but bitching about it makes me feel so much better

I heard a quote, attributed to Mia Farrow in her later years, yesterday: "I get it now. Life is about losing."

I don't think she means that in the competitive sense. I think she means that as you get older, things that you value fall away from you -- friends, your health, possessions -- and getting through means accepting that as the natural course of events, with as much grace as you can muster.

Mia Farrow would probably hate my guts.