Tuesday, September 19, 2017

geriatric degrade


GERIATRIC DEGRADE
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note: remember, it will be two weeks before the articles get shorter.
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Well, this was a first.  I try every trick in the book trying to get article ideas, and this is the first time I got one sitting on the throne wiping my bum.  There I was, minding my own damn business, barely awake as I hadn’t had coffee yet ( or exercise for that matter ), gingerly cleaning after my Constitutional, afraid of enraging my hemorrhoids, and it hits me just like that.  Getting old and falling apart is the perfect comparison with civilization collapse.  Think about it.  As you get older there isn’t a damn thing you can do to stop the process and nothing, not even oodles and gobs of money, can save you.  Now, obviously, this assumes you are exercising and eating healthier than most and you have no generic issues that I hope caused you to visit your parents and knocked their heads together and thanked them for breeding after they knew the family had screwed up genetic defects, prior to that killing you.  And, very important, you stay out of the hospital.  Seriously.  They were having Super Resistant Germs in those places twenty years ago, not to mention AIDS fluids splattered everywhere because we got all super stupid politically correct and didn’t quarantine carriers to New York City or some other craphole.

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When I go on You-Tube ( I started getting into a bad time wasting habit with them, but am able to break the cycle by skipping days now ), sure, I search out the prepper stuff.  But those aren’t going to last long with the idiots screwing with the revenue model ( no, this has nothing to do with the PC Police-it is all about the money.  They are hurting as ad revenues drop ), and I don’t expect them to.  I have learned a lot on cooking and construction and other nice odds and ends such as bike mechanics.  But, I won’t lie, there is also a bunch of Just Fun stuff I watch.  Like those Top 10 lists having to do with movies.  It’s just fluff, but I do enjoy.  Hey, even the lightest fare in fiction can always teach you something.  So, I’m watching a video on the celebrities who have died this year.  A lot weren’t as old as you would think.  And, more often than not, the cause of death was “complications after surgery”.  Now, sure, I get it, that was always code for “his immune system was crap from twenty years of cocaine and whiskey and he went in for plastic surgery and the shock killed him”.  But when MOST in a long line of rich people that can afford the best care die after visiting the hospital, I would pay attention.  The medical industry has gotten so bad so fast that it is a death sentence to visit one of their outlets.  If you are in trauma surgery, you got run over by a car, okay, you have no choice.  Otherwise, stay the hell out of the hospital.

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By doing all of the above, you probably don’t on average live all that longer ( age extension was a Space Age fantasy ), but you will have a much higher quality of life.  You’ll feel so much better.  Yet, that only minimizes the effects of getting old, it doesn’t stop them.  I’m only 52 and I’ve been falling apart for about give or take four years now.  Thank goodness, my sex drive was one of the first things to go so at least I don’t need to combine the relentless pursuit of a leg to hump with the increased pain of aging ( the equipment still works, I just don‘t want to use it as often ).  And really, for my age and income I’d say I am in fairly good shape.  Not just all that exercise but staying out of hospitals.   And all that whole wheat.  I need reading glasses, I’m losing my hearing ( but nary a single hair on my head ), the heartburn sucks, I’m seeing a lot of sunspots everywhere on my skin, most of my hair is grey, I can ride a bike hours on end but if I bend over I get winded as hell ( that can’t be good! ), I can take it easy one day and my body aches come evening anyway and I keep getting some weird eyelash hair follicle infection.

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And I’m the lucky one, being in better shape with better genes and not yet that old!  Now I know why old bastards drink too much.  Now, I know it does me absolutely no good to do the following.  Wistfully dream of how good I had it in my youth.  Trying to stay as active physically as I used to.  Even trying to still work as much as I used to ( both the physical and mental damage ).  None of that is productive or helpful.  Why torture yourself or make things worse, through your denial.  Old age isn’t something you can stop.  Period.  And yet, people still try, don’t they.  The NOL just had a cute little thing renting an apartment from her, but she was certainly no spring chicken.  But she dressed in clothing someone twenty years her junior would don and she got herself a young buck boyfriend and dotted on him to the point of embarrassment, always getting in trouble to appease or please him.  If she kept him, she was as worthy as a gal much younger.  Silly Sally, Trix are for rabbits.  I’m sure, from personal experience alone, you can relate to the denial of your aging.

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Does anyone act so foolish as to think aging is a process you can change?  Yet isn’t that how most people, the few who are even aware it might be a thing, look at our imperial collapse?  Hell, let’s not even look at the die-off and overpopulation with resource depletion.  Let’s just look at the historical un- deniability  of empire collapse.  All empires are born and then die.  Every single one in the history of ever.  Yet everyone wants to believe that we alone can beat the 250 year average.  I suppose it isn’t too confusing.  In just several years one area gets THREE storms that are labeled “500 year storms”, and most are both unsurprised nor give two thoughts to it ( I’ll not debate Gore Warming here.  Frankly, I could give a crap if we are heating or not, if it was man made or not.  Nothing we can do about it and the Oil Age ending will kick our ass first, if not the economy ).  Can you ever even top that for drinking the Kool-Aid made from De Nile river water? 

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I know I’m paraphrasing here, but didn’t some other much better writer say something to the effect that problems can be solved but dilemmas could just be endured?   I might have butchered that one up a bit-I should have wrote that one down.  The point was, just looking at solutions when there are none.  I look at voting like a search for a solution to a dilemma.  Oy, if we could simply just vote in the better politician he can solve all our problems!  Well, actually, you didn’t vote for a solution to anything other than an alleviation of the symptoms of a dilemma.  By not revolting against the current system that feeds you, you de facto voted for the elite to keep kicking the can down the road.  All they CAN do is buy a little bit of time.  I trust you aren’t wasting it ( and, while we can split hairs as to the advisability of certain preps, cough, tricking out pimping AR arsenals, cough, at least if you are doing something constructive you aren’t wasting this time ).

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Everyone looks at all the systems that collectively make up our infrastructure and are aghast, aghast, I tells yas, that they are all failing.  And then full on stop.  And refuse to take that to its logical conclusion.  We really need to stop and smell the roses.  Yes, ALL the systems are failing.  Yes, there is nothing you can do about it except pimp out your lifeboat.  Yes, this is all actually a GOOD thing.  That means the can is getting kicked down the road!  As long as our systems are dysfunctional but open for business, it means the whole is still delivering something, like a paycheck to keep you fed.  Okay, all traffic systems are chock a block full 24/7, the Internet signal keeps failing, the brownouts are getting more frequent.  I say, so what?! At least we still have gasoline delivered from the refinery, most of the time electricity and the majority of the time we can keep working as Skynet is limping along.  What is the alternative?  The apocalypse.

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Similarly, we all stay busy bitching and moaning and voicing our displeasure about our bodies falling apart, but that means we are still alive, doesn’t it?  What is the answer to aging?  It used to be health care to minimize the pain.  Now it is just enjoying each day like it was going to be your last.  Hey, the pain is just going to increase, right?  Get on that bike and enjoy the fresh air while you can.  Your knees might hurt, but that is just a taste of what is to come.  Of course, this doesn’t mean you live life like it is one long party, swilling down liquor like you have a titanium liver.  It just means learning to take pleasure in smelling the roses, not indulging in a fermented beverage made from their petals.  You can’t stop aging, so be at peace with it, and the collapse will come, so stop trying to live an affluent luxurious Oil Age lifestyle, cramming in all the decadence while you can.  It is one thing to treat yourself to a nice steak, once a month, never knowing if it is your last, quite another to go on an Atkins diet until your body shuts down from protein poisoning. 

END ( today's related link http://amzn.to/2gTu7aW )
 

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16 comments:

  1. Call it *Societal Inertia*.

    We all see the slow down, some more than others, but we go about our days wondering "are my eyes playing ticks on me?".

    We see all the restaurants slammed at 11:30am and everyone is driving a new ride, and staring at their dumbfonz, like they have't a care in the world. So everything must be hunky-dory.

    And those, those dam websites I visit everyday are just layering fake paranoia on my ass. Maybe I should stop reading those sites and ease back into full blown fake dementia like everyone else is and really start to enjoy life. I mean, who wants to sit here and watch the clock run out as we all get dragged over the cliff?

    Think I'll go make a steamin cup o'mud and sit on the porch and soothe my aching old ass knees, and my lower back, and piss and moan about 12 yo trifocals that no longer work, and count the single dollar bills in my wallet that has more gov't issued requirements than stuff I want in it. It's going to be rainy all day today and tomorrow too and that matches my shitty mood perfectly.

    FWIW, all of the medical establishments are slammed with *minority* employees so they all resemble the ghetto of any major metropolis and everything that goes with it. When it is more than obvious that it is my time to go I hope I am physically able to grab my pistol and go down into the woods, for the last time.....

    ReplyDelete
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    1. I'm supposed to think about this crap, and it baffles me. Where does the money come from to support consumption, when credit is withheld along with employment? Perhaps because anyone can buy a cell phone on a 2 year plan and the gov just finished about a what?, perhaps five year Everyone Approved 7 year auto loan so everyone has a new pimpin ride. But how do they all afford to go out and eat? Food tastes no better than frozen from the grocery store and cost twice as much now. Still baffled.

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  2. I'm one of the "old bastards" you speak of. Still feelin' pretty good most days, and still reading your crap. At 76, I remind myself that I'm not going to live forever, and I need to slow down and smell the roses. Problem is, after living life mostly in the fast lane, it's hard to shift gears, and pull into the slow lane. The stuff that bugged me 50 years ago, still bugs me, and although my mind tells me "You can do that", my body says, "Hey, wait a minute." I guess the only thing that really changes as we age, are our bodies. If we are lucky enough to still have our minds
    as we age, our bodies are the only things that remind us we're not 21 anymore.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You're not reading my crap, you're reading my drivel. Big difference! :)

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  3. Read this before you go to a hospital for elective surgery
    https://hub.jhu.edu/2016/05/03/medical-errors-third-leading-cause-of-death/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So, you are better off smoking and not visiting the hospital ( 150,000 deaths respatory disease ) than getting elective surgery ( medical mistakes 250,000 deaths a year ).

      Delete
  4. Shorter posts could be better only because you seem oblivious to the fact that paragraphs are your friend. Always put yourself in the position of the reader. Your prose are wonderful, Lord Bison, but your excessively long paragraphs are a pain in the ass for the reader.

    Just break it up a little more. And skip the long parenthetical asides. When you do that, your writing "sings". Your talent could shine if you would just change some mechanics on your writing technique.

    And, so you will take this constructive criticism seriously: Great hair!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I certainly don't mind constructive criticism-one of the reasons I'm shortening. I can't say I'm wedded to the long count between breaks. Par-a-graph??? They were merely a habit because I was already trying to make things easier. Two breaks were page are just as easy as one-I just need to get into the habit. Long parenthetical asides might be a harder nut to crack. I can certainly try-you're not the first one to comment. Stream of consciousness, you know. Not saying "no". Just saying, I can work out something to make everyone happy. Since you followed the rules about hair praise, I must take it to heart.

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  5. Hearing loss would be a dangerous disability to have after the grid goes down. I have these...

    https://www.amazon.com/Howard-Leight-Amplification-Electronic-R-01526/dp/B001T7QJ9O/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1505869638&sr=8-1&keywords=howard+leight+impact+sport

    They give you super hearing, which I intend to use if I ever needed to pull guard duty. Another idea I had to preserve my hearing is to install ear plugs if I knew gunfire was imminent. I would think you'd be able to be more alert to your surroundings and what's going on with noises being muffled rather than when your ears are ringing. Has anyone been in actual combat who can shed some light on whether ear plugs are a good idea or not?
    Peace out

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    Replies
    1. I would like to know, myself, how much hearing lose during gun fire effects you. Are you deaf the rest of the battle?

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  6. Cynical humor
    One of your superior writing traits.
    Excellent post

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  7. I always kind of laugh at people who complain about Our Crumbling Infrastructure while pointing towards Japan and Europe, saying Look how modern they are! We're so backwards! They never connect the utter devastation of WW2 to their massive rebuild. I ask them if they really want it, then tell them what the price is. Maybe we'll get there next time around.

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    Replies
    1. Na, no "next time around". Our Iron Age is going to be from salvage, with blacksmithing rather than smelting, all the human scale extractable ore long gone.

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  8. Well, I ain't goin down without a fight. I have a half decade B4 social security, but everyday I push my body hard. People ask how I can do what I do, ride bikes for miles, stay up working almost 20 hrs a day, sometimes pull all nighters, push and tug and plant and build . I tell them my only antidote is to push my body to the edge at least a couple times a week till something is aching or strained or I think I'm gonna die. I know it sounds crazy but I think it's what keeps me strong. There were two years I went to a community college and sat in a chair and wrote papers. Those two years made me feel frail, afraid to take risks, lost my muscle tone, lost my exuberance for life. I stopped the laziness, jumped back into being active and since have toned up, lost weight, feel strong and capable again. My old man and lady are 87 and 92, still live without help, are an ornery tough couple, and still go out dancing, not to some polkas or waltzes, but to hip-hop clubs. I think age is only partially physical and the rest is a frame of mind. If you look at yourself as young, you'll feel young but if you think sixty is old then you're going to feel like you're close to the end. When I look at my parents still being mostly functional at their late age, I feel like I got a long way to go.

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    1. I'd say there is a lot in what you are saying. For me personally, having done as you describe for the last decade, I knew it was time to step way down. I was just getting more stressed and more wore done physically. With my family history of heart trouble, while I stay active, I'm not crazy active anymore.

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