What to do when your health fails. And you can't work on your cars.

As said, do what you can when you can. Maybe that's why my project is on it's seventh year. Wife has proclaimed this is my last build, and according to my oncologist's odds, she is probably right. That won't stop from working on the list of things I should have done the first time around on the Olds and planing on my really. really last motorcycle.
The other thing I have found, is that it is the people you have met and friends
made that are really the important part of life, not things. The is a German expression that translates Too soon old, too late smart.
Bob

 

Get some paper and a pencil and start writing down some ideas for your current or new projects. Create a design (or redesign) for you shop. Get some colored pencils and a sketch pad and draw out that next hot rod. Doesn't need to be art. Just some ideas to keep the brain working. Better than watching I Love Lucy reruns.

Here's hoping you get better and can return to garage soon.

 

Ain't it hell to get old fellas!? Just retired and in worse shape then when I was workin. Life is good

 

Hey just an idea for a time waster(depending on how you look at it) You could get a cad program, I have turbo cad, cost like 70 bucks and wasn't to hard to figure out how to use. Then design us that next bad ass hot rod part that's been filed in the back of your head for the last thirty years.......don't know just an idea.

 

At 70 I can assure you that "getting old ain't for sissies!" So I'm pushing life hard because I want to wear out, not rust out!

 

The human body can recover from just about anything. I've been through a hernia, random dizzy spells, a few heart attacks and failing eyesight, but still manage to come back to the garage after taking time to recoup. Just don't force it...too muc...too early!

 

Four years ago they read me my last rites when everything was shutting down from severe pancreatitis, by the intervention of something bigger than all of us I pulled out of it and got out of ICU two weeks later. After that I quit drinking, started exercising, etc. Even at the worst moment I appreciate my chance to be here able to raise some more hell! Like it was said "dream as if you"ll live forever, live like you"ll die tomorrow" ....
If only I could find that set of large breasted twins to check off the list...I have way too many things to get done to check out now!

 

i know the feeling..just do what you can when you can... at just 61 i am already getting slow.. i have a shop full of projects but will be lucky to get just one more done...well maybe 2 or 3....guess i'll give up when they close the lid

 

Good that you're having a good day - best to count 'em one at a time though, eh? Yeah, I still have the car I had when a kid in the 60s. Now the wife and I are in our early 60s but still have fun, just not so much in the back seat anymore But like a lot of others here, do what you can, when you can and enjoy the heck out of what you do. I still remember what a friend once told me: "When I die, I hope the last check I write, bounces". i.e. - live life to its fullest & try not to leave anything in the account when it's closed.

 

My advise to all of you...........drink heavilly

just kidding

Go to the local rec center, find a pool and start out by simply walking in it.
swimming is easier on your old bones and can be fun. It may seem hard at first but stay with it for awhile. You will be suprized how well you will start feeling.

 

I do some work for a local guy every now and then he is restoring a 120 Jag and he is totally blind his wife drives him to the shop and his guide dog leads him through the doors. He knows he will never be able to drive the car due to his age and eyesight but the project out in his garage keeps him going gives him a reason to get up and moving in the morning. Dedication like that to your hobby inspires the heck out of me to get out and make some parts for my own lingering projects, while i can.

 

This is a photo of me at 18years of age. At that time of my life I had a perpetual hard on, and loved to fight. Now with the meds I take, no more hard ons and I have to fight to get out of bed. But life is good.

 

I don't know if I have "the" answer or not. But I have a suggestion that you might find enjoyable.
I've got a work table out in my shop... heavy sumbitch. It's 3x5, and is my welding and fab table.
I set it at a comfortable height to stand at, and sit on a stool and work on projects.

It's the heart of my shop. I do about everything on it.

Lately, I've been really enjoying the restoration of a vintage Craftsman 109-series 6-inch lathe. It's just a little thing, and I SHOULD be working on my gasser, but the lathe will be useful when it's finished.

Sit out there in the evenings at the work table with a frosty beverage, the radio on, my table neat and organized with tools (my tool box is right behind me), and I piddle on the little lathe.

It would also be the perfect height for building model cars.

I don't know what your particular maladies are... Working at a sturdy table restoring old power tools isn't nearly as strenuous as bending over fenders, working on an interior, working under the dash, or getting a car up on jackstands and working under it.

Start looking on Craigslist for vintage drill presses, vintage bench grinders, small lathes, old band saws, whatever... get one, and have fun restoring it. If you don't need it when you're done, stick it on ebay, craigslist or over on Garage Journal.

You ARE surfing Garage Journal from your Lazy-Boy, aren't you?

It isn't working on your car, but it IS working out in your garage. It's relatively low-impact, and you still get to play with hand tools! (and using those tools is LOTS less effort than busting nuts and bolts lose on a car)

-Brad

 

Hotrod, keep the faith and do what you can. As coach John Wooden said "things turn out best for people who make the best of the way things turn out". I have been fortunate in that I have few health issues however its taken me years get things done on my car projects when family is always a priority. Surround yourself with good company thats positive minded and take your meds and do what you can to improve or slow the decline in your health.

Dave

 

Well guys, hear I am sitting in my lazy chair looking forward to being able to get back to the shop..I'm so sick and tired of watching this horrible TV. What the hell has this country turned into. I have gone over about as many threads and post of my favorite sits as I can. My wife is sick of me. she would like to "kill" me if I play one more oldies song. Now get this. We had an agreement that I would stay out of her kithen. And she will stay out of my shop. Well guess what. Her and my daughter thought my shop was just a total mess. Sooo they came up with the plan to clean things up. I just got back from out there,,,,and is all I had to say, please stay out of my shop till I die. It looks like I will be back in the shop to trick or treat my self on halloween. I would like to thank all you folks for you oustanding suport. I will try and get back to my projects, and show some pic's. In my superclean shop

 

LCD television, BLUE ray player, go to YOUTUBE, locate the lil bar on top that is "search" click it, in the blank.. type "land speed record", race onboard camera, first drive, dragstrip, and bonneville.. Here's one.. See if it don't make you feel "YOUNGER".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O310qCydgnU

I keep burning my beard back welding.. crooked again and needs trimming.. again. Reading glasses, holding my nose too close and the beard starts stinking.

I may slow down and just play with my toys.. Needing finished? a 23T frame hanging from the ceiling, a early mustang and the 57 GMC....

 

trade off saturday or sunday morning breakfast and shop visitation days with old friends .you may not always get anything done in the shop but the bench racing is always good!

 

Hey Hotrod. What are you having a problem with ? Maybe I missed
it. Know how you feel. I have to "improvise" all the time now. Had more surgeries than I can remember and been battling Cancer for 4 years. Pissed me off big time I couldn't work or race my car. Well.... So far I have survived but missing a lot of body parts. Bottom line,,,, I'm alive and back racing in moderation. Hang tight .....above all......no gloom & doom allowed.
Hope you get better man.

 

Well my man I feel your pain and I'm really not that old and have been forced inside most of the time! My mind says go and the body says hell no! But on the good days I try and get at least one positive thing done usually doesn't happen but I try! Do what you can when you can and keep the positive attitude you'll get something done. I make it through with A LOT of help from family and friends not financially but mentally they all keep me sane and my mind working in the right direction! Stay at it you'll work something out I'm sure!

 

Maybe you could find some young person that would love to work on and learn from you by working on your car. Since schools have decided that vocational arts classes are not necessary you could make a big change in someone elses life and and keeping them busy in your shop will keep them out of trouble in other areas in their lives. It worked for me. When I was a kid there wasn't shit for kids to do in Vegas and we had to find things to do. Some of them were the best for me, But some Hot rod college kids let a 14 year old kid hang around to clean parts and help assemble motors and get the car ready for the drags was a God sent. I'm still thankful to them for letting he hang with them. It was a blast and gave me direction in my life. The thought of working on or owning an old car is usually so unimaginable to them that they just give up and do stupid shit. But to help wrench on a cool old car and learn how the thing runs..........Well you know that feeling. Anyway Hope you get you butt moving a little and try and do one positive thing in you garage everyday. No mater how small I sure it'll make you out look on life look a little better. If nothing else you might find some things you haven't seen in years.lol. Take care.YRUHOT............Doug

 

Hits close to home for me too... @ 55yrs I am really feeling all those "hard miles".
My heart goes out to you... I would be at the laptop too... Good Luck!

 

Well I can say I'm in the same boat. Lost my right leg in 2006 and have been fighting an uphill battle. Told my self last year that I would not be doing any more hot rods and committed my self to my other passion which is old school audio stuff (reel to reel mostly). Then my buddy asks me if I know anyone who would want a 51 Pontiac and I could not stop myself. I think I just need to refocus on what I can do and hire my best friends kid to do the rest for me. Good luck and best health wishes to all

Thomas

 

Hello 60man

Let me say this. Without a strong heart your a F%$&ed duck. I'm very lucky. I'm back to the shop a few hours a day a week. I've been setting in my lazy chair for over a month.

 

Could that be XXX? Great place, just dont get there often enough.

 

Well, beleive me i i understand after double bypass, three stints and diabetes i still try to do some little stuff in the shop. I tell everyone 25 years ago i would lay under a custom at 7.00pm and work on it until 3 or 4 in the morning. Now i can lay under my pontiac at 7.00pm and fall asleep by 7.30. Doc says this is my golden years, i tell him the only thing golden in my life now is my piss. Just tinkering in the shop is better than in the house.
Foot

 

Here's an option,,keeps this lad busy!

 

My main issues are, the EIGHT spinal surgeries I've had; Three to my cervical spine (neck), and FIVE to my lumbar spine (low back). Basically I have 4 vertebrae in my neck fused, 4 vertebrae in my low back fused, and then fused to my sacrum (but I seriously question if that segment is actually fused). We ALL have limitations, we just get more as we age, and have to deal with the wear and tear of life on this planet. I blame it ALL on GRAVITY! I came up with a saying many years ago in my career as an X-Ray/CAT Scan Tech; "I do the best job possible, under the worst possible circumstances"; it's even more appropriate now. As they say, "when you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on". Butch/56sedandelivery.

 

Hi Hotrod-Willys.Like my Father used to say.Do the best you can with what you have to work with.Had a heart attack,triple bypass,crashed in the hospital and diabetes.Still going and shoved my thumb in the "Grim Reapers"eye.Can`t do as much as I used to,but I do what I can every day.Wife is disabled,so I do all the cooking,cleaning,laundry,shopping and ect.Get out just about every day to pick up mail,newspaper and ect weather permitting(hate cold and wet).Just have to make the best of a bad situation.By the way,just turned 67 a few days ago.
Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo

 

Again guys I thank you for your suport. I hope this thread showed every one that life is short. Eat your dessert first. Is all I'm trying to do is keep this guy off my door step.

PS Love you guys

 

I guess we will all get there one day. This was sent to me a while back. It made me chuckle a bit and realised this could be me one day.