anyone past 50 on here?

[Semisweet]

Hello, fellow pentagenarians! I came across this site several months ago and have been following it, and this forum in particular, ever since. Instead of just continuing to peer through the windows, I finally decided to crash the party. :) Looking forward to conversing with the friendly folks here.

[daveb]

Welcome, Semisweet (my favorite kind of chocolate...)! No crashing needed. Have some

I like that, pentagenarians. :D

[Autumn Sunrise]

Welcome, Semisweet I'd like to be able to call myself a pentagenarian, but septuagenarian would be more honest :lol: However, it does say "past 50", and anyway, I like it here, and I hope you will too :)

[Skycaptain]

Semisweet welcome to AVEN 🎂 🎂 🎂 🎂

Qutencuddly sorry to hear of your loss, *hugs*

Fire Monkey I like that idea, I tend to make a big cauldron of curry and just chuck everything I have in the cupboard into it

[daveb]

I made a little excursion to the bookstore this morning, as planned.

I had a coupon for their cafe so I bought a chocolate cupcake made by Cheesecake Factory. Blondie will know the one I mean.

I also bought the following books:

Judgment Day: The Science of Discworld IV (it's science (by a couple of science guys) interspersed with Discworld stuff (by Pratchett))

Fortune & Glory: A Treasure Hunter's Handbook (a tongue-in-cheek book based on fiction and movies, like Raiders of the Lost Ark, King Solomon's Mines, etc.)

Only the Stones Survive (fiction by Morgan Llywelyn; based on old Irish mythology about the Tuatha de Danann and such. I read another book of hers a number of years ago, called Lion of Ireland, about Brian Boru, a famous and historical high king of Ireland. Of course, it was a fictionalized account, but a good read if you're into Irish myth and history.)

Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates (I kept seeing this one around, and it sounds like an interesting bit of real history I know little about)

Continental vs Redcoat (a slim book about the American Revolution, comparing the 2 different armies/soldiers and how they fought and such)

When I went to check out I pulled out my member card, a coupon, and a gift card - so the total cost for me was nice and low.

[Fire Monkey]

I also bought the following books:

Judgment Day: The Science of Discworld IV (it's science (by a couple of science guys) interspersed with Discworld stuff (by Pratchett))

Thumbs up for Pratchett. Have you signed the petition to place Octarine on the periodic table?

[Skycaptain]

somehow, despite being a keen reader, I've missed Terry Pratchett entirely

[Cayce]

I made a little excursion to the bookstore this morning, as planned.

I had a coupon for their cafe so I bought a chocolate cupcake made by Cheesecake Factory. Blondie will know the one I mean.

I also bought the following books:

Judgment Day: The Science of Discworld IV (it's science (by a couple of science guys) interspersed with Discworld stuff (by Pratchett))

Fortune & Glory: A Treasure Hunter's Handbook (a tongue-in-cheek book based on fiction and movies, like Raiders of the Lost Ark, King Solomon's Mines, etc.)

Only the Stones Survive (fiction by Morgan Llywelyn; based on old Irish mythology about the Tuatha de Danann and such. I read another book of hers a number of years ago, called Lion of Ireland, about Brian Boru, a famous and historical high king of Ireland. Of course, it was a fictionalized account, but a good read if you're into Irish myth and history.)

Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates (I kept seeing this one around, and it sounds like an interesting bit of real history I know little about)

Continental vs Redcoat (a slim book about the American Revolution, comparing the 2 different armies/soldiers and how they fought and such)

When I went to check out I pulled out my member card, a coupon, and a gift card - so the total cost for me was nice and low.

What a wonderfully eclectic bag of goodies!

For far too long I've gotten caught up in the article/site reading habit and been wanting to get back into full book reading for interests (instead of just the occasional instruction). It was actually one of the reasons I liked this house; easily divided into reading fireplace room vs. general purpose room. I built a big all day fire today and have spent it in the "quiet room", too bad I was reviewing 12 years of tax returns for accountants.

Someday I vow to read a whole novel in here!

*looks like I can't do smilies from a tablet; trust me, they're there*

[Mocha Jo]

Welcome, Semisweet! Hope you like cake :)

Dave B- that Irish mythology book sounds neat. I may have to look that author up.

Glad everyone had a good weekend- back to the week tomorrow. Gotta pay the feed bill. :)

[Semisweet]

Many thanks for the welcome(s), and I've never met a cake I didn't like. :)

That's quite a haul you picked up at the bookstore, daveb. I went to the library today in search of some interesting reads. I mostly like nonfiction and until recently had little trouble finding gems in the new-nonfiction section. Lately, though, those shelves have grown sparser, and what's on them seems to largely consist of celebrity memoirs, self-help books, and political diatribes. I did manage to pluck out one promising item, at least, plus some travel books.

[Gentle Giant]

Welcome, Semisweet!

I've got a pile of books I'm working through right now. We have a local book exchange library that I like to raid. :D I always donate some books in exchange for some from there. This library has loads of CDs that I also check out.

[daveb]

Fire Monkey, I have one Science of Discworld book signed by Pratchett (a co-worker got it for me when they went to a con in the UK several years ago). I haven't seen the petition. Do they have a specific element to attach the name to? (something with the number 8 in it, I would hope)

Skycaptain, Pratchett doesn't suit everyone's tastes, but if you're inclined or interested I would recommend his work. He satirized fantasy, but also reality.

Cayce, that reading fireplace room sounds like it calls for some "real" reading (not tax stuff!). :)

To do smilies can't you just type things like colons, semi-colons, parentheses, etc.? or do those get lost in translation? (and if you want to insert the cake icon just type the word cake surrounded by colons - that works for a few other icons, too, if you know what should go between the colons)

Mocha Jo, even though Morgan Llewelyn's name is Welsh, she seems to mostly do stuff related to Ireland. I know she has written several other books that are based on some aspect of Irish mythology or history, but I have yet to read any of the others. I think there's one about the Easter Rebellion/Uprising (which I'm less interested in, not being hugely into recent history).

Semisweet, do you like history? Science? Other specific nonfiction subjects? I'm a big fan of fantasy, sci-fi, mystery, steampunk, humor, and occasionally other fiction, even some classics. I also like to occasionally read nonfiction about science, history, biography, and other subjects.

I also donated a pile of books to my local library. And got started on a little bit of housecleaning. I need to tackle a little at a time, and start to clear out some unneeded clutter and other little odds and ends around the house. I'm starting to realize, if my retirement plans stay on track I'll only have about 3 years (or less) here, so I should think about getting things sorted out for selling the house in a couple of years or so.

[Gentle Giant]

I'm trying to declutter too. I love books, but I just don't keep them anymore. Once I read them, I pass them on for others to enjoy. I'm finding as I get older, I'm letting go of stuff I don't need. It's hard to let go sometimes. But I don't want to be overwhelmed with my stuff anymore. I have a music collection of records, cassettes and CDs and have been widdling those down too. Also lots of VHS tapes. UGH! Those take up a lot of space. I've been watching some of them one more time and passing them on to others. (I try not throw them in the garbage)

[Tja]

I'm down to about 200, or 300 books. I should find somewhere to donate them...well, most of them...maybe, some of them...hmmm...

...anyway, I would like to start going to the library. Save some money and space.

[teatree]

Wow, you guys have many varied interests in your reading selections! My eyes are kind of shot from all the proofreading I used to do, plus it just takes the fun out of reading when your are looking at every book with an eye to type, design, layout, etc...not to mention typos. (And I can't just turn it off after all those years....)

Welcome, Semisweet--love the name! I am new here too, only found the site about two months ago.

I had to do lots of cleaning/sorting/getting rid of stuff when I sold my house last year. Luckily there is the opportunity to store things where I now live, but I did try to be as unemotional as I could be. I put a lot of stuff out in front of the house with a "free" sign and my gosh, it was like magic how quickly it would disappear! I also donated books to the library for their twice-a-year sale, and clothes and household items to the Salvation Army and Goodwill. It was very cathartic but also grueling, as I tend to save a lot of things for sentimental reasons.

I still have more to do, but it did feel good to cut some of the stuff loose. I ended up taking very little to the dump, which made all the hard work worthwhile.

[Qutenkuddly]

Thank you, Picklehead and Skycaptain. I spoke with my aunt yesterday evening, she seems to be handling things better than expected, so a bit of good news.

Welcome, Semisweet! Please enjoy some ! Chronologically, I'm a handful of years shy of 50, but, hey, I'm pretty sure my call centre job as cell phone tech support has sufficiently aged me to fit in. :p

[Semisweet]

Qutenkuddly, thanks for the welcome and the chuckle.

And daveb, Gentle Giant and teatree, I can relate to the decluttering -- in fact, I just spent the last hour or so with my shredder. It's not so much household items that I feel increasingly burdened by (I have an easier time relinquishing those), rather it's the boxes of old paperwork, cards, photos, and memorabilia. In recent weeks I've spent considerable time paring those down somewhat. Having been through the experience of cleaning out my late parents' home, I firmly believe that people should get rid of their own clutter while they can. Plus I'd like to downsize at some point in the coming years, so that's on my mind as well.

My book collection isn't huge, as I tend to distinguish between books I'd simply like to read (mostly getting those from the library) and ones I'd like to own (ones whose subjects or authors I feel a particular connection to). As to your question, daveb, my nonfiction interests lie primarily with memoirs and biographies (often by or about lesser-known people who've accomplished or experienced extraordinary things), 19th- and 20th-century social histories, and books about other cultures.

[Gentle Giant]

I take time as often as I can to shred papers, such as paid bills, etc. It's mind boggling the stuff we save over the years that we should get rid of! So I shred that stuff too. When I shred, I put on some music to make it more fun.

[Gentle Giant]

Sorry about the double post. Aven was acting up when I made it.

[Deja Vu]

I'm about 2 weeks behind as of now. So I apologize for not knowing all that's going on. I tried to go back and read posts, "Like" several of them (to no avail), and even comment on some. But the board would not cooperate. Everything just spins into a black cyber hole.

I'm coming off of a bad toe injury and a very sick dog (who did pull through, but it was touch and go for a couple of days). I finally got my toe xrayed when it was getting worse, and found out it was not broken. But is infected fairly badly so now I go to a specialist tomorrow.

So I noticed it's around 70 in California. That's about 80 degrees warmer than here. We are currently below zero by a lot - 10 below during the day, and more at night. Plus wind chill. My poor car was so cold last night when I left a friend's house that it felt like it was going to fall apart right there. I'm hoping we don't have another year like the one where we went for 45 days without ever going above zero!

I too am wanting to declutter. But am not actually getting down to business and doing it. I have a million things that take priority, like washing my hair, taking a nap, etc. - LOL. Obvious avoidance going on here. I'm trying to be nicer to myself too - I've been beating myself up for the things I'm not getting done. I guess as I get older I don't have the energy I once had, and am also dealing with another bad knee that takes a lot of effort to do some things.

I do want to turn a new leaf in 2016 and develop more discipline for the things I don't want to do.

[Fire Monkey]

Fire Monkey, I have one Science of Discworld book signed by Pratchett (a co-worker got it for me when they went to a con in the UK several years ago). I haven't seen the petition. Do they have a specific element to attach the name to? (something with the number 8 in it, I would hope)

Here is the story:

an exerpt: "“This petition is to name element 117, recently confirmed by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry, as ‘Octarine’, with the proposed symbol Oc (pronounced ‘ook’), in honour of the late Terry Pratchett and his Discworld series of books,” she writes in a petition to the scientists who discovered the element. "

I'm rather fond of the pronunciation of the proposed symbol, considering the character from whom it comes (librarian and monkey)

[Tja]

I thought I posted about this already, but couldn't find it here. Oh well.

I just finished clearing out 10 years of accumulated stuff. As of this week: 18 bins, boxes and bags of assorted stuff, 10 trashbags of yarn (given to retirees who make blankets for people going through chemotherapy treatment) and around 16 bags put out for the trash men. I took it all to a friends house. She'll go through it, keep what she wants/needs, then give the rest to several charities. My basement, and bedrooms, are nearly empty.

*No, I am not a hoarder :P*

Amazing how satisfying it is to get rid of it all. :)

After some tweaking my front bedroom will be a library/ office, and the back bedroom will be a closet/dressing room.

[daveb]

A lot of the books I keep are for reference or because they have art or something that I can dip into whenever I like, or books that I hope to reread some day (not to mention the piles of books I have yet to read - that's part of my retirement savings :D ). But I probably also keep many books I will never read or even open. The trouble I have with decluttering is I remember all of the stuff I got rid of at various points, through moves and such, and wish I still had.

Thanks, Semisweet. I read a lot of biographies from the school library way back when I was in elementary school. I read a large percentage of the books they had there. Often reading books as I walked home from school. That was in addition to all the books I read from the local public libraries. I'm lost if I don't have a book to read!

Good to hear from you, Deja Vu! It's good the dog is doing better. I hope the same can be said for your toe soon! I know what you mean above other things taking priority over decluttering! lol And it's true it's been a bit too warm here the last day or 2. We still need lots more rain and snow.

Ah, Fire Monkey. :) ook, ook

Great work, Tja!

Whenever I visit my mother she always asks if there is anything she has that I want, like trinkets, knickknacks, old photos, etc. I know she's given a number of things to my various siblings, myself, and my nieces and nephews. She's been working on paring things down that way for some years now.

[Autumn Sunrise]

De-clutterers of AVEN, I salute you all :D (there doesn't seem to be a "salute" icon ;) )

I belong to a household of hoarders, and right now we're working on that! Many bags and boxes (I didn't actually count them ) have gone to one of the local op shops, but there are still hundreds of books and CDs to be "gone through" (but many of them are loved and periodically revisited :) ), and a 4-drawer filing cabinet of papers (mostly mine, and mostly superfluous/out of date :redface: ) needs to be whittled down. Unfortunately my shredder was pretty useless - I spent more time clearing jams than actually shredding, so that wasn't very therapeutic

We also seem to have accumulated too many knick nacks, small furniture items and "kitchenalia", so . . . lots of work still to do.

Having been through the experience of cleaning out my late parents' home, I firmly believe that people should get rid of their own clutter while they can. Plus I'd like to downsize at some point in the coming years, so that's on my mind as well.

Seconded, Semisweet :) I'm trying hard not to be one of those parents :D

I do love the fact that we seem to be a community with many book and music lovers here :)

[Deja Vu]

For my cat loving friends:

[blondie12]

Howdy my Aven Family!

First off I want to welcome newcomers, Gentle Giant and Semisweet!!! We have plenty of lying around this thread! I'm surprised our weight is not out of control because of it! Lol. :)

Wow! We have such diversified conversation on this thread!! Deja Vu, I'm glad your dog is okay and I hope your toe heals soon. I know what it's like dealing with a nagging injury or other health issues.

Dave, I know exactly what type of cupcake you purchased at Barnes and Noble and boy am I jealous!! The Barnes and Noble out here has closed down, :(

Decluttering: well I'm all too familiar with that. I have moved 4x since 2011. I have been forced to downsize each time. I will have to keep my personal property under control since I'm now renting a room from my friend. It's exactly what I need. I come from a family of pack rats, so it works for me ATM.

I found a pair of a nylon type knee high socks/hose. They really help with the pain and blood clots that have been plaguing my legs. So far they have worked pretty well. Along the exercise front, I have purchased an Ab Carver. It's a wheel with 2 handles that you roll across the floor from a kneeling position. It really works my Abs, but I have to start slowly because of my lower back. I don't use it daily, but rather 2-3x a week.

I used to read a lot. I do own a kindle, but I haven't used it much. I'd like to get into reading a bit more.

Well my fab family, have a splendid week!! :D

[Myssterry]

Well done all the clutter clearers.

I love all my clutter and only clear a bit of stuff each year, but I have never stored things in attics or basements. I do intend decorating my bedroom this year which will hopefully include a clear out. I have all my old vinyl records, cassettes, cds in my music room and they aren't going anywhere.

I often buy books from charity shops. If I am unlikely to read them again, they go back as a donation to another charity shop.

I intend to leave a house full of my interests, and I don't care who has to clear it as I have no family anyway. :P

[Skycaptain]

deja vu, sorry to hear of your travails. Glad you're dog has recovered, and I hope you do quickly as well. Have a recovery 🎂

[Semisweet]

Well, all the postings about decluttering were probably behind the wacky dreams I had last night in which relatives were in my home dismantling my furniture. Good thing we weren't discussing, say, homicide. :D

[BobRossRules]

I have an unfinished basement filled with boxes from my move. It's easy to procrastinate as I don't see it everyday. If I accumulate stuff, I just put it in the basement. I guess out of sight out of mind. :P

Around memorial day (or is it labor day?), my neighborhood has a large yard sale, and a donation truck comes by later in the afternoon to collect all the unsold stuff. I'm going do that - at least that is my plan.