Despite my complaining about losing point (Gromacs bite me!) that's not the reason I fold.

All of one side of my family will eventually succumb to one form of vascular cranial disease, ie lack of blood circulation in the brain. There's only one left, the youngest one. Dementia is the inevitable result. Combine it with a strong heart, and you frankly end up with just a body that doesn't know when to quit. I can't find a better way to state that.

The question becomes are people with dementia gone or are they trapped inside? If closure is something most people need then dementia is quite cruel to the extended family, for the person is gone but not gone. There are no more conversations, no more smiles, no recognition, just emptyness.

I ran into an elderly person last year and I was rather surprised at how aloof she was. I thought she was cold, but what was happening is she really didn't know me anymore. She recognized me but not much more. I ran into her again this past weekend. She's become quite forgetful. Her time with us very limited. After that the only thing left will be a pile of huge bills.

It all reminds me of:
"Whatever you're gonna do, do it fast! "
Vasquez, Aliens, 1984.

more quality Vasquez quotes:

Hudson: Hey Vasquez, have you ever been mistaken for a man?
Vasquez: No. Have you?

Vasquez: Look, man. I only need to know one thing: where they are.
Drake: Go, Vasquez. Kick ass.
Vasquez: Anytime, anywhere, man!
Hudson: Right, right. Somebody said "alien" she thought they said "illegal alien" and signed up!
Vasquez: Fuck you, man!
Hudson: Anytime, anywhere.

Ridley Scott's Aliens, truly a work of gung-ho cinematic genius.

more on the topic of infirmity in old age, it has always seemed perverse to me how people save all their lives and defer any kind of enjoyment of life, only to end up as dribbling, helpless wrecks in retirement. at best you are only going to have 10-15 years of relative good health before the inexorable decline starts. the whole structure of people's working lives is ass-backwards if you ask me.

Which is why credit is great! Have fun now, pay for it later when you can't hack all-night parties anyway... although that's possibly just a different receipe for a rather grumpy old age.

Well the rumor on IMDB is that really happened. When they were looking for actors for a movie called "Aliens" she showed up dressed up as an illegal alien.

But ultimately "It won't make any difference."

My favorite speech is the one where Ripley starts "I don't know which species is worse, ....." Oh God, if ever there was a speech to put the average capitalist in his place this is it.


Did you know it's parallel of the Vietnam War?


Yes I caught that, they save and worry their whole lives and then everything goes to hell. But we also have people who barely make it paycheck to paycheck, and the end may be even worse. You can only hope then you aren't aware of it. But what if you are? And much of that comes from not taking care of yourself. Plenty of happy functioning people into their 80's and beyond. I take a turmeric supplement everyday I remember. <- Irony.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tumeric

I look to put a positive dent (an oxymoron) on the human race overall. I figure a single person for the most part can't do much else. But I must admit that religious fanatics have said to me "Wait till the second coming!", to which I reply "The sooner the better, so I can stop going to work." I digress.

This seems to be a largely US-ian phenomenon. certainly, all the old people I know (80+) are basically crippled and senility beckons (these are all family members, so I am not saying that to be mean). this may be the UK climate, almost complete lack of exercise in the general population, etc. my point, if I had one, was don't postpone all the fun things in life until you're too old to do more than sit in a chair and dribble.

And at both ends no less.

Both of my grandparents on my father's side were doing fine until a bit over 90. Grandpa went downhill at 91 or so, and died within two years. Grandma is still ok, even if she's a bit tired. She enjoys visitors, though

Cool, thanks for that link - I suffer somewhat from psoriasis and what might be psoriatic arthritis, and hadn't previously heard mention of turmeric being used for chronic inflammatory ilnesses... I'll have to investigate further.



I'd perhaps call a positive dent ... a bulge?