Daily Dirt: If you qualify as an old geezer, at least be comfortable (but don’t ask where my phone is)

Daily Dirt for Friday, Feb. 21, 2025

Hmmm … where did I put my phone? … Welcome to today’s three thoughts that make up Vol. 1,210 of The Daily Dirt.

1. It happened. It finally happened.

Just the other day, my wife and I were headed somewhere and she gave me The Look. I wasn’t quite sure, but I knew I had done something to deserve The Look.

“What?” I inquired. “What did I do? Or not do?”

There was a brief silence, and then …

“Are you going to wear THAT?” she asked.

I don’t remember exactly what I had on, but it had obviously caught her attention.

“Who cares if it looks good?” I said. “I’m comfortable.”

Boom!

That’s when it hit me. I was officially old to have uttered that specific phrase. I used to hear my dad say it. Numerous “oldtimers” offered those same words when I was younger.

Wow. I’m officially an old fart. That’s when a few other things that I say dawned on me. All this week I have been monitoring my speech patterns and discovered that, yep, I’m ancient. (I’m 71, for those keeping score.)

If you’re reading this and any of the following sounds familiar, welcome to the old geezer club:

• “Sorry, I forgot what I was going to say.”
• “Why is the print on these instructions so tiny?”
• “Did I already take my pills today?”
• “Stupid scales … that can’t be right.”
• “Where did I put my phone?”
• “Software update again? I don’t like updates.”
• “Wait … what did I come here for?” (Usually, that’s my reaction about five steps inside Walmart.)
• “I could have sworn that was my password.”
• “Back in my day …” (Oh boy, that one’s becoming a popular part of way too many conversations.)
• “Where did I put my phone?”
• “When did this song start counting as classic rock?” (I have said that numerous times to a son or daughter, and the answer is usually something akin to, “Well, it came out in the ’80s, dad.”)
• “It sounds like a lot of noise to me.” (My exact comment to anything called “pop” music beyond about 1985.)
• “Where did I put my phone?”
• “I’m going to just rest my eyes for a minute.”
• “I’m still hip, right?”
• “This isn’t my first rodeo.”
• “Way too much information.” (No, wait … I get that said to me a lot.)
• “Where did I put my phone?”

When I come across these and other kinds of age-related roadblocks, I usually think of what Mark Twain once said (if I can remember): “Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.”

I don’t mind. I’m just glad to still be here.

Oh, one other thing … where did I put my phone?

2. Did you know (Part 283) …

• The first people to refer to the mullet hairstyle as a mullet were the Beastie Boys.
• Among the songs turning 35 years old this year include “Thunderstruck” by AC/DC, “U Can’t Touch This” by M.C. Hammer, “Ice Ice Baby” by Vanilla Ice, “Vogue” by Madonna and “Gonna Make You Sweat” by C+C Music Factory.
• Joe Buck, 55, will call a Major League Baseball national telecast for the first time since 2021 when he provides play-by-play of the Opening Day game between the Brewewrs and Yankees on ESPN.
• Just six MLB teams batted .250 or better in 2024. In 2006, all 30 did.
• The first drive-up ATMs first appeared in the early 1980s.

3. Here are this week’s most interesting celebrity birthdays:

• Actress Drew Barrymore turns 50 on Saturday. She’s now a regular on the new “Hollywood Squares” TV game show.
• Actress Patricia Richardson will be 74 on Sunday. She played Tim Allen’s wife “Jill” on “Home Improvement.” What a great show that was.
• Former boxer Floyd Mayweather turns 48 on Monday. He was the highest-paid athlete in the world four consecutive years between 2012 and 2015. 
• Entrepreneur Phil Knight will be 87 on Monday.
• If alive today, former Beatle George Harrison would be 82 on Tuesday. R.I.P., George.

Steve Thought O’ The Day
Speaking of George Harrison, his “My Sweet Lord” was the first No. 1 hit for a former Beatle, topping the charts for four weeks from late 1970 through early January 1971.

Steve Eighinger writes daily for Muddy River News. He’s still searching for his phone.