Baby Boomers

[donroc]

http://www.newsday.com/news/opinion/ny-walt-babyboomers-blurb,0,1036393.blurb (http://www.newsday.com/news/opinion/ny-walt-babyboomers-blurb,0,1036393.blurb)

This humorous bit led me to wonder how well Baby Boomers will handle senior citizendom. I may be wrong, but based upon my contact with them in California during the '60s-'80s, I can say they are the most age-conscious generation of all I have encountered. Each decade in their lives if not birthday, became a crisis for many I have known.

What do you think?

[Don]

I'm having no trouble with the transition, but I may not be a typical boomer, so it's hard for me to say. I shrugged a year ago, at 55, sold everything, and now live in a fifth wheel. We're in Michigan for a few months, then Florida / Georgia for the winter. The rat race sucks; my only regret is I didn't save faster and get out sooner.

I don't personally know many boomers who fit the mold that the MSM seems to put us in. The ones that fit that mold aren't the ones we're likely to hang out with anyway. There are drama queens in every generation; I find my life is more enjoyable if I don't get sucked into their dramas.

[blacbird]

I'm a leading-edge baby boomer, born in 1946 (right at nine month's after the death of Hitler, so I figure the Hindu idea of reincarnation into a life befitting the legacy of the previous one is probably correct). I am not retired, nor do I expect to be, as long as I am sufficiently healthy to work in my professional field. And every day I'm less concerned about chronological measurements; it's what you can do, and do do, that counts.

Dammit.

caw

[blacbird]

Then, for a diversion, there's this: The Philadelphia Phillies, one of Major League Baseball's better teams, division champions last year, and leading their division most of this year, feature MLB's oldest player, 45-year-old Jamie Moyer, a starting pitcher in their regular rotation. They picked him up at mid-season two years ago, since when, over what amounts to two full seasons, he's totalled 28 wins and 20 losses, a record any team would accept with glee. He's never missed serious time owing to injury. This year, his ERA (earned run average, a major statistic for measuring pitching performance) is less than 4.00, another statistic any team would consider highly acceptable.

Tonight he beat the Florida Marlins, a division rival, in their park, in a 4-2 game. He owns them, 10 consecutive wins against zero losses. The following quote is priceless:

"I don't know how he does it at 45 years old," said Florida's Cody Ross, who went 0-for-3 to end a career-best 17-game hitting streak. "You see his 82 mph fastball, and it looks good to hit. But it's never down the center of the plate."

You go, Jamie Moyer. All us boomers salute you. Play till you're eighty.

caw

[rugcat]

Piffle.

Pitching is a skill and a craft. Yes it's impressive, but let's not forget Gordie Howe, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordie_Howe) who played a full 80 game season with the NHL Hartford Whalers at age 51.

Playing professional ice hockey takes quite a bit of effort.

[WriteKnight]

My avatar is me in armor on horseback - jousting. I'm over fifty. I'm a little slower, but I'm a little smarter too.

[blacbird]

Piffle.

Pitching is a skill and a craft. Yes it's impressive, but let's not forget Gordie Howe, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordie_Howe) who played a full 80 game season with the NHL Hartford Whalers at age 51.

Playing professional ice hockey takes quite a bit of effort.

Howe was a legend and justifiably so. I don't "forget" him at all. If he'd been playing today at that age, I'd have used him for an example. We could add fotball quarterback George Blanda to this list, too. But the thread is about baby-boomers.

Oh, and as an addendum, Moyer plays in the National League, which has no Designated Hitter for the pitcher. So he has to hit. As a hitter, for a pitcher, he's not too bad.

caw

[Ol' Fashioned Girl]

My avatar is me in armor on horseback - jousting. I'm over fifty. I'm a little slower, but I'm a little smarter too.

Old age and treachery... :D

[maestrowork]

You guys are old.

Ray, who is a bona fide Generation X

[Haggis]

You guys are old.

Ray, who is a bona fide Generation X

Get off our lawn.

Haggis, who was born the day after Hermann Goering committed suicide

[maestrowork]

Get off our lawn.

Haggis, who was born the day after Hermann Goering committed suicide

You have a lawn? I thought you're already in a nursing home or assisted living.

Oh, you're a dog. Never mind. I don't want to step into your business anyway. :)

[WriteKnight]

"Here young fella.... c'mon over here and let me show you how to get on a horse..."

Old age and treachery??? Hell, I INVENTED it.

[skelly]

Given that most articles I've read put the Baby Boomer generation at 1946 to 1964, I guess, technically, I wind up being the last of the BB generation, as I was born in 1964. But if the criteria here (http://www.aginghipsters.com/blog/archives/000493.php) are of any value, then I am actually the first wave of Gen Xers. Especially that part about the parachute pants.

Yup.

[Robert Toy]

1946 to 1964 for baby boomers?

Well that just sucks. I'm a pre-boomer...isn't that like a fart, or maybe just a gas build up before the boom?

Yup, I like the gas buid up better.

[Haggis]

http://www.newsday.com/news/opinion/ny-walt-babyboomers-blurb,0,1036393.blurb (http://www.newsday.com/news/opinion/ny-walt-babyboomers-blurb,0,1036393.blurb)

This humorous bit led me to wonder how well Baby Boomers will handle senior citizendom. I may be wrong, but based upon my contact with them in California during the '60s-'80s, I can say they are the most age-conscious generation of all I have encountered. Each decade in their lives if not birthday, became a crisis for many I have known.

What do you think?

You can't judge us by the Californians, Don. They're all nuts anyhow, regardless of their age. :D

[skelly]

1946 to 1964 for baby boomers?

Well that just sucks. I'm a pre-boomer...isn't that like a fart, or maybe just a gas build up before the boom?

Yup, I like the gas buid up better.
It is some sort of fart. Yes.

[Robert Toy]

It is some sort of fart. Yes.

Mature fart
Experienced fart
In your prime fart
Full-grown fart
Grown-up fart
Ripe fart

[donroc]

You can't judge us by the Californians, Don. They're all nuts anyhow, regardless of their age. :D

I agree because it was in the L.A. area, and those of us from my home city of San Francisco are too worldly, cool, and sophisticated to worry about aging.;)