This is the inevitable thread for ILxors in their forties

indeed

esp if you are single or not obviously unavailable

40 is pretty good, have made measurable strides recently in emotional maturity and self-compassion. yay meditation and therapy. lucky not to have had any health problems yet. single and feel weird about it (not coming here to pick anyone up tho)

i'm over 50

Me too. Where's our thread?

Probably everyone's too tired to make one.

Is there an over 60 thread? Would offer my Medicare Open Enrollment expertise. Which is actually a thing I have. Ask me anything.

There is a thread for us folks over 50: [This is a thread for ILXORS IN THEIR 50's]...ILXORS IN THEIR 50's

^who of course fail at ILX formatting

The all-caps is a nice touch.

T minus 6 days.

WELCOME TO DIS

And in a couple of years I shall leave you all behind.

I joined these ranks last year. Guess I should bookmark this, huh?

I ran into a friend I hadn't seen in a while yesterday, who was surprised when he figured out that I was over 40. "You are perpetually in your mid-30's to me," he said. That was sweet.

way ahead of you puny children

is it just me, or when you look at pictures of people you knew in highschool, college, in your 20s, they all look a lot older, meanwhile you feel like you don't look much different than you did 15 years ago?

we are the Blest

maybe it's also a product of not having children? ... it does weird me out to see guys (not women, though, just guys) that I had "flirtations" with when I was younger ... seeing pictures of them with their kids. ... it feels more like "i shouldn't be seeing this" than if they sent me a dick pic out of the blue

It’s definitely weird, especially if you tend toward valuing your own privacy

I think not having kids might have something to do with it. I saw a picture of me from 3 years ago when I was 39 about to turn 40 and I still look pretty young. 3 years later I look old as shit. but a lot has happened in those 3 years

Someone at work, who is 24, joked that I was technically old enough to be his father. He has a nine month old kid, so I'm technically old enough to be someone's grandfather.

sup pops

sigh -- I still have a penchant for ironic thrift store t-shirts (or t-shirts that look like thrift store t-shirts) and I saw a bunch of grandma themed ones, and I thought about getting one ... until I thought that I could be someone's grandma and people might see wearing it and think it wasn't ironic at all

ugh .. people might see *me* wearing it and think it wasn't ironic

is it just me, or when you look at pictures of people you knew in highschool, college, in your 20s, they all look a lot older, meanwhile you feel like you don't look much different than you did 15 years ago?

Only the ones who've lost their hair. (I find baldies who are substantially younger than me really shocking. Last night I saw a dude on the subway whose hair was seriously thinned out on top and he couldn't have been more than 25 or so. I felt very sad for him.)

My brother's three years younger than me but I think he looks older than me. He has two kids and is pretty fat; also, he dresses like what he is, an ex-military father of two teenage sons (baggy short-sleeve button-down shirts, khaki shorts, sandals, Guy Fieri-esque sunglasses).

I guess some embrace the look.

sarahell but then that would be double irony, you should lean into it
Nine months left of my forties argh

I am 42 on Saturday. I have just shaved off the ginger beard I have sported since 2006, I now look like a startled and pudgy grey owl. And also like my mother.

I'm 44, everything seems fine. Don't feel that old, but also sometimes feel a little intimidated knowing that I'm around the half way point and I cannot imagine the second half being more eventful than the first, at least not in a good way.

Touch of Grey listening party anyone ?

I am 49 and have been thinking a lot about the liklihood that this "second half" (if I should be so lucky) will be less eventful, less colorful, and about the imperative to compensate with commemsurate wisdom, and awareness, and how that seems like an extremely tall order

it feels like I wild need a bonus 49 years *after* the "second half" to be cool with just sitting in a lawn chair needing a lot of naps thinking baout things

I am 46 and don't look it at all. It wouldn't be so bad if I didn't get random injuries the cause of which are difficult to ascertain. Foot and neck the last two weeks.

Everything hurts. EVERYTHING HURTS.

My knees make crunching chip sounds. I cant tolerate a drink anymore. BLARGH.

Feeling you on that.

I’m enjoying my first case of cellulitis!

fucking shoulder got me of late and a sudden case of apnea. What used to be fighting for gains is now fighting to keep above water.
not for weaklings, as they say.

cellulitis is v. unpleasant

Ngk

Mmm, cellulitis sounds like a joy. I had a bad attack of shingles earlier this year (Jan/Feb), all over my upper back and shoulders, and down my right arm from elbow to hand (including fingers and palm). It lasted close to a month, and I've still got one dark spot on my inner elbow that seems permanent.

I am 46 and don't look it at all.

My hair turned white over the last two months. I don't even care, I don't have enough of it to be bothered about, but no, I don't look like I did fifteen years ago.

i'm salt and peppering at the temples but I'm likely to be full white by 50. looking forward to it tbh!

Ive been fully silver since my 20s. Still wondering when to stop dyeing it red.

hair started falling out a decade ago. shaved it clean and never looked back.

colleagues at work recently got annoyed with me for not being in my 30s, and last month a guy tried really hard to get me to go to an under 35s meetup (i kept telling him it would be creepy and he kept saying “nah it’s fine because everyone’s under 35”)

oh i’m 45

gonna need some ID

when i sneeze it feels like my skeleton's going to blow apart

(offers Tracer a handkerchief)

I feel you. I got the flu three years ago and ended up with a cough for three months afterward. At one point, I coughed so hard a tore a rib muscle, which was fun, because it then hurt to cough.

a = I

I'm on the first day of a cold today. Can't wait to see how long it'll last, and how much all my bones will ache while it's here.