Weighing In On Old

Another day, another study, ... Yep, just within the last couple of days the Journal of Eating Disorders released a study that says that women of ALL ages complain more about being old than being fat.  When
people are disparaging themselves about age, this is being referred to "old talk."  The Journal of Eating Disorder is concerned that the same type of negative body image issues i.e. anxiety, depression, eating disorders, can now be attributed to women to feeling old.


Turns out that even women as young as 18 are now talking  about  feeling old or complaining about the effects of aging.  Although, it might not surprise you that those teenie-boppers are amateurs in the department of "old talk"  compared to the groups that have a little more age on them.

Carolyn Becker of Trinity University in San Antonio, TX led the study which surveyed over 900 women from America, Britain, and Australia.  Their ages ranged from 18 to 87.  The questions they were given dealt with  "fat talk", "old talk" and overall body dissatisfaction. Sixty-six percent of the women say they engage in "old talk" some of the time.   As you might expect the women over 46 talk the most about being old.   (I don't really think they needed a study to figure that out.)

NOTE:  According to one of the articles pertaining to this study, it stated that men were not  included as their initial research showed men were more comfortable with aging.  There seems to be a prevalent attitude that aging in men makes them more distinguished. Proving once again, that life is not fair.

Thought Number One:  Fat

You might remember the post a couple of weeks ago,  Native American Summer, where I was talking about Rush Limbaugh justifying his remarks when he called Oprah fat. His theory being if you are part of a group that shares a common denominator, you get to talk about the denominator.   Since he is fat, he says he wasn't disparaging her.  He was merely pointing out the fact she is...well...fat.

But we all know it's not nice to call someone fat.  The politically correct thing to do is acknowledge that people come in all shapes and sizes.  Uh-huh...that's how it is supposed to be.

click to enlarge or go to Twitter 
#Iamnotadisease

 The problem arises that, while obesity might be off the table from the sense, we should not judge people, be biased or prejudicial regarding overweight people, the AMA slapped a huge stigma on obesity by calling it a disease.

As you might imagine, that didn't go over in a big (no pun intended) way for people like Marilyn Wann who has spent years advocating for "fat acceptance".  Marilyn who wrote a book Fat!So? along with

Marilyn Wann

other fat advocates have voiced their disapproval of linking "being fat" with having a disease.  On the Twittter thread #Iamnotadisease, there is an ongoing debate whether obesity should be stigmatized by being called a disease. Of course, there are also, those in favor of the change as it provides funds for research and now insurance will have to pay for some of the costs associated with health problems resulting from obesity.  


Thought Number Two: Old and Ageism

According to the study, half the women in the 18-29 age group "occasionally" refer to themselves as old.  By that standard, I am old.  (Sure according to them I would be ancient, but then a 18 year old calling herself old is coo-coo from my vantage point.)

Lucy was using an analogy  with an  old
vehicle being an old body.

We live in a culture that is obsessed with youth, so it makes sense that gray hair and wrinkles are met with a certain amount of disdain.  Fixing the "flaws" of aging is big business in America.  Just last week the American Society of Plastic Surgeons released data that 14.6 million procedures were done last year related to fixing signs of aging.  That is up 5 percent from the previous year. 

While there are the self-proclaimed fat advocates that are upset with being disparaged due to body size, I venture to guess that people are less vocal about how aging is viewed. I might even go far as to say...and I know some people out there aren't going to be happy with my next statement but here goes....obesity is within a lot of people's control while aging is not within the control of any living person.

As for the issue of  "old" being the new bias, more so than fat, .... I was listening to an interview with the Editor-In-Chief of Self Magazine, Lucy Danzinger that was saying that "the opposite of old isn't young...it's healthy and energetic."  She went on to say, "It's like having a car.  You can't necessarily get a new vehicle, but you can take really good care of the one you have."

I don't dispute that we all need to stay healthy and fit but why is aging considered a flaw?  How did we get to a place where having a plasticized taut skin or expressionless Botoxed faces, better than having some natural signs of aging?

From where I sit, I think aging is unavoidable.  I can continue to workout  as vigilantly as I do.  I can stay thin and fit, hopefully but I can't halt all the natural body changes that go with getting older.In theory, I can prolong their onset.

Being fit isn't quite the same thing as being young...but it's still a good thing to be. 

  Hey everyone...meet Gina!!!  Gina has been my trainer for about 5 years now.  She can't reverse my aging but she can keep everything else in check.  Maybe aging will be considered a disease some day and I can have my insurance company pay Gina. 






Come Join Top Sites Tuesday and be #1 on BlogDumps!
The purpose of this Meme is to encourage
Networking between bloggers and to have fun while doing it!
Make sure to visit all the other participants and leave comments

Let's Talk About Words That Start With C

Today let's talk about some C words. I am sure you all are thinking C is for Cookie but today we are talking about some other C words.   Typically, on Friday each week, we talk about the news stories that are found under the heading of weird or odd.  But you and I know that each week this brings forth some crazy. Once in awhile, I see some cute, some creative, some classy or classless,  but for the most part articles classified as "weird news" contains some "crazy".  This week is no different.

Let's start with the Word...CAR.

Well....to be more specific, we are talking about a crazy man carrying a gun in a car.

 Most of us have seen an erratic driver but have you ever pulled up along side of one, only to see a gun pointed at you.

David Kolloar was driving on Interstate 75 in  Madison County, Kentucky  on Monday and noticed a car driving in and out of the emergency lane. The car at one point  was appearing  to swerve into another car on it's left.   David pulled out his phone and started taping the situation.  He thought that he would have documentation available so he could call the police.

What he didn't expect was as he moved forward the erratic driver got next to him and lowered the window.
David hit his brakes to miss getting shot at. When he safely got off the road he called the authorities.

He said he wasn't trying to be a vigilante but he was worried about the safety of himself and others on the road.  His actions did lead the police to track down the gun toting driver.  Investigators found Dr. Perrin Dobyns in Indiana where he was arrested. 

Police credit Kollar for the quick arrest because of the video and his awareness to get the man's license plate. The rest, they said, fell into place after they were able to confirm the man's identity and vehicle with Indiana State Police.

 "We're not sure where he was coming from, and he had about another hour-and-a-half to two hour drive back home. So, there's no telling what actually could've happened after he left Madison County," said Trooper Robert Purdy of the Kentucky State Highway Patrol.

 Police tell us that Dobyns works at the Branchville Correctional Facility, in Branchville, Indiana. WKYT contacted a local Sheriff's office who told us that Dobyns is actually the prison's doctor.

(Update: On Tuesday the doctor was returned to Kentucky and charged. He was to appear in court on Wednesday.)

How ironic is that...the gun toting doctor worked for a prison.  BUT according to the reports, they fired him. Clearly going from being a prison doctor to being a prisoner, isn't the ideal career path.


Cleaning Up the Evidence

An Oklahoma man was arrested on burglary charges after police matched his DNA to used toilet paper found at the scene of the crime, police said.

Charles Marqull Williams was charged Wednesday with burglary in Oklahoma County District Court for

allegedly stealing from an area home, The (Oklahoma City) Oklahoman reported.

Police said the suspect broke into the home, took several items, and used the bathroom before taking off.

Unflushed feces and a used piece of toilet paper on the floor were found at the scene. (on the floor, really??...Oink, Oink)

Police matched DNA found in the messy bathroom to Williams


How embarrassing for Charles, to have to admit "not flushing" got him thrown in the can.  TSK TSK...but aren't we curious if when the cops told him how they found him did he say "OH CRAP!.

And Last but Not the Least (crazy that is) is the Word Cheating


A married man reported that he had been robbed during a sexual encounter with a prostitute.  She, allegedly, picked his pocket of $9000.00 during a sexual act.  Evidently his attention was diverted at the time.

According to the Brisbane Court documentation, Navnish Bansai was approached while he was eating

supper at an Indian restaurant by a woman who asked him "if he was up for some fun".

They chatted a bit, negotiated a price and then proceeded to get into Boansai's car and drove to New Farm Park.

According to the victim, he claims that while the hooker was providing him with a service, she stole the 9K from his jacket pocket. She then got out of the car and ran across the soccer fields.

Bansai, who represented himself in court said the reason he had so much cash is that he had taken the money out of his wife's checking account to buy himself a new car.  The prosecuting attorney in the case said it was a "doozie" of a story.

The woman was located and Bansai got most of his money back but then.... he was arrested and charged with public solicitation of a prostitute.

Isn't there an old saying that a person who represents himself in court has a fool for a client?  What a great example.  What a fool!! I wonder if he will represent himself in the divorce hearing as well?  (that's just a guess on my part.)

Wasted Whining

Thought Number One:  Two New Things That Are Happening (or Not) in the government today.

I consider it such an irony that the very day, that the Healthcare Marketplace is open for business the Federal government is not. (Surely, you all have heard the news that the Federal government is now closed pending the ability of our Congress to work together and pass a budget.) 

For those of you that aren't aware of changes in how Americans are to be insured let me explain.  Starting today, there is a government website that offers various insurance plans for those that are either not insured by their employers, self-employed or uninsured.

As luck would have it,  I and my husband are self-employed.   While it remains to be seen if that is a good thing or a bad thing as far as insurance coverage goes, we currently buy a pricey (AND I MEAN PRICEY) individual  insurance policy to cover us. With that being said, it costs a lot but pays things very well. See there...that's me looking at the positive.   You didn't think I had it in me, did you?

However, I must tell you that I  remain ever hopeful that somewhere on the new Marketplace there is an equal policy that might offer either a financial advantage or a coverage advantage.. Yes, I know that is being OVERLY optimistic.  The funny thing about this "market place" is that no one seems to know much about it.  The Dallas Morning News had a sneak preview of the rates and it looks like for a "middle of the road" plan for my age group it's about $1300.00 a month to get insurance.   I have no idea if that is true or not as I can't get on to the sight yet.

Why?  Because this is what it looks like.

OK...not off to a banner start but I wait...

and wait

AND WAIT SOME MORE

and then sure enough...I get a page to fill in all my pertinent information and create a user ID and a passcode.
(even that wasn't easy...symbols, numbers, capital letters, and lower case numbers involved)

Then the next page is security questions.  BUT the security questions are MIA

Care to guess what I do?  Go on take a guess....


Mainly  because I love a challenge, am a glutton for punishment and I  am already tired of this system, I decide to hit:

 I will spare you all the
PLEASE BE PATIENT, SOMEONE WILL BE WITH YOU SHORTLY,
PLEASE BE PATIENT, SOMEONE WILL BE WITH YOU SHORTLY,
PLEASE BE PATIENT, SOMEONE WILL BE WITH YOU SHORTLY,
PLEASE BE PATIENT, SOMEONE WILL BE WITH YOU SHORTLY,
PLEASE BE PATIENT, SOMEONE WILL BE WITH YOU SHORTLY,
PLEASE BE PATIENT, SOMEONE WILL BE WITH YOU SHORTLY,


There were a lot of those before I was told:

Thanks for your interest in the Health Insurance Marketplace.  we have a lot of visitors trying to use the website right now.  That is causing some glitches for some of the people trying to create accounts or log in.  Keep trying and thanks for your patience.  You might have better success during off-peak hours, like later at night or early in the morning.  We'll continue working to improve the site so you can get covered.

Though Number Two:  Must We Continue to Make Everything So Difficult?

Dare I hope that the day will come that politicians will work less on their political ambitions and work more on the well-being on their constituents?


In the meantime...I continue to try to see into the future as to what to do about my insurance.

In lieu of not being able to look at the Marketplace, I am now resorting to Plan B. 

Come Join Top Sites Tuesday and be #1 on BlogDumps!
The purpose of this Meme is to encourage
Networking between bloggers and to have fun while doing it!
Make sure to visit all the other participants and leave comments