# Feeling old



## Kittyhawk (10 Oct 2022)

The aircraftery is closed for a while because for some time we've had a small leak in the corner of the shower base and I thought I should finally fix it.
This is one of two showers and it's a tiled job so quite a bit of work involved in opening it up. With the deconstruction of the base done, the wife uttered the dreaded words we all know, 'I've been thinking..'
And what was occupying her was, small house, just the two of us, two toilets yes, good but no need for two showers and if we (meaning I) removed it totally together with repositioning a few internal walls we could enlarge the small third bedroom, gain a big hall cupboard etc. etc. There are some suggestions from the head office that you just know will brook no arguments.
Now two weeks into the renovation, two to three to go and I must say its quite nice to get back into the sort work that requires ladders, a skillsaw, gib board, framing timber and a 20oz hammer.
But, the down side!
Somewhere along the line I've got old and full on 8 hour days are a struggle. I hurt in places I didn't know I had. I'm terribly stiff when I wake up in the morning and not, I might add, in the same way I was when I was younger. Tired out in the evening and recently the ultimate indignity of falling asleep at the dinner table and faceplanting my chicken salad.
I'll see the job through but unless I regain a bit of my former zing and enthusiasm this will be my last big reno job.
I'm nearing 78, over the hill and the downward slope is getting steeper


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## baldkev (10 Oct 2022)

Im not suprised! I feel like that some days and im 41  I'll probably be needed new knees before im 50 and my back is a bit dodgy. Ideally id find a new job but im not qualified for anything much else.
To be fair, chicken salad would have me falling asleep too. You don't make friends with salad


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## Geoff_S (10 Oct 2022)

8 hours hard graft and a chicken salad? Makes me feel weak just thinking about it.

66 here and I know what you mean though.


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## Yorkieguy (10 Oct 2022)

I'm 83 and still haven't yet decided what I want to be when I grow up, but there comes a point at which we have to start acting our age - not our shoe size. The realisation that I can no longer climb up scaffolding to prune our 12ft high conifer hedge, or lay heavy concrete paving slabs, (nor should I), doesn't come easy, but in the words of Desiderata: "Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth". So, less 'DIY' and more 'GSI' - 'Get Someone In'.

I know I'm old 'cos my kids are getting old - two sons, one aged 58, the other 54, but to my mind, 'old' is anyone older than me. I'm 'elderly'. A rather surreal effect of aging is that almost all of my friends and acquaintances are younger than me, and many are younger than my kids!

One of the few compensations of old age is that there are few 'bad' days' - every day is a good day while I'm here. No unfulfilled ambitions or aspirations. All that we are, is all that we are going to be, and if we look in a mirror and don't like what we see, then stop looking in mirrors. I don't get steamed up about anything anymore, especially things that are out of my control. I just think to myself 'how much will this matter tomorrow, next week next month - a year from now?' It won't.

To echo more worlds from Desiderata:

"Whatever your labours and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy".

It works for me.


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## clogs (10 Oct 2022)

I already joind the geriactric club a while ago.....
still try to put in an 8 hour day x 7.......
as for back problems my daughter has got me into Yoga for "old people"....hahaha......
which gotta say helps a lot.....
as for waking up stiff, it all depends where it is....hahaha......
When the heavy jobs that are just to big for me and the wife we hire in now......
living in a popular tourist hot spot helps, so sometimes we get in workawayers 
often with little skill but a lot of enthusiasm....
so they get a working holiday and learn some skills.....
we get the help and the fun of having younger people about....
I tought one American couple over a couple of months to safely use table saws, router bench etc etc....
they live in the eqiv of a Victorian 2 up 2 down in Philly...
nice to get photo's of what they are doing....

Just converted our downstairs bathroom.....walk in shower/wet room etc....future proofing !!!!!! ,it's also wheel chair friendly....
hope that wont be needed tho....it actually looks better in the flesh and the floor is wet...just sayin...
only 3 more bathrooms to do now....think it will be one per winter....


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## Kittyhawk (10 Oct 2022)

Yorkieguy said:


> I'm 83 and still haven't yet decided what I want to be when I grow up, but there comes a point at which we have to start acting our age - not our shoe size. The realisation that I can no longer climb up scaffolding to prune our 12ft high conifer hedge, or lay heavy concrete paving slabs, (nor should I), doesn't come easy, but in the words of Desiderata: "Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth". So, less 'DIY' and more 'GSI' - 'Get Someone In'.
> 
> I know I'm old 'cos my kids are getting old - two sons, one aged 58, the other 54, but to my mind, 'old' is anyone older than me. I'm 'elderly'. A rather surreal effect of aging is that almost all of my friends and acquaintances are younger than me, and many are younger than my kids!
> 
> ...


I agree.
But I am hoping that if I keep pushing myself over the next few weeks of the job I can coax my recalcitrant body back into some sort of useful condition.
Use it or lose it...,don't give up the ship.. and all that


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## Kittyhawk (10 Oct 2022)

clogs said:


> I already joind the geriactric club a while ago.....
> still try to put in an 8 hour day x 7.......
> as for back problems my daughter has got me into Yoga for "old people"....hahaha......
> which gotta say helps a lot.....
> ...


Nice work!
I hope my efforts turn out as well as yours.


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## artie (10 Oct 2022)

I've not done a faceplant at supper time, but I find myself nodding off in the evening while sitting around.
Something I never used to do.


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## Inspector (10 Oct 2022)

68 and generally I don't have too many problems other than a bad neck that makes it harder to look over my shoulders. Sometime in the last year I have messed up my right knee so every time I have to get on or up from the floor it hurts a lot. Right now we are finishing off the basement and when we started in the summer it was for us to enjoy. Now SWMBO has decided we will be moving in the spring to a smaller property in the city to cut down on yard work. Lots of it on 9 acres. Knowing the work I'm doing it is for someone else has taken a lot out of my enthusiasm to bear the pain and do the extras. When the baseboards and shoe moulds are on I'm done with low level work and the boss can pay someone to do it. I have nodded off while watching TV, mostly when her shows are on, but I haven't gone swimming in the dinner plate....yet.

Pete


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## Phil Pascoe (10 Oct 2022)

Well, my friends are gone and my hair is grey
I ache in the places where I used to play ...

Leonard Cohen.


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## dzj (10 Oct 2022)

I empathise with your predicament. I'm 58 and if I haven't forgotten my car keys, I've forgotten my glasses.
Haven't watched a movie in one go for quite a few years now.


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## Bingy man (10 Oct 2022)

At 57 I’ve been feeling the strains of old age for quite a while , I was doing heavey manual work at age 12 and did so for many years, I struggle with heavy lifting ( slabs and concrete posts/ g/boards etc) what surprises me most is when I have a day or 2 off just how tired I get , often taking a knapp in the afternoon. Along with the manual lifting, digging etc I think the mental stress of 30 odd years as a gas engineer have taken their toll. Hats off to anyone 70 + and still grafting .as for salad  well as long as it’s accompanied by a healthy steak and chips 🫣🫣🫣


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## Terry - Somerset (10 Oct 2022)

Growing old is rubbish. Things either stop working or go slow.

We are thinking of moving. In the past I would be planning all the projects that would need doing - kitchen, bathrooms, utility room extension etc. Now my main concern is how to find a builder I can trust 70 miles from where I currently live.

There are some compensations - 30 years ago money was tight - young kids, mortgage, demanding job - DIY home improvement ate into family and social time. Affordability issues have not vanished but won't stop me ambling over to the coffee shop to read the news over a cuppa.


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## Geoff_S (10 Oct 2022)

As my Dad used to say, getting old is rubbish but better than the alternative.


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## Flynnwood (10 Oct 2022)

This happened on Friday.
Two professional electricians turned up at work to take photos of the electrical installation and meter. They were both early twenties.

I asked them if they knew what a Floppy Disc was.
The blank look on their faces 
Even the words "Amstrad Computers" also meant nothing.


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## Jameshow (10 Oct 2022)

Flynnwood said:


> This happened on Friday.
> Two professional electricians turned up at work to take photos of the electrical installation and meter. They were both early twenties.
> 
> I asked them if they knew what a Floppy Disc was.
> ...


CPC 464, 6128 lol!!


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## Spectric (10 Oct 2022)

Terry - Somerset said:


> We are thinking of moving. In the past I would be planning all the projects that would need doing - kitchen, bathrooms, utility room extension etc. Now my main concern is how to find a builder I can trust 70 miles from where I currently live.


I feel your pain, where I live they are great at stone walling and traditional slate roofing but electrics and plumbing they are historic and the builders tend to deliver a bad job very very slowly.


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## mikej460 (10 Oct 2022)

Amstrad PCW8256 twin floppy word processor - fantastic machine. I used to write my study assignments on one.


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## Jacob (10 Oct 2022)

I'm 77. Recently got an old trumpet from Freecycle and am learning to play. 
Has a big advantage over acoustic guitar; I can hear it and it only needs three arthritic fingers to play it.
Also learning new stuff when old is supposed to keep you frisky, but not yet convinced.


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## Goesbysteve (11 Oct 2022)

I’m in awe that you are doing that work. You are doing work that many of ANY age would be aching and tired from.

I include myself in that. I’m 55 but I have a physical disability having lost the use of my right arm in 1996. I found ways around most things but sometimes I need to utter the dreaded words “I think I need some help here”. I carry injuries that cause me discomfort probably because I didn’t say that soon enough. But I’m sure when you are used to having done things yourself it’s hard to, right?

Also it’s lovely to have read so many kind hearted replies to your post.

good luck,

Steve


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## rafezetter (11 Oct 2022)

Kittyhawk said:


> The aircraftery is closed for a while because for some time we've had a small leak in the corner of the shower base and I thought I should finally fix it.
> This is one of two showers and it's a tiled job so quite a bit of work involved in opening it up. With the deconstruction of the base done, the wife uttered the dreaded words we all know, 'I've been thinking..'
> And what was occupying her was, small house, just the two of us, two toilets yes, good but no need for two showers and if we (meaning I) removed it totally together with repositioning a few internal walls we could enlarge the small third bedroom, gain a big hall cupboard etc. etc. There are some suggestions from the head office that you just know will brook no arguments.
> Now two weeks into the renovation, two to three to go and I must say its quite nice to get back into the sort work that requires ladders, a skillsaw, gib board, framing timber and a 20oz hammer.
> ...


Wow 78, had no idea, to still be that able to do that at your age is quite a feat. Being in the trade myself and almost 53 I know your pain - nothing that liberal amounts of deep heat and a single ibuprofen can't make more manageable 

Being the "other" form of stiff in the mornings is overrated, it just makes it harder to pee and deus knows I need that more now than the other!


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## Bingy man (11 Oct 2022)

Goesbysteve said:


> I’m in awe that you are doing that work. You are doing work that many of ANY age would be aching and tired from.
> 
> I include myself in that. I’m 55 but I have a physical disability having lost the use of my right arm in 1996. I found ways around most things but sometimes I need to utter the dreaded words “I think I need some help here”. I carry injuries that cause me discomfort probably because I didn’t say that soon enough. But I’m sure when you are used to having done things yourself it’s hard to, right?
> 
> ...


Absolutely- I spent many years not asking for help as there was no one reliable enough. I’m different now and I have to recognise my weaknesses but it’s nothing to be ashamed of . Lifting heavy and awkward items on your own will lead to injuries and time off work . Take care.


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## Jacob (11 Oct 2022)

One thing I'm trying to do is give up the booze. Not a severe alcoholic but a bit of a routine paid for the following day. 2 weeks into zero alcohol and feeling much better! Instead of relaxing with a drink you have to find something useful to do.


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## Yojevol (11 Oct 2022)

Many years ago my young grandson was trying to understand what death was all about and what the word 'dead' actually meant.
We had recently suffered the loss of two of his great grandfathers, one of whom he knew, the other was just a name to him. His only experience of death so far was a blackbird found in his garden.
He was discussing this with his Granny (my other half) saying 'Now I know GG is dead (he was able to relate the d word with the fact that he hadn't seen his GGfather for some time). I'm told that ggfather Ted is also dead but you Granny, you're not dead, you're just old'
Granny replied 'You're not wrong there'
Brian


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## JEC (11 Oct 2022)

I saw a t shirt recently which said. "It's wierd being the same age as old people". Struck a chord with me.


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## Jameshow (11 Oct 2022)

My dad after the first of a couple of Stokes (80) was advised to get a fall alert pendant, his response was what do I need one if those for? They are for old people.


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## MichaelAD (11 Oct 2022)

Getting older is not for wimps.
I was born in 1945 and Germany surrendered (I'm just saying).
Lotsa medical problems, lotsa physical problems, no mental problems (but how would I know....
Playing bridge I notice that many of the other players seem to be very old...then I realise that they are my contemporaries, but I'm surely better looking.

Slower, gentler pace to my life these days, but I count my blessings and I'm grateful.


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## mikej460 (11 Oct 2022)

Jacob said:


> I'm 77. Recently got an old trumpet from Freecycle and am learning to play.
> Has a big advantage over acoustic guitar; I can hear it and it only needs three arthritic fingers to play it.
> Also learning new stuff when old is supposed to keep you frisky, but not yet convinced.


No no Jacob, it's whisky that makes you frisky


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## Jacob (11 Oct 2022)

mikej460 said:


> No no Jacob, it's whisky that makes you frisky


Dunno. Bin there dunnit got the T shirt!


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## niall Y (11 Oct 2022)

I know I am old, because my grandfather stares back at me from my shaving mirror every morning


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## Thingybob (11 Oct 2022)

Jameshow said:


> CPC 464, 6128 lol!!


Sinclair ZX81


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## Jacob (11 Oct 2022)

niall Y said:


> I know I am old, because my grandfather stares back at me from my shaving mirror every morning


I got a shock after having a cataract op new lens. For first time in 60+ years I could see my face in a mirror but without glasses! Quite unfamiliar.


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## niall Y (11 Oct 2022)

Jacob said:


> I got a shock after having a cataract op new lens. For first time in 60+ years I could see my face in a mirror but without glasses! Quite unfamiliar.


Brings to mind a quote from Mr Shakespeare " My glass shall not persuade me I am old, so long as youth and thou are of one date."

Trouble is 'Thou' is getting on a bit ,as well.


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## Thingybob (11 Oct 2022)

Im 72 in January and we moved to Devon in Feb this year after 42 years in a big old Victorian house in Manchester , now we live in a bungalow and i did plan not to do any major renovations just get my workshop up and running to make my miniatures but it was not to be so in the middle of rebuild of bathroom then new kitchen but when there finished i wont feel guilty spending time in workshop i do feel a little tired in the evenings but thats down to the sea air (lol) . Anyway getting /being old is a mind set i know young people with more ailments and are tireder than me so plod on Mc duff thats my idea


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## MikeJhn (11 Oct 2022)

You know when you are old, its when your waist size is bigger than your inside leg measurement.


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## Pineapple (11 Oct 2022)

Jacob said:


> One thing I'm trying to do is give up the booze. Not a severe alcoholic but a bit of a routine paid for the following day. 2 weeks into zero alcohol and feeling much better! Instead of relaxing with a drink you have to find something useful to do.


I too, gave up the "Odd Night Out" many years ago, because it got me into more problems than fun.
I finally came to realise that the odd night out was more frequent than I'd accepted. 
After all, what's the difference between a life-style and a habit ? Or a habit and an addiction ?
After several years of back & forth between drinking and not drinking I am now "Ten Years Free"
I only ever buy alcohol now to be used in the cooking...I bought 8 cans of Guinness last Christmas, (just for the gravy) & now it's October and I still have 4 of them in the bottom cupboard ! I don't even remember that they are there most of the times when I'm making gravy.
I still have my naturally "Addictive Personality" but nowadays it's the money; which I used to spend on booze, that I'm Addicted to !
I find that being able to spend it on my family, instead of giving it to the Alcohol-Tax-Man, has improved my, and my family's
happiness levels enormously ! - - - Having found that I could defeat the booze, I gave up tobacco too, after 59 years of being an addict.
- - - So now the Tax-Man has to search around for other mugs to rob ! - - - I'm much richer now...
- It was my self-indulgent lifestyle that was keeping me so poor ! - (Such a silly boy - and I'd thought I was intelligent.)
Good Luck with your "Trying to give up" - Don't give up giving up just because you've had the occasional wobble. - Just try, try & try again !
I'm sure that like me, you will eventually, find that voluntary abstinence brings unexpected rewards.


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## NFav (11 Oct 2022)

This thread is so inspiring.
I've been spannering in the motor trade since I was 18.
41 later and I'm planning to do less spannering and more woodworking.
I'm inspired that I can look forward many years of creating sawdust & chips, and hopefully some nice things to show for my efforts.


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## DRC (11 Oct 2022)

Kittyhawk said:


> The aircraftery is closed for a while because for some time we've had a small leak in the corner of the shower base and I thought I should finally fix it.
> This is one of two showers and it's a tiled job so quite a bit of work involved in opening it up. With the deconstruction of the base done, the wife uttered the dreaded words we all know, 'I've been thinking..'
> And what was occupying her was, small house, just the two of us, two toilets yes, good but no need for two showers and if we (meaning I) removed it totally together with repositioning a few internal walls we could enlarge the small third bedroom, gain a big hall cupboard etc. etc. There are some suggestions from the head office that you just know will brook no arguments.
> Now two weeks into the renovation, two to three to go and I must say its quite nice to get back into the sort work that requires ladders, a skillsaw, gib board, framing timber and a 20oz hammer.
> ...


Let me tell you Kittyhawk I celebrated (ha ha) my 80th a few weeks ago. Now, with my past lifestyle whereby I had an awful lot of fun both work and play which resulted in 5 spine ops and other replacement ops, etc, etc, I'm now at the mercy of " if anything (healthwise that is) can go wrong or break" it does. Plus nobody can warn you when you are in your 20s 30s 40s or 50s "you'll suffer for this later you wait and see" because we are all human and not hypochondriacs mainly, so we carry on wrecking our bodies.
Also, there is not a good handbook that I have come across, that warns one or informs one properly about growing old and what to avoid or expect.
So rest assured you are not alone.


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## clogs (11 Oct 2022)

me n her just mixed n laid about 1 ton of concrete this morning...26-28 degrees n sunny......
now feel like I've been hit by a train....then it backed up over me....lol....
last week it was 2 tons for a conc pad in the garden....
these jobs are to small for anyone to come n do....
so what do u do but roll ur sleeves up....
biggest problem tho, go to bed knackered around 10 then up at 3 for a pee and cant sleep till 6.....grrrr....


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## ian33a (12 Oct 2022)

Pushing 61 and slowing down somewhat. I'm not sure, in my case, if the slowing down is a physical/mental thing or simply because retirement allows me to run at a slower speed. Probably a bit of both. 

I know I am lucky in that I've been retired since the age of 57 - but it was all part of a life plan. The ongoing plan is keeping the slope of decline as gentle as I can make it rather than fighting it and then falling off a cliff at some point. 

One thing is sure, moving to the countryside now that we don't need to be in the city has been a revelation. While there are some downsides, the upsides are massive, and it my wife and I are embracing everything that it offers and, hopefully, this will less the slope of decline that little bit more.


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## stuart little (12 Oct 2022)

Kittyhawk said:


> The aircraftery is closed for a while because for some time we've had a small leak in the corner of the shower base and I thought I should finally fix it.
> This is one of two showers and it's a tiled job so quite a bit of work involved in opening it up. With the deconstruction of the base done, the wife uttered the dreaded words we all know, 'I've been thinking..'
> And what was occupying her was, small house, just the two of us, two toilets yes, good but no need for two showers and if we (meaning I) removed it totally together with repositioning a few internal walls we could enlarge the small third bedroom, gain a big hall cupboard etc. etc. There are some suggestions from the head office that you just know will brook no arguments.
> Now two weeks into the renovation, two to three to go and I must say its quite nice to get back into the sort work that requires ladders, a skillsaw, gib board, framing timber and a 20oz hammer.
> ...


Join the club - mate!


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## Delwood (12 Oct 2022)

Flynnwood said:


> This happened on Friday.
> Two professional electricians turned up at work to take photos of the electrical installation and meter. They were both early twenties.
> 
> I asked them if they knew what a Floppy Disc was.
> ...


We would have died for a Floppy Disc-when I started in computers during my National Service (RAPC) all input was on punched cards or paper tape!


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## clogs (12 Oct 2022)

getting old.....
question, what is the average age of *active* members of this site.........?

PS....I have an easy day today....got up late.....have to trim n colour my wifes hair.....
then a dam good tidy up and putting tools away.....
it'll be a great day.......hahaha......


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## Phil Pascoe (12 Oct 2022)

The older I get the better I was.


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## Lefley (12 Oct 2022)

Kittyhawk said:


> The aircraftery is closed for a while because for some time we've had a small leak in the corner of the shower base and I thought I should finally fix it.
> This is one of two showers and it's a tiled job so quite a bit of work involved in opening it up. With the deconstruction of the base done, the wife uttered the dreaded words we all know, 'I've been thinking..'
> And what was occupying her was, small house, just the two of us, two toilets yes, good but no need for two showers and if we (meaning I) removed it totally together with repositioning a few internal walls we could enlarge the small third bedroom, gain a big hall cupboard etc. etc. There are some suggestions from the head office that you just know will brook no arguments.
> Now two weeks into the renovation, two to three to go and I must say its quite nice to get back into the sort work that requires ladders, a skillsaw, gib board, framing timber and a 20oz hammer.
> ...


Never , ever stop. I’ve seen to many friends stop work totally, retire and do nothing!!!!!! Then they pass away soon after. It’s like your body knows it’s shut down . The people that keep going, even if it’s volunteer, etc and keep a busy life style seemingly last forever. Just an observation from my end. Good job on the Reno. You would not want the bill if you subbed it out to trades , especially if you can do it yourself.


baldkev said:


> Im not suprised! I feel like that some days and im 41  I'll probably be needed new knees before im 50 and my back is a bit dodgy. Ideally id find a new job but im not qualified for anything much else.
> To be fair, chicken salad would have me falling asleep too. You don't make friends with salad


yes not many great stories start out with “ I was out having a salad with a few friends when ……”


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## Kittyhawk (13 Oct 2022)

Lefley said:


> yes not many great stories start out with “ I was out having a salad with a few friends when ……”


I see that salads are not flavour of the month around here
I'm incredibly fortunate that I don't have, or more precisely only have a very limited sense of taste and smell.
So my enjoyment of food comes from the different textures that it gives and as you might imagine vegetables, nuts, fruits etc score pretty highly on the texture scale whereas meat is pretty uninteresting.
Wife is very much into healthy foods which is no problem for me - I'm ambivalent on dietary matters - she prepares it and I eat it. Having nó sense of taste occasionally has its drawbacks though, being invited to dinner at the wife's sister's home, a tetchy woman who fancies herself as a master chef. So there is an obligation at table to say something nice about her culinary efforts, 'lovely bit of chicken' I said. ' Its pork' she snarled. 
I started this post having a whine about aches and pains associated with a job that once would have caused me no distress whatsoever. On the other side, as mentioned I'm heading towards 78, wife to 72 and we have no health issues so perhaps diet is important and salads have an undeserved bad rap.


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## Jacob (13 Oct 2022)

Kittyhawk said:


> I see that salads are not flavour of the month around here
> I'm incredibly fortunate that I don't have, or more precisely only have a very limited sense of taste and smell.
> So my enjoyment of food comes from the different textures that it gives and as you might imagine vegetables, nuts, fruits etc score pretty highly on the texture scale whereas meat is pretty uninteresting.
> Wife is very much into healthy foods which is no problem for me - I'm ambivalent on dietary matters - she prepares it and I eat it. Having nó sense of taste occasionally has its drawbacks though, being invited to dinner at the wife's sister's home, a tetchy woman who fancies herself as a master chef. So there is an obligation at table to say something nice about her culinary efforts, 'lovely bit of chicken' I said. ' Its pork' she snarled.
> I started this post having a whine about aches and pains associated with a job that once would have caused me no distress whatsoever. On the other side, as mentioned I'm heading towards 78, wife to 72 and we have no health issues so perhaps diet is important and salads have an undeserved bad rap.


Mobility is tops. Exercise as much as possible and lose weight.


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## rogxwhit (13 Oct 2022)

Jacob said:


> and lose weight


That's easy to say. Deciding which body parts to remove is harder ...


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## Phil Pascoe (13 Oct 2022)

Not for me.


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## Kittyhawk (13 Oct 2022)

Jacob said:


> Mobility is tops. Exercise as much as possible and lose weight.


Bicycle are our mode of transport. Been one or two kilos either side of 73kg since age 20. Wife the same for average 58kg.


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## Fitzroy (13 Oct 2022)

Phil Pascoe said:


> Not for me.


That's an 'in joke' that you need to have been around this site for a few years to appreciate and sympathise with. 

I've often been humbled by what members of this site are up to at the age that they are, i loved the person a few months back who was going to take up woodworking at 85, bloody marvellous!

I wish I was the weight I was when I first thought I was overweigh, I wish I was as old as I was when I first thought I was getting old, I wish I was as fit as I was when I first thought I was unfit..... etc.


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## niall Y (13 Oct 2022)

I love the comment from a jazz musician, whose name I can't recall, which ran along the lines of - " If I knew I was going to live to such a ripe old age, I would have given up smoking and drinking years ago "


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## Jacob (13 Oct 2022)

Kittyhawk said:


> Bicycle are our mode of transport. Been one or two kilos either side of 73kg since age 20. Wife the same for average 58kg.


I'm stuck at 79kg seems OK
Just getting back to cycling after long stretch of arthritis followed by hip replacement. 
Did LEJOG for my 60th birthday and aiming to do it again before I'm 80. Gotta get some miles in first!


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## Fergie 307 (13 Oct 2022)

Jacob said:


> One thing I'm trying to do is give up the booze. Not a severe alcoholic but a bit of a routine paid for the following day. 2 weeks into zero alcohol and feeling much better! Instead of relaxing with a drink you have to find something useful to do.


I rarely drink now, no particular reason I just fell out of the habit. I still enjoy a drink, problem is now I am so unused to it that a couple of pints of Guiness and I'm all over the place. Makes for a cheap night out!


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## mikej460 (13 Oct 2022)

clogs said:


> getting old.....
> question, what is the average age of *active* members of this site.........?
> 
> PS....I have an easy day today....got up late.....have to trim n colour my wifes hair.....
> ...


You do your wife's hair with your tools?? I have visions of multi cutter, tin snips, and a tin of Rustins...


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## Lefley (13 Oct 2022)

Fergie 307 said:


> I rarely drink now, no particular reason I just fell out of the habit. I still enjoy a drink, problem is now I am so unused to it that a couple of pints of Guiness and I'm all over the place. Makes for a cheap night out!


I know,eh! I use to drink a few times a week. Up at 5 to work. Now when have people over every month or two. Have 6 beer up til midnight! Hate myself next day, feel awful til take Tylenol, then still feel awful dragging my buttocks around all day at work til next day. What happened to us!!!!!


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## Fergie 307 (13 Oct 2022)

clogs said:


> me n her just mixed n laid about 1 ton of concrete this morning...26-28 degrees n sunny......
> now feel like I've been hit by a train....then it backed up over me....lol....
> last week it was 2 tons for a conc pad in the garden....
> these jobs are to small for anyone to come n do....
> ...


Just been doing the same. Problem is mentally I still think I can do the same stuff I could at 30. The body on the other hand is saying, " you're sixty years old you silly person, what on earth are you playing at". So stuff I would have done without a second thought now leaves me out of breath and aching. Just mixed and laid about a cubic yard of concrete and my back and shoulders feel as though I've been pulling a train, and that's just from shovelling stuff in the mixer and so on. Right as rain just bimbling about, but as soon as you get into some hard work the old body has a way of reminding you you aren't as young as you were. I dare say I will be as stuff as a board for the next couple of days. My dad bless him is 99 and has only really started to slow down quite recently. When he was well into his 80's I remember being concerned about him being up ladders trimming trees and so on. He has a magnificent pencil shaped conifer in the garden, about 20 foot high. We were standing looking at it and he said" I think I'll have to give it a miss this year". I was foolish enough to make some comment along the lines of age catching up with us all eventually. I got the full on Stupid Boy look as he pointed out that it was nothing to do with his age, his trimmer had packed up!


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## Fergie 307 (13 Oct 2022)

MikeJhn said:


> You know when you are old, its when your waist size is bigger than your inside leg measurement.


Heck, I've been an old git for longer than I thought then


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## Fergie 307 (13 Oct 2022)

Jacob said:


> I'm stuck at 79kg seems OK
> Just getting back to cycling after long stretch of arthritis followed by hip replacement.
> Did LEJOG for my 60th birthday and aiming to do it again before I'm 80. Gotta get some miles in first!


Used to be very keen cyclist, and Still have the Holsworth Pro made for me in 1978. In those days I could routinely do a 25 in under an hour. When I got back on it recently I came to the conclusion that I must have been remarkably more bendy in those days. Sadly I can't ride it comfortably now. As to speed, If I tried to go that fast then I think the first couple of hundred yards of my 25 might be on the bike, the remainder would be in an ambulance


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## mudman (13 Oct 2022)

A lot of replies here give me a lot of hope for the future. I'm 58 and I've always been active if a little uncaring about my health (smoking/vaping, drinking, eating too much). I've been a caver for many years and had previously been a woodworker and amateur astronomer. Due to long spells of working away from home, most things went by the wayside, caving trips became less frequent, my workshop gradually filled with junk and the telescope gradually collected more and more dust. Covid brought me back home to work remotely and I took the opportunity to rekindle my interest in astronomy and was enjoying evenings photographing the stars, caving trips restarted, I was eyeing the workshop with plans to tidy up and then I got hit at the beginning of 2021 by covid and I spent 6 weeks on a ventilator, 3 months in hospital with a few very close calls. However, I woke up with all my fingers, a bit of numbness in my toes and the strength of a newborn. I've recovered greatly but still have a way to go. Astronomy still takes a back seat as I'm too tired in the evenings to be sitting up late and my ability to skip over treacherous rocks has greatly diminished, but I have started on the workshop. New cabinets have been built and the accumulated detritus of my wife's desire to fill any empty space is gradually going. Lately I'd been wondering if there was any point in doing all of it if I don't have a great amount of time left and then I see some of you chaps still going in your 70s and 80s and it makes me realise that there is still a lot of life ahead of me and that yes, there really is a point. Stop, and you may never get going again, keep on at it and you should be able to live a long and fulfilling life. So, I'm finding myself more and more active all the time, back here with like-minded people and hopefully for a good long while to come. I ache a lot more when I do things, the back complains mightily all the time but I think that I can still do everything I use to, it just takes longer.
But yes, I do feel a lot older these days, but, it could be a lot worse.


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## Glitch (14 Oct 2022)

Age is just a number, so I'm told.

However, I've started to think 64 is quite a big number. Lucky to have only minor ailments but feels like time is running out and is there time to start new projects like buying a classic car.

Really cut back on alcohol since coming back from holiday a few weeks ago. Empty calories feeding the fat belly.

Average 10,000 steps per day by walking the dog.

Wife is an ex-rehab assistant and she tells me to keep my legs going and to do some flexibility exercises. Definitely can't turn and look over my shoulder in the car these days. Also find enough to keep my mind active. 

As an aside my 86 year old Mum recently completed Lara Croft Tomb Raider on her PS4. Grandson helped with a couple of tricky bits but did vast majority by herself.

Still need to enjoy luxury holidays, eating and drinking and the odd day doing very little. 
What's the point in living like a monk in the hope you live an extra year or two.
Just don't want to end up being a burden on the family.


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## Kittyhawk (14 Oct 2022)

Glitch said:


> Just don't want to end up being a burden on the family.


Very true, something I reached a decision on some time back.
I'm registered at our local surgery but fortunately have never had to go there except for occasional bits of self inflicted silliness that required plastering or suturing.
That changed at age 70 when my doctor phoned asking to see me. That provided a bit of fun - you're asking for an appointment? Let me check, I have a vacancy next thursday, 10.15am. I charge $20 per consult..
This was the first of regular six monthly appointments, little tete a tete's during which he would take my BP, draw a little blood and stick his finger up my bum.
I was now part of the aged care network which is apparently based on the premise that 'You're 70, there must be something wrong with you but don't worry, we'll find what it is eventually..'
This didn't sit well and led to a little research. The average life expectancy of a NZ European male was 79 years. On the other hand both my parents and my brother all died at age 72 so I averaged out my éxpected longevity and settled on 75.
At age 75 I stopped surgery visits, declined all further testing and had a DNR added to my file.
There are two reasons for this, the first being economic. Like every other health system in the world ours is also cash strapped and I don't consider it logical to expend precious medical resources in an effort to extend the lives of people who have reached their 'use by' date when the queues are miles long for younger people awaiting some procedure or other that will improve their lives for years to come.
Secondly, adding to one's years does not imply quality of life. Why artificially prolong life just so you can end up as a demented old fart in a resthome where if you're lucky one of the staff might occasionally amble over with a tissue and wipe your nose and your bum for you, hopefully in that order.
Just my opinion. I don't have a death wish, just a desire to live my live and ultimately leave it as naturally as I can.

Morbid stuff but to end on a more positive note, I started this post because I was shocked at how starting a relatively big renovation on my home was knocking the stuffing out of me. So another week of 8 hour work days has gone by and I've forgotten about the aches and pains because they've largely dissipated, I'm not getting up in the morning feeling like death warmed up and I have enthusiasm for the job. Whoever coined the phrase 'use it or lose it' spoke the truth.


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## Thingybob (14 Oct 2022)

Glitch said:


> Age is just a number, so I'm told.
> 
> However, I've started to think 64 is quite a big number. Lucky to have only minor ailments but feels like time is running out and is there time to start new projects like buying a classic car.
> 
> ...


I would go for the classic car , keeping the brain active sumounting problems , making new friends in the same boat and a goal to atain when finished plus the show and tell factor . Thats me anyway


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## Glitch (14 Oct 2022)

Thingybob said:


> I would go for the classic car , keeping the brain active sumounting problems , making new friends in the same boat and a goal to atain when finished plus the show and tell factor . Thats me anyway


I'll make sure the wife has the contact details for Car SOS in the hope they finish it off for me.


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## Thingybob (14 Oct 2022)

Glitch said:


> I'll make sure the wife has the contact details for Car SOS in the hope they finish it off for me.


Yer just a puppy yet 64 dont be so mordling


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## Glitch (14 Oct 2022)

Thingybob said:


> Yer just a puppy yet 64 dont be so mordling



I don't feel 64. It just seems like a high number! 
I count myself very lucky to have my health and a comfortable lifestyle.


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## Dave Moore (15 Oct 2022)

Glitch said:


> I don't feel 64. It just seems like a high number!
> I count myself very lucky to have my health and a comfortable lifestyle.


I’m 67 and woke up last week thinking I could be dead anytime soon but feel too fit and healthy for that. Apart from a knackered left knee with no cartilage(probably from 30 yrs of kicking people to death at Karate) I feel great. Certainly not going without a fight.


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## clogs (15 Oct 2022)

Kittyhawk
not sure if u can say this here.....
told my wife to find somebody else after I'm gone.....she's 20 years younger than me...
and when it's time to go I want it to be on the tools or the job....hahaha.....


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## Kittyhawk (15 Oct 2022)

clogs said:


> Kittyhawk
> not sure if u can say this here.....
> told my wife to find somebody else after I'm gone.....she's 20 years younger than me...
> and when it's time to go I want it to be on the tools or the job....hahaha.....


Right attitude!
Wife and I both think a day without a darned good belly laugh is a day wasted.
The child bride is 6 years younger than me and I told her the same as you to yours. If she should find a replacement he's even allowed to use my tools but not my new block plane. No one other than me is permitted to touch that one.


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## Blister (15 Oct 2022)

I'm 67 and am starting feeling my age , Lower Back problems , Arthritis in my wrists and elbows , Close focus eyesight gone , Diabetes type 2 . The list goes on .


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## Jameshow (15 Oct 2022)

Jacob said:


> I'm stuck at 79kg seems OK
> Just getting back to cycling after long stretch of arthritis followed by hip replacement.
> Did LEJOG for my 60th birthday and aiming to do it again before I'm 80. Gotta get some miles in first!


Well done I hope to do it again but slower 14 days rather than 8 days, perhaps when I'm 60!


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## Jameshow (15 Oct 2022)

clogs said:


> Kittyhawk
> not sure if u can say this here.....
> told my wife to find somebody else after I'm gone.....she's 20 years younger than me...
> and when it's time to go I want it to be on the tools or the job....hahaha.....


I'll Pm you my number!


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## Jacob (15 Oct 2022)

Jameshow said:


> Well done I hope to do it again but slower 14 days rather than 8 days, perhaps when I'm 60!


I did it in 14 but with full camping gear and picturesque route via Arran, Oban, Mallaig, Skye and back to mainland at Kyle. Avoids Glasgow and a lot of main roads. About 75 miles a day.
Hoping to do it again, but slower with more sight seeing.
Cycling good for oldies - gets heart and lungs going but gentle on the joints.


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## Kittyhawk (15 Oct 2022)

Jacob said:


> I did it in 14 but with full camping gear and picturesque route via Arran, Oban, Mallaig, Skye and back to mainland at Kyle. Avoids Glasgow and a lot of main roads. About 75 miles a day.
> Hoping to do it again, but slower with more sight seeing.
> Cycling good for oldies - gets heart and lungs going but gentle on the joints.


Hats off to you sir.
When wife and I did our biannual cycle/camping tours through Europe a few years back we thought we were pretty good cranking out an average 50-55 miles a day.


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## seanf (15 Oct 2022)

I'm younger than most here, but turning 40 this year made me think about the future. A good stretching session before any hard physical work now makes all the difference between me being sore afterwards and recovering overnight or my knees feeling it for a number of days. Hopefully taking more care at this age will provide benefits when I am older

Sean


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## Suffolk Brian (16 Oct 2022)

Thingybob said:


> I would go for the classic car , keeping the brain active sumounting problems , making new friends in the same boat and a goal to atain when finished plus the show and tell factor . Thats me anyway


Quite right. Death is overrated in my book anyway.


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## Suffolk Brian (16 Oct 2022)

Blister said:


> I'm 67 and am starting feeling my age , Lower Back problems , Arthritis in my wrists and elbows , Close focus eyesight gone , Diabetes type 2 . The list goes on .


I’m 72 but otherwise very similar. They, whoever they may be, say that we have to accomplish/complete a certain number of projects before we clock off. I’ m so far behind perhaps I’ll be immortal…..


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## Jacob (16 Oct 2022)

c25k is good. I did it a year ago getting fit for impending hip op. I'd never run previously in my life, except to get to pubs before closing time etc.
It felt very strange for a day or so but then became normal and you realise that there are hundreds of old people staggering around on the same mission and enjoying themselves!
Not supposed to do it now after the hip op but it's probably OK if avoiding fell running and extremes!





__





Couch to 5k - C25K Running Program


C25K has been designed to get just about anyone from the couch to running 5 kilometers or 30 minutes in just 9 weeks.



www.c25k.com


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## David66 (16 Oct 2022)

I was in hospital recently for a minor pop (hernia repair). I was by far the least "fecked" of the men in my 6 berth ward ..... but none of them was more than 5 years older than me (I'm 56).

It made me realise that I'm not getting any younger. Happily, I'm fit and healthy, but I really need to start taking more care of myself to make sure it stays that way for as long as possible. I've been doing a bit of running recently, and have also lost some weight. Couple of things I've noticed - first, I need to work harder on flexibility and strength than I ever did in the past, and second, I need to completely recalibrate my perception of what is a "reasonable" quantity of food!!

But the one thing I've found is that I don't have the mental "drive" I once had. I've worked hard all my life, founded 2 successful businesses, and always been driven ..... but recently I just cant be bothered with the long hours, the confrontation, the people management, and the constant struggle. I need an easier pace, more time for reflection, and napping!!

We've recently moved to the west highlands of Scotland, to a very remote rural location, and I'm loving it.

Time to retire I feel!!


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## Jacob (16 Oct 2022)

David66 said:


> ..... I need to completely recalibrate my perception of what is a "reasonable" quantity of food!!
> .....


No sugar or sugary foods, then try the 50% diet as rule of thumb; eat/drink as per normal but half the quantity. Top up with more water.
Then once in control relax a bit and eating less eventually becomes normal. Things like fish n chips or pub meal helpings suddenly seem huge so you ask for one between two of you (with apologies for being on a diet!). Also halves the cost so you can lash out and eat better quality stuff. Win win win; lose weight, spend less, eat better!


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## gwaithcoed (16 Oct 2022)

I had my 85th birthday card off my grandson last July a d it read Growing old is inevitable growing up is optional.
I walk for my daily paper, only just over a mile go sequence dancing every Monday night a d last weekend walked across the apex of my workshop to fix a leak.
Maybe l should think about growing old.
Alan.


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## bluenose (16 Oct 2022)

I've just celebrated my 82nd birthday. I have just changed 9 doors in my house and am now in the process of painting them. I run all the events at my local snooker club and still play in the team myself. I can still do 10 mile hikes over rough terrain with my 44 year old son. Still capable of digging up roots in the garden and doing lots of computer work.

I know I'm old when I've been on my knees and try to get up again and, the old neck gives a bit of gip when I try to look over my shoulder in the car!

As far as I am concerned age is definitley just a number.


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## David66 (16 Oct 2022)

Jacob said:


> No sugar or sugary foods, then try the 50% diet as rule of thumb; eat/drink as per normal but half the quantity. Top up with more water.
> Then once in control relax a bit and eating less eventually becomes normal. Things like fish n chips or pub meal helpings suddenly seem huge so you ask for one between two of you (with apologies for being on a diet!). Also halves the cost so you can lash out and eat better quality stuff. Win win win; lose weight, spend less, eat better!


Thanks man ... to be fair I know this...I just find it depressing, 'cause I do love my food!


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## Jacob (16 Oct 2022)

David66 said:


> ...... I do love my food!


So do I but you just train your guts to say you've had enough, sooner rather than later. 
No loss of pleasure at all - "normal" helpings just seem suddenly too big. e.g. a normal pub starter may be enough on its own and you just can't face the main course.


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## bluenose (16 Oct 2022)

Jacob said:


> So do I but you just train your guts to say you've had enough, sooner rather than later.
> No loss of pleasure at all - "normal" helpings just seem suddenly too big. e.g. a normal pub starter may be enough on its own and you just can't face the main course.


How true this is. Sometimes just go for a starter and a pudding!


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## Kittyhawk (16 Oct 2022)

David66 said:


> Thanks man ... to be fair I know this...I just find it depressing, 'cause I do love my food!


I sympathise.
For me, having a very limited sense of taste and smell, sitting down to a meal is just a refueling stop. I've never looked into it but I think taste/smell may also be linked to appetite so its very easy for me to control my intake and also to only consume the healthy stuff. Presumably this may have contributed to my weight remaining stable over the last 60 years and not having any health issues.
So I think it's a blessing really - you don't miss what you've never had.


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## Kittyhawk (10 Nov 2022)

The big renovation is finished save for a bit of paint and wallpaper, the child bride is happy and today is a workshop day having a big tidy up in preparation for getting the aircraftery back into production. 
The reno was pretty tough in the early stages but I've got my energy levels back again so happy about that but advancing old age is still bringing up new issues. 
Included in the tidy- up is sharpening all my planes an chisels and its always been my practice to shave a few hairs from somewhere to check the keeness of the blade. But I can't do that now because I can't find a hairy bit without underlying wrinkles. This is something new.
And wife's suggestion that I drop my trousers, pull my knee up to my chin and shave the tightened skin on my butt is not really helpful, either.☹


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## Inspector (10 Nov 2022)

Joke is a riot. 

Pete


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## Wildman (12 Nov 2022)

I am 25 with 50 years experience, I still get things done even if it is only a half a day at a time, finding new ways to do things rather than straining my back is an endless job and arthritis combined with occasional gout makes sure I have enough pain to keep me awake, ha ha


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## Geoff_S (12 Nov 2022)

I am now officially as old as my grandparents were.


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## Jacob (4 Jan 2023)

Back on c25k Couch to 5k - C25K Running Program
Not quite strictly to the program but getting there.
Next is to join up short intervals and do a whole 20 minutes.
It's quite energising and afterwards you feel better and more active.
Highly recommended!


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## Phil Pascoe (4 Jan 2023)

My wife doesn't consider me old - I'm 69 - but she considers some of the people she works with old, and they're just top side of 50.

I always liked the reply to "act your age!" - how can I act my age, I've never been this old.


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## Geoff_S (4 Jan 2023)

Phil Pascoe said:


> My wife doesn't consider me old - I'm 69 - but she considers some of the people she works with old, and they're just top side of 50.
> 
> I always liked the reply to "act your age!" - how can I act my age, I've never been this old.


At the other end of the spectrum, at school, I was often told not to be childish.


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## thetyreman (4 Jan 2023)

Jacob said:


> Back on c25k Couch to 5k - C25K Running Program
> Not quite strictly to the program but getting there.
> Next is to join up short intervals and do a whole 20 minutes.
> It's quite energising and afterwards you feel better and more active.
> Highly recommended!


good for you, I need to get back into it, hoping to buy some new running shoes soon.


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## BucksDad (4 Jan 2023)

I've only just caught up with this thread and if it's any consolation, I am surprised from the posters I recognise stating how old they are and had thought most younger 
I am turning 40 this year - now that's old!


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## schnapps95 (5 Jan 2023)

BucksDad said:


> I've only just caught up with this thread and if it's any consolation, I am surprised from the posters I recognise stating how old they are and had thought most younger
> I am turning 40 this year - now that's old!


If 40 is old what am I at 82 in a few month's time i still go to work every day i don't believe in sitting at home waiting for the UNDERTAKER ?


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## Jacob (5 Jan 2023)

schnapps95 said:


> If 40 is old what am I at 82 in a few month's time i still go to work every day i don't believe in sitting at home waiting for the UNDERTAKER ?


I'm only 78. Still time to get my career going.


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## XTiffy (5 Jan 2023)

Just been to lunch with a couple of fellow 75 year olds, place was full all these old people cluttering the place up!


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## Superduner (6 Jan 2023)

Physically I'm 69 but mentally still early 20s. That gets interesting at times.
Today I have 6 meter³ of firewood being delivered and have to move and stack it in the woodshed. I can still do that without too many breaks to recover


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## Geoff_S (6 Jan 2023)

Superduner said:


> Physically I'm 69 but mentally still early 20s. That gets interesting at times.
> Today I have 6 meter³ of firewood being delivered and have to move and stack it in the woodshed. I can still do that without too many breaks to recover


Grief, it’s just the monotony of that sort of job that does my head in.


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## Superduner (6 Jan 2023)

It only took 3 hours......


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## Rewound (6 Jan 2023)

Superduner said:


> Physically I'm 69 but mentally still early 20s. That gets interesting at times.
> Today I have 6 meter³ of firewood being delivered and have to move and stack it in the woodshed. I can still do that without too many breaks to recover


what did you pay for that ? i take it is hardwood?


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## Superduner (6 Jan 2023)

I'm in France, so prices won't relate to the UK.
I paid 78€/cubic metre (a stere), cut to 50cm and split, although some logs had to be split a bit more with my 7 tonne log splitter. It's 2 year old oak, so not quite perfect for wood burners, but anything older is really hard to find and we don't have the space to keep it that long.
When we first came here 6 years ago wood was 65€ so not such a big increase.


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## Spectric (6 Jan 2023)

There is absolutely nothing bad or negative about being old, it is the associated feelings, aches etc that come with that number that cause the issues.


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## Keith 66 (6 Jan 2023)

Back in november i got covid, felt awful for a week & took a fair while to recover, tested negative after 10 days but that was the day a mate of mine was to deliver 2 1/2 tons of teak floorboards to my shed, I couldnt put it off so the two of us unloaded it outside & then i stacked the lot inside. To say i was bushed at the end of it is an understatement. I ached for a week afterwards & my left shoulder has only just recovered, Must be gettin old.
I am reminded of a Tshirt a lad at school had who joined the army, "Pain is but weakness leaving the body" !


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## Geoff_S (6 Jan 2023)

Superduner said:


> I'm in France, so prices won't relate to the UK.
> I paid 78€/cubic metre (a stere), cut to 50cm and split, although some logs had to be split a bit more with my 7 tonne log splitter. It's 2 year old oak, so not quite perfect for wood burners, but anything older is really hard to find and we don't have the space to keep it that long.
> When we first came here 6 years ago wood was 65€ so not such a big increase.


Crikey, they certainly don't relate! Current price here is £275 cubic metre! I can't bring myself to pay that.


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## Daniel2 (6 Jan 2023)

Superduner said:


> I'm in France, so prices won't relate to the UK.
> I paid 78€/cubic metre (a stere), cut to 50cm and split, although some logs had to be split a bit more with my 7 tonne log splitter. It's 2 year old oak, so not quite perfect for wood burners, but anything older is really hard to find and we don't have the space to keep it that long.
> When we first came here 6 years ago wood was 65€ so not such a big increase.



Crikey ..!!
We had a delivery just before Christmas. 55€ per M3 delivered, all oak.


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## dickm (6 Jan 2023)

Blimey. I'll not moan about paying £85 for something over 1/2m3 of really dry birch. But won't need any this year, as there are the remains of 5 big firs scattered around various shelters awaiting cutting and splitting. 
Used to say I had the lifestyle of someone in their 50s, apart from the 7 in front of each birthday. Darolutamide to treat prostate cancer changes that completeely!! More like the lifestyle of a nonagenarian now!


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## Rewound (6 Jan 2023)

Geoff_S said:


> Crikey, they certainly don't relate! Current price here is £275 cubic metre! I can't bring myself to pay that.


I have heard of folk paying £200 a m³ up here (scotland) so not suprised at 275 in london, shocking prices.

we had a big storm last year 'Arwin' there was trees down everywhere, everytime I was away in the van I was bringing stuff home, ended up without 11m³, wouldn't like to of had to pay for it at todays rip off prices. could have got more but no where to store it. Total mixture of good and bad, Sycamore, Oak Beech cherry hornbeam lime, be interesting to see how it all burns, probably only use a couple m³ a year.


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## Superduner (6 Jan 2023)

We use about 1/2 m3 per week for a 25Kw fire with a back boiler that feeds 8 radiators from an 800 litre tank and when it really warms up bleeds off a pumped feed to the solar powered water system.
That's running the fire from about 9am to about 6pm at "tickover" and then ramping it up until about 9pm when it dies out naturally to a very low simmer.
We live in a 300 year old stone cottage that retains heat quite well, and has double glazing all round.


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## quintain (6 Jan 2023)

Just seen this thread.
No doubt someone has said earlier & more eloquently " my joints these days feel at least twice the number that's on my birth certificate"


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## Dibs-h (6 Jan 2023)

Years ago I used to lift weights - not competitive or weird stuff, just 3 basic compound lifts: bench press, squat and the dead lift. I so wish I'd discovered it earlier, as it didn't half cure twinges and aches with the back. The kind that gave you a costly chiropractor addiction in the years prior.

Then life got in the way and I didn't do anything remotely exercise related for the last 10 years. 

My lad wanted to do weights and has got me back into it - quite surprised that 6 weeks later, I'm not lifting weights as low as I thought I would.

Plan is to keep going till I hit my targets, lose a bit of the tum and then keep lifting at the targets. The better condition the muscular-skeletal system is in, the better the odds as I get older.


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## Drifter2406 (7 Jan 2023)

I'm only 57 but with so many knackered joints done through over work in factory's and health and safety not being adhered too I get up in the morning and can hardly put my trousers on, feel absolutely wrecked sometimes, I still chop wood and ride heavy motorcycles and do a days work but it just gets more painful. Mind wise I still can do what I did 20 years ago, trouble is I feel it for a week after now.


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## Mr Christopher (7 Jan 2023)

I'm 98 and still walk 5 miles each day. On a Sunday I cycle 15 miles to my daughters for lunch and then cycle home again. Every month I try to go swimming at least once a fortnight and generally clock up 50 lengths. When I'm not gardening I also help my son in his landscaping business. However, friends and family keep telling me my memory is not so good and imagine things........... I'm not sure they are telling me the truth


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## Dolau (7 Jan 2023)

Superduner said:


> Physically I'm 69 but mentally still early 20s. That gets interesting at times.
> Today I have 6 meter³ of firewood being delivered and have to move and stack it in the woodshed. I can still do that without too many breaks to recover


I know the feeling, recently I took delivery of 70 lengths of 3.6 m decking and umpteen 8 ft fence posts 

That took it out of me ….. and then I had to build the deck 

luckily I had some help with that 

I am also 69 but sometimes I feel older


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## Superduner (7 Jan 2023)

I rebuilt my deck last summer. Up, down, up, down. My knees were struggling!


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## Phil Pascoe (7 Jan 2023)

Drifter2406 said:


> I'm only 57 but with so many knackered joints done through over work in factory's and health and safety not being adhered too I get up in the morning and can hardly put my trousers on, feel absolutely wrecked sometimes, I still chop wood and ride heavy motorcycles and do a days work but it just gets more painful. Mind wise I still can do what I did 20 years ago, trouble is I feel it for a week after now.


Doesn't take much muscle to open a throttle.


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## Geoff_S (7 Jan 2023)

Phil Pascoe said:


> Doesn't take much muscle to open a throttle.


Riding for 30 minutes or more, stopping at traffic lights and realising that your hips are locked and you can't get your feet on the ground ..... it was with heavy heart that I gave up my motorbikes


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## Jacob (7 Jan 2023)

Geoff_S said:


> Riding for 30 minutes or more, stopping at traffic lights and realising that your hips are locked and you can't get your feet on the ground ..... it was with heavy heart that I gave up my motorbikes


Mobility is critical and affects everything else. This is why c25k is good - it improves everything, your health and everything else you do.
Hardest bit is starting mainly because it can feel so unfamiliar:
5 min brisk walk to warm up 
Run 1 min Walk 90 sec. 
Repeat 8 times, or fewer if you can't manage it!










Get running with Couch to 5K


NHS Couch to 5K will help you get off the couch and gradually work you up to running 5km in just 9 weeks.




www.nhs.uk


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## Phil Pascoe (7 Jan 2023)

Geoff_S said:


> Riding for 30 minutes or more, stopping at traffic lights and realising that your hips are locked and you can't get your feet on the ground ..... it was with heavy heart that I gave up my motorbikes


It was the prospect of not being able to get my feet on the ground that made me give up mine.


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## pe2dave (7 Jan 2023)

(Mostly) I can do the same jobs, just takes longer and I'm slower.
At least I've more patience!


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## eribaMotters (7 Jan 2023)

Has anybody else found out that 8x4 sheets of ply and mdf are heavier than they were 20 years ago. 
Also I find lifting 2nd hand 3x2 2" thick granite chip paving slabs difficult now, I have to walk them.

Colin


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## J-G (7 Jan 2023)

eribaMotters said:


> Also I find lifting 2nd hand 3x2 2" thick granite chip paving slabs difficult now, I have to walk them.


Last time I moved any of those was early in 1974 - I'd bought a DIY shop which included supply of Slabs etc. and the previous owner's legacy to me was his order for 12 of the beasts! I had to deliver them as a favour (no income!) as I 'walked' the third one along the customer's path I vowed (under my breath) that I'd never ever sell any.
I was in my 30's and my previous job was office bound!


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## Superduner (7 Jan 2023)

My bike is 250kg and it's getting really hard to lift it up on the rare occasion that I drop it - usually when the side stand doesn't go down properly.

My hip is a bit painful for the first 5 minutes of riding, but after that it's ok.


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## accipiter (7 Jan 2023)

It's great to read of members in their late 70's and 80's getting out there and doing what needs doing. Approaching 72 myself in March... 

For a number of years I've "felt" old although the brain acts like 18+... more fatigued and finding it difficult to motivate myself *during* winter months especially with the grey wet days and - especially - with the cold. Winters are usually hard/bad for me with the lack of heat and dry days. Late spring and Summer days - no issues. Sometimes thought maybe I suffer with SADS but trying the additional lights hasn't worked. As my Father died of a heart attack when he was 68 I feel I'm doing okay - aches and pains but mind still thinks I'm 18 ~ 21 still and I spend more time doing a job in mental planning/visualisation stages than I ever did at 18~21. 

Really don't want to whinge about "ailments" but old age doesn't come by itself, not for many... and slowly bites you in the rear. "Acquired" over the years: Gilberts Syndrome, Hiatus Hernia, high blood pressure, PTSD and depression etc., (after my fathers death + made redundant one month later summer '92). Most held in check by pills. 

Middle of last year, thanks to blood pressure checks I *finally* got to actually see my doctor. Further checks came up with me being Pre-diabetic, some sort of anaemia - possible Celiac disease... and, slightly, underactive thyroid. Oh! and an MRI scan for prostate issues - which, thankfully, proved negative BUT to have annual BP checks. Extra prescription pills for the thyroid and prostate. Trying to work on the pre-diabetic thing but will find out how that, and the thyroid, is progressing in a couple of weeks time - with another blood test!

Jobs... work... being retired since Jan 2017 I had "Plans". Things slowed down some for late 2022 as a new grandfather, many of the plans are on hold time wise to fit in with "child care" days two days of the week... Lovely as it is to spend time with a (now) 15 month old he's approaching the *terrible twos* and my patience is sometimes pressed quite thin - saving grace is he gets handed back to his parents. *Feeling Old* after and needing to rest...

Forthcoming "jobs" for this year - thanks to last years high temperatures and this winters frosts and rains (when will the rain stop?) I've a utility room roof to replace: 26ft x 5ft 9" - and a part of the workshop roof: 12ft x 8ft. Old felt and OSB sheets to remove, check what's under; replace timbers (?) and then re-sheet with ply (this time) and some other water proofing cover - maybe even something like Onduline etc. Not looking forward to it at all. I *could* try to find a (trustworthy) builder (?!) able/willing to fit me in to their busy workload but the £££'s aren't there. Ply sheeting looks to be around £350+ (if I buy) alone so with other materials and labour? *Feeling* old but I'm not wanting to give in to it. May try and give the C25K a go...


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## accipiter (7 Jan 2023)

eribaMotters said:


> Has anybody else found out that 8x4 sheets of ply and mdf are heavier than they were 20 years ago.
> Also I find lifting 2nd hand 3x2 2" thick granite chip paving slabs difficult now, I have to walk them.
> 
> Colin



Yes. Had 10 sheets of 12mm (11mm) OSB to move and cut plus some floppy uPVC cladding sheets last summer. Also had some (16) 2x2 2" slabs to move from the front through the house to my back garden last year. Walked to the front door, placed 4# on a wooden trolley at a time, pushed (bent low - achy back) through the house, walked off the trolley through the utility room, up 2 steps through patio doors to stack in the garden. 2 hours... thereabouts... Then had to lay next day. Looks like I'll have about 10 18mm ply to move through the house later this year when I do the utility room roof. LIDL apparently will be having some suction grab/gripper units sometime very soon - think I'll need a couple.


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## eribaMotters (7 Jan 2023)

It looks like getting old is a fact, and feeling old is a state of mind. We all slow down but there are some things we continue to do that we really shouldn't do.
Two things spring to mind when I consider my Godfather and uncle. Tom is 84 this February. I remember last year his daughter phoning me with a request. Get dad off the roof, he should know better.
Tom duly got off the roof. A few days later he was taking fence panels, posts and gravel boards around to his girlfriends as she needed a bit of fencing doing.
He has bad knee's and wears a hearing aid. The latter proved useful when I was doing up our last bungalow. I had to rip out some wiring including the old alarm system. The previous owners said it was dead, but I knew they were telling porkies. So I got Tom around to cut the wires to it whilst I was in the loft. 

Colin


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## imageel (7 Jan 2023)

I detached my bicep in one arm shifting a full sheet of 25mm ply a while back - it tore the tendon from the radius and ulna, and went with a loud bang and an immense amount of pain - it felt like an electric shock for maybe 10mins, and I at first thought I'd dislocated my shoulder which I have done many times in the past, however this was far more painful. I drove my manual car the 9miles to A&E - I live on my own, and the triage nurse took one look at me and said 'I know what you've done!!' and I was duly X-rayed etc.
I phoned around friends in the medical trade and all advised against having it re-attached surgically and after seeing a body builder physician he was ambivalent as to operate or not - he said my age at the time 64 was against me and the op wasn't guaranteed to work, and that in any case he said your body will compensate in time...
He was correct, 2 months later when I saw a NHS physio she tested my strength by interlocking her forearms with mine and asking me to push upward, and she said, 'well if all my patients were as strong as you in your damaged arm I'd be a happy bunny..!'
So agree with you folks getting old ain't fun and for me I know I have arthritis in most of my joints and certainly my hands, but I just take it easy and it just takes me twice as long to achieve something.
Still have a shedload of stuff to do around the house and garden, I just have to take it easy and accept the frustration!!


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## Geoff_S (7 Jan 2023)

No, you see what happens in regard to 8’x4’ sheets as you get older is that your arms get shorter and your joints won’t let your arms stretch the full 4’ anyway.


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## Kittyhawk (Sunday at 20:27)

eribaMotters said:


> Has anybody else found out that 8x4 sheets of ply and mdf are heavier than they were 20 years ago.


Yes. I don't know why manufacturers have to do that. It's the same with some of the bush trails in our area. The Dept of Conservation does a good job of maintaining them but why do they have to keep making them longer and steeper?
I find the main trouble with advancing age is that I don't know what to do with it. Our whole lives wife and I have been have been sailors, selling our last yacht at my age 70 and replacing her with a canal boat in France which we used for 6 months of each year until covid came along forcing us to sell it.
Now at my age 78 we are looking at a seriously capable offshore 34' yacht, a go-anywhere type vessel for one great last adventure. One voice in my head is whispering 'go for it'.....and the other 'settle down you silly old fart - do you want to kill yourself?'.
It's a problem, but just now relegated to the back burner. We have to make sure our property is as secure as we can make it. Our area ( the Coromandel) is under a Civil Defence warning for a severe cyclone that's going to give us a walloping, due tonight.


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## mikej460 (Sunday at 21:31)

Kittyhawk said:


> Yes. I don't know why manufacturers have to do that. It's the same with some of the bush trails in our area. The Dept of Conservation does a good job of maintaining them but why do they have to keep making them longer and steeper?
> I find the main trouble with advancing age is that I don't know what to do with it. Our whole lives wife and I have been have been sailors, selling our last yacht at my age 70 and replacing her with a canal boat in France which we used for 6 months of each year until covid came along forcing us to sell it.
> Now at my age 78 we are looking at a seriously capable offshore 34' yacht, a go-anywhere type vessel for one great last adventure. One voice in my head is whispering 'go for it'.....and the other 'settle down you silly old fart - do you want to kill yourself?'.
> It's a problem, but just now relegated to the back burner. We have to make sure our property is as secure as we can make it. Our area ( the Coromandel) is under a Civil Defence warning for a severe cyclone that's going to give us a walloping, due tonight.


I think thoughts of a 34' yacht in a county that experiences cyclones would be enough to put me off. There are many reported incidents of older folk coming awry at sea so, if I were you, unless you succumb to your common sense conscience, I'd try hiring one first, outside of cyclone season!


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## Jameshow (Sunday at 22:04)

Kittyhawk said:


> Yes. I don't know why manufacturers have to do that. It's the same with some of the bush trails in our area. The Dept of Conservation does a good job of maintaining them but why do they have to keep making them longer and steeper?
> I find the main trouble with advancing age is that I don't know what to do with it. Our whole lives wife and I have been have been sailors, selling our last yacht at my age 70 and replacing her with a canal boat in France which we used for 6 months of each year until covid came along forcing us to sell it.
> Now at my age 78 we are looking at a seriously capable offshore 34' yacht, a go-anywhere type vessel for one great last adventure. One voice in my head is whispering 'go for it'.....and the other 'settle down you silly old fart - do you want to kill yourself?'.
> It's a problem, but just now relegated to the back burner. We have to make sure our property is as secure as we can make it. Our area ( the Coromandel) is under a Civil Defence warning for a severe cyclone that's going to give us a walloping, due tonight.


Go for it? 

What model are you considering? 

For me it would be a Halberg Rassy 34!! 
Or a Nauticat 33 if feeling a little old!!


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## Kittyhawk (Sunday at 22:19)

mikej460 said:


> I think thoughts of a 34' yacht in a county that experiences cyclones would be enough to put me off. There are many reported incidents of older folk coming awry at sea so, if I were you, unless you succumb to your common sense conscience, I'd try hiring one first, outside of cyclone season!


We get the occasional cyclone over summer - it depends on the seawater temperature.
We have weathered two so far at sea without issues except fear, and how you do depends on the boat. Some like all sail off except for a storm trysail and heaving to, perhaps with a parachute anchor streamed from the bow, others are happier running under bare poles towing heavy warps to slow the boat down.
But this is the nub of the problem with advancing years. Do you become an armchair warrior reliving past glories or do you go out there and just do it.
Give in to what you both want to do, or give up?
I would say the liveliest ship you can ever be on in the worst imaginable weather is a little 690kt whaler in the southern ocean. Our captain was 84 years old and also the gunner - pretty good for an old guy.


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## Kittyhawk (Sunday at 22:25)

Jameshow said:


> Go for it?
> 
> What model are you considering?
> 
> ...


From a local man, Bruce Askew. He has a reputation as a 'sensible' yacht designer. The boat - not a full keel, cutaway forefoot and skeg hung rudder, cutter rig, strip planked edge glued mahogany and glassed inside and out.


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## Jameshow (Sunday at 22:36)

Kittyhawk said:


> From a local man, Bruce Askew. He has a reputation as a 'sensible' yacht designer. The boat - not a full keel, cutaway forefoot and skeg hung rudder, cutter rig, strip planked edge glued mahogany and glassed inside and out.


Nice simalar to Laurent Giles over here I guess? 

Or perhaps chuck Paine?!


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## MikeJhn (Sunday at 23:11)

At 75 it's taken me eight weeks to strip out the old shower and replace it with this, plus the associated works of replacing two loos and cisterns together with the soil pipe move, "I will have it done by the time you come back from visiting you cousin (two weeks) in the USA" I said, did not help that the first shower screen decided to go back to it's constituent parts, possibly a million bits, well it felt like it when I swept them up.


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## Kittyhawk (Monday at 00:41)

Jameshow said:


> Nice simalar to Laurent Giles over here I guess?
> 
> Or perhaps chuck Paine?!


The pilothouse may look a bit alarming on an offshore boat but its immensely built, 6mm safety glass and can be shuttered as well.


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## Jameshow (Monday at 07:45)

Kittyhawk said:


> The pilothouse may look a bit alarming on an offshore boat but its immensely built, 6mm safety glass and can be shuttered as well.View attachment 150764


Looks a nice boat. 
Very much like a colvic victor or westerly konsort duo we have here.


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