillac because it is so luxurious. It's old, but has low miles. It was the best car deal I ever did. It's 12 years old with about 40,000 miles on it. The new car has electric everything like the Cadillac. It even has a place where I can put the garage door opener in the ceiling of the car. It gets great gas mileage even with the air conditioner running full blast and can go from 0 to 60 really fast even if it only has 4 cylinders. The only problem is that I don't know how to work everything yet. It took me months to learn how to operate all the neat stuff on the Caddy. It has seats that warm up! I love that because my back has crashed and burned. I understand loving one's car. I still worship my old RAV which is think is the cutest car I ever owned, but I need to sell it to pay on the new Rav which isn't nearly as cute. Toyotas may not be very sexy, but they last. At my age, I'm not very sexy either, but I hope this car lasts until I die or they put my in the nursing home so people can beat me up.

This is terrible. My face looks awful, but folks guess that I'm about 45 when I'm 60. Maybe they are being nice, but I think some of them really think that. Rather than getting your face done, dye your hair. My hair is totally white, but I've been dying it for 20 years. Hair makes more of an impact than one's face. Take it from a wrinkled old poop.

Doesn't it get a bit cold in Canada without shoes? I live in a hot climate and wear my Canadian sheepskin slippers all year round. I love those things. Of course, I have cold feet. I'm like my dad. Mother always complained about his cold feet. But I just don't understand folks who think their carpets are more important than people.