bless the old man he's finally past it!

I just had one of those horrible life-changing moments (well possibly not that drastic but you get the idea!). I've just come to realise my parents are getting on a bit, perhaps this hasn't been such a sudden change & i just chosen to ignore the blatant truth. You see the thing is there pace is slowing rather of late! In my dad in particular I have detected the premature ageing signs, for instance:

• He ties a carrier bag to the gearstick of his car to act as a bin for any rubbish that might be floating around. He also collects paper napkins from restaurants to keep in the glove compartment err. . . in case of a spillage?
• He has developed a very odd fetish for arranging the dish washer & won't let any1 else touch it just so he can fit that extra plate in. In fact he does the same thing with the freezer - very odd!
• He falls asleep on the sofa before 8 in the evenings & proceeds to snore before being battered over the head by my mother with a plumped up cushion
• He completes the puzzle section of the times every sunday morning (having sed that my sister plays sudoku for fun I hope this isn't a genetic family trait!)
• Before he purchases anything e.g. a holiday or a set of tiles for the new bathroom, he has to complete a spreadsheet comparing the market just to get the best deal. This would be all well & good if the process didnt take months by which time the spreadsheet prices are all out of date anyway! And by the way hasn't he heard they have websites that do that kind of thing for you

Hmm. . . I thought old age was supposed to make you go senile, not anal!