I have wrinkles, I have grey hair, I have back problems, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, I can’t remember anything, the world seems confusing and complicated to me now and I wish things were simpler (which is why I like Lemmy). I definitely don’t get kids today or their music.
I took my daughter to the Manchester Science Museum, and saw a BBC there. That was my first home computer in '86. I'm 42...
Of course, I still move reasonably well, the tablets keep the depression at bay, the inhalers keep the asthma away and the powerballs keep the RSI away :P My brain is still sharp (And I hope it stays that way as I'm a coder, so I kinda need it), and the glasses keep my eyesight up-to-scratch. Let's hear it for pharmaceutical or physical solutions to intractible issues ;) I also keep up with modern music. Like some of it, don't like others - but then, that's the same as when I was a kid or a teenager. I fight to keep an open mindset, and not slip into the 'rose coloured glasses' fallacy... Having a young daughter is a help to this, because she views everything as new, and interesting, and may I never, ever shutter that desire to learn more. I always try to answer her questions if I can...
she views everything as new, and interesting, and may I never, ever shutter that desire to learn more
Honestly this drives my everything. I'm 51 and while I can hear a few creaks and groans, this rolling stone is moving. The world has always been as horrible as we seem to think it is today, but it is also breathtakingly new. Never let that go.
You purposefully let yourself slip. I'm 41. I listen to new music, I understand kid's clothing styles (I was not that different in the 90s), I've kept up with modern technology, I kept moving (due to my labor intensive job), and I've eaten well. That's all on you bro. Old does not have to mean outdated.
Edit: reminds me of my Dad who pretty much stopped listening to any music produced after 1982 and has his garage radio permanently set to classic rock. I made a promise to myself a long time ago that I will never stagnate like that.
Really look at that computer. The OP is in his fifties. Tell me how you are in 10 years. Hes also exaggerating although you might be recognizing forgetting things or losing track of what your doing at home (For some reason it does not really happen at work I think because of the intense focus and all sorts of time management tools we have. Im not checking a calendar constantly at home or devops software). Some of his stuff is not even problems. I listen to music and bands that are before my time and have done so since I was young. He probably should do something about his blood pressure and cholesterol though. I totally wish things were simpler but more because they are annoying than complicated. Many tech things have lost a lot of functionality in the modern age as they are dumbed down rather than gaining greater function. It galls me how much I still have to do with paper.
Im not checking a calendar constantly at home or devops software
I kind of am. It's my hobby. I develop and produce embedded electronics, both the hardware AND software. There's a PoE-powered relay controller board I made myself running all my smart home stuff right now. There isn't a day that goes by that I'm not involved with tech somehow. It's my bread and butter. So, bring on the next decade, I welcome it.
Why does the computer make you conclude OP is in their 50s? OP says in the title that they’re 46. I’m 41, and we had this computer at my rural elementary school.
I don't know if you mean Apple IIs, or the scene in the movie.
If you want to learn how computers work, the Apple II was, and arguably still is, a great platform. 8-bit programming is still fairly comprehensible to the novice, and the MIPS assembly language that is used in academic textbooks draws a direct lineage from the Motorola 6502 instruction set.
I learned basic 6502 programming on my Commodore 64 in the 80s, and I was shocked when I took a computer engineering course in 2010 that used MIPS assembly for the examples. It wasn't just easy to understand, it was the same in virtually every respect. I had no problem at all following the code.
I’m same age as OP and love Skrillex. Pretty in the loop with tech. Use they/them when asked without complaint. Am out of shape though, need to work on that part. Still miss my Commodore VIC20 and IBM XT though.
Come on kid. You’re still pretty young! I’m 58 and aside from the damn arthritis and multiple surgeries with my wrists and hands, I’m okay. Like @rm_dash_r_star, mine would have also been a typewriter in that case. I love tech and try to keep up as best I can. I absolutely love music and try keep up and am always seeking new and undiscovered music in the genres that I love which spans so many genres.
For getting older, we just got to take care of ourselves as best we can. Eat not terribly, get a bit of exercise. Even if it’s just taking care of the yard or walking the dog. Take your meds if you have them. Please do this part. I lost a really good friend at 52 because he didn’t take his high blood pressure medication.
I definitely keep up with my meds. I have a chronic nerve condition and I would be in a ton of pain if I didn’t. So it’s not hard for me to remember to take cholesterol and BP meds at the same time. Thanks!
I feel several comments here have already covered how you can change, but I want to give you something different.
It’s ok to be “old”, you don’t need to understand the youth of today, or even like anything they do. Just don’t yell at them, or look down on them for doing it.
It’s sometimes odd to realise that what I consider to be retro (retrogaming is one of my hobbies) was once cutting edge. This post makes me feel weird emotions.
Haha, I’m so old that box would contain a typewriter.
Anyway young people like to think they have some control over ageing, like they can be thirty forever. Sorry to say it’s not going to happen. There’s things you can do to stave it off, but it will catch up with you. When you’re young you don’t think about it, you take it for granted. When you get old and feel the loss you think about it a lot.
Age caught up with me noticeably at an age older than forty something, but I’m really feeling it now. Forties are young enough where a health regiment of some kind can improve sense of well being. If overweight just getting down to an ideal can help greatly. I’ve had to battle my weight most of my life and when I can maintain a good weight it makes a really big difference in how I feel.
As far as not getting modern culture, it goes ten feet over my head now. I wish I could live in the the 90’s forever.
Same, I miss the days when people would call or randomly knock on your door or throw a rock at the window to hang out and play some Goldeneye or binge-watch VHS movies.
I have back problems, high cholesterol, high blood pressure
As someone who waited way, way, way too long too lose weight, let me recommend that you review your situation with a doctor.
I've lost significant weight in my 50s and it's completely turned my health around. Cholesterol, blood pressure, blood sugar, almost every indicator was dangerously of whack. I was on a boatload of medications, it was doing jack squat.
Now I get tested and everything is where it's supposed to be. I'm down to small maintenance doses for blood pressure and triglycerides, and I'm off the diabetes medical entirely.
I don't know if weight it a problem for you, but if it is: you can get it under control.
You can fix this. Stop worrying about things and do things instead. Incremental fixes work.
For fucks sake, move! I mean your body. That and food are the top 80% of it. Dumb old walking is enough. Walk to work, walk to lunch from work. Yeah it may break your social structure but change is what you need.
Change is good (most of it). Everything changes. Embrace all of it, reject what doesn’t work for you (but if you don’t embrace it you won’t know)
I’m 67. Got my MFA at 54. Kung fu black belt last year. Just built and electric bike. I live in Los Angeles you don’t need cliche images of nature to MOVE. You meet weird and interesting people.
Visit a new cafe every week and have a coffee.
Don’t wait for the time to be right do it while it’s uncomfortable! Of course you’re awkward’n’shit, that’s completely usual. There is no normal. You just gotta do what works. And a lot of things that don’t. Just move.
Less carbs, probably fewer snacks, 50% of your food should have recognizably grown out of dirt pm the ground.
This reminds me of the Apple 2 c that was my family's gaming system. My older siblings got interested in computers for games about the time Apple //C computers went for cheap at garage sales, with stacks and stacks of games and tutorials on actually flexible floppy disks. So that was my introduction to computer games.
the gray hairs are accelerating and i've lost touch with the newest generation
but i don't feel old yet. i feel the same as i ever have. my dad is in his early 50s and he says more or less the same thing. i think feeling old is a personality thing. stay active, keep life exciting. do different things and accomplish goals. look at someone like Biden. he probably does more more in a day what I do in a week and he's hanging on for dear life
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