So I found Airwolf online for viewing, and have been piping it to my fancy new TV, watching 80’s reruns like I’ve never seen them before. And something interesting just came up. Ernest Borgnine has been one of my favorite actors since I was a youngster. He’s not super-bad like Clint Eastwood, not pretty like Vin Diesel. He’s approachable, the friendly kind of fellow that I could leave my kids with for an hour while I run to the store, and would expect they’d be munching on chocolate chip cookies when I returned.

The episode I’m watching is the sixth, in which his character, Dominic Santini, attempts a dangerous movie stunt. At issue is the question of his age, whether or not he’s getting to old to pull off the feat. With some frustration, he expresses that he’s not ready to retire yet.

That was something like 25 years ago. He’d be 92 today. So imagine my surprise when I looked him up on wikipedia, and he is in fact 92 today, and still working as an actor, including the occasional cameo appearance on Spongebob Squarepants as Mermaid Man. 25 years ago, there was a debate as to whether or not he was old enough to retire. Today, the debate is clearly and soundly settled. He’s still working. I’d rather enjoy meeting him, I suspect.