Email stuff received when you're over 65.

[Jim Nickerson]

I get something like this about weekly. Actually it is pretty good in that it makes me think all the way back to times when the only electronic entertainment my family had was one radio.

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL THE KIDS WHO WERE BORN IN THE

1940's, 50's, 60's and 70's !!First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they carried us.They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a tin, and didn't get tested for diabetes.Then after that trauma, our baby cots were covered with bright colored lead-based paints.We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags.


Riding in the back of a van - loose - was always great fun.

We drank water from the garden hosepipe and NOT from a bottle.

We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this.

We ate cakes, white bread and real butter and drank pop with sugar in it, but we weren't overweight because......

WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!!

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.

No one was able to reach us all day. And we were O.K.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem .We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 99 channels on cable, no video tape movies, no surround sound, no cell phones, no text messaging, no personal computers, no Internet or Internet chat rooms..........WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them! We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents .

We played with worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.

Made up games with sticks and tennis balls and although we were told it would happen, we did not poke out any eyes.

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just yelled for them! Local teams had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!!

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of.They actually sided with the law!

This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever!

The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.

We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we leared

HOW TODEAL WITH IT ALL!

And YOU are one of them!

CONGRATULATIONS!

You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated our lives for our own good.

and while you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave their parents were.

Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it?!

PS -The BIG type is because your eyes are shot a t your age

[Jim Nickerson]

Re: Email stuff received when you're over 65.

Here's another one.

Today's medical term that get rammed down our throats all the time.

ELECTILE DYSFUNCTION: the inability to become aroused over any of the choices for president put forth by either party for the 2008 election.

[Andreuccio]

Re: Email stuff received when you're over 65.

I get something like this about weekly. Actually it is pretty good in that it makes me think all the way back to times when the only electronic entertainment my family had was one radio.

Nice post, Jim. I'm still a ways from 65, but I remember fondly almost all the stuff listed. Big exception: my Mom didn't smoke, and I doubt she drank while pregnant, although, come to think of it, it might explain some things if she had, particularly regarding my sisters. ;)

[Jim Nickerson]

Re: Email stuff received when you're over 65.

Nice post, Jim. I'm still a ways from 65, but I remember fondly almost all the stuff listed. Big exception: my Mom didn't smoke, and I doubt she drank while pregnant, although, come to think of it, it might explain some things if she had, particularly regarding my sisters. ;)

It was labeled for those born in the '40-'70's, so what was different afterwards? The ever-more-minaturized computer chip I guess has been THE world changing thing.

[Andreuccio]

Re: Email stuff received when you're over 65.

It was labeled for those born in the '40-'70's, so what was different afterwards? The ever-more-minaturized computer chips I guess has been THE world changing thing.

a few big differences that pop out for me: the government in your life safety laws, health concerns, and feeling very uncomfortable letting my kids go outside to play. (Not sure how much of that last one is due to very different neighborhoods vs. different worlds.)

[Verrocchio]

Re: Email stuff received when you're over 65.

It was labeled for those born in the '40-'70's, so what was different afterwards? The ever-more-minaturized computer chips I guess has been THE world changing thing.

The memories that your first post triggered seem a world away from life today. Another candidate for THE world changing thing would be the higher level of material affluence. Sure, a good part of that is electronic and based on micro-electronics, but the favorable position of the US in the world financial and economic structure (as described in Super Imperialism by Michael Hudson) has been a major factor that has led to better living conditions for most Americans. Your thoughts?

[Jim Nickerson]

Re: Email stuff received when you're over 65.

The memories that your first post triggered seem a world away from life today. Another candidate for THE world changing thing would be the higher level of material affluence. Sure, a good part of that is electronic and based on micro-electronics, but the favorable position of the US in the world financial and economic structure (as described in Super Imperialism by Michael Hudson) has been a major factor that has led to better living conditions for most Americans. Your thoughts?

Verrocchio,

The only "red wagon" which I look after is my own, thus I have no serious idea of how well off average Americans are today. They probably have much "stuff" in the way of depreciating assets, but the question that would have to be answered is: how much debt do they have? My living conditions have continually gotten better since I quit working, simply because I stopped being faced with so many things I could not control. I have much less "stuff" now than I had 15-16 years ago, but all the stuff I have now, I rather much use which was not always the case. I have some debt which I could pay off tomorrow without feeling any change in how I live. Your observation of improved living conditions might be a facade if one had greater insight into the the worry average people have about payment of their debts; as I wrote, I don't know the answer.

When I was down-sizing 15 years ago and selling a large condo, I told the realtor I was amazed at the growth then of "McMansions," a term that didn't exist I don't think back then, and continually wondered how people afforded such big spreads. I just didn't know that many people who made so much money. She said a lot of the homes were only partially furnished, and she seemed as if she knew what she was talking about.

However big the debt problems are, and they do seem large, perhaps we don't truly have as much affluence as it appears.

[Verrocchio]

Re: Email stuff received when you're over 65.

Good observations, Jim. I've also heard from friends that people have bought large homes and had only been able to afford furniture for a few of the rooms. The explanation is always that they intend to live in their investment and to make a killing in a few years. For a long while, that strategy probably paid off.

But, purchasing a McMansion only makes financial sense if (a) you have a large family and need the living space, or (b) you expect that housing prices will rise enough so that you'll profit from your investment. Let's say that a couple with one child could live comfortably in an 1800 sf home. Instead, they decide to "buy all the house they can afford" and purchase a 3600 square footer. Before the ongoing housing downturn, the conventional thinking was that they had made a shrewd investment. If they went for the bigger house, they probably didn't give any thought at all to the higher property taxes and homeowner's insurance that they will pay for as long as they own the house, not to mention the additional heating/cooling for the unneeded space and the higher interest carrying charges.

[Jim Nickerson]

Re: Email stuff received when you're over 65.

Good observations, Jim. I've also heard from friends that people have bought large homes and had only been able to afford furniture for a few of the rooms. The explanation is always that they intend to live in their investment and to make a killing in a few years. For a long while, that strategy probably paid off.

But, purchasing a McMansion only makes financial sense if (a) you have a large family and need the living space, or (b) you expect that housing prices will rise enough so that you'll profit from your investment. Let's say that a couple with one child could live comfortably in an 1800 sf home. Instead, they decide to "buy all the house they can afford" and purchase a 3600 square footer. Before the ongoing housing downturn, the conventional thinking was that they had made a shrewd investment. If they went for the bigger house, they probably didn't give any thought at all to the higher property taxes and homeowner's insurance that they will pay for as long as they own the house, not to mention the additional heating/cooling for the unneeded space and the higher interest carrying charges.

Verrochio, it's possible that for some 2% of the population these gigantic houses truly make sense with regard to people needing such space. My first wife was one of 12 kids when for a time all 14 people lived there, right on Crowne Point in San Diego in a house that at most was 2100 square feet, and they were a great family and lived a great life, but the washing machine was on the back porch, they didn't have a mud room, they didn't have a home theater, they didn't even have a den. People have been sold on "dreams" of what they should have vs. what they need.

Too many people are unendingly stupid, and if misery befalls them because of all this debt crap, it's hard to believe they did not bring it upon themselves through their own actions.

[jk]

Re: Email stuff received when you're over 65.

it's nice to be the 2nd owner of an asset, after the boom that built it has collapsed. in the 19th century we had a railroad building boom, and when all the railroads went bankrupt [they did], someone bought the assets cheap and made a killing. and the nation had a rail system that suddenly became affordable. similarly, the internet boom led to the construction of a tremendous fiber optic capacity, so much so that people talked about lit fiber versus dark fiber - i.e. fiber which was not transmitting any light, i.e. unused fiber capacity. when the builders of this capacity, e.g global crossing, went belly up, the fibers remained and the cost of their use could be based on their new, discounted price.

we are now seeing the same thing happening, in slow motion, in the housing market. go to, for example, http://phoenixflippers.blogspot.com/ . my favorite listing this week shows a house that sold for $964k on 6/12/06, then sold again for $1.5mil on 8/28/06, now listed with an ASKING price of $700k. [btw, the same house was listed at $874k til 11/24/07, when the asking price was reduced 20%]

[Verrocchio]

Re: Email stuff received when you're over 65.

in the housing market. go to, for example, http://phoenixflippers.blogspot.com/ . my favorite listing this week shows a house that sold for $964k on 6/12/06, then sold again for $1.5mil on 8/28/06, now listed with an ASKING price of $700k. [btw, the same house was listed at $874k til 11/24/07, when the asking price was reduced 20%]

The link is a jewel, JK, containing some very interesting price information with implications for real estate salespersons, homeowners, the developers, the financial sector, and county and state government. You wonder which of them will take the heaviest losses when the dust has settled. Scrolling to the bottom of the page, the total loss in property value in Maricopa County was over $240 million. There will be a knock-on effect on the ability of county government to provide service and to borrow at reasonable rates.

[Jim Nickerson]

Re: Email stuff received when you're over 65.

Here is the latest I got from another old codger. I doctored it up slightly to make it fit in with iTluip's The Brain.

Dr. jk's office's telephone menu.

Hello and thank you for calling Doctor k's office.
> .
> Please select from the following options menu:
>
> If you are obsessive-compulsive, press 1 repeatedly.
>
> If you are co-dependent, please ask someone to press 2 for you.
>
> If you have multiple personalities, press 3, 4, 5 and 6.
> .
> If you are paranoid, we know who you are and what you want, stay on
> the line so we can trace your call.
>
> If you are delusional, press 7 and your call will be forwarded to the
> Mother Ship.
>
> If you are schizophrenic, listen carefully and a little voice will
> tell you which number to press.
>
> If you are manic-depressive, it doesn't matter which number you press,
> nothing will make you happy anyway.
>
> If you are dyslexic, press 9696969696969696.
>
> If you are bipolar, please leave a message after the beep or before
> the beep or after the beep.
> Please wait for the beep.
>
> If you have short-term memory loss, press 9.
> If you have short-term memory loss, press 9.
> If you have short-term memory loss, press 9.
>
> If you have low self-esteem, please hang up our operators are too busy
> to talk with you.
>
> If you are menopausal, put the gun down, hang up, turn on the fan, lie
> down and cry.

[jk]

Re: Email stuff received when you're over 65.

Here is the latest I got from another old codger. I doctored it up slightly to make it fit in with iTluip's The Brain.

Dr. jk's office's telephone menu.

Hello and thank you for calling Doctor k's office.
> .
> Please select from the following options menu:
>
> If you are obsessive-compulsive, press 1 repeatedly.
>
> If you are co-dependent, please ask someone to press 2 for you.
>
> If you have multiple personalities, press 3, 4, 5 and 6.
> .
> If you are paranoid, we know who you are and what you want, stay on
> the line so we can trace your call.
>
> If you are delusional, press 7 and your call will be forwarded to the
> Mother Ship.
>
> If you are schizophrenic, listen carefully and a little voice will
> tell you which number to press.
>
> If you are manic-depressive, it doesn't matter which number you press,
> nothing will make you happy anyway.
>
> If you are dyslexic, press 9696969696969696.
>
> If you are bipolar, please leave a message after the beep or before
> the beep or after the beep.
> Please wait for the beep.
>
> If you have short-term memory loss, press 9.
> If you have short-term memory loss, press 9.
> If you have short-term memory loss, press 9.
>
> If you have low self-esteem, please hang up our operators are too busy
> to talk with you.
>
> If you are menopausal, put the gun down, hang up, turn on the fan, lie
> down and cry.

jim, this is just slightly more elaborate than our current voice mail system, which a new patient - himself a doctor - yesterday described as "a nightmare."

[Jim Nickerson]

Re: Email stuff received when you're over 65.

jim, this is just slightly more elaborate than our current voice mail system, which a new patient - himself a doctor - yesterday described as "a nightmare."

And I am sure that endears the patient public more to doctors, as it does me when I have no way out but to call a company these days. By the time, if I persist with wasting my time, I get to a human, I am generally so pissed I can't remember why I called.

[Andreuccio]

Re: Email stuff received when you're over 65.

And I am sure that endears the patient public more to doctors, as it does me when I have no way out but to call a company these days. By the time, if I persist with wasting my time, I get to a human, I am generally so pissed I can't remember why I called.

I really hate these things. My two personal (least) favorites so far are 1. one that, after about 1/2 hour on hold, told me (via recording) they were too busy at the present time and that I needed to call back later, and promptly disconnected me, and 2. a new one from a credit card company where there is no option anywhere in the system that will get you to a live human. :mad::mad::mad: