How do you know when you are getting old?

Everyone has a different way of measuring how old they feel. I imagine that the birth of the first grandchild makes most people feel like they're getting up there in age. Others may realize they are getting old when a musician or actor they idolized as a teenager dies of natural causes (pretty sure the members of Poison, Bon Jovi, and Def Leppard as well as the cast of The Breakfast Club are all still alive and kicking).

I remember marking the death of the first Star Trek original castmember (James Doohan as Scotty) in July 2005 as a possible sign that I was getting up there in age. Actually, I clearly remember commenting once or twice between 2000 and 2005 that the death of the first Star Trek original would be a clear sign for me. It was not.

On another occassion, I thought I would be safe until my childhood sports stars started passing away. Then again, Roger Clemens is still pitching (WE HOPE!)! Is that possible? More than 2 decades ago, I sat on a school bus on the way to high school listening to the radio announce that The Rocket had struck out 20 Mariners on a cold, damp April day.

But today I decided that when guys two years younger than me start retiring (and I mean, for example, guys with nearly 150 career wins, not guys with 64 career homers!) then I might be getting old.