Here we have a Number 44 Buss.....

It's always a pain in the arse bus - Linked perhaps?

Thank god my 45th is only three months away.

It's probably because it's just sunk in that they're past 42 - the answer, of course, to life, the universe and everything. Who'd want to have gone past that (and been so deep in mortgages and other concerns to have not even noticed it)?

I find such research depressing.

But then again, I'm 44. Time to take up cordless bungee jumping.

Mine's the coat with the loaded gun and the sleeping tablets, next to the large hose and that rope.

Both I and my boss are 44 and we are really fucking miserable.

So there, it's completely true. Well done, boffins.

Sorry couldn't help it.

the affair with the pneumatic 25 year old and the red sports car, and when it all ends in tears, I can say to my wife "Sorry darling I'm just at that difficult age."

Sorted !

I live in Coventry, it really isn't as bad as Birmingham or most council estate areas of London. We have a large amount of really nice middle or upper class residential areas in the city, only a few areas such as Wood End, Hillfields and Stoke Aldermoor are some of the most divey areas.

Try saying that about, I dunno, Bracknell.

Plus I think our reputation of having a high gun crime rate is coming down (at least in relation to other cities).

The city is becoming less and less concrete 60s sh*t hole and more modern glass structures, weve got a new cosmo style cafe/restaurant/nightclub area around that Time-Team old cathedral dig site, and a lot more new developments on the way, even the old 50s/60s precinct is changing.

Plus we've got a ridiculously sized Ikea store in the centre, positioning-wise paying very little attention to the road infrastructure for the potential customer influx, but what the hey.

So less of the Coventry slams you, its becoming bearable to live here!

.

Gone anonymous cowardliness only so I dont get any of you chav scum coming looking for me! ;-)

Hmm, Maybe this is because at 20, most people have energy and are students having fun. At 44 they're right in the middle of that dip between university and retirement that we all call work. Then by the time they get to 70 they can be happy again because they've retired and their time is there own.

Paris Hilton angle because I realise this makes me come across as a work shy tosser, which I am not, I just prefer doing what i consider important with my time, and not what someone else considers important.

Well I'm 44 and have been stuck in a dead-end job,... UNTIL NOW!

I got made redundant today so I get to take some time off and consider my options. All of a sudden 44 doesn't seem so bad after all. :-)

At 44 you are generally in a position to take out that misery on younger people - making their lives miserable and so levelling the field a bit.

"Gone anonymous cowardliness only so I dont get any of you chav scum coming looking for me! ;-)"

Nah, they'll just send you to Coventry. ;)

According to feng shui, the number 4 is enormously inauspicious as it sounds like the word 'death. So 44 is supposedly doubly inauspicious as it sounds like 'death death' or double death... at least in our number system it does. I guess 444 would be even more awful but if I got there I shouldn't worry about petty things like my age being triple deathish.

So it's all obvious really. Why bother with the research...

Do not (I repeat not not on pain of death death) ask me how I know this thing as I shan't admit that I really do know this piece of triv ever.

But you understand why people at 70 are as happy as 20 yr olds right? Personally I can't wait till I'm 70 and can get away with being a right bastard to kids.

70 is a magical age at which you can get away with throwing rocks at kids that run on the grass, park your car at traffic lights to read a nice book and turn up at your children's Christmas parties in your underwear. You can pretty much get away with anything short of murder and pass it off as having a senior moment.

Next time some snotty little bastard is rude to you, smile and remember when you're 70, you can take a dump in his car.

...are well ahead of the game here.

Or have I got worse to look forward to in 6 years time? :-(

Now, I'm really, REALLY depressed!

Reverse for me: My 20s were complete shite. I was the most miserable I've ever been. My 40s have been fantastic...the best part of my life thus far.

Probably means the boffins'll be round my place to give me a good kicking for being an outlier.

Cheers,

Matthew

So depressed on my 41st birthday I got paralytic and had to be poured through the letter box.

Now I'm late 50's and still depressed (I've got this pain in the diodes all down my left leg) First Great Western and the Underground does that to you.

Grumpy old men, don't talk to me about grumpy old men.

this by me I am 44 and more miserable than I have ever been, nice to know there is a reason beyond being completely screwed. Brain the size of a planet and look at the jobs I get, life loath it or despise it you can't like it.

I'm 46 and still depressed.

:: No mortgage, house paid for

:: No kids

:: Married

:: Good job

Just plain depressed.

....I must be 44

Luv Marvin Robot

...something else to look forward to in the (precious) few years to come. I'm (the answer to life) at the moment and already more akin to "marvin" than I'd care to mention, and I've got this terrible pain down my left side.

My birthday is less than a fortnight away. Guees which one?

(mopes)

...and I'm already a miserable c@#t

... who has just completed a fairly satisfying stint at 44 (45 as of last December) and believes that my forties are far more satisfying than my thirties, I feel positively antisocial for mentioning it.

As far as this piece of research is concerned, statistically speaking, does that make me above or below average?

I have always been bad with dates and over the last few years I have been making a concerted effort to forget my age. I came up with the idea when somebody asked me how old i was and I couldn't for the life of me remember so i kind of guessed and replied that I was 38. The next year, my birthday came around and I was a bit gutted because I though I was going to be 39.. then I worked it out and realised that actually I was only going to be 37. Talk about great birthday, I was over the moon. I'm now trying to make this a permanent feature of my life. Just don't think about your age, don't acknowledge it, convince yourself your any age other than what you are and then forget about it. enjoy your birthdays but ban anyone from mentioning age. if you're even a tiny bit forgetful, give it a try. It might be mad, but it's brilliant !

So thanks for telling me its going to get even worse... And I'm referred to as Victor Meldrew as it is

Just retire in your thirties like I did. It sure takes the sting out of forty to not have to go to work.