Getting Older Sucks (at times)!

[Derek S]

There's a handful of aging/seasoned rockers here, thought it might be fun to share any getting older sucks anecdotes you may have (not the "I spend just as much time shaving my nose and ears hair these days as my chin" but the embarrassing variety.

In the last few weeks I've had a couple vision goofs. Yesterday my gf went to the zoo, I couldn't get off work but she took her daughter anyway. She texted me a few pics (she knew I really wanted to go), the first shot was a baby giraffe sitting at attention, I replied to her "awww, it's cute, but wtf is wrong with its skin?" She answers back "Dummy! Put your glasses on...that's a statue, we're just entering the exhibit!"

A few weeks ago I guess I thought I could pay for a movie in Best Buy with my Kroger's shoppers card (it's the same color as my debit card)...the young guy at the register had a good laugh so I gave him the "just wait, sonny" bit lol.

 

[PelliX]

...the young guy at the register had a good laugh so I gave him the "just wait, sonny" bit lol.

That's gotta be the best bit of getting older! Addressing people who are younger with 'sport', 'son' or 'young man' sets the tone for the conversation if you can pull it off. I can't say I have any embarassing stories that relate *directly* (!) to age. Vision and hearing are still A-OK. I did recently get a bit of a mental kick in the teeth when I signed up for driving lessons and was told by a couple of instructors that "this might well take a year or two at my age". I don't mind the wrinkles, but that one stung.

 

[junk notes]

Many of us have arrived, and we like our Marshall amps.

 

[RCM 800]

just like a car, its not the years, its the mileage that kicks my ass. After I turned fifty its like all the dumb shit of my youth caught up with me and everything is failing or hurting or both.

 

[Dogs of Doom]

this thread rocks!

 

[PelliX]

Many of us have arrived, and we like our Marshall amps.

A trend nowadays is to put the brandname on the product in a way that is not directly legible or very small. Not Marshall. No, sir, they know that if they make it big enough, old guys can recognize the shape of the white blur instantly in the shop.

 

[Springfield Scooter]

I just watched a video on a amp building class that Mojotone offered a short time ago.
The average age of the people that attended, was probably 55 years old, in my opinion.

I know that I spend too much time these days, looking for my eye glasses.
Im so old, I no longer purchase GREEN bananas at the grocery store!

 

[South Park]

The wife was holding a baby in Kaiser and some young girl said are the grandmother no I’m the mother

 

[Trumpet Rider]

As far as I can tell, I'm the second oldest MF'er on this site, at least among those who post regularly and who will admit such things, and I'm here to tell you young fellers tha cy[e ;mioueek wllncan nevt tp

 

[Gene Ballzz]

"Gettin' old sure ain't for sissies, but it's a hell of a lot better than the alternative!"
Still Screechin' & Squawkin'
Gene

 

[Jethro Rocker]

Last gig we had late April, I ran n jumped arpund like usual.
Feet were so sore and lower back. Could barely bend over.
Had a blister on EACH big toe the next day.
Now it will be moleskin and 2 different pair of shoes. Next show Fri. Hoping for better that way...
Just turned 59.

 

[Matthews Guitars]

I just turned 57. I always have said that I'd rather be old enough to complain about how old I am, than to never have made it that far.

The alternative to getting older is getting deader. Really not caring much for that alternative, but eventually we will all get there, too.

So far things are going well. To quote Chancellor Martok, "My deterioration is continuing apace." To which his wife replied, "I thought you would be in your grave by now."

I have some age-related issues but nothing that keeps me from going to the gym and moving weights that would hospitalize most men half my age. Joints are good, back is superb, still have all my original teeth with no fillings except for the four wisdom teeth that I had removed in three different procedures over the last 20 years. Just don't ask me to run. It has been clear to me for most of my life that running is not what I am intended to do. If I start I shall soon encounter the resurgence of a varicose vein in each shin, which will hurt like driving a nail through the bone. So I do. not. run.

The only thing that bothers me, and only at times, is that I have a minor astigmatism that varies according to whether I open my eyes wide or let my eyelids droop down a bit. That's not something that there's really a cure for. So I look sleepy when I am focusing best.
And I'm at the point where bifocals might be good for me but I refuse to do that. Since I'm nearsighted I just take my glasses off for working up close. Works fine for me.

My mother is 85. She takes fewer prescription medications than I do.

 

[Gene Ballzz]

Last gig we had late April, I ran n jumped arpund like usual.
Feet were so sore and lower back. Could barely bend over.
Had a blister on EACH big toe the next day.
Now it will be moleskin and 2 different pair of shoes. Next show Fri. Hoping for better that way...
Just turned 59.

I'm 67 and currently no longer hump the gear and PA, but do all the wiring and mix from the stage, when we bring PA. There is only one monitor for the drummer and we put the full PA behind us! Makes for great stage monitors and ensures that we are never too loud! With provided PA, I ask for my monitor to be turned way down, as I want to hear my voice in the room! I'm "Old School!"
Just Rockin'
Gene

 

[jmp45]

67 here too, time flies, make the best of it.

 

[Jethro Rocker]

I'm 67 and currently no longer hump the gear and PA, but do all the wiring and mix from the stage, when we bring PA. There is only one monitor for the drummer and we put the full PA behind us! Makes for great stage monitors and ensures that we are never too loud! With provided PA, I ask for my monitor to be turned way down, as I want to hear my voice in the room! I'm "Old School!"
Just Rockin'
Gene

Wow, behind you! We would feedback long before it got over the drummer's level.
We have lots of gear.
Monitor wedges each, FOH tops on poles on subs, drummer has a small sub and wedge beside him, board and rack sits behind drums, 4 x4 racks of Par 56 plus 2x4 of LED for front. It's all the wiring that kills time wise. Hard on the back at end of night when one is out of shape.
I know, I know. Exercise....

 

[Mitchell Pearrow]

My commute from work to home gets me the most, tough to walk when I get out of my truck for a minute or 2..
And my arms are shrinking, and looking worn out, and I can’t lift a lot of the weight I used to, and 110 heat is kicking my ass.

But I am only 63 ..

Cheers

 

[Gene Ballzz]

Wow, behind you! We would feedback long before it got over the drummer's level.
We have lots of gear.
Monitor wedges each, FOH tops on poles on subs, drummer has a small sub and wedge beside him, board and rack sits behind drums, 4 x4 racks of Par 56 plus 2x4 of LED for front. It's all the wiring that kills time wise. Hard on the back at end of night when one is out of shape.
I know, I know. Exercise....

We go a lot of gear too! Top boxes with 2x15/2x10 and horn, each on top of subs! The trick is that I've toured as a sound engineer with some big acts (naming them would feel unethical to me) as both FOH and monitor engineer and ran a sound rental company for 25-ish years, etc, so EQ-ing for volume and good tone, "WITHOUT" feedback is second nature to me! Over the years behind FOH consoles, I learned that often the loudest and most horrible sound coming off the stage was the back wash of the monitors! Just think of what a loud, full rnge speaker cabinet sounds like from the rear and adding that sound to the FOH mix! It was always a constant battle in the low mids. In ears are great for the FOH guy and for other musicians, but I hate 'em. They simply don't feel natural!
Yeah, I'm A Nut Case!
Gene

 

[Vinsanitizer]

I was old once.

 

[Vinsanitizer]

Wow, behind you! We would feedback long before it got over the drummer's level.
We have lots of gear.
Monitor wedges each, FOH tops on poles on subs, drummer has a small sub and wedge beside him, board and rack sits behind drums, 4 x4 racks of Par 56 plus 2x4 of LED for front. It's all the wiring that kills time wise. Hard on the back at end of night when one is out of shape.
I know, I know. Exercise....

I know it's only Rock n Roll, but I like it.
(I also liked that I could smaxtimize the photos full-screen on my big-ass 4K UHD TV, too.)

 

[Vinsanitizer]

As far as I can tell, I'm the second oldest MF'er on this site, at least among those who post regularly and who will admit such things, and I'm here to tell you young fellers tha cy[e ;mioueek wllncan nevt tp

Congratchumations!!