This & That: 55

by Jim Dittmann
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Dave Bowman

By: Dave Bowman

This is the year that I turn 55 years old.  The number 55 is the natural number following 54 and preceding 56.  The number 55 has the interesting property that it is the 10th Fibonacci number and the sum of the numbers 1 to 10… impressed yet?  Wikipedia is good for something I guess.

The number 55 can be found in many different venues and categories.  Interstate 55, also known as “the double nickel,” is an interstate highway in the central United States, which goes from LaPlace, Louisiana to Chicago.  Driving it, one may recall the response by Congress to the 1973 oil crisis and oil price spike by enacting a law making the national maximum speed limit 55 miles an hour in 1974.  While many people had to adjust accordingly, rocker Sammy Hagar bemoaned the fact that “I Can’t Drive 55.”  We all have to give for the common cause once in a while.  In 1963, a movie was released about the 1900 Chinese Boxer Rebellion called “55 Days in Peking” starring Charlton Heston and released in “Cinemascope,” the I-Max of its day.  And a favorite of many from the Bible, Psalm 55, which is “For the director of music; with stringed instruments.  A maskil of David.”

But the things that keep me going, the things that make my heart go pitter-patter, are the discounts coming my way.  While some may sheepishly head into this age bracket knowing that they may be carded again, I plan on reveling in all the splendor like Dorothy walking out of her house after the tornado drops it and sees that Oz is in TECHNICOLOR!  I am not at all going to be bashful with telling the server, “Yea, go ahead and take the 50 cents off my order of chili fries” or putting the reminders on my Kindle Fire scheduler for my discounted haircut.  With that kind of a deal, I can get a haircut whether I need one or not.  And I can even move on to getting that communication device that the kids don’t even have, and probably secretly want – The Jitterbug Cell phone.  I will be the envy of my household!

Yep, 55 is looking better and better.  While I know that time is fleeting and we cannot go back to “the good ol’ days,” what’s coming up may very well make up for it in the long run.  As it was once famously exclaimed, “I’m living the dream!”

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