Clear skies with a fingernail moon hanging in the dark, quiet with just a hint of the rumble in the Pacific Ocean a couple of miles away — up here on California’s north coast we’ve been experiencing some most-delightful weather the last few days.
A high of 70 degrees is forecast for today, and the same through the weekend — 77 set for tomorrow — and for us this is kind of unnatural.

Also for the upper Mid-West (via WunderBlog): A rare and historic May snowstorm continues to pelt Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin with snowfall amounts unprecedented in the historical record for the month of May.
In the annals of living, this is unfamiliar territory, in just about every respect.

(Illustration found here).

Especially for those getting older in the tooth. Modern times have not been good for us baby boomers. We were the young, proud warriors decades ago, but now are swamped with the tedious failure of our belief in the right of passage into the American Dream — and we’re fiscally and physically fucked.
From Forbes:

We are on the precipice of the greatest retirement crisis in the history of the world.
In the decades to come, we will witness millions of elderly Americans, the Baby Boomers and others, slipping into poverty.
Too frail to work, too poor to retire will become the “new normal” for many elderly Americans.
…
Americans today are aware that corporate pensions have been virtually eliminated and that the few remaining private, as well as the nation’s public pensions, are in jeopardy.
Even if you are among the lucky few that have a pension, you cannot rest assured that it will be there for all the years you’ll need it.
Whether you know it or not, someone is busy trying to figure how to screw you out of your pension.
Americans also know the great 401k experiment of the past 30 years has been a disaster.
It is now apparent that 401ks will not provide the retirement security promised to workers.
As a former mutual fund legal counsel, when I recall some of the outrageous sales materials the industry came up with to peddle funds to workers, particularly in the 1980s, it’s almost laughable — if the results weren’t so tragic.

And tragedy is the centerpiece, not only for us boomers, but the age level below us. In this unsettled era, the poors will lose and the aged will suffer the consequences beyond other groups, mainly because of health. Despite our star status in the 1960s, we grew old as lazy assholes.
Via CBS:

Baby boomers are in poorer health than their parents’ generation despite major improvements in medicine, according to new research.
A new study finds that despite living longer than previous generations, boomers are less active and have more health woes than their parents faced.
…
Researchers found almost 39 percent of baby boomers were obese, compared to about 29 percent of adults in the previous generation.
Boomers were also more inactive, with 52 percent of them reporting a sedentary lifestyle with no physical activity, compared with only 17.4 percent of the previous generation.
Baby boomers were also more likely to have diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol than their parents.
Overall, 32 percent of adults in the previous generation reported they were in “excellent” health, compared with only 13 percent of baby boomers.
“About half of people 20 years ago said they exercised regularly, which meant three times a week, and that rate now is only about 18 percent,” King told NPR.
“That’s an astonishing change in just one generation.”

And the assholes older than us (our parents’ generation) — those in their 70s, 80s and 90s — feel good about themselves and are content without much regret. On the other hand, us boomers pretty-much hate everything. These older folks are in the pink — in 2010, more than 53,000 of them in the US, an increase of 65.8 percent since 1980, and 600,000 expected in another 40 years (me included, though, I doubt not many alive today will see 2050).
According to a survey by UnitedHealthcare, released yesterday, old folks seem easier: The poll that compared the attitudes and lifestyle of baby boomers to centenarians showed the country’s oldest citizens were more content than their younger counterparts and put more emphasis on eating a healthy diet and getting enough sleep.
The problem with us boomers is for a long time, we thought our shit didn’t stink. In public, a fart is a shared experience.
Despite the problems of baby boomers, the age bracket just under us — those 35 to 64, which does include some boomers — are apparently rattled by the nowadays. And they’re killing themselves because of it.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has released a new study indicating a spike in suicides for this age group.
Some highlights:

In 2009, the number of deaths from suicide surpassed the number of deaths from motor vehicle crashes in the United States.
Traditionally, suicide prevention efforts have been focused mostly on youths and older adults, but recent evidence suggests that there have been substantial increases in suicide rates among middle-aged adults in the United States.
…
From 1999 to 2010, the age-adjusted suicide rate for adults aged 35–64 years in the United States increased significantly by 28.4 percent, from 13.7 per 100,000 population to 17.6.
The suicide rate for men aged 35–64 years increased 27.3 percent, from 21.5 to 27.3, and the rate for women increased 31.5 percent, from 6.2 to 8.1.
Among men, the greatest increases were among those aged 50–54 years and 55–59 years, (49.4 percent, from 20.6 to 30.7, and 47.8 percent, from 20.3 to 30.0, respectively).
Among women, suicide rates increased with age, and the largest percentage increase in suicide rate was observed among women aged 60–64 years (59.7 percent, from 4.4 to 7.0).
By racial/ethnic population, the greatest increases from 1999 to 2010 among men and women overall were observed among AI/ANs (65.2 percent, from 11.2 to 18.5) and whites (40.4 percent, from 15.9 to 22.3).
Among AI/ANs, the suicide rate for women increased 81.4 percent, from 5.7 to 10.3; the rate for men increased 59.5 percent, from 17.0 to 27.2.
Among whites, the rate for women increased 41.9 percent, from 7.4 to 10.5; the rate for men increased 39.6 percent, from 24.5 to 34.2.
…
Although the analysis in this report does not explain why suicide rates are increasing so substantially among middle-aged adults, the results underscore the importance of prevention strategies that address the needs of persons aged 35–64 years, which includes the baby boomer cohort.

Yeah, baby — this is crazy.
More bad news on the doorstep. But the weekend is near-about here, and time for long-term dwelling on gun control, lack of sleep, tired and cranky fevers, climate change fright, and maybe a few minutes trying to help my kids.
Once again, George Carlin nails the coffin lid:

Everybody wants to help an old fuck.
If you’ve got a big suitcase, or something like that, you know, you just kind of go like this a little bit…
And you say, “Yeah, can you help me with this?”
They say “Yeah, hey, how far are you going?”
“Indianapolis.”

Daydream believer.