Author Topic: I hate getting old (Read 10142 times)

Monkeyleg · « **on:** June 26, 2011, 07:05:03 PM »

When I was younger, even in my 40's, I worked on cars and bikes all the time, sometimes all day, sometimes all weekend, sometimes all year. It never bothered me.

Today I replaced the stator on the alternator on my cycle, a job that would take a Harley dealer about four hours to do. Between the heat, two trips to the auto parts store, and my dilapidated body, it took me about eight.

I ache all over. My back hurts from being bent over, my legs hurt from squatting, and my neck hurts from twisting it around to look at parts on the bottom of the cycle.

I hate getting old.

MillCreek · « **Reply #1 on:** June 26, 2011, 07:19:43 PM »

^^^ And not to mention your close vision has gone to pot, as well.

Tallpine · « **Reply #2 on:** June 26, 2011, 07:27:17 PM »

Yeah, arms ain't long enough to reach the parts where I can see em

Monkeyleg · « **Reply #3 on:** June 26, 2011, 07:35:30 PM »

Quote

^^^ And not to mention your close vision has gone to pot, as well.

Yep. Need reading glasses (which kept getting covered in sweat) to see the parts, and a magnifying glass to read the shop manual.

lee n. field · « **Reply #4 on:** June 26, 2011, 07:40:55 PM »

Quote from: MillCreek on June 26, 2011, 07:19:43 PM

^^^ And not to mention your close vision has gone to pot, as well.

I stopped working on laptops about 5 years ago, for that reason.

grampster · « **Reply #5 on:** June 26, 2011, 08:05:39 PM »

There is a reason for the conditions you mention, Dick. As we get older, we get crabbier. So the conditions that you mention are intended to teach patience and acceptance. We are taught thereby to grumble about our aches and pains as well as having to make so many trips to the hardware store so we don't notice the little @#%&*@^ who threw his baseball into our yard.

MillCreek · « **Reply #6 on:** June 26, 2011, 08:08:06 PM »

Quote from: Monkeyleg on June 26, 2011, 07:35:30 PM

Yep. Need reading glasses (which kept getting covered in sweat) to see the parts, and a magnifying glass to read the shop manual.

Amen, brother!

230RN · « **Reply #7 on:** June 26, 2011, 08:14:41 PM »

Amenamen.

Can't bend over a fender to get at engine stuff. I did refill the A/C lines two weeks ago, and my knees hurt.

cassandra and sara's daddy · « **Reply #8 on:** June 26, 2011, 08:29:48 PM »

glad its not just me

vaskidmark · « **Reply #9 on:** June 26, 2011, 08:36:28 PM »

Getting old sucks. Thoughts about the alternative suck even more.

I may no loger be as fast, agile, or fearsome as I ever thought I was. But during the time that passed while I was getting to be as old as I am, I learned a few tricks that those young whippersnappers seem to insist on totally ignoring.

Quote

Hood 1: Hey, who do you think you are, huh?
Garth: Just a dumb kid, Hub. Don't kill him.
Hub: [to Garth] Right.
[Grabs Hood 1 by the throat]
Hub: I'm Hub McCann. I've fought in two World Wars and countless smaller ones on three continents. I led thousands of men into battle with everything from horses and swords to artillery and tanks. I've seen the headwaters of the Nile, and tribes of natives no white man had ever seen before. I've won and lost a dozen fortunes, KILLED MANY MEN and loved only one woman with a passion a FLEA like you could never begin to understand. That's who I am. NOW, GO HOME, BOY!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0327137/quotes

stay safe.

coppertales · « **Reply #10 on:** June 26, 2011, 10:01:59 PM »

Age and treachery will always overcome youth and skill........................................................................chris3

Gowen · « **Reply #11 on:** June 26, 2011, 10:07:36 PM »

Quote from: Monkeyleg on June 26, 2011, 07:35:30 PM

Yep. Need reading glasses (which kept getting covered in sweat) to see the parts, and a magnifying glass to read the shop manual.

I'm 43 and if the light is low, I cannot see small print. Sucks, don't it.

Waitone · « **Reply #12 on:** June 26, 2011, 10:20:00 PM »

Dick, face it! None of us are getting out alive.

Monkeyleg · « **Reply #13 on:** June 26, 2011, 10:46:49 PM »

Quote

None of us are getting out alive.

The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated.

My eyes started going when I was in my 40's as well. My wife is three years younger than me, so she's been a bit late to these developments. She made fun of me when I started wearing reading glasses. She made fun of me when I started using a magnifier. She made fun of me when I needed more light to see.

Now she's got all of that, and even more problems than me. She should have kept her mouth shut.

Chuck Dye · « **Reply #14 on:** June 26, 2011, 10:57:59 PM »

When the optometrist first said bifocals, I bellowed "BIFOCALS!" He responded "Happy fortieth." He was only two weeks off, could not have known my age.

Dr. Seuss was right, old age is not for sissies, I just didn't expect it to arrive so early.

Jim147 · « **Reply #15 on:** June 27, 2011, 12:35:58 AM »

I destroyed my body in my twenties. Now I argue with my body every day I go to work.

I'm going to have to look into those bifocal things the next time I get glasses. I can't read those model and serial numbers very well anymore.

But it's been a good run and I wouldn't trade all those racing and machine shop days for anything.

jim

Nick1911 · « **Reply #16 on:** June 27, 2011, 01:32:43 AM »

Meanwhile, I ripped the carbs off my project motorcycle, then took the tank off and stripped all the paint.

I feel fine. Good to know that I should do these things while I can.

Hope you're feeling better in the morning, Dick.

Lanius · « **Reply #17 on:** June 27, 2011, 05:34:54 AM »

This guy is 91 in the picture. Or just 90.

Never too old to start with weight-lifting. Dr.Eugster started at age 85, after being dissatisfied with his body... supposedly, he looked his age.

Apparently, heavy exercise and good nutrition can really improve quality on life. These days he only spends about 2 hours daily to exercise, and looks to be in very good health. Guy can do 18 pull-ups, which is impressive no matter what age. At his age, it's just totally bad-ass, I'd say...

Monkeyleg · « **Reply #18 on:** June 27, 2011, 10:16:44 AM »

Lanius, I am lifting weights and doing cardio. Can you imagine how much worse I'd feel if I wasn't?

Maybe my body parts wouldn't feel so worn out if I'd just worked on bikes rather than cars. That four-year restoration I did on a Jag in the 1980's was just one lifting mistake after another. At one point I had the finished motor hanging from a chain on a cherry picker, and I'd lifted the transmission and was trying to insert and align the mainshaft into the motor while the motor was swinging around. That was nuts.

roo_ster · « **Reply #19 on:** June 27, 2011, 10:39:25 AM »

Quote from: Chuck Dye on June 26, 2011, 10:57:59 PM

When the optometrist first said bifocals, I bellowed "BIFOCALS!" He responded "Happy fortieth." He was only two weeks off, could not have known my age.

This is hitting close to home.

Sawdust · « **Reply #20 on:** June 27, 2011, 11:47:19 AM »

I turn 50 next month.

Doc says I now get the pleasure of snake-like medical devices run up where the sun don't shine.

Marvelous.

And, yeah, I can't see up close anymore either. Not an ideal situation for a wooddorker.

Sawdust

CNYCacher · « **Reply #21 on:** June 27, 2011, 11:52:13 AM »

Quote from: Sawdust on June 27, 2011, 11:47:19 AM

I turn 50 next month.

Doc says I now get the pleasure of snake-like medical devices run up where the sun don't shine.

Marvelous.

And, yeah, I can't see up close anymore either. Not an ideal situation for a wooddorker.

Sawdust

I'm 31 and having it done for the 4th time next month. By the time I'm your age I'll be over 20 times. It's no big deal. Kinda like taking a nap.

grislyatoms · « **Reply #22 on:** June 27, 2011, 12:06:23 PM »

Hearing and sight are getting a little off and I'm only 42. Hearing I always expected from a few too many concerts and working around heavy equipment when I was younger. Really didn't expect eye trouble this early.

Kiddo: "How do you save this game?"
Me: "What game?"
Kiddo: Huh?"
Me: "What game?"
Kiddo: "Dad, I said "HOW DO YOU SAY THIS NAME?"
Me: "Oh. What name?"
Kiddo: "The name of the actor on the screen. I paused the credits."
Me: <squinting at screen> "I don't know, I can't read it from here. Hold on."

cassandra and sara's daddy · « **Reply #23 on:** June 27, 2011, 02:11:01 PM »

i got glasses when my arms got too short to read the newspaper

Tallpine · « **Reply #24 on:** June 27, 2011, 03:58:32 PM »

Quote from: cassandra and sara's daddy on June 27, 2011, 02:11:01 PM

i got glasses when my arms got too short to read the newspaper

I was always near-sighted, so then I had to start taking my glasses off to read anything.

Finally had to get a pair of mid-range glasses to use with a computer screen. Actually, I now wear those for most everything around the "ranch" but things are a bit fuzzy on the far hillsides. I even drive in them as they are legal 20/40 but not in a big city or out on the interstate.

News:

Author Topic: I hate getting old (Read 10142 times)