This is what my life has come to

The low hum of well oiled machines. Is that like "The Low Spark of High-heeled Boys?"

The old man told another one of his long, rambling stories - this time about how he was trying to get some woman to return his greeting. Turns out it wasn't Aunt "Wee-Wee" at all, but his double first cousin's boy's girlfriend's mother - someone he'd never met.
I'm exasperated at this point. It gets harder and harder not to show this exasperation.
Once, he was talking about how poorly he had done in school, having never even learned to read or write, and how we must all be dummies or we would have gotten better jobs. This was almost more than I could take - being lumped in with him, as it were. I told him (I caught him taking a breath) that I used to be the smartest kid in my school. "You used to be smart?! What happened?" he replied, with earnest astonishment.
This is what my life has come to.

I couldn't sleep at all last night (tossin' and turnin').
I've been having a hard time with this "getting older" thing. A couple of years ago, it hit me like the proverbial ton of bricks. A mind blowing return for all of those years I invested in danger and hard living.
We used to proudly chant, "SEX, DRUGS AND ROCK-N-ROLL!" Now I can't even have a cup of coffee. No caffeine, you see.
I know it happens to everyone, but it feels so personal.