My niece is now nine, which is pretty aging all on its own, but that means she’s now in school and going on educational field trips. Living in Missoula, that includes going to Fort Missoula and learning about this place’s colonial history. So, a few months ago, she visited my house and, when I asked her what she’d been doing in school, she informed me that she’d been on a field trip to Fort Missoula to learn about the homesteaders who came here in the 1980s.
About a century off, kid.
You can tell her that the last homestead title was awarded to one Kenneth Deardorff in Alaska, in 1988.
https://www.nps.gov/people/kenneth-deardorff.htm
~Max
Realizing that I’m pretty much at the halfway point of my life, or maybe even past it.
I’m “only” 35, but time goes by faster as you get older. So I’m assuming my years of 36-80 (if I even live that long) will feel no longer than my years of 4-35. (I’m not counting anything before age four because I remember nothing from then.)
Yep! It’s like Kitty Carlisle said: “Once you’re past 50, every 15 minutes is breakfast.”
I watched this video of YouTuber “Jazza” struggle to figure out how a record player works, and it made me feel very old. I have lived through the eras of vinyl records, cassette tapes, CDs, and iPods, a shorter period each time, and all of which are largely obsolete now. Ugh.
I’m sure most of YouTube is people doing a bit, at least on “mainstream” channels, especially given that vinyl is more popular than CDs are at this point. Someone a bit confused by eight-tracks I’d understand, someone not knowing how to dial a rotary phone is plausible, but not knowing how to play a vinyl record is a bit clickbaity.
That said, I’d love to see a Boomer try to start a Model T Ford without expert assistance.
In the store I work in our music comes either from a Google Home thingie, or a bluetooth speaker that I brought in. Google tends to revert to the same 10 songs or so no matter what genre/band/singer you ask for, so I now use my Spotify playlist when I’m in. I’ve got something like 1700 songs and 109 hrs of music.
As with anything digital these days, someone is always trying to curate your experience. Spotify puts up all sorts of compilation suggestions, but the one that really frosts me is thier own playlist called “Grandma’s Home” 
It feels a lot shorter IMHO. Between 4 and 35 I, like most people, do a lot and change a lot. You go from being a child, going through various schools, jobs, relationships, etc. A few years seems like a long time because a lot of stuff happens. Think about how long 4 years of college or high school feels.
I’m 50 and at some point it seemed like you blink and 5 years have gone by. I have a group of friends from when we all worked together when I was 35. Most have moved out of the area, but a bunch of us all got together for drinks six months ago when they were in town for a conference. The time we all got together before that was for my friend’s 40th birthday 4 years ago.
I have another friend from high school who happened to move down the street from my Dad. We catch up when I’m in town. It’s weird because we are both basically the same people we were in high school, except that we are 50 with kids, houses, wives, and careers.
Reading about all the actors and musicians I grew up with seemingly dropping like flies these days.
I have a habit that annoys Mrs. solost whenever we watch an old movie or TV show- I’ll go, “dead, dead, dead, alive, dead…”.
What the heck is going on with my body? The aches and pains, and the stiffness. And the need for naps. I’m not far from “never trust a fart” territory.
While I think it’s funny when younger people can’t figure out how to work devices that were common for my generation, the laughter is mostly directed at me because it shows how much the world has changed. I remember when I was test driving a 66 Mustang (in 1996) and I had to ask the owner how the air conditioner worked because I couldn’t figure it out.
I’m hard pressed to remember the last time I used a recod player, but if pressed, I’d have to guess sometime around 1985. We certainly had a record player in the house, but by the time I started purchasing my own albums it was on cassette. I’m proud to count the motion picture soundtrack to Dragnet, yes, starring Tom Hanks, as one of my first purchases. Anyway, I think it might take me a few moments to remember how to operate a record player.
Is that the one that you couldn’t adjust the bass?
It took me a hot second to get the joke. Cod you be an punnier?
Carp Diem.
I’ve seen someone struggle to use a vinyl record player the first time she encountered one. They are much fussier than either rotary phones or eight-track tapes.
I square dance. She was a young woman who went to a “caller school” to learn to call square dances. The equipment (like most square dance callers) was old. She figured it out with a little help. She asked why the needle went out-to-in, instead of in-to-out, like a CD. Everyone else felt old.
The further you get into that territory, the further you get into “always trust an old fart” territory,
Musta’ been one of them original CDs. The later ones didn’t use needles.
< flees >
I never felt old at all until I hit 50. At 60, things seemed to really start going downhill faster and faster.
It became somewhat startling to realize how many people die in their 60s and 70s - which seems right around the corner. At 62, it is kinda sobering to realize I really oughtn’t count on more than 20 or so really QUALITY years.
I’ve never been a super athlete, but since my high school years running track, I was always rather fit and strong. Getting to the point where I really can’t COUNT on my legs to allow me to aggressively hike, make an athletic golf swing, or even stand for a couple of hours - is pretty sobering.
Friday, I committed the grievous sin of bending over to pet the puppy. I’ve had two soaks in epson salt, and my lower back is now covered in Icy/hot.
Your seventies are the worst. My 60s were a breeze; felt good, could still climb a ladder, make a planter box, hike mountain trails, think nothing of a five-mile neighborhood walk, make a dinner for eight people, etc. Then I turned 70, and the last five years have been a barely controlled slide into uselessness. The biggest blessing has been no illnesses to speak of, and while I do have knee replacement surgery coming up in three days, it’s the first semi-serious thing to ever happen to me health-wise. As for what makes me feel old: the idea that I have great-grand nieces and nephews and a great-granddaughter, and my daughter turned 50 this year. Fucking 50!