When you think about a quintessential Fifties Moment, Bill Braine’s 55th birthday checks a lot of boxes. At the midpoint of his 50s, he was recovering from hip replacement surgery, adjusting to his new CPAP machine, and negotiating intently with his parents to downsize and de-clutter.

He was also continuing his now-14-year tradition of mapping out his annual goals with his adapted method of Getting Things Done, a mural-sized type of bullet journal that helped keep him on task to write his first novel, Bone Hollow.

If you’ve considered treating a bum hip or sleep apnea, Bill offers reassuring details and advice for each. You can deny your hip pain for years, but sometimes a very loving partner has to show you how mundane hip replacements are (his doctor replaced nine that day). And they’ll even mail you your femur for conversion into any number of objets d’art!

Thanks for listening to When the Flames Go Up! Please consider a paid subscription to support our writing and podcasting and replacement of our body parts.

We also talk about the entertainment value of Dull Men, the irony of AI robots that watch you sleep, and how turning 50 is all about appreciating life’s minutiae.

Other links:

* Follow Bill on Mastodon

* Meet Bill on January 30 as he discusses his novel in Cornwall, NY

* Learn more about pączki

* How to stretch your hip flexors with an inversion table

* Podcaster and writer Merlin Mann

* Self-publish with Lulu.com

* When Liz Lemon thought organizing would make her wonderful

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