Old Age

My father turned 80 last week. I am incredibly happy and grateful that he reached this milestone even if I almost can't remember him physically fit and healthy and it's bitter-sweet to see him struggle to get through each day. To live to 80 is still rather impressive (if I was mean, I'd add for men in particular...) but it doesn't have the same WOW-factor it had when I was a child and my maternal great-grandfather's 80th birthday was a big deal. Eighty seemed positively ancient, even more so for a child of kindergarten-age, but just like 40 is the new 30 and 60 the new 50, etc., 90 these days is probably the new 80. Fine with me.

 

Red Flags

On the weekend I met a friend who is unhappy in a textbook toxic relationship. I more or less advised him to RUN. FAST as probably everybody else including his therapist has. I am concerned it will turn out like the equally toxic work environment he stayed in for years longer than he should have. I didn't want to come across all smug giving relationship advice and acknowledged that I made stupid decisions and stuck around way too long in "situationships" myself, but now really enjoy the opposite of drama. I couldn't help wonder if I have really outgrown bad decisions for good or it could happen all over again if I found myself single again. I like to think it would not, but then again, I'd rather not find have to test my theory.

 

Business Trips 2.0

In the past 10 days I was in Linz, Klagenfurt and Innsbruck for business. This week, I will be in Graz for a day. I have travelled more for business recently than I did in the past 7 years and it's like a less glamorous, more environmentally friendly version of my business travels with the Firm which I LOVED and lived for. Goodbye planes and 5* designer hotels, hello trains and staying at my parents' or Highflyer's Innsbruck home (in all fairness, I could have stayed in hotels there, but chose not to for obvious reasons). I still appreciate the change of scenery and have mostly resigned myself to the fact that even if I still had my old job, there probably would be less travelling and more videoconferencing these days, which is only sensible. After all, it's good to have fond memories and my fondest work-related ones are of these business trips that always had a bit of an exciting vacation element to it. At the same time, I wasn't exactly happy most of that time and spent many hours in hotel rooms obsessing over the cryptic texts of guys not worthy of my attention. While it's good not to get stuck on negative things that happened years ago, it's not fair to completely gloss over them and romanticise the past. I'll gladly swap fancy hotels for emotional stability and contentment.

Calm. Hopefully not Before the Storm...

I was able to combine a business commitment in Klagenfurt with a visit to my parents and am writing this from their house. My Mum has recovered from her broken arm and its aftermath and even though both my parents currently have a fierce cold they are comparatively well and I am mostly in my old role of  (spoilt) "child" (if with the footnote "to aging parents") after a summer of role reversal. It feels deceivingly normal, but I am almost afraid I'll jinx it if I say this out loud. Let's put it like this: I am happy about the status quo, but mentally prepared to switch into caretaker-mode again.

Doping. The Legal Kind

 

It's that time of the year again when pretty much everybody seems to be sick. Be it the latest strain of Coronavirus or just the seasonal flu, the sniffling and coughing is REAL and it is omnipresent. Not that I am ever keen to get sick, but I feel I had my fair (?) share of multiple back-to-back throat aches this spring and I am not ready to join in yet. Also, I have some in-person meetings at work that I "need" to make an appearance at. So...precautions it is. Vitamin C in fruit and vegetable form, as much sleep as I can get (still working on that one), Berocca and hot baths in particular after a day spent in rooms full of (semi-) sick colleagues or on public transport where people are coughing so dramatically all around you that you expect to see blood on the floor any second. A good reminder to stay home if you're not feeling well if there ever was one...

It's All Relative

This past weekend Highflyer and I attended two 50th birthday parties, one being for a uni friend (and her husband) of his, the other for a colleague of mine. It was interesting to observe the guests, many of whom were in the same age group. I am used to hanging out with my friends who I think have mostly aged very well in mind and body, but strangers' age is often hard to guess. Some who seem almost a generation older and Boomer jokes would seem appropriate for some things they say turn out to be not even 50 yet, others are closer to 60 but seem so much more active and clued up to latest trends than some people in their mid-forties. I really find it fascinating and wonder what the most critical factor for this gap is. Is it hanging out with old(er) people that makes you act (and look?) older than your age? Is it your background or the field you work in? I often gravitate towards considerably younger people in social settings, but I have now reached an age where I sometimes wonder if this is actually rather cringe to them. Well, let's see what the vibe at 60s parties (8 years to go for me) will be. One thing is certain: I shall have the coolest playlist and best DJ for my own party. I had referred our wedding DJ to my colleague for Saturday's party and chatted with him there. He (a year younger than Highflyer and me) told us he would probably die at the turntables, so we might end up hiring him for our 70th and 80th, too. Keep on partying!

And Just Like That

 

...seemingly endless summer heat has been replaced by torrential rain and gale-force winds. I definitely don't mind cooler temperatures and am sure that it will be warm again at the beginning of October at the latest, but right now it seems like winter has come and the weather forecast with likely flooding in several parts of Austria is pretty scary. My parents still have not been able to repair the water damage in their basement from heavy summer rain last August so I am mostly relieved that their area is being spared (for now) and less concerned about myself. I saw a cartoon last year that showed a family watching the weather forecast with hands partially shielding their eyes like you would watch a horror film. Yep, it definitely seems like that these days and this - man-made- volatile weather is not likely to go away anytime soon.