Feeling old

[Kittyhawk]

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

 

[baldkev]

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

 

[Geoff_S]

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.

 

[Yorkieguy]

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.

 

[clogs]

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....

 

[Kittyhawk]

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.

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

 

[Kittyhawk]

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....
View attachment 145184

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

 

[artie]

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.

 

[Inspector]

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

 

[Phil Pascoe]

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

Leonard Cohen.

 

[dzj]

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.

 

[Bingy man]

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

 

[Terry - Somerset]

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.

 

[Geoff_S]

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

 

[Flynnwood]

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.

 

[Jameshow]

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.

CPC 464, 6128 lol!!

 

[Spectric]

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.

 

[mikej460]

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

 

[Jacob]

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.

 

[Goesbysteve]

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