Fifty-Plus Club for SteamGeezers

[Maets]

Today, another step in the fifty plus as I am now 58.  Just learned it is also The Duchess of Cambridge birthday as well.

[Sir Henry]

And Herbert Lom's. 

[Rockula]

And Herbert Lom's. 

Ooer. And Freddie Starr.

[madron]

oh my 59 in 5 days

[frances]

What are the advantages of being a SteamGeezer?

[Plutus Sar]

Well, it beats being a SteamCadaver by a wide margin...

[Sir Henry]

What are the advantages of being a SteamGeezer?

I was very pleased to receive, upon joining, my free Senior Steampunk Travel Pass whereby I could use any time machine for any length of time absolutely free of charge. Unfortunately I went back ten years and upon emerging from the machine I had my pass taken from me as I was no longer eligible. I am now stuck here in 2013 on the slow return journey.
You have been warned.

[barb dwyer]

'alo!

[Banfili]

'alo back! Just ticked over, have you??

[Sir Henry]

Woken from hibernation, if she has any sense. A few months ago my aching joints decided that the best course of action was to sit by an open fire with regular infusions of brandy. Seems to be working so far, though if anyone could give me a reveille when Spring finally arrives I'd appreciate it. Cheers!

[Banfili]

I hibernate in the summer. We have just come out of the hottest on record here, and I am enjoying the short period of autumn cool. Autumn doesn't last as long as it used to & winter arrives pretty quickly. I love winter! The woodman is gradually filling up the spare (large) carport with beautiful dry wood - the dog will have to share space, as I am storing up as much as I can from now on.

[barb dwyer]

long stretched of quiet will make one wonder if the alternative has presented itself.

I was in line at the pharmacy
and turned to see the woman behind me
also had let her hair go white.

(Mine is now far whiter than in the pic tho about the same length)

"Hello," I said, " I like your hair style it looks very good on you."
"Why, thank you," she said, smiling, and looked up at my hair;
I was a bit taller than she.
Well - I imagine I still am taller than she is...

She looked at me and I smiled back.

"Yes," I said, "I see we have the same colorist."

We both laughed.

I mean, really: how hard is it to just say hello to people?

[Lady Toadflinger]

I am also letting my hair age as it pleases. Other 50ish ladies often remark favorably on it, and sometimes I even get the senior discount at the thrift stores because if it! There are some perks that go with ageing gracefully.

[Sir Henry]

There are some perks that go with ageing gracefully.

But so many more with ageing disgracefully... 

[barb dwyer]

MyDear Lady Toadflinger -
I am so glad to see more of us stepping aside
from the media pressure to color out what we may well have duly earned-

So much pressure to look young
when mature ... is an earned state.

I've been wondering lately
what would it be like
to let things be what they are
and make the beauty out of that?

Glad to see I'm not alone in that.

Oh, dear.
I'm afraid I may not have expressed that well.

[Fat Spider]

If the waiting list is so long I wont bother with an application, I'll just wait for an over 60s club, just over a year left and the family are already hinting at a party even before i've got number 59 out of the way

EDIT:  I should probably add that I share the same birthday as Peter Sutcliffe (The Yorkshire Ripper) and the Marquis De Sade 

[Sir Henry]

If the waiting list is so long I wont bother with an application...

My dear sir, you have obviously not been introduced to the waiting rooms, with a generously endowed bar in every room and a monkey butler in every chandelier, a smoke room, a lounge bar (but heaven forfend, never a public bar!), a sauna, several steam rooms and a gargantuan glasshouse where the elder members remember the days of derring-do and dalliances of bygone days in the extremities of an unexplored empire, for the entertainment and enlightenment of all in attendance.

The food's good, too.

Join us, do.

[Banfili]

I once had a colour rinse through my hair - no one noticed the difference, so I gave it up as a bad job (& good money wasted). Having inherited the tendency for early grey through my father's family, I started to 'go' at 19, but have developed into a silver version of pepper & salt. Having started as a darkish brunette with red lights - the red went silver first, & now, every time I get my hair cut the silver is taking over more & more. It has turned into a good 'look'!

[Rockula]

The only problem I have with my grey is when it makes my beard / mutton chops appear uneven. There are a couple of spots where the hair is so fair that it appears invisible. I intend to get some beard dye purely to fill in the gaps. Apart from that, as someone who has had a lifetime of various multi-coloured dye and bleach jobs, it's nice to have a colour I don't have to work on.

And, by the way, I'm about to come to the end my first year in the 'Fifty-Plus Club for SteamGeezers'. Do we get badges of honour? Do we have our own ranking system?

[Capt. Dirigible]

Do we get badges of honour?

Badges? We don't need...oh you know the rest.

My hair has been jet black, black with a white stripe, white with a black stripe, platimum blond or highlighted red, blue or purple. It's a wonder I still have any! But about five years back I was described by a member of the public as 'middle aged with purple hair and an earring' and I realised how sad that sounded. Since then I've let my hair go au naturale and kept it short.. It's a little grey at the temples but I sympathise with Rockula about grey facial hair. Not only does it age you about ten years when your beard comes through almost white but like Rockula I find my whiskers looking uneven because I'm greyer on one side than t'other.

Incidentally I too have a birthday this coming week. I'll be 54 on Friday....

[Sir Henry]

My hair hasn't turned grey yet, but this time last year I gave up on growing a beard as the left side was white and the right side red. Not only did it age me by a decade, it also looked as if I had run out of dye halfway through. Now it's almost totally white, so I may try again come the autumn. Add to that a rather spiffy pair of octagonal bifocals I bought recently and I may finally give up pretending I wasn't born in the 50's...

[Lady Toadflinger]

Sir Henry, is that the1850's?

[Sir Henry]

Having just returned from a 4-hour walk it certainly fels like it. 

[Capt. Dirigible]

Happy Birthday, Rockula! Have a good one, mate however you celebrate it!

[Rockula]

Happy Birthday, Rockula! Have a good one, mate however you celebrate it!

Cheers. Watching old B&W movies mostly.