I'd prescribe a relaxed reading of Catch 22, writing haiku on
an especially rainy day, with lashings of ginger beer.
Steve KK
On 19/9/03 12:28 PM, "Mairead Byrne" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> What are you *on*, man? Get a grip of yourself. Jeepers.
>
>>>> [log in to unmask] 09/18/03 22:11 PM >>>
>> For me 75 was the watershed. Couldn't swim laps worth talking about
> any
>> more or get a speedos that looked right. Oh well.
>> Mairead
>
> Well, joking aside, it depends how old you +really+ are.
>
> I used to think there wasn't much positive about having your left thigh
> deconstructed by a dum-dum bullet in the Boer War, before the term was
> even
> invented ...
>
> I mean, by the time they'd worked their way through to giving it a name,
> leave alone having the UN declare the use a War Crime, my
> +grandchildren+
> were drawing their pensions.
>
> But there was this one small advantage -- I could look down at it and if
> it
> wasn't cherry red, no rain coming, so no need to pack an umbrella.
>
> Then it started talking to me.
>
> Hey, that wasn't *so* bad -- at my age, you can live with bits of your
> anatomy talking back. But it was what it said ...
>
> "You made your will yet, mate?"
>
> ALL I *need*, to have my war-wound nag me about making a will.
>
> Patrick McManus will apprecate this -- he and I were sharing a trench
> an'
> chatting about this and that in 05.
>
> "That wee reporter man will go FAR, Robin, take my word," said the Aged
> Pensioner From Hell.
>
> "As IF!!!" I naturally laughed, "even if he survives this, he'll spend
> his
> life walking across the floor between the Liberals and the
> Conservatives.
> Stupid [expletive deleted] chancer."
>
> "Heh heh heh," chuckled Patrick evily, "just you wait -- I'll survive to
> run
> back and forth across your bones on my powered Zimmer frame ... "
>
> He did, too.
>
> Sad that, but.
>
> Zorro, the Masked Cliche.
>
> MORAL: *Don't* grow old. Or if you must, do it gracefully and wittily,
> like Patrick.
>
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