In the last month we have had numerous workers in our home to replace the dishwasher, stove, and microwave, as well as to do some minor plumbing as we had one toilet replaced and a hot water shut off valve replaced under the kitchen sink. We also had new smoke detectors installed and a new electrical outlet installed for the new stove. The old outlet was a 110, and the new stove required a 220.
We have been very happy with all the workers who have come to the house. I was most delighted, though, with the plumber. He was a fully credentialed professional plumber, but he looked as though he was 16 years old.
I asked him if people often remarked that he looked too young to be a plumber. This was evidently a touchy subject with him since he told me that he is always told this, and it was really annoying. “People tell me I look like I am 18. I am 21 years old!” I suggested that it might help if he grew a beard. He said that he had inherited his father’s inability to grow much facial hair, so that wasn’t a solution.
People assumed that I was older than I was when I was a child and teen because I was tall for my age. I didn’t mind, but it meant that people often expected more from me than I was capable of. Now I just hope I look younger than I am.
Do you look your age? Do you act your age? Had any home repairs lately?
Trail Baboon 
Your plumber’s annoyance with people talking about his age has made me realize that I should probably stop talking about my two orthopedic doctors (for my knees) as “the 12-year-olds”. I certainly have never said that to them and I do respect their expertise, but I am at that age now where the up-and-coming professionals just seem so so young to me.
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I look like my dad and like him, I appear younger than my age. When I was growing up, I would’ve preferred to look like my mom but now I’m at a place where it’s OK with me if I look younger than my age.
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I have no idea whether I look younger than my age. That’s for other people to judge. I don’t even look the same in photos as I do in the mirror. I know that that’s partly because I’m backward in the mirror and apparently not symmetrical. (I read somewhere that Asians tend to be more symmetrical than Caucasians.)
I’m also not very good at judging other people’s ages.
And what, at my age, am I supposed to act like?
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Livin’ the Trail today as the contractors come for the first stop for the bathroom.
I don’t want to “change ” it so much as “renew” it.
I suspect this will be trickier than I expect. Stay tuned.
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Good luck! I’m interested in hearing how it goes.
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Meeting went well. He didn’t look at anything that made him recoil in horror or try and “talk me up”, so I am hopeful.
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Sounds like a great start!
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#1. Maybe a few years younger–hard to know.
#2, Rarely!
#3. Technically, no. But we had two diseased trees and one storm-damaged tree removed and a section of fence replaced after the July windstorms.
This year it appears that interior renovation is on the docket. Two new beds, and probably some furniture. The wife is getting the itch for something “new.” *Sigh* “Yes, dear.”
Chris in Owatonna
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Good answer, Chris. Make the Baboons proud.
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I don’t know if I look my age or not. I think I do, but I’ve been wrong before. I think it’s hard to look at yourself in a mirror and know if you look your age. I’m not always comfortable with what I see in the mirror these days, so maybe that’s a sign!
I think I do act my age these days. I didn’t always. Again, it’s hard to tell. Some days I’m a goofball, other days I’m a curmudgeon.
Yes, the wind blew out the pilot light in my water heater a few days ago. I am terrified of lighting pilot lights, and I hated myself for doing it, but I called a plumber. It took him several tries, but have hot water again. My water heater is old.
Many things need doing here. This summer I’m going to get a new kitchen sink and faucet, and maybe a microwave over the stove. I’m also going to get a new patio door, and maybe a bedroom window. After that, I’ll be thinking about new flooring throughout the house. When my old water heater finally dies, I will get a tankless one.
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#1 – No. I have always been considered tiny. My maximum height was 5’2″ (now a bit shorter) and my weight didn’t hit 3 numbers until my early 40s (that has also changed). I am not only the runt of my immediate family but also my extended family. Many people seem to equate small with young. People who see the three of us sisters, and who don’t know us, assume I am the youngest. Also I still don’t have any gray hair (and both my sisters do). However, up close the sun damage, wrinkles, and cellulite tell a different story.
#2 – Mostly no.
#3 – Some repairs in the past. Nothing currently but my bathroom is begging for an update.
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Rise and Shine, Baboons,
When I was a child people always thought I was older than I was, but I shouldered a great deal of responsibility in my family, so I suppose I acted old. I look in the mirror now and I see an old lady, and I feel every day of my age. Recently someone told me she thought I was in my early 60s which surprised me alot. Really, I don’t know.
I am waiting for my contractor to rebuild my front steps with a railing, as well as rebuild my laundry center so I can fold clothing down by the laundry. These are both relatively small items, but getting Craig’s time is a challenge. He has an in-demand business for good reason. I appreciate his skills so much. Because he has remodeled so much of our house, he feels like a family member. Now his boys, who were babies when I first got to know him, are working with him. Craig looks his age (about 50). His sons look 20, which they are.
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I don’t look a day over 70.
How old did Adam look when he eventually died?🤔
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We’re having the downstairs bathroom redone this spring. As MIg said, mostly just a ‘renew’. Adding a show stall where before was just hardboard. A new vanity and sink. I’m allowed to pick out most of the items (And Kelly and I discuss) and yesterday I ventured into the flooring store. I just had to get the ‘overwhelmingness’ out of my system. Now I can go back next week and make some choices.
There’s always a project going on at home.
I tend to look younger.
But I agree, so many of the professionals now look 12.
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Beware the flooring store.
Young salespersons will sell you site unseen.
Old timers will require a site inspection.
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What is your opinion of bamboo flooring?
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1. I look my age, 78 almost, except for the hair, which looks 58.
2. I think I often act younger than my age, judging by what my contemporaries tell me, because I can still sit down on the ground at a picnic and easily get back up. And I still folk dance occasionally.
3. Roof was redone last spring. Bathtub needs redoing, but it’s complicated because corner of bathtub is actually below corner of sink – they cheated, it is so small.
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I painfully remember overhearing a conversation at a Boomgaarden family gathering at my grandparents’ farm near Magnolia. My dad’s sister was quite a caustic person who constantly made digs at my mother. My mother commented to the adults that it was so nice that I and my four cousins played so well together. I heard my aunt say “Well, Renee is so big they all listen to her”. We were all within one or two years of one another, and I wasn’t the oldest. That really hurt my feelings.
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