Tom the Dancing Bug by Ruben Bolling for March 05, 2021

Would your body settle for a firmware update, Gavin?

Biologically, there’s no reason for humans to remain alive past 40. By then they should have born offspring and ensured that those offspring survive to maturity. Anything after that is a big added bonus. Perhaps evidence that intelligence does have its survival benefits.

Should have gone for the extended warranty.

Well played, Ruben.

I love visiting Chagrin Falls, and was alarmed at first to see “to be discontinued”.

We’re all to be discontinued, but Chagrin Falls lives forever.

Yep. As I was telling a friend who’s my age, we are way past our warranty date. Nature only needs us to survive long enough to reproduce— 30, maybe 40 years max. After that, we’re on borrowed time.

I’d read that earlier low life expectancy numbers were averaged out with a high infant mortality rate pulling the numbers low.

Also, don’t forget that men are fertile much longer than women. Presumably in prehistoric times, older males were still spreading seed and keeping the younger males from trying to eat that one particular poisonous fish.

huh?

Yeah, but kids don’t want your old 1s and 0s. Try telling them and see how long they listen.

I was doing a Gavin yesterday morning. I felt like I was 96 instead of 76. On top of that, my watch broke – again – and my 2 spares needed batteries.

Normally, I say that age is simply mind over matter … if you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter! But then we have our senior moments …

I don’t get the last panel

Getting old is tough on you. If you don’t like it, quit doing it…

When my kids, who are getting more and more nutso with almost a year of pandemic lockdown combined with three months of winter weather, go apes**t it gets very difficult to think of them as an upgrade. It helps to remember that they’ll be choosing my nursing home.

“Lovelight Cottage” by Thomas Kinkade, right?

The miracle of Google, I believe, has identified for me the artwork on the wall.

"Kinkade died of “acute intoxication” from alcohol and diazepam at the age of 54,“ says Wikipedia, but ”died in his sleep, very happy, in the house he built, with the paintings he loved."

I feel that Gavin will live longer and end just as happy.

Well, he’s not from Texas. If so, he would’ve fired a few shots over those little pukes’ heads and said, “Get the hell offa my lawn!”

Boy, can I ever relate to Gavin!

Ouch!

Growing old is not for cowards

Ah. A bit of levity about mortality. Great.