One more notched up

Yesterday was my 40 something birthday and I was drawn to an article in the Daily mail by Neil Lyndon which gave a list of things that can prolong or shorten your life on this mortal coil.
according to research you can deduct 10 years from your life if you smoke, a further 10 years if you drink heavily. Deduct 9.3 years if you left school early and 4 years for a divorce.
Every one of these damaging calculations apply to the most elegantly wasted human being of the Greatest Rock n' Roll band in the world, Keith Richards.
The research carried out above does not seem to take in account the consequences of 40 years of ingesting every illegal substance on the planet, but if you reckon that Keith's drug habits ought to have cost him at least 20 years and add those to his other subtractions, he probably should have died about the same time as the Stones released satisfaction in 1965 when he was 22.(and I was 8)
Keith's survival is of course one of the unique wonders of the modern world and it is ironic that this week we hear that poor old Charlie Watts has got throat cancer, the irony of this is out of all the members of the band he's been the cleanest one. He hasn't smoked or touched alcohol for 20 years, he is still married to his original wife and lives a quiet life in the country where he takes regular exercise. He will hopefully make a full recovery and I wish him well.
In the meantime I intend to follow the Keith Richard's health plan, because it just goes to show, your times up when our maker says so and nobody else!