Have you noticed there's a clock on the wall of your room?

Setanta--

Don't forget:



Come, fill the Cup, and in the Fire of Spring

The Winter Garment of Repentance fling:

The Bird of Time has but a little way

To fly -- and Lo! the Bird is on the Wing.


Omar Khayyam is one good thing out of Arabia.

Persia, Dear Noddy, Omar was Farsi . . .

The meaningfulness of a few miles of sand.

...and the words of Mick Jagger...Time is on my side...yes it is.

Thanks for the heritage/geography lesson. Now I can return to my fully jaundiced glasses--one eye between the rivers and the other on the Potomac.

With her one eye on t' pot
An' t'other up the chimney . . .

Don't forget the Bow-wow-wow chorus, doggie man.

I used ta listen to that record nearly every day as a child . . . were ever i to actually entertain a regret, it would be the loss of so many small things which gave life some simple meaning and pleasure . . .

In La Révolution et l'ancien régime, de Tocqueville tells us that it is for the small things that men rebel . . .

It is certainly for small things that men complain--and women too.

Once upon a time, Rosa Park's feet hurt....

nice strophe there, Boss, first class . . .

What's a strophe? I'm here to learn.

I use the term too broadly, Joe, but i've found that "literary folk" understand my meaning, which is "a poetic turn of phrase."

Strictly speaking, however:

Hi Joe,

I've been thinking about your thread for a couple of days now, thinking about what to write.

In my own mind I stopped aging somewhere in my mid twentys, but every time I look in the mirror I see my father's face staring back at me, not my own.

I've always been told "don't wish yourself old" but here in Sandland it seems that's all we ever do. On the U.S. Payroll you qualify for early retirement at age 50, and there are additional goodies at age 55. Whenever a few expats get together, sooner or later the talk will gravitate to those two magic numbers. Most of us are counting the days (623 total, 518 In-Kingdom for me). Our lives are all on-hold, and we're wishing our lives away.

There's a couple of long term goals I've had - finishing a marathon and earning a Doctorate to name two. I always knew I had all the the time in the world, so it never bothered me as the goals were always put off again and again. Now at 48 I have a couple of bum discs in my back, and it's questionable if I'll ever do that marathon. And going back to school for five or six years of intensive studies? Oh well - on-hold for 623 days.

Thanks set, I kneel.

Jim

We all had 'short sheets' in our lockers when I was in the service, great long pages of descending numbers that we carefully Xed off each morning (or whenever we were on base). 432 431 430 It got depressing for me so I stopped with about a year to go and was surprised when someone told me I only had a month left and I should start prepping for release. What so soon?

You didn't ask for any advice so I'll only give you a little.

Doctorate in what? They got no books you can read in preparation? What kind of ,,,,,

oh

and this

at your age?

So how old will you be in five or six years if you don't do it?

Good to hear from Sandland.
our love to all

Joe

Joe - I'm looking at either History or Economic History. Amazon and The Scholar's Bookshelf are making a good living off of all the related books I've been buying to gear up - and when I have time I've started to teach myself Latin and Classical Greek (the work schedule here is 12 hour days. After that, I rarely have any oomph for the languages, but I do try).

Quodcumque dixerit vobis, facite

12 hour days. no wonder you guys find yourselves mooning at the calendar.

You'll find the time anyway.

Joe

The quest of knowledge has made the journey in time seem complacent.

How?

And welcome to A2k..

Joe

There are compensating factors to the growing old thing. No longer so physical and strong, true, but I have begun to mature mentally. I accomplish so much more. It's a fair trade-off.

There is no point in worrying about the inevitable.

So I don't.