The late shift

I remember being 20 and hearing people say, "Life begins at 40."

And then I turned 40, and realized that life began 40 years ago.

I've come to realize that we all decide just when we're going to start living as we should. As someone very wise once asked, "If you're not happy now, when do you plan to be?"

Sad to say, some people schlump along and wait for the end to come, and some make the most of every day. It's up to us all to choose.

But in case you live to be 101 (and so far, so good!) you might want to take inspiration from Rose Landin. She's 101, and still working.

I don't think she's on the job 365 days a year, but she does work every day that the Texas State Fair is open. This year they threw the gates open on September 27 and they'll close the corrals on October 20, so that's a fair stretch of time for someone who's seen 38,365 sunrises and sunsets.

Rose has been doing this shift for 25 years - Monday through Friday, she's a greeter at the hospitality center. She hands out maps and helps people find their way to favorite attractions.

"I feel wonderful because I feel like I'm doing something. Staying at home is not fun when you retire," Landin told her local news station. "[People] always ask, 'How old are you?' I say, 'You're not supposed to ask a woman that,'" she joked.

(I will interject this: you may ask a man his age any time you wish, and staying at home is a LOT of fun when you retire if you have a fun house!)

Ms Landin says that she's been a fairgoer all her life, and used to enter her needlepoint work - Christmas stockings to be exact - for the awards.

"I get up in the morning and I'm happy," she said. "I live for one day, one day at a time. I've enjoyed every minute of it and I hope I enjoy it for 100 more years."

She also told the news, "This year we have a lot of young people [working], which is wonderful," although I have to add that at 101, everyone in the world is younger than she.

Always something interesting down there, deep in the heart of...