Sounds like what happened to me. I was fine until I got the Wuhan flu before it had a name. Since then, 2+ years, I get tired quickly, get short winded and have to sit down, and can't remember stuff that I should know. Can't pick up as much weight anymore, either. Anything I do I have to plan out with breaks. Sometimes the breaks are longer than the work time! Increasing age is a factor, but other things are a factor as well.
I believe that inspiration helps a whole lot. Some days I just don't have the initiative to do anything. But I can go somewhere and look at somebody else's car and it drives me to get my stuff done. I pay for it when I lay down at night though. Yeah I'm only 52, but I didn't take it easy on myself. I've beat the hell out of this shell. I'm thankful for ibuprofen.
I was supposed to have my heart fixed last august, took till feb of this year, got so weak I couldn't walk to the end of the driveway. I'm repaired, but still suffering the effects, weakness, only 67, but feel like 97. Heart is strong, but muscles hurt like hell, mounted my mower on my tractor, four days in the house recovering and chest pain. It'll be a few months, but I'm determined to get it back.
The problem is.... I can't find the damned owner's manual to figure out if I'm getting old, if I'm wearing out, or if I have a 'condition'. "They" don't tell you what to expect as the years advance, so every time I get a fart in crosswise, I gotta worry that I've got something going wrong! I've gotten to the point, though, that I don't beat myself up, or piss and moan because I can't do the things I used to. I just keep putting one foot in front of the other.....
One of the most important things I own is a 4” thick foam rubber pad for kneeling. They sell them just for us.
Sorry to hear y'all hurtin' so....I joined the invalid ( you really don't wanna know ) club 8 years back. l can't let go of hope, to get some hot-rolling, hot-machines. 3 are waiting for me. I found a book titled " Younger Next Year " authors Crowley and Lodge. They speak of keeping it moving. Going for more shop, power equipment to help get'er done. The daily driver gets serviced by me cause I'm cheap. I like driving too fast when nobody is around, but hate when others get crazy in traffic. Lucky to have a wife that cares like she does, and does all the yard work ( it's big ).
I used to get relaxation from going into the garage and working on the beast car. Now it's the dog walk, something he and I both really like. All he wants is a good poop and a some running room for a while-while i just "cruise" and get totally relaxed, although i do go to the garage for a while a few times-old habits die hard.
At 67, I'm finally building a comfortable car that will be weather tight and quiet. Oh, wait a minute... ait...
You have no idea. Take care of your shit while you are still young! Wear your respirator/dust mask when you are supposed to. Wear gloves that are appropriate for tasks at hand. Don’t get fat and most of all don’t do stupid things like demolition derbys and wrecking shit.
Reading all these has made me tired..... Think I'll make a decision.... I'm going to take a nap!!! How's that for a decision ??
Consider all this before buying that next project. Do you love it enough to get up and down and under it. It's stopped me from buying a few cars I don't care that much about.
My lovely wife summed it up for me, "Stand UP Straight, you look like Shiz all humped over". At 80 that's really good advice. Now I'm 2 inches taller and ready to dance, well slow dance!
My mom always celebrated my birthdays buy adding from 18. At my 50th I received a tee shirt that said “Celebrating the 32nd Anniversary of his 18th birthday. The son that never grew up.” I lost her at 95….she was still pistol to the end.
Build em while you’re young boys. I had plenty of energy, but made the excuse that I didn’t have the money. I should have found a way to get (or SAVE) the money. Age old story of old age: I have the money now, but too tired to do anything fun with it. I will be 60 in a couple weeks, but my body feels like 80. Some hard livin, several accidents, and crazy health problems push cars to the back burner. I’m tied up in another home improvement project right now. Trophy wives seem to be only worth the expense, a few minutes at a time. I’m paying somebody to fix my my house, when I could have done it better myself. I’ll finish my custom project if it’s the last thing I do (well, pay to have done). Maybe next year.
Also, if any young guys read this thread, Don't use your hands for hammers! Pull on a wrench instead of pushing it! Don't do stupid stuff! I know that last one will go in one ear and out the other, but when you're older you'll wish you had heeded it. I used to live for motorcycles, but now the arthritis in my wrists and shoulders won't let me ride for more than 20 minutes or so without hurting. And I can't feel my fingers after using any kind of vibrating tool like a weed-whacker or air chisel.
I wonder if those 'BALANCE OF NATURE" pills will solve "the mind is willing" but, "the body is not" problems.
At 73 I'm putting together my 351W for the '29 AA. After getting the timing set and harmonic balancer on, its too tight, so I've got to take stuff apart a little at a time until I find out what I did wrong. When you're old, all that effort is painful. I don't mind the pain if its something I have to do only once, but putting stuff on, then taking it off and having to put it on again just wears me down, physically and spiritually. Once the engine is done, on to rebuilding the AOD . . . That's a tall hill for an old guy, but gotta power through.
At 75 years of age, 10 early Ford hot rods later over a 60 year “love affair”with strong flatheads;just sold my 32 hiboy cabriolet and bought a nice project 36 Ford(stone stocker—never cut or butchered) takes me 2-3 times as long to “build” a car than it used to but still enjoy the daily challenge of putting on pieces that did NOT come with the car. I tell my wife of 40 years this is probably my last hot rod. She responds you (me) say that about every one you get. It is getting harder to get up and down off the floor and sometimes get vertigo if I move too quickly. Getting old is tough but it still beats the alternative(6 feet under) so I just do what I can and it may take me longer, but the enjoyment is still there. Flatheads Forever!!
I remember working with my 77 year old Uncle who could never get off the floor once he laid down. Working on an old Galaxy once he shot up from the ground like an 18 year old. I said what got you moving like that? He had reached up over the grill to pull himself up and got his metal watch band between the positive battery post and the fender. Got hot in a hurry. You'd be surprised how fast you can move when your biscuits are burning. I will be 64 next month and can see the drop in my strength and energy over the last year. Like we said in the military- Suck it up Buttercup. I will go done swinging. If I don't throw my back out.
I worked assembly line(s) for all but about 7 yrs of career. I didn't rotate at start because they said it was bad for quality. This was before ergonomics was really looked at. And of course my hobby was working old cars. I'm sure that a lot of my issues are from no rotation of jobs. Any of you young guys that work assembly line jobs, ROTATE EVERY1-2 HRS. But at car show today setting with some older guys, they to all had issues./pain.I guess i should be happy I'm on this side of the dirt!
To everyone on this thread. This stuff works great. Rumor is that they use this stuff on their horse's.
The Jalopy Journal
