Thursday 2/16/12. How old are you anyway?

We'll get to that age thing in a minute.
 Weather here first.
44.4 °F
Clear   
Windchill:     42 °F
Humidity:     75%
Wind:     4.0 mph NNW
Wind Gust:     6.0 mph
Visibility:     10.0 miles
Dew Point:     37 °F
Pressure:     30.18 in (Rising)

Today: Partly sunny, with a high near 62. North northeast wind around 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.


Now, about this age thing.  Back when I was in School, guess it was HS in the '60s, it began to become clear to me that all my friends and school buddies were the same age and shared similar back grounds.   Mainly the fact that our fathers and uncles  had been in the war. That's WWII to any kids reading this , which I doubt there are.
Our dads were in the Navy, Air Force, Army, Marines, Coast Guard and most had seen real bullets and bombs  and battles. Seen their buddies died and had killed men. Some fathers talked about it to their kids, mine didn't other than we knew he had been in the Air Force and still did yearly service in the Reserve.  At that time he was a Major but archived the rank of Lt Colonel before he retired.   And then sometime or the other I heard the term , referencing US , my age group, as War Babies.   Those born during the war or shortly there after.
Move forward and we got a new term tied to us.   Baby Boomer.
So what is a Boomer Anyhow?   Good ole research......

Glad you asked. Stated very simply, the demographers, sociologists and the media define baby boomers as those born between (and including) 1946 and 1964. (There is no law or constitutional amendment so stating; and other boundaries have been suggested. But this is the time frame most commonly used.) In 2012, that would make us between 48 and 66 years old. There are about 75 million boomers in the U.S.; we currently represent about 29% of the U.S. population. (In Canada, we are sometimes known as "Boomies"; there are 6 million of us there. In Britain, our generation is known as "the bulge.")

The term is used (nobody knows who coined the phrase) to define the "boom" in births after WWII. Our Boomer Stats page identifies the number of U.S. births during the 40s, 50s and 60s.

The 1960s is the decade that defined the boomers. The music, events, and the social changes made a permanent impression on us. Those of us born during the "peak" boomer years, '52-'57, were in our formative years during the sixties. There were so many changes in the sixties that how old you were during the decade greatly affected how you turned out. 1961 was a whole lot different from 1969!

Those born at the early end of the spectrum were in our early 20s by 1970. The deaths of President Kennedy, Bobby Kennedy, and Dr. Martin Luther King; the Vietnam war and related protests; and the Watergate scandal... all made deep impressions on us.

At the other end, those born after 1959 have no direct recollection of the assassination of President Kennedy; most were not yet listening to rock music by the time the Beatles broke up. Buddy Holly, the Shirelles, Peter & Gordon, Leslie Gore, Dion, Nat Cole, Herman's Hermits, the Mamas & Papas, Frankie Avalon, the Platters, the Drifters, the Everly Brothers, the Four Tops, and other great music artists of the 50s and 60s are not part of the foundation of their music tastes. They were more likely to use illegal drugs.... often to a great and disturbing excess. And they were never subjected to the military draft. So any attempt to lump us all together probably won't work. We can tell, by the e-mail we receive , that there is much that ties us together, but also much that separates us.

E-mail indicates that many of us are committed to marriage and are still happily married to our high school sweethearts. And many of us have been married and divorced... more than once. We are the generation that pushed the divorce rate up to 50%... and made it seem "normal" and thus acceptable.

Many of us went to work for a company, worked our way up the ladder, and are now enjoying the fruits of our labors. We will retire in a few years, or just have, and live a life of leisure, or embark on a second career. But many of us are entrepreneurs, and have never worked for a big company. Many of us plan never to retire.    

77 million people were born between 1946 and 1964, which is defined as the baby boomer era (U.S. Census).
     The first baby boomer turned 60 on January 1, 2006.
     An American turns 50 every 7 seconds—that's more than 12,500 people every day (U.S. Census).
     As of 2009, 48 is the largest age group in the United States (U.S. Census).
     By 2015, those aged 50 and older will represent 45% of the U.S. population (AARP).
     By 2030, the 65-plus population will double to about 71.5 million, and by 2050 will grow to 86.7 million people (U.S. Census).

Wealth of Baby Boomers and seniors:

     78 million Americans who were 50 or older as of 2001 controlled 67% of the country's wealth, or $28 trillion (U.S. Census and Federal Reserve).
     Households headed by someone in the 55-64 age group had a median net worth of $112,048 in 2000—15 times the $7,240 reported for the under 35 age group (U.S. Census and Federal Reserve).
     The 50+ have $2.4 trillion in annual income, which accounts for 42% of all after-tax income (U.S. Consumer Expenditure Survey).
     Adults 50 and older own 65% of the aggregate net worth of all U.S. households (U.S. Consumer Expenditure Survey).

More?   Ok
      * The average adult American woman is 5 foot 4 inches and wears a size 14 dress.

      * Baby boomers are the 1st generation in American history in which the majority have obtained at least some form of higher education.

      * There are more significant life transitions in the fifties and sixties than any other phase of life.

      * For Baby Boomers, health care is shifting from a medical topic to a blend of entertainment, fitness, beauty and spiritual well-being.

      * The top 6 concerns of Baby Boomers are: a) Having enough money to retire; b) Overall financial health; c) Having enough energy to do what they want; d) Having enough money for health care; e) Taking action to prevent disease; and f) Getting good advice from doctors.

      * By 2020, healthy living will be a trillion dollar business.

      * Gardening is the #1 hobby for adults over 50.

      * The median consumer for a new Harley-Davidson cycle is a 46-year old male.

      * Boomers make up 60% of all divorced people over the age of 15 in the U.S.

      * One in four boomers in the U.S. has a second home, and the typical vacation home buyer was 52 years old, earned $82,800 and purchased a property that is 197 miles (median) away from their primary residence. The largest concentration of vacation home buyers is in the Midwest.



So?  Are you a Fellow Boomer?   Well,  Rock on Dude!!

What da Hell?  9AM  Dozed off for a few minutes I guess and snapped awake cause it sounded like a group of bass drummers were tying to get together on the beat ..  Muted TV, and listened, then stepped out the front door.
OK mystery solved.  There are a bunch of guys up on the roof next door ( not blondies, the other way)  Guess they are going to re-roof that place . Will have to keep an eye on them because it looks like they aren't taking off the old shingles, looks like they are beating down the old nails for now. Wonder what the heck they are going to put up there?   That house is new enough it has the original roof so maybe just doing an overlay?
I'll keep ya advised cause I know you JUST got to know. :-)

Early afternoon update. 1PM. about that roofing job next door. They did a complete tear off and that roof, ( the original) had NO tar paper underneath.  So they are laying on the paper and going back with asphalt shingles.  Wonder if it leaked in a heavy rain.  I had I think 3 roof replacements on  here until I got smart and went with steel!!  Won't have to worry bout hail damage, dried out cracked asphalt shingles for maybe the  next 20+ years.but it's his money, do what he wants.

Started up my Garmin GPS to enter the address of where I got to go tomorrow afternoon and it told me new data base available.  So, that's what been happening for the  last couple hours.  BUT now I'm upto date and even got the latest route planning software. All free of course.  
So think I'll monkey with that for a bit  with a fresh iced tea close at hand.

Cya.

8PM and boy did I screw up!!  Had gotten email that we brothers were supposed to met at Realtors office to review the land sale offers.   I had it maked down for tomrrow.. WRONG!!   Was tonite, one bro called about 15 min into it and ask if I was on the way.  ( why did he call my house phone and not my mobile if he expected me to be driving?  )

Any way I missed it.   Wonder how much money that's going to cost me not being there to put in my $.02 worth?