I LIKE NEW YORK IN JUNE…

/ dinahmow

…yes, I do! Hotter than a jockey’s saddle, but hey! It’s New York.

So very different from my first visit! IMG_3825

Trees with leaves! And the banner, above? Some of the roses on my friend’s terrace. I do have some other pics, but I’m a bit pushed for time, so here’s a small amusement for you…

Wylye Girl, over at the River Cottage (no, not Hugh get-yer-hair-cut) has a post about ageing and how to tell whether you are showing the signs of same. It amused me, possibly because I am approaching that time of life when people expect one to show such signs. Unless, of course, you’re like me and quite happily get on a bike (eventually!) and pedal around Central Park. (no photos of that, I’m afraid. Daisyfae and I were intent on not being taken out by a herd* of skate-boarders.More later…)

Anyway, while you wait to hear more about my cycling adventure, see how you score. This is an Anglo-centric quiz, but I’m sure you can adapt it for your own locale. These responses are mine.

…came across some new research that claims to have found the top 50 signs that you are getting older so I thought I would see how I stacked up against them, so here goes:

1. Feeling stiff. Yes, but some things have been stiff for years.

2.  Groaning when you bend down. No. Might groan if I can’t bend!

3.  Saying ‘In my day’. Probably.

4.  Losing my hair. Yes, to the extent that I no longer tear it out when ranting. The cats are looking a bit mangey…
5.  You don’t know any songs from the Top 10.  Didn’t even know there still is a Top Ten!

6. Getting more hairy (nose, ears, eyebrows, etc). I notice they don’t mention the Menopausal Moustache. So neither shall I!

7.  Hating noisy pubs. Yes.

8. Saying it wasn’t like that when I was young. Does repeating #3 suggest the author is getting old?

9.  Talking a lot about joints/ailments. What is “a lot”?

10. Forgetting people’s names. Like the new James Bond? Or the fellow who wants to be my next MP?
11.  Choosing clothes and shoes for comfort rather than fashion. Honey,comfort has trumped fashion for more than 40 years.It is possible to have both, y;know.

12.  Thinking policemen/teachers/doctors look really young.  Well, given that most who are older than I have retired…

13.  Falling asleep in front of the TV. Oh, yes.

14.  Needing an afternoon nap. Only at weekends when we have leisurely lunches involving wine (sorry, Z!)

15.  Finding you have no idea what young people are talking about. I often have no idea what ANYONE is talking about

16.  Struggling to use technology.  Like DVD recording and electric can openers?

17.  Losing touch with every day technology and tablets. see #16  Oh,wait! Maybe they mean the pill kind of tablet? Forgetting to swallow them. Um, yes. But only because I forgot to pack them…

18.  When you start complaining about more and more things.  See! Repeating questions again!

19.  Wearing your glasses around your neck.  Good God! No. When I need them, I need them in front of my eyes. Not dangling around my navel.

20 .  Not remembering the name of any modern bands.  I’d also like to forget that I heard some of their music.
21.  You avoid lifting heavy things due to back concerns.  Hey! That’s not age, that’s the wisdom that comes with age. Says she who was side-lined 6 months ago!

22.  Complaining about the rubbish on television these days. Doesn’t seem to have any effect ,does it?

23.  Misplacing your glasses/bag/keys. Does it count if you did these things at 20?

24.  You move from Radio One to Radio Two. For me, that would be like switching from Triple J to Classic FM.  (All radios Chez Dinahmow  have been tuned to Classic FM for 20 years.Sad.I know)

25.  You start driving slowly. Start? With constant roadworks and heavy traffic slow is the norm (except out by the golf course!)

26.  Preferring a night in with a board game rather than a night on the town. I wonder if this is not a typo?     Broad? Bored? Knight?

27.  Spending money on the home/furniture rather than a night out. Probably.This is a small town.

28.  You talk to colleagues so young they can’t remember what an Opal Fruit is. Who the bejeezlehoop has conversations about Opal Fruits? In my day (!) colleagues talked about a)other colleagues b) the boss c) the chances of snagging a Saturday date.

29.  Taking slippers to a friends’ house.  Whiskey Tango Foxtrot

30.  Listening to the Archers. Blimey! Is that still running? No, never did

31.  Falling asleep after one glass of wine. Define “glass” in terms of size

32.  Never going out without your coat. I live in the tropics.Don’t have a coat

33.  Getting bed socks for Christmas and being genuinely grateful. Pretty unlikely.On both counts
34.  When you can’t lose six pounds in two days any more. Wouldn’t you need to be bulimic?
35.  Gasping for a cup of tea.  Not me. I’m a coffee gal.But I still don’t see that tea-drinking qualifies one for an Old Fogey award.

36.  Taking a flask of tea or coffee on a day out.  Nope

37.  Joining the WI. Here, that would be the CWA. And my answer would still be no.

38.  Taking a keen interest in the garden. Less keen than when I had a much bigger garden and much younger body

39.  Spending more money on face creams/anti-ageing products. I don’t spend any money on such things. Probably why people think I’m old!

40.  Taking a keen interest in Antiques Roadshow. No. I have a lot of “old” things. And one of them refuses to throw the rest of them away.

41.  Taking a keen interest in dressing for the weather. Again with the “keen interest.”No, I don’t

42.  Putting everyday items in the wrong place. My bone folder in the pantry does NOT count. That’s not an everyday item…

43.  Obsessive gardening or bird feeding. Not obsessive.And I don’t feed wildlife (unless in rehab.Them, not me!)

44.  Really enjoying puzzles and crosswords. Nope. Too busy.

45.  Always driving in the slow lane or under 70 in the middle lane. No. see #25

46.  Consider going on a ‘no children’ cruise for a holiday.NEVER! sprogs or no sprogs. not.my.thing.

47.  Your ears are getting bigger. Are not!

48.  Joining the National Trust. Why?

49.  Drinking sherry. Hmm…the elderly ladies whose tipple is sherry have probably been drinking it for years in the belief it would not make them tipsy.So, no.

50.  Feeling you have the right to tell people exactly what you are thinking even it it isn’t polite. It is seldom polite.
* is there a collective noun for 200+ skate boarders? Herd suggests Serengeti wildebeest, which certainly was what it felt like the other day!

31 thoughts on “I LIKE NEW YORK IN JUNE…”

  1. I saw that post from Wylie Girl and promptly ricked my back getting out of the chair to make the morning coffee…..but I’ve been able to do that since my twenties when I spent a day checking voters outside a polling station and found I had locked my back into a Richard III hunch…so on that reckoning alone either I’m still young or the list is useless.

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  5. you were a champ on that bicycle, lady! i’ve struggled with a collective noun for skateboarders (or simply ‘sk8rboyz’ when they infested my family room). i considered “An annoyance of sk8rz”, as well as “A roll of sk8rz”, but neither seemed quite right. After the pesky sk8rboy infestation left my family room, i finally found the proper noun — “A funk of sk8rz”, as i have yet to get that lingering scent completely out of the sofa cushions…

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    • Really? Eww..
      As to the bike…you probably had the best view; face -on, I’d have been seen saying all sorts of Chaucerian words. Especially in the middle of that “swarm” But I’d do it again. 🙂

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  6. I am open-mouthed by my low score!!! But I will ‘fess up to enjoying Antiques Roadshow – although I prefer Bargain Hunt and the Antiques Roadtrip, which are maybe, maybe slightly cooler??

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    • I only saw one show, in which a rather doddery old lady asked some ponce to value a small silver box. Ponce went into paroxysms, quoting ridiculous sums of money and generally getting the studio audience in a tizz. Old lady said “thank you” and took her box home.

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  7. So I am a dinosaur. Not a problem. I don’t mind at all. And agree about the list. Repetitive and prejudiced. Interestingly most of the things I say yes to, I have said yes to since well before age had me firmly in its grasp. And what is obsessive gardening anyway?

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    • Ah, the sensible answer! I do wonder about the “research” tag on this.I think some wag just typed it up and handed out p/copies at a bingo session.
      Oh! And bingo didn’t even feature, did it? That’s always been one of my markers for age! 🙂

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  10. Wow… and I even listen to The Archers online in California! I wonder what that says about me.

    I do hope your time in New York is being most wonderful. Even if you are too over the hill to understand the pop culture references, sit in loud restaurants, etc, etc.

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  12. Gorgeous banner and leaves. Old as the hills, me. And from some of these indicators, have been since I was fifteen. (Us old people can’t have all the whinges)

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    • Sorry the reply is late…I was Estorbo’s “minder” for a couple of weeks, then I came to England and whizzed about madly, then France and now back in London til Monday when I return to The Great South Land.That’s probably confuded you further! 🙂

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  15. Hi Di! Lovely to meet you at the weekend. As for this list? Hmmm, there’s hope for me yet. Not TOO much, you understand, I;m dangerously close to the tipping point =) Indigo x

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  16. Oh my.

    Some of these make me think…I’ve been ageing since I was a little girl. # 50, for example.
    As for wearing socks to bed…you should see me when I was in the Caribbean and it’s winter in the US.

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