Age no barrier!
October 21st, 2010 at 6:22 am by David FarrarAt Backbenchers last night there was a discussion on lifting the retirement age from 65 to 67. They asked one table how many years off retirement they are. One girl said 46 years so I guess she was 19. Then they asked the more elderly gentleman how many years from retirement he was, and he responded that as he was 89 I guess I am already retired.
A round of applause for him, as people impressed that at 89 years old you’re coming to the pub, having a beer and watching Backbenchers.
At the end of the night he came up to me when he left and said how much he enjoys the blog, and reads it pretty much every day. Pretty thrilled to get such cool feedback, and meet what may be KB’s oldest reader.
It got me wondering. Who is the oldest and the youngest reader of Kiwiblog? If you are over 89 or under 18 feel free to state your age – either in comments – or if you are shy, by e-mail.
Tags: Backbenches, Kiwiblog
October 21st, 2010 at 7:11 am
You are only as old as you think you are.
That is until the mechanical bits start to wear and can’t be fixed.
Retirement is a function of two things.
Vote:How much money you have to live on and need.
If you really ever want to do not much. People without a sense of purpose and a passion to get up in the morning and do something, a hobby, a service, what ever, wither and die.
Never retire.
Just change what you are doing.
Join Redbaiter– go blogging.
October 21st, 2010 at 7:22 am
I’ve often pondered on the age demographic of your readership DPF. Could be worth a curia poll!
Vote:October 21st, 2010 at 7:23 am
I have been reading kiwiblog since I was 15 off and on, when it was recommended by a gentleman I used to debate politics with. I only started commenting several years later though… :-p.
Vote:October 21st, 2010 at 7:30 am
Which age are you wanting? Actual age or mental age?
Vote:October 21st, 2010 at 7:42 am
My wife often tells me I’m acting like a 12 year old however some days when I wake I feel like I’m 96 year old so I guess I’m in the middle somewhere. Guess that doesn’t help.
Vote:October 21st, 2010 at 7:44 am
” impressed that at 89 years old you’re coming to the pub, having a beer and watching Backbenchers.”
Our longest serving staff member came to do three days tractor work for us in 1989 and never left. He turned 80 in April and still works full time. Our second oldest staff member is a couple of years younger he dags hundreds of sheep most days – though takes Wednesday afternoons off to play bridge.
Vote:October 21st, 2010 at 8:03 am
Mentally I’m about 11.
Vote:But that’s in monkey-years, which puts me at about 4 and a bit.
About the age of your average ACT voter. . ..
October 21st, 2010 at 8:22 am
Jimmy Sleep. A nappy wetting 18 months.
Vote:October 21st, 2010 at 8:44 am
This man doesn’t read Kiwiblog. No time. Too busy. Runs the Lions raffle at the pub every friday, maintains the local church grounds and I’ve been privileged to know him my whole life. He was in J-Force after the war – great stories. Top bloke:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/nelson-mail/news/national-news/3872295/No-dozing-on-the-job-for-long-time-driver
Vote:October 21st, 2010 at 9:07 am
I’m 17. But I wager more mature than many of your commenters
Vote:October 21st, 2010 at 9:09 am
As long as you remember to keep learning and be prepared to change your views Jack, don’t become entrenched or too precious about any sort of label. We are all a mix.
Vote:October 21st, 2010 at 9:15 am
I sure do. In fact, I was just convinced Transmission Gully is a bad idea
Vote:October 21st, 2010 at 9:22 am
At age 17, most people don’t know their arse from their elbow. Jack, I’ll bet that in 20 years time you’ll no longer be a member of the Greens (having recognised them as thinly disguised Marxists) and you won’t refer to yourself as a Liberal Communitarianist
Vote:October 21st, 2010 at 9:33 am
Well I’m pretty certain I will. Not all 17 year olds are the same. And I have no problem with Marxists, in the real sense, but I don’t defend any communist rule.
Vote:October 21st, 2010 at 9:33 am
Somehow, I think Jack has a point. 38 btw, and not known for my left looking view.
Vote:October 21st, 2010 at 10:03 am
My Pa never retired work just left him in his mid 80s. He purchased a second house on our first farm to make the purchase easier financially, when he was 70 and as a shepherd of many years with his main sporting interest sheep dog trialling spent hours with his pony round our modest flock. We sold that farm and moved to the Wairarapa when he was 80 he spent the next few years riding round the new owners flock for the same pay rate
Vote:Me, I retired from farming at 58 and embarked on several community service, tasks non of which yield an income but give me great fulfillment along with a wonderful lifestyle along with my very small vinyard, a folly that will never turn a dollar.
October 21st, 2010 at 10:25 am
Jack,
Glad to hear you are deeply mature. Why not share with your depth of understanding as to why Transmission Gully is a bad idea?
(Best to do so on General Debate however, as that the correct forum for that today.)
Vote:October 21st, 2010 at 10:49 am
True. But being young and naive is normal and it’s like Alzheimers; the very nature of the illness prevents the sufferer from noticing. Anyway good luck – it’s good to see a young person interested in the world.
Vote:October 21st, 2010 at 11:03 am
I’m 18 years finishing high school this year. I find that i would rather have a brigher future than the immediate.
Vote:October 21st, 2010 at 11:29 am
Why not raise the age for entitlement to the pension to 70. Most 70 year olds I know still work on one form or another.
Vote:October 21st, 2010 at 11:31 am
And I have no problem with Marxists, in the real sense, but I don’t defend any communist rule.
Marxism results in communist rule… as sure as night follows day.
Vote:October 21st, 2010 at 11:32 am
“Jack McDonald (167) Says:
October 21st, 2010 at 9:07 am
I’m 17. But I wager more mature than many of your commenters”
Good on you Jack. Still at school and a cynic already.
Vote:October 21st, 2010 at 11:51 am
Was it not Winston Churchill who once said something along the lines of….
“If you are young, and not a socialist, you have no heart. If you are old, and not a conservative, you have no brain.”
(If he did not say it, then I will happliy claim it as my own!)
Vote:October 21st, 2010 at 11:55 am
I’m twenty, but I joined when I was eighteen. Hardly the youngest, or the oldest.
Nevertheless, I like to think that my contributions are valid lol.
Vote:October 21st, 2010 at 2:02 pm
Your 89 year old at the Backbencher could well be the tough old bugger who said ‘hello there’ to me as I strode past him a few weeks back on my climb up to the summit of Tinakori Hill. There he was not far from where the climb begins at the top of St Mary Street making slow progress complete with walking stick. OK I thought, hopefully he is only going to stagger as far as the first wooden bench, admire the view and return to the safety of the city. So on I climb, up through the pines and the steep track to the summit where I rest awhile, sip some water and take in the view of the Makara wind farm and the seaward Kaikouras. On my return who should I encounter now tackling the steepest section and at his pace at least 45 minutes from the the top but the elderly gent. I couldnt believe my eyes. ‘You are doing very well’ I said, he looked at me from under his sun hat and grumbled ‘but are you have done better’. At his age my daily stroll was nothing compared to the work he was putting in. So, welcome to the neighbourhood elderly gent, and long may you frequent the Backbencher and the Shepherd’s Arms.
Vote:October 21st, 2010 at 2:43 pm
RoW is WoR, it probably wasn’t Churchill and you will have to join a long list to claim that one.
Vote:October 21st, 2010 at 3:38 pm
malcolm suggests:
By the time I was 17 I was 2 years on from having registered my first company, had built (literally, to some extent, with a soldering iron) a couple of radio stations and run them at a profit and had been sure of what I wanted to do as a career for about six years… and went on to do it for the next 15.
I’d also developed a healthy disrespect for authority (especially anyone who’d had it bestowed on them and misused it and/or didn’t realise it needed to be owned) and a belief in individual freedoms which is pretty much the foundation of my political views today.
The established radio stations in Wellington at the time made the same mistake you do, and underestimated me purely based on my age. By the time the third station launched (they ran during holiday periods) it was having such an effect on their revenue that they lodged formal objections and we went to a hearing (and I bought my first suit. And won).
The idea that young people are these unformed lumps of clay, just waiting to be moulded (ideally into shapes resembling us, so they can ‘grow up’ to make the same mistakes) is generally a nonsense. There are idiots amongst them as there are idiots amongst us and, probably, amongst the similarly aged friends of the incredible 89 year old DPF met.
I find it best to assess each person individually, setting aside any preconceptions that come with their age, and as a result I’m frequently suprised, and impressed.
Vote:October 21st, 2010 at 4:49 pm
You’re quite right, Rex. I should have said “at age 17, politically, most people don’t know their arse from their elbow”.
You for example, were probably a screaming socialist, despite knowing your PNPs from your NPNs.
Vote:October 21st, 2010 at 6:17 pm
malcolm care to name a person in NZ who has never taken any socialism ?
Vote:October 21st, 2010 at 6:19 pm
At 17 most people think they are more mature than most people. Just how 80% of people think they are better than average drivers. If you support the greens you fail before you start.
Vote:October 21st, 2010 at 9:58 pm
Grumpy, that’s really my point. If you have the same political views when you’re 40 as you did when you were 17, then you’re either very clever or you don’t think much.
Vote:October 21st, 2010 at 10:43 pm
My ten year old daughter occasionally reads over my shoulder. I have high hopes for her.
Vote:October 21st, 2010 at 11:24 pm
Turned 16 a few months ago… And learning every day!
Vote:October 21st, 2010 at 11:40 pm
malcolm surmises:
Nope. Politically non-aligned then as now. Admired Kirk and Muldoon as both being straight shooters who genuinely wanted the best for NZ (though both in their own ways disastrous for it) but that was about it. My cynicism is so deeply ingrained I think Winston must have put something in my Scotch (possibly more Scotch…)
Vote: