You know you're old when...

[Buug959]

SOA

[dradernh]

Originally Posted by Boomer 2019

When I was a starving college student in 1972-73 I got a construction job to augment my VA payments. It was with a building insulation company working on a new hospital. The insulation material was something called Zonolite made by W. R. Grace and Co. It was a dry dusty material that came in bags. This would be added to water in a mixer, and then dumped into a powerful pump which then sent the mix through a long hose to where a worker would shoot it onto the structural steel of the building.

No one ever mentioned the word asbestos, and I certainly had never heard of its danger at the time. Turns out Zonolite was nearly pure asbestos. My job was to operate the mixer and the pump, and tear open the bags and achieve the proper consistency of the mix before dumping it into the hopper of the pump. I was enveloped in a cloud of dust all day and my clothes were covered with it. Thank God I had the common sense to figure out that breathing in this stuff was not a good idea, so I would take a deep breath and hold it before tearing open a bag and dumping it, and would not breath until the cloud had blown away. When I got home I would take off all my clothes in the yard (we had no neighbors) and would beat everything out of them that I could. Never the less I had to have inhaled some of it over time.

I did not hear about the danger of asbestos until about 5 years later, and worried from time to time for years if I was going to come down with asbestosis. It hasn't happened yet so I figure I'm good. I do consider myself very lucky though.

I first read about asbestos as a likely health issue sometime in the early or mid-60s. I was going out with a girl whose father was a regional VP of sales for Johns Manville and asked him about it. His response was that JM had recently begun placing warning labels on their asbestos products. I don't think at that time it was at all understood by the public just how much potential risk was entailed by handling those products.

Glad to hear you remain unaffected by your exposure.

[Gemini562]

You know you're old when you throw your back out blowing on your birthday cake candles, or when getting lucky means finding your car in the parking lot on the first try! How about when you start telling people you're "29 with a few years of experience"... repeatedly? And let's not forget, you know you're definitely old when your favorite songs are now elevator music. Oh, and those noises you make when getting up? They're not sound effects; they're your personal soundtrack!

[M_Six]

Up until recently I could get away with telling people I was forty-nineteen. Not any more.

[MassWholeBimmer]

.... when getting carded at a bar at Chicago's O'Hare airport (where they card everybody) is the highlight of your day...

[3.0L]

Originally Posted by UncleWede

Scarred, probably for life, I tell ya.


Yes, I am a He-UUUGGE baby. I reminded them when I sat down that I was allergic to needles. They paid me about as much attention as my wife.

I had 2 very old gold crowns replaced a few months ago and while I wouldn't describe it as a pleasant experience, it certainly
was much better when I had the originals installed. My dentist retired a couple of years ago and the new dentist and staff
are much younger, up to date on the latest techniques and very organized. I could barely feel the injections (one per crown)
plus could not feel any of the grinding, etc. The dentist kindly provided a clever prop to hold my jaw open. All in all, I was
able to relax for the 1st time ever. My dentist installed porcelain crowns which I really like. And NO temperature sensitivity.

[Esteban]

.

[M_Six]

^^^That's a funny thing about my Dad. He *never* swore at home. I got smacked once because I used the word "pissah," which is a Boston thing. Then one Saturday my Dad had to go into work because a gate around the property had frozen shut in a snowstorm. Since it was Saturday and no one else besides a mechanic would be there, he brought my younger brother and me along with him. There was a Dunkin Donuts shop right near his workplace and he promised us donuts if we went to help him. He had us go up into a control tower where he worked and told us to push the open/close buttons on the gate controller when he said to do so over the intercom. Then he went back outside to work with the mechanic on the gate. When they had freed up the gate, he told us to push the Open button, which worked fine and opened the gate. He told us it was working, good job, and all that. Then I asked if we could get donuts now. My brother and I then heard him say to the mechanic, "Do you believe this f**king kid? Always thinking about his stomach."

My brother and I sat there with our jaws on the floor staring at each other.

Dad said the F-word!!!!

We were stunned. Years later I met some guys who worked with my Dad who claimed he was a prodigious crafter of brutal language when he was mad at someone for screwing up. Something I never knew about my father.

[Esteban]

Originally Posted by M_Six

...My brother and I sat there with our jaws on the floor staring at each other.

Dad said the F-word!!!! ...

Your dad sounds like a good man... very respectful of his family and of his children.

My dad, on the other hand, would swear like a sailor no matter who was around him and no matter where he was. Was kinda funny, to tell you the truth. Obviously me and my two sisters had a very 'broad' vocabulary at a young age.

[M_Six]

Originally Posted by Esteban

Your dad sounds like a good man... very respectful of his family and of his children.

My dad, on the other hand, would swear like a sailor no matter who was around him and no matter where he was. Was kinda funny, to tell you the truth. Obviously me and my two sisters had a very 'broad' vocabulary at a young age.

My Dad defined integrity and serenity. He was always calm and you could always take him at his word. His devotion to our family was total. He dropped out of school in the 10th grade to go to work to help support his family. No college education and no high school diploma, yet he was the wisest man I have ever known. I miss him terribly.

[Esteban]

Was nagging UncleWede about going to the dentist and being a wuss, now I’ve broken a tooth and have to go myself. Payback is a bitch.

Appointment is Thursday.

[Andrew2]

... you`re right and everyone else is wrong

[UncleWede]

Originally Posted by Andrew2

... you`re right and everyone else is wrong

That's ALWAYS been true

[sygazelle]

...when you are skiing with your grandchildren and, while waiting in lift line, a guy says to me; "Wow, skiing with your grand kids. I can't believe you are still skiing at your age!". I didn't know whether to thank him, punch him in the jaw, or take him up on the hill and race him down!!. For the record, I thanked him.

Photo of me following three of my six grand kids on a perfect day at Heavenly Ski Resort.

My youngest is 4 and he just started ski lessons. Next year I will ski with him and meet my goal of skiing with all of my grandchildren. Season pass for 2024-2025 already purchased.

[M_Six]

Originally Posted by sygazelle

...when you are skiing with your grandchildren and, while waiting in lift line, a guy says to me; "Wow, skiing with your grand kids. I can't believe you are still skiing at your age!". I didn't know whether to thank him, punch him in the jaw, or take him up on the hill and race him down!!. For the record, I thanked him.

Photo of me following three of my six grand kids on a perfect day at Heavenly Ski Resort.

My youngest is 4 and he just started ski lessons. Next year I will ski with him and meet my goal of skiing with all of my grandchildren. Season pass for 2024-2025 already purchased.

My uncle (Dad's brother) was a great skier. He skied into his late years. At the end he was under heavy pain killers for cancer and was semi-comatose. His wife saw he was smiling in his half-asleep state and asked him where he was. He said he was skiing down Wildcat Mtn. (NH) His last thoughts were about skiing.

I was never a good skier but I always enjoyed doing it. I was once the only skier going up and down a black diamond slope at Sunday River in Maine. It was bitter cold, but I couldn't resist the chance to have the entire ski run to myself. The ski lift operator thought I was nuts.

[ezaircon4jc]

Originally Posted by sygazelle

...when you are skiing with your grandchildren and, while waiting in lift line, a guy says to me; "Wow, skiing with your grand kids. I can't believe you are still skiing at your age!". I didn't know whether to thank him, punch him in the jaw, or take him up on the hill and race him down!!. For the record, I thanked him.

Photo of me following three of my six grand kids on a perfect day at Heavenly Ski Resort.

My youngest is 4 and he just started ski lessons. Next year I will ski with him and meet my goal of skiing with all of my grandchildren. Season pass for 2024-2025 already purchased.

Lived in SLC for just over 4 years and never went skiing. Sliding down a snowy hill/mountain on two pieces of waxed wood with no brakes just didn't seem like a wise thing to do.

[ShapeShifter]

Originally Posted by ezaircon4jc

Lived in SLC for just over 4 years and never went skiing. Sliding down a snowy hill/mountain on two pieces of waxed wood with no brakes just didn't seem like a wise thing to do.

During the mid-late 80's, I had many business trips to SLC and Tooele. I don't ski either, but one of the Senior Executives arranged a trip up to the Snowbird Resort. I'm not fond of heights, so the ride up wasn't that pleasant for me, but the resort and its lounge was simply spectacular. Thankfully, the drive back down was in darkness!!

[Artemis]

Originally Posted by Buug959

I was gonna say that too.

Originally Posted by Andrew2

... you`re right and everyone else is wrong

The strip color always used to be a shade of coral (not O.K. Corral).

And then those never-ending discussions:

• *PANG*
• "You're dead !"
• "No I'm not !"
• "Yes you are !"
• "Not true !"
• *PANG* *PANG* *PANG*
• "Now you definitely are..."

[ezaircon4jc]

Originally Posted by ShapeShifter

During the mid-late 80's, I had many business trips to SLC and Tooele. I don't ski either, but one of the Senior Executives arranged a trip up to the Snowbird Resort. I'm not fond of heights, so the ride up wasn't that pleasant for me, but the resort and its lounge was simply spectacular. Thankfully, the drive back down was in darkness!!

If you flew in there, I may have very well worked your flight.

[ShapeShifter]

Originally Posted by ezaircon4jc

If you flew in there, I may have very well worked your flight.

Yea, flew from Michigan with changeover in Chicago or Denver. Then dropped in over the Wasatch.

Oh, interesting flight patterns in and out.....

[tturedraider]

Originally Posted by ezaircon4jc

Lived in SLC for just over 4 years and never went skiing. Sliding down a snowy hill/mountain on two pieces of waxed wood with no brakes just didn't seem like a wise thing to do.

[crabman]

It's a bit of a tangent but my dad literally told me he walked 7 miles to school every day, this was in S. Caroline during the depression.

He had been gone years and I had an aunt over there who was getting quite elderly, and I had been promising a visit. One fine day, I got off my butt and did go visit. At one point I mentioned the 7-mile thing and she allowed that it was about right, but why guess, it turns out both the house they grew up in, and the schoolhouse, were still standing. So we took a drive to get a measurement.

That walk ended up being 6.8 miles... Close enough for me.