your female intuition is correct Lady Muck. I am indeed a she. i'm not overly worried about ageing - it is a natural fact of life but I'm interested in how it changes a person and what it means to others to reach this milestone. The mainly male perspective given here has given me some insight into what i expected, in that men generally don't give an arse. But women are usually more susceptible to these kinds of issues but by the time we reach 40 are we still bothered.