h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

,,,,,in the sunshine is sometimes the best one can do, Quiz.
(lleh, walking in the rain works, too.)
instead of 'maxwell's silver hammer' i was 'singing' 'ob-la-di' because the media are going to find the Next Big Crisis, maybe before the white smoke goes up and the bells ring in the Vatican.
the document you refer to, The Living Will (at least here in Ohio) has several parts, including a health care power-of-attorney and referrals to Hospice care, organ donation, and the state 'do-not-resuscitate law' guidelines.
from experience, it is best, if one wishes, to A)--have them on file at the nearby hospital ; B)--on file with an attorney with one's actual will; C)--your own copy and D)--with your will's executor. (a bank, savings and loan or credit union may also be a good idea.)
it is also exteremely possible to make one's funeral arrangements and those other sordid details in legalese and on file (even pre-paid through your life insurance.)
a morbid subject, perhaps, opposed to the 'facts of life' talk to teenagers, but no less a FACT of living. (i have recently learned that some of the form-filling-out can be done on-line, but i would STROBGLY advise anyone to sign their name ONLY in person, at the hospital, the attorney's and the savings institution.
and your walking (or just sitting) in the sunshine could be much calmer. (thanks, Quiz.)

Heh. I'm not going to die - that's my plan. Seriously, I'm not sure how I feel about 'extraordinary' medical efforts. I used to think that I wouldn't want them, but medical knowledge and technology is growing by leaps and bounds, so what's hopeless today may be very curable in 5 or 10 years. I'd be really ticked off if I died from something that could be fixed a few years down the pike.

On a related topic, I just finished reading 'Fantastic Voyage' by Ray Kurzweil and Terry Grossman. The book is about living long enough to take advantage of the dramatic increase in human life expectancy that the authors think is maybe 25 years away. Lots of references to interesting research that's going on - stuff that the mainstream media doesn't talk about - plus recommendations for things you can do now to stay healthy. They finally convinced me that sugar will kill me. Oh well, I'll be able to have it again in 40 years or so...

The bad news, of course, is that traditional retirement is out of the question. You live for 150 years, you gotta keep working, or at least until you've assembled a nice fat portfolio of investments that will pay your bills.

quizzical (financial planner to the Methuselah generation)

thanks for the book reference, Quiz ! i'm afraid, however, that white choco, chewy granola and apple cinnamon cereal bars are a morning staple, with honey in my coffee.
oh yes, occasionally the fresh fruit in yogurt for breakfast or lunch, but......
i just read leigh montville's book on ted williams, 'biography of an american hero' and am STILL unsure about that freeze-the-body deal.
something about that just doesn't 'feel' right to me.
my Dear Old Dad spen nearly half of his 88 years in one form of government service or another (CCC, army, post office) and owns this two-plus acreage on lake erie, so he's about set, won't even look at that Living Will or the "You Have The Right'document.
me, i'm looking at 'em and think i should sign, register and file them, with the lawyer, banks and hospitals. maybe if i can get him to go with, he might, too.