the burden of age

[anthony wall]

so now i am at an age where i can afford to do pretty much anything that i want(retired)but one of the problem with age is that i can't remember what i wanted to do and even if i could i probably wouldn't have the energy for it. i play golf and can remember not to long ago carrying my own bag now it's a caddy and a buggy ,anyhow i was wondering how age is affecting you older members in either good or bad ways of course it's only a light hearted question and by the way i still have a pretty good memory;)

[Myk Rian]

Well, I retired 8 years ago today. Am 63 and use/maintain/do intros at the weight room at the senior center. Play senior softball.
I also take 800mg Motrin during the day. :o

[Ed Aumiller]

I am 65 and also retired on Aprils Fool day but 15 years ago...

I play golf at least once a week... get a push cart for your bag and walk the course... excellent exercise and will help your game...(does mine, though still no good at it)...

I build furniture for house, kids, grandkids and now have great granddaughter.... that really makes me feel old....

Keep all the vehicles serviced for several kids and wife's parents, etc...

Stay busy to keep your health up...

Keep a pad on your workbench in shop and another one on kitchen table.... when you remember to do something, WRITE IT DOWN...
Not that it will mean you do it, just that you have a note to remind you of what you wanted to do....
When going from shop to house or reverse, take a note with you to help you remember why you went to shop or house... saves trips !!!

Most important of all.... do what YOU enjoy....

If you get bored, volunteer in your church or somewhere....

Enjoy getting older .... beats the alternative !!!

I guess I was rambling, but that is ok... I am retired with time to do it...

[dennis thompson]

I am 68 & have been happily retired from an enjoyable, but high stress job, for a while.
We are raising our two grandchildren (17 & 16) so that takes quite a bit of our time.
I've filled both our houses with as many woddworking projects as we can fit & now I'm doing some projects for our church.
I walk 4 miles a day (used to run, but those days are long gone), I'm pretty healthy & feel my walking has helped & recommend exercise to everyone.
I say to my friends who are contemplating retirement-"I have worked & I have retired, retired is better!:)" but you must plan for it & keep yourself busy both mentally & physically
Dennis

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I was forced into retirement 1 year ago when I became deaf. The past 18 months (6 months prior to retirement and retirement so far) have been filled with doctor's appointments, and dentist appointments initially. Now that I have recovered from oral surgery, cochlear implant surgery and regained my equilibrium, I am able to do those things I want. I would highly recommend maintaining a log book in your shop. I walked away from a somewhat complex project in my shop due to surgery. It was 6 months before it was safe for me to return to it and it took a couple days to relearn where I was when I stopped.

The next thing on my agenda is to start doing some volunteer work.

[John Christian]

I am always curious about these age/retirement threads. I am 59 soon to be 60, my wife is 2 years younger and is a school teacher with a magic retirement number ( which she passed last year) I was retired/unemployed for two years, when construction slowed down and have since been working for a year and half but it seems not enjoying it as much.
I am a highrise superintendent, its a fully absorbing stressful job.
We bought vacation/retirement property four years ago and its sits waiting and beckoning. So i am aging and ready to retire maybe in the next year and a half two years certainly not much longer that that. i found this website and re started woodworking as part of planning for that day. i have a " test" workshop i am setting up in my basement. i am enjoying that but dont getas much time down there as i would like. the new property has a big old barn on it that will be mostly wood work shop when i get there. i find i think about retirement and aging a lot.its some thing to say that today when iput my sicks on " that is as easy as thats ever going to be" i find myself thinking alot of 10 000 days. i started a count down several years ago as a somewhat optimistic view of my time remaining. not in any morbid sense, but as a key to focusing my use of time. that sorta thinkin is what makes me feel the urge to retire. a job that used to just make me tired can now render me exhausted. i'm thinkin that if i am gonna be tired i'd rather be tired from gardening or kayaking or wood working. then comes the wonder and the worry about do i have the discipline to retire. a colleague who is working at seventy ( go figure) has said " if you plan to work in your shop four hrs a day, and decrease the amount of shop time by 15 seconds a day............in five years you're not doing anything" ( math is rounded)
Sorry for the ramble, but one last thing, ten years ago i had my hips replaced and discovered on line support groups ( Totally Hip) it really helped me see myself and helped pull me through a dim time of my life. I view this group and some of the people here in the same way. It has increased my enjoyment of my shop and helped me to see myself. you have provided ( and i expect will provide well into the future) a sense of camaraderie that has freed me to enjoy a shop and ww in a way that wasn't there before
thanks

[David Helm]

I am 69, but unlike all you lazy retirees, I still have to work. I am a Home Inspector; still go on roofs and in crawl spaces, and I teach home inspection (required classroom education to become licensed in Washington) at the local technical college. On top of all that, I bike, hike, do woodworking, carve, cook, work out every day and don't have any serious aches and pains. I think the key to growing old is keeping active. Who knew that we'd suddenly no longer be kids?!

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I am 69, but unlike all you lazy retirees, I still have to work. I am a Home Inspector; still go on roofs and in crawl spaces, and I teach home inspection (required classroom education to become licensed in Washington) at the local technical college. On top of all that, I bike, hike, do woodworking, carve, cook, work out every day and don't have any serious aches and pains. I think the key to growing old is keeping active. Who knew that we'd suddenly no longer be kids?!

David....my FIL passed away at age 86.....almost 7 years ago. My MIL just turned 89. I have teased them for years saying they taught me the secret to longevity. When death comes knocking at your door....don't be home to answer the door.

[Jerry Thompson]

I'm just happy that when I take a shower in the morning nothing falls off!

[Bruce Page]

I retired 16 months ago at age 60. I spent the first eight months in catch-up mode doing all of the things around the house that I had been putting off. I haven’t really settled into a routine yet but I try to spend time in the shop each day. I also try to get a solid six or seven hours of sleep each night instead of the four or five that I used to get. LOML still has a few more years to go but I’m really looking forward to being able to travel on a whim when she does. We have two wonderful Labradors that keep me company during the day. Health wise, I do not have the energy I once had but I’m not doing too badly. I do need to exercise more. I have lunch with a group of my fellow retiree’s once a month to catch up on the latest work gossip and the goings on of the world.

Overall I’m enjoying retirement and the "golden years" very much. The thought of going into work each day seems foreign to me now, I don’t think I could pull it off.

[Jim Koepke]

Reminds me of the story about a little boy sitting on the curb crying.

His great-grandfather comes by and says, "what is wrong Billy, why are you crying?"

Billy says, " 'cause I can't do what the older guys are doing."

His great-grandfather sat down next to him and started crying too.

jtk

[Ed Aumiller]

Another note... I am a type A personality... i.e. when something needs done... GET IT DONE..... then relax... when I retired I had bought most of the major tools, etc for the woodworking shop but needed to get it set up... stopped work before first of year and really started setting up shop, etc beginning of January... was in shop in early February making cabinets and it was an unusually warm day outside.... I thought if I get these cabinets finished today, then can go outside and enjoy the nice weather... SUDDENLY I realized that I had the rest of my life to finish the cabinets and tomorrow may not be nice enough to be outside... FORCED myself to lay down tools, go in house and pour a glass of wine and sit on deck and ENJOY the weather... one of the best things I ever did.... taught me to ENJOY the moment(s)..... Been doing that the last 15 years as best I can....

ENJOY life..... that is what retirement is about....

and yes, cabinets got finished but not that day....

The following plaque was given to my wife when she retired:::

Retirement, when you stop living at work and begin to work at living....

It is SO true....

[anthony wall]

i like that one jerry

[anthony wall]

hi ed ,i play a fair bit of golf but over here it is mandatory to have a caddy so pushing or pulling a trolley is out of the question but i walk as much as i feel like on the course and often let the caddy have the buggy to him or more often herself ,me and the wife exercise regularly usually in the road outside our house along with other villagers, our local pub is around 150 meters from my front door and is actually the village green with seats provided with the village shop which also sells the drinks all alfresco. it realy is not a bad retirement

[Ed Aumiller]

Anthony, I am jealous, 500 feet (150 meters) to local pub ???? My nearest one is 12 miles (18 KM).... sounds like a great retirement to me....
actually have never had a caddy, in US they are out of my price range.... very few courses here have them....

Ed

[ray hampton]

hi ed ,i play a fair bit of golf but over here it is mandatory to have a caddy so pushing or pulling a trolley is out of the question but i walk as much as i feel like on the course and often let the caddy have the buggy to him or more often herself ,me and the wife exercise regularly usually in the road outside our house along with other villagers, our local pub is around from my front door and is actually the village green with seats provided with the village shop which also sells the drinks all alfresco. it realy is not a bad retirement
150 parking meters

[anthony wall]

you have to pay with your green fee for a caddy the cost is usually between 200 baht or around $6 and 500 baht about $15and then depending on how good they were you give a tip usually about the same as the course charges you 200 baht plus so although caddys are mandatory it is still a cheap round of golf--eg 300 baht green fee 200caddy fee 500 buggyand caddy tip 200 so the full round can cost as little as1200 baht or about $36 .with food and drink afterwards it's a good day out for less than $50