For those of us 50 years and older

Never trust a fart, never waste a hard on.

 

At 73 our house burned down, I had become soft and lazy, BUT after 5 months I am in better shape than I have been in years. I retired in 95 and have had a ball but I now realize that sometimes the loss of your way of life can be the best thing that could happen.

 

Age 55 and typing this from the floor after having my wife move the computer to my current level.
Fractured another disc in my back loading up engine blocks and cylinder heads.
I am getting too old to dance with heavy iron anymore.
Selling off my project cars and parts but will still roam the junkyards when healthy
buying small light weight items.

 

I'm 52..... this last couple of weeks I'm feeling old trying to squeeze in and out of a rusty '48 Crosley I'm replacing the floors in and fixing the rust worm holes on.....I'm waking up creaky and stiff (not in a good way either)....

The car I'm doing on a "pay it forward" for an aquaintence, just wish i could work as fast and as long on it as i used to....
Tom

 

Getting old doesn't bother me because I don't remember ever being young, it must have been a long time ago.

 

I got no complaints, old age so far has been my best years, just about sixty, I have the knowledge and time to build cars, a lifetime has taught me how to weld, fabricate, not be afraid to try, a lifetime of collecting tools gives me what I need to build, best of all, a heated shop that is paid for and nobody can kick me out of.
Not that there haven't been scares, a tumor in my neck nearly killed me two years ago, but it also kick started the drive to live life with gusto, and truly appreciate the ability to get out of bed every morning. It was close, something I'll never forget, those of you still working but afraid to quit, do it now, life can be short, get all you can.

 

I'm chasing 60 down and it irritates me when I can't do things I use to like working on these cars all day. When I was young I worked a 40 hr week in a body shop then spend another 4/5 hours a night plus Saturday building hot rods. Today if I work a full 8 I can't seen to move the next day.
I thiink life is backward, I think once we are born we should be in old decrepit bodies sitting in diapers in a nursing home, not knowing what's happening. After a few years you get better so they give you a gold watch and send you to work. After 30 years or so they send you home where you keep getting younger and younger till you get to the point you can no longer read and write and you sit around in diapers till you die. The beginning and the end stays the same but retirement would sure be a lot more fun!

 

I turned 58 this year and I can feel it. As my dear Mother use to say - "There's a lot of lead in these golden years."

 

59 next month......the engine (muscle power) has held up way better than the frame and body. Just recovering now from torn back ligaments......again. Which isn't anywhere as bad as was the pinched nerve in my left shoulder a few years ago. Then I did the same to my right..................

 

Mid fifties here, seems every ache and pain I can attribute to something I did when I was younger. Smoked two packs a day for over thirty five years, but quit cold turkey in 2005. Wouldn't be here if I hadn't.

Some days I feel great, others, the prior days activities come back to haunt me.

---John

 

One thing I have noted about old age: If you are overweight it makes aging so much worse. Some things I attribute to old age pain and inability to do anymore is actually due to the expanding mid section that I never had before I turned 50. Loose the belly and getting around is so much easier.

 

I'm 52 and was recently diagnosed with Divorce. I'm doing pretty well as a single guy these days. Good thing I caught it in time...

 

When they talk about the "golden years", they only mention half of it. Sometimes it should be called "golden shower years" when the body starts getting worse and worse.

 

Enjoy while you still can....

 

Yep.Time marches on.Turned 68 last month.Would like to live longer than my Father.Don`t think that I will.He passed in 1994 at the age of 98.
He "been there done that".WW1 vet.He and his oldest brother served in the trenches.He came along on 11-11-1896.Miss him a bunch.Still moving under my own power thanks to the BIG BOSS upstairs.The best to all of our "antique" members.God bless you all.
Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo

 

Waylon has a great song: "I may be used, but I ain't used up" that uses many comparisons to cars. You can find it on YouTube easily enough.

 

I feel sorry for you guys that are in your 50s and complaining about how you feel. Way too young to be feeling crappy. I never felt my age til about 62, all down hill last 4 years..

 

..............Classic.

 

"Life sucks, but it sure beats the alternative". I saw a comedian once, and part of his act was about life and how it was all backwards. He said we should all start out dead; then become old and feeble; then successful, married, and with families; then young and carefree; then as small children playing; then as babies; then in a mothers womb growing and developing; and finally.....nothing. I don't drink, I don't smoke, I spent my career in healthcare, but genetics has left me with hypertension, elevated cholesterol and triglycerides, but mostly a rotten spine that's undergone eight spinal surgeries. But, I still have my hair and teeth at 62. My eyes were always perfect; then I started needing reading glasses; now freeway signs in the distance are getting blurry. And what's with the damn hair starting to grow out of my ears? I'm always pulling the ear hair out, but it sure grows fast. I used to yank the occasional grey hair out of my beard; now there's the occasional black hair growing in there I don't dare pull out. I tried using Just For Men Beard and Moustache dye, but grey hair grows amazingly fast; I can't keep up with it. One final thought, something I heard years ago; when a man is young, all his joints are limber, except one, and it's always stiff; when he's old, all his joints are stiff, except one, and it's always limber. Butch/56sedandelivery.

 

I'm 54, look 44, and I'd settle for 34 if I had a hot babe who made me feel 24.

Indiana Jones:"It's not the years, it's the mileage".

 

There is a mathematical reason that the years seem to go by faster as you grow older. For a five year old kid, one year is 20% of their life. For a 50 year old, a year is a mere 2%. The days seem to be the same length, but the years fly by.

I'll be 60 in June of 2014. Still in pretty good health, never smoked or drank much, not overweight (6'3" and 205 lbs), but do feel the creakiness in the joints a lot more often than I used to.

 

You're only as old as the women you feel.

 

I used to do it all night, now it takes all night to do it!
I recently had shoulder surgery, which triggered an arthritis flair which has me sitting here at the computer drooling from pain killers, rather than in the garage working on my truck. At 61, I'm very healthy except for the arthritis, but I'm not sure I will get my truck done, because I get to work on it so little. what really hurts the worst is the tear in my wife's eye as she watches me try to get down the stairs in the mornings.
There aren't many choices though, are there?

 

Would you belive they made flexifuel engines in the beginning of 60's?
Me I do run great on alcohol as well!
Occasionally miss a beat and sputter on cold mornings, but nuthin that half a gallon of good old anti-freeze wouldn't help...

 

Retired at age 60 that was 11 months ago keeping very busy working on the LONG bucket list every day. My wife now calls me tired retired you know I'm enjoying every minute of it. Sure theres those aches and pains at times but hell keeping active I think will keep us young.
Never drank don't do drugs never smoked {unless you count the rear tires} IM just enjoying my hydro carbon habit every chance I get. Hoping for another 30 or more years then I might finish all my projects by then or die trying.

 

Had a friend tell me "He did not believe in Divorce"...
I told him " Evidently you have not met the right woman"!!

 

Nearly skipped this thread. Glad I read many of the threads. I wouldn't if I had a life. A lot of great answers on this one that I can agree with.
If I live till my birthday this January I'll be 75. Wife will be 73. Married to one of the greatest people any man could want for 56 years. We really are best friends. I'm sure that's what has kept me going.
As far as that piece of paper in the first post, I recieved new headlights after living most of my life with cheap bulb headlights that didn't work well. I can see! My ball joints wore out then my engine quit. Lucky I had a great mechanic standing by and I'm still cruising down the highway of life.
No more racing or high revs, no long haul trips, but I do well down the back roads and level ground.
I didn't really feel old until my hips gave out. This was my first surgery ever. I recovered quickly and walking was more like years ago. But shit happened. I poked an eye lens out and after that I couldn't stand the sun. Been sitting on my ass inside mostly for the past 2 1/2 years. I knew better. That thing "use it or loose it" is true.
We didn't even consider that we were old until after 65. And didn't look terribly old until after 70. Now each morning we both look around to see if we're above ground and are thankful for one more day. When I was young I didn't think I'd make it to 21. Then later I didn't think I'd see retirement at 55. That was nearly 20 years ago.
I also discovered money and material things are not as important as friends. It's true money helps but we don't need as much crap as we think. We don't attend car shows and swap meets like before and my tinkerin on old cars has almost stopped. I'm so thankful for the HAMB and the great members for this chance to still share events and other car related things thru these pages.

 

Maybe instead of listing our cars in our profile we should list our medications.

 

I said I'd never take drugs. Holy crap. I have my own drug dealer at Walgreens and she knows me by name. .

 

My friends keep dying...I think thats a sign