I guess one of the sure signs that you’ve crossed the line from middle age to geezer-dom is when people keep sending you e-mails about it. For instance, here’s a list someone sent me just the other day:You start saving nuts, bolts, nails and screws in little glass jars.
You keep more food in the fridge than beer.
6 AM is when you get up not when you go to bed.
A four dollar bottle of wine is no longer “pretty good s*it.”
You realize you’ve been driving for a half hour with your turn signal on.
You’re willing to spend more for quality appliances knowing they’re probably the last ones you’ll ever buy.
You can’t wait to get together with friends for a game of shuffleboard.
Hey, wait a minute..that last one is true!
A few weeks ago, our pals; Joanie and Denny, called to see if we wanted to go for a ride. Well, we wound up at Boondocks in Worthing about a half hour South of Sioux Falls. After commenting on how good the free popcorn was, I noticed they had a table shuffleboard game and suggested we give it a try.Unlike the shuffleboard that’s played with push sticks on the decks of cruise ships by white-haired women in moo moos and old guys in black socks and sandals, this shuffleboard is played indoors on a slippery long table with metal discs the size of hockey pucks.Because the 22 foot hardwood table is dusted with a wax-like powder, very little effort is required to send those pucks shooshing to the other end where points are awarded for getting closest to the edge. So, finesse is rewarded over brute strength.Linda and Joanie really love this game and have gotten very good at it but in doing so have developed a few characteristics that are not very becoming to Denny and me..like fist-pumping and saying yes, yes, yes when they blast one of our pucks out of scoring position and into the gutter with one of their carefully-aimed shots.
Table shuffleboard has been around forever (My dad had one in the Volga pool hall back in the 50’s) but it’s popularity as a bar game has fizzled as much as it has flourished.
We are sort of hoping that it doesn’t get too popular again because we’re having so much fun and usually have the game to ourselves on Saturday afternoons The four of us have checked out a couple other places that have tables but they’re not nearly as good ( too sticky or not very level) and cost two dollars as opposed to 50 cents a game at Boondocks.
Yeah, I know…frugality is another sign of geezerhood.