Posted on 10/28/2005 8:20:07 PM PDT by RightOnline
No big deal to hardly anyone but me, but today.....ol' RightOnline turned the Big Five-Oh. The Half Century Club. Halfway to centenarian and greetings from the fat guy on the Today Show......
I just thought I would take a few moments, after a thoroughly wonderful day, to share a few things I've picked up or things I've reflected on today with my beloved fellow FReepers (and you ARE just that, beloved ......well, as a group....some of ya.....well.....)
1. Whatever 50 is supposed to feel like, I don't feel it. I lift weights 5 days a week and am in better shape than when I was 25. So there.
2. No gray hairs.....nary a one. I feel cheated. I've earned plenty.
3. Nothing.......absolutely, nothing......is more important than your family. My lovely wife of nearly 28 years who has put up with me all these years and still looks 20 years younger than she is, my seven children who have ALL made me proud (ranging from a 26-year-old 2nd Lt. in the Army leading a Stryker platoon to a 4-year-old hooked on Spiderman and Batman). Cherish them, people, and keep them close.
4. Republicans don't have a corner on morality or good ideas or decency or common sense. It's merely that Democrats lack all of the above.
5. I've been playing rock guitar since I was not quite 14. Production and marketing have moved ahead rapidly since the late '60's music industry, but today's music that passes for "rock" largely sucks. I'd take "Live at the Fillmore East" to anything that has been released in the last 15 years.
6. Have a job? Great. Keep it and do the best you possibly can at all times. Have a career? Even better.......just make damned sure you enjoy it. Aim to work for yourself, but plan for it like you've never planned for anything in your life.
7. The most fun I ever had professionally was when I was flying for Uncle Sam (I'm an AF Academy grad). The responsibilities I had as a pilot in the Strategic Air Command during the Cold War have been unequalled in all the intervening years. I don't say this out of regret or a sense of loss; I say it from a sense of pride and to encourage young people to seriously consider the military in their younger years. It'll help you tremendously.
8. Don't number your close friends in the dozens. That's disingenuous. Number them in a small handful and keep them very close, no matter how far away they live.
9. Don't try to keep up with the Jones'. The Jones' are idiots. Set your own goals, care what YOU think, and live well within your means.
10. Love your God and His Son and try your best to live for 'em. You'll fall short as we all do (you wouldn't believe what my church puts up with from me). I WILL say that Jesus took a bullet for me, and I'll never, ever forget it. He'll get my best.......for life. I hope you feel the same.
I've been on this Forum for seven years now, and it's better, more vibrant, more interesting (if a tad less cerebral....no complaint there) than it has ever been. God bless all of you, God bless your families, and let's continue to have fun kicking Lib behind on a regular basis. See ya over the next 50......
Maker's Mark or Jim Beam green or black label.........mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Happy birthday! You get the same limerick Tony Snow got a few weeks ago. I have it on a shirt. :)
It's okay to be 50, friends said
But you're now one year closer to dead
Your undies are spotting
Your teeth are all rotting
And you're losing the hair on your head
I've been 50 for 4 months, without the need of a comb for years.
Welcome to the club!
Congratulations on the BIG 50. Just turned 50 myself on July 4th (yes that’s right I was a late firecracker baby boomer). I am thankful every day to be alive in the country that allows me to express my opinions (with a little help from Jim Robinson)!
Spot On about the music of that era – it was like Hoochie’s Dollar Store in Sling Blade – they had a little something of everything.
And “Keeping up with the Jones’s” – complete waste of time.
I think it was George Carlin who said it best:
Keeping up with the Jones’s amounts to
People spending money they don’t have to
Buy things they don’t need to
Impress people they don’t like.
Happy Half Century , old timer.
I appreciate your words of wisdom, as well as your service to America.
I'm almost two years into my second half century-- and it has been the best time of my life.
Congratulations and a very Happy Birthday to you! Great thoughts and thanks for sharing them with us. I'm retired USAF, spent quite a few years in ATC before it became Air Et cetera, and did a hitch in PACAF before it became part of AMC.
Aim high!
What does Fitzgerald think about your "surprise" birthday being leaked? Anyways, a happy big one to all of you reaching 50. Now I'm sitting here saying hey what happened to me these past 10 years? No regrets though, but I do need to concentrate more on keeping the healthy life style going.
Happy 5-0, RightOnline.
Well...my hair started thinning at 20. I'm 28 now and style it with a Gillette...
Congrats
I'm 2 years and 10 days behind you.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
Time to put the undertaker on speed dial...
But I'm sure you'll forget this advice moments after reading it...
Hmmmmm........that's, let's see..............1-800-PLANT ME, right??
It is true about the exercise. I only started exercising a few years ago and I now walk at least 5 miles a day, usually through woods or some other scenic route when I can. I feel better now than I did when I was 30. In fact, I'm getting ready to go to the woods now and see the sunrise through the trees.
I do have gray hair already and I do find some decent rock music out there recently released, but I do prefer the rock from the 60s and 70s as a general rule.
The job thing is important. Too many people thing the grass on the other side is greener. I've been with my company for nearly 20 years, an oddity in this world, but everybody knows who I am all the way up to chairman and I have a fun job with lots of responsibility. If you find something you half like doing, stick with it, because you are already better off than most. I find that "job-hoppers" are never happy where they are. But of course, the job is secondary to your family life.
Been married nearly 20 years also with two kids and never had a day where I regretted it so I'm very lucky in that respect as well. We don't care about the Joneses. Our yard is the ugliest in the neighborhood and we drive around old cars. But we got money in the bank, the bills are paid and our mortgage is lower than some people's car payments! Living below your means is the way to go. If you have to go into debt to buy something (other than a home), then you don't need it.
Happy Brithday, RightOnLine! May you healthily and happily see 50 more!
Happy Birthday! With proper eating, exercise, a good mental attitude, and providential blessing, you should be good for another 30 to 40 years on this ball of dirt.
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