BABY BOOMER BRUCE TURNS 60

I turn sixty today. Holy Cow! I'm actually pretty happy about it. I almost didn't make it. Now I'm shooting for 75. They say if you get to 60, you can expect to live until at least age 83. But, I don't want to get greedy. For now I'll settle for 75. I might want to make an adjustment later. Right now it feels good getting to sixty. Two more years and Uncle Sam will have to start paying me for staying alive. Sweet revenge.

About 330 baby boomers are turning 60 every hour. Today, I will be one of five turning sixty between the hours of 11 and 12pm. Makes me feel sort of special.

As for the past sixty years, well, its been fun. I had a good childhood; my parents were kind and understanding; I knew andhave good memories of my grandparents; I won the grade school science fair, beating out all the smart kids; I loved playing baseball and basketball; I married my childhood sweetheart; we have two great kids; we have owned four homes, all unique in their own way; I have had three jobs spanning thirty years; I am now retired and about to start my second book; I have written a column in the local paper for the last 13 years; I have some really good friends, both young and old; and I have, so to speak, come back from the dead, keeping some pretty good company. That leaves out a few not-so-good things, but all in all, not a bad sixty years.

As for my goals and expectations for the future:
* Now that I'm retired, I can start to do what I really enjoy, raising all types of hell. Full-time.
* I'm going to try to write a decent book. My first was just a mixture of short stories, poems, and peeves. I think i am going to try to write a fable. I finally found the title. Some people write, and then find a title. I find a title, and then write. Why do anything conventional at this point?
* Health is always an issue. Trying to stay alive is damn near a fulll-time job. I don't eat healthy, I hate to exercise, and I despise medications. Aside from that, I do pretty good. I'm not adjusting to the health-side of old age. I need a miracle elixir.
* I like to play golf. I enjoy it, most of the time. It is kind of a microcosm of life. There are ups and downs and your game is pretty much of your own doing. There's no one else to blame, unless, of course, your playing partners talk on your back-swing. The only way you really get better is by practicing. The old do, re-do theory. You have to execute. You have to do what you know needs doing. Talk is cheap. It takes action. The game of golf takes focus, concentration, patience, and execution, all the while knowing that you will never quite get it. That's life.
* I'm not big on traveling, but there are a few places I would like to see. I would like to visit Paris, and rural France. I like the French, mainly because they dislike Bush. I'd like to personally tell them that we are not all flag waving, God Bless America singing, war mongering, die hard right-wing Republican fanatics. And i wouldn't mind seeing Italy, Stonehenge in England, and playing a round of golf in Ireland. I would like to meet Castro and visit Hemingway's home in Cuba, but I don't see that happening. Other than that, I'm pretty content to take a closer look around America and take up fishing.

They say drink a lot of water, exercise, eat healthy, and stay positive, if you want to live a long life. I'm going with drink a little beer, play video poker until my ass hurts, have a steak and fried chicken every now and then, and raise just about as much hell as I can get away with. While I may not make it to 83, I sure intend on having some fun clawing my way towards 61.