Boomerometer

When I retired after 40 years of writing columns for the Mercury News, I figured I'd said about all I could say. Wrong. I've realized that at age 75, I'm about 10 years older than the oldest baby boomers, who are now turning 65. My very average body has had a lot of experiences in those 10 years. I've learned a lot that could be helpful to people just starting on that same path -- what to do, what to avoid, what to keep an eye on.. Consider me your canary-in-the-coalmine for the boomer generation. Tune in regularly for the heads-up advice.

Such as:

DRY SKIN: You're probably noticing that yours isn't as baby-soft as it was when, well, you were a baby. I started seeing this when I was 65. Actually, my dermatologist saw it first. "Man, you're really dry," she told me. "Start using a lotion. Please!" She was looking at my shins at the time, seeing the pile of dry skin flakes around my ankles that had fallen when I took off my socks. Embarrassing. Women typically take better care of their skin, using all sorts of oils, lotions and unguents that advertisers bombard them about. Men, not so much. But we need just as much help. I thought at the time it would be smart for me to buy stock in a cosmetic company that would offer dry-skin lotion for men. Get in early, get a big hunk of market share by the time the baby boomers came along. But I didn't, and I'm still kicking myself (in my now, not-so-dry shins). Some companies now have started selling men's lotions, and I could have had a part of that. Darn. I use a body lotion all over, every day, right after my shower. One called Cetaphil works for me. It has no scent, so I don't end up smelling like a fragile flower. Maybe it would work for you, but there are a lot of choices. The big thing is: Use the lotion. Make your dermatologist happy. Make yourself happy by not being so itchy in strange places (like the aforementioned shins). And then maybe your spouse won't enter you in a flower show exhibit as a dried arrangement.