Although I understand that Ray(along with Jack)have stopped counting their birthdays(or can't remember), somebody in the family will probably tell him about it Wednesday. Happy Birthday, Ray!

Have a great birthday, Ray!

Cheers, my friend!

Happy Birthday Ray!!

Happy Birthday Ray!

Hope you have a wonderful birthday, Ray!

Compared to me, Ray is only a puppy. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, my friend.

Happy Birthday, Puppy Breath!

Happy Birthray Day...

No, that's not right...

Happy Rayday Birth...

Grrr...

Oh, here we go...

Happy Birthday Ray!

Sometimes it's hard to tell friends how you really feel....

Happy Birthday, Ray! Just so you know, I can't think about bread pudding without also thinking about you.

Jeeez, Peter. He hasn't lost his faculties THAT bad.....yet......

Thanks very much for remembering and the offer of BD best wishes! As I get older, I can appreciate the difficulty of that simple act more and more. Errr, what simple act was that again?

Happy birthday, Ray!

Nick, I applaud your efforts here. I attempted the same thing this morning while looking in the mirror. After a long 10 minutes, I finally gave up. First BD wish I have been unable to give myself.....sigh. Your eloquence in actually getting the correct greeting out is...enviable.

As I you.

I re-read that 4 times. I think it works OK.

Of course, I ALSO think about the bread pudding!

Happy belated birthday! Hope it was a good one!

Thanks pal! I sure did have a good one.


Who knew prune juice and vodka could bo so lethal on so many levels?

"A good one" takes on new meanings as one ages ...

My daughter still likes to show off her good ones.

This keeps making me hear the teacher screaming in the song "Another Brick in the Wall".

A belated Happy Birthday Ray!

Yeah, the vodka prune juice combo is making me cringe, just thinking about it.

Ray, you'd know the answer to this. As you age, is there any entity, in one's years after AARP, who solicits you relentlessly? If so, at what age does this begin?
Thanks,
Bob

Bob, you are almost right. I DID have the answer, but I forgot.

On a more serious note. It comes in waves that pause and start over. Two main pursuers.

First is anybody who has a supplemental Medicare to offer. They each send several iterations. They care little about you; they simply want to be the folks who bill your medical events so they can get their cut.

The second pursuers were/are a major surprise. You can't begin to marginally grasp the incredible number of folks who want to be your new best friend for.....( wait for it)....... freaking HEARING AIDS. These folks are particularly numerous and tenacious.

These pursuits began around 63/64 and continue through 66, although they have dimished a bit. I also get a wide variety of mail subject matter all designed to liberate money from a retirees bank account. These arrive 2-5 per day. My recent/new personal favorites are 1) multi-day, cross country railroad tours, although 6 foot long sleeper beds for a 6'3" guy diminishes the allure and 2) the multi-day tours of European rivers in really long boats for alot of days. One of those tours for Mr. & Mrs. Are pretty much several million $$$ per trip. AND, they also have short beds.

I laughed when I read your question because you seem to be seeing the beginnings of the same mail assault I have and am experiencing. Here is a suggestion. We recycle and it occurred to me that I was wasting time carrying mail in and then carrying it back ot to the recycle bin. So I bought a junk mail sized trash can, put it in the garage and discard the junk mail before it gets into the house.

I also amuse myself by extracting all of the reply cards/envelopes for the exciting opportunities I get and let them stack up. When I get a decent pile, I mail them all back. Blank & empty. :-)

You DIDN'T ask about the increase in phone calls. More opportunities for releasing money. With caller ID, most can be ignored. Or you can answer and start interrupting their script and asking THEM lots of questions. Generally you can chew up their time and frustrate them into hanging up. Or you can ignore the call, call the number back and leave a message for them to call you again. Repeat.

My favorite are the guys with the Indian accents who call from "Microsoft" explaining that they have determined there is a problem with my computer and they can fix it if I let them connect directly to my PC andtheyll fix it for free. Boy, how can you pass up THAT kind of opprtunity. First couple of calls, I just hung up. The next few calls, I asked if ANYONE is stupid enough to buy their BS, got abusive and told them to stop calling. Nothing slowed them down. Then I thought of Liam Neeson in "Taken". Next time they called, I thanked them and explained that the last time I wasn't able to trace their location, but should be able to complete the trace this time. I explianed I was wealthy and had alot of free time and a bad attitude. Once I had their location, i was coming for them. And their families. All I heard was. Click. Dial tone. Haven't heard from them in 3+ months. Right after the call ended, my wife came up to se why I was laughing so hard. I have too much time on my hands.

Great post, Ray! Thanks.

There will be no bank account from which anyone need try to wrest from me, so I'm good there.

We don't get hearing aid ads in the mail, but my Dad gets them every month. He'll be dead 6 years in August. My mother still gets solicitations from the Xavarian Brothers. She died in 1981. I send back the donation form and the small "donation" envelope, as it's content alone will get any attention.

For my Dad, in the "amount," I write "0," and I have a red rubber stamp that says:

"My father, Walter A. "Kay," is as dead now as he was after August 5th, 2008. He left no estate and I did not inherit his sense of charity. Please remove him from all of your mailing lists."

It took 6 months of repetition, but I get get it down to about one piece a month for him, from one or more daily. I have never notified Xaverian Brothers of my Mom's passing, because I want to see how long that will take for them to figure that out. I must remember to leave directions in my will about to whom those requests should be forwarded.

Great idea about the "nearer to the mailbox" junk mail bin. We came of age on the 60's and never allow ANYTHING to leave this house with names, addresses--- no identifiers of any kind, especially prescription labels. We do recycle the bottles. They will not accept the caps!?

As to Euro River Cruises, The Dutch and Norwegians are the tallest peoples in Europe. Good places to start for longer beds.

Re: The Phone Calls

Having had unlisted/unpublished #'s my whole life has really helped minimize that stuff. Plus, we have really strong telemarketing laws here with nasty fines, so those things help.

I had a friend with too much time on his hands when the kids were in school (he worked from home). He would ask really personal questions of the caller, then ask if they would call him every day and become his friend, since he didn't have any.
The game was always to get them to hag up on HIM!

Don't get me wrong, I'm not above that. However, I need an audience. Doing by yourself is just, I dunno, sick.

Ray,
Today I am wearing my first pair of glasses with some kind of progressive lenses. They were too polite to call them that though. The gal called them "anti-fatigue" to make me feel better. I didn't.

Welcome to the "Progressive Lense Club" Murph.

I have the progressive lenses but struggle to work at the computer with them. They are great for the distance but I finally gave up and have cheaters to wear for close in. My next pair, I will likely go with straight bifocals - the no line kind.

Most of the time I wear contacts for distance and cheaters for close in. The prescription glasses are for when I want to give my eyeballs a break - or if I am doing a Bob Costas impression. Just rub a little jalapeno into my eyes and put on the glasses......

Murph - welcome to the old age of youth when things begin to work less effectively than they used to!

Thank God for science and their continuing efforts to deliver .....chemical enhancers... in a bottle.

Interesting side note. I have worn glasses (bifocal and/or progressive lenses) for years. Over the last 4-5 years, my annual eye exam indicates that my vision is improving slightly. If I were younger, I would do the whole lasik thing. When I was younger and lasik was first made available, it cost an arm and a leg, both of which I needed. Plus, they performed the surgery with a chain saw and sledge hammer. Much more eloquent solutions now.

They sharpen the chain saw blade now?