{"id":3365,"date":"2013-04-19T00:47:39","date_gmt":"2013-04-19T07:47:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/suddenalarm.blaseckie.ca\/?p=3365"},"modified":"2013-06-17T16:38:21","modified_gmt":"2013-06-17T23:38:21","slug":"waiting-for-the-early-bird-special","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/suddenalarm.blaseckie.ca\/?p=3365","title":{"rendered":"Waiting for the early bird special."},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/suddenalarm.blaseckie.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/Glasgow-A-tree-in-a-wall.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-3384\" alt=\"Glasgow A tree in a wall\" src=\"http:\/\/suddenalarm.blaseckie.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/Glasgow-A-tree-in-a-wall-300x217.jpg\" width=\"300\" height=\"217\" srcset=\"https:\/\/suddenalarm.blaseckie.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/Glasgow-A-tree-in-a-wall-300x217.jpg 300w, https:\/\/suddenalarm.blaseckie.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/Glasgow-A-tree-in-a-wall.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>Come in, child, and close the door. \u00a0I&#8217;m just resting my old bones by the fire and keeping company with my old sheepdog, Shep. I know he died years ago and this is just a broom with a blanket but I\u2019m old and foolish.<\/p>\n<p>Okay, maybe I&#8217;m not that old&#8230; The other day I was listening to a 1940&#8217;s radio drama (Johnny Dollar or Pat Kelly\u2019s Blues\u2026can\u2019t remember which) and a quavery voiced old lady was blathering on about a ne\u2019er-do-well in the area. A cop asked her how old she was, just for the report, ma\u2019am.<\/p>\n<p>She was 57.<\/p>\n<p>Hell&#8217;s bells, I\u2019m 57 and pretty sure I don\u2019t sound like Granny Clampet (obscure cultural reference, I\u2019ll pause while you go look up \u201cthe <a href=\"http:\/\/suddenalarm.blaseckie.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/P1090912.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright  wp-image-3382\" alt=\"P1090912\" src=\"http:\/\/suddenalarm.blaseckie.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/P1090912.jpg\" width=\"336\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a>Beverly Hillbillies\u201d on the googles).<\/p>\n<p>While I may not consider myself senior or silver or these to be my freakin golden years, on the other hand if there&#8217;s a seniors discount I qualify for sign me up. I can\u2019t wait until I get my BC Ferries seniors card (okay, I can, but it is inevitable).<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve gotten over the shock of edging into this territory. It started with getting addressed admail for &#8216;life insurance without any medical exam&#8217;\u2026you know, the one advertised on tv with the old fart on the phone, \u201cIt\u2019s Tom, dear, he says I can get life insurance without seeing a doctor\u201d And their rheumy eyes light up at the prospect of having some value now to their distant children and grandchildren. Unspoken is the \u2018maybe they\u2019ll come visit, if only to feed us arsenic laced pudding\u2026\u2019<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/suddenalarm.blaseckie.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/P10100252.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft  wp-image-3389\" alt=\"P1010025\" src=\"http:\/\/suddenalarm.blaseckie.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/P10100252.jpg\" width=\"307\" height=\"266\" \/><\/a>Then there was the 1st memorial funeral planning admail. Not the flyers, mind you, I\u2019m talking addressed ad-mail with my name on it a week after I turned 55. And don\u2019t let me get started on Facebook target ads: \u00a0I\u2019ve had nightmares about some of the thumbnails that pop up in that column.<\/p>\n<p>In London I almost always got to sit when riding the tube because young men, the kind I used to flirt with, were getting up and offering me their seat. No, sit back down, you presumptious little\u2026ah, never mind, it\u2019s a long ride\u2026.<\/p>\n<p>Once the wheels start falling off the bus the perks are few and far between. The downside of being over 55 is all the really good discounts don\u2019t start until you\u2019re 60.<a href=\"http:\/\/suddenalarm.blaseckie.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/mushy.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright  wp-image-3376\" alt=\"mushy\" src=\"http:\/\/suddenalarm.blaseckie.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/mushy.jpg\" width=\"210\" height=\"190\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Now, sit down and make yourself comfortable. Do you want a candy? I have some Halls. Oh and here&#8217;s a couple of those lifesaver rolls decorations that fell off the Christmas tree. Just pull off the yarn and they&#8217;ll be fine.<\/p>\n<p>Speak into the ear trumpet, child and mind you don\u2019t step on the dog.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/suddenalarm.blaseckie.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/pompeii-d-og.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft  wp-image-3375\" alt=\"pompeii d og\" src=\"http:\/\/suddenalarm.blaseckie.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/pompeii-d-og.jpg\" width=\"369\" height=\"277\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Come in, child, and close the door. \u00a0I&#8217;m just resting my old bones by the fire and keeping company with my old sheepdog, Shep. I know he died years ago and this is just a broom with a blanket but &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/suddenalarm.blaseckie.ca\/?p=3365\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3,202],"tags":[12,702,703,701,705,704],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/suddenalarm.blaseckie.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3365"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/suddenalarm.blaseckie.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/suddenalarm.blaseckie.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/suddenalarm.blaseckie.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/suddenalarm.blaseckie.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3365"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/suddenalarm.blaseckie.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3365\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3571,"href":"https:\/\/suddenalarm.blaseckie.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3365\/revisions\/3571"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/suddenalarm.blaseckie.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/suddenalarm.blaseckie.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/suddenalarm.blaseckie.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}