yesterday
I went to install a part catcher conveyor on a lathe, and they rolled it out to me on it’s skid on two dollies. They took off, and I unscrewed the mounting bolts and picked it off. It’s a small thing, about 7′ long and weighed around 400 lbs. The motor end was the heaviest so I picked it off and set it on the ground first; then I set the lighter end down and they showed back up with a forklift. “You should have waited! That’s too heavy!!!”.
I didn’t have the heart to tell them that thirty years ago I would have shouldered it and carried it into position. Which is the main reason, I suppose, that my knees are fucked.
And now everything hurts. I can still work like the horse I used to, but it takes me longer to recover. I don’t know how long I’d have to stay in bed if I got in the kind of fistfight I used to be known for in the mills. Back then it took me four days to recover; if I survived at all, today, I’d probably have to spend that time in the hospital.
My last fistfight was in the seventh grade. I think I came out on top. My adversary and I later became close friends. We still are. I gave up fighting after that because I noticed that after each one I had developed a nasty rash of cuts and bruises.
Yep.
Can do the same things I did when I was a youth, but it takes longer to recover.
Fighting, overworking my body, drinking….
THe time to return to “normal” has at least tripled. .
I try to spend more of my time in Normal and stay away from excitement. Deviations usually involve recovery that is longer than it was.
Still heal pretty good, just know how to stay away from things that cause healing a little better.
Yup, my age was brought home to me last winter with all the snow that required shoveling. I hurt in places I didn’t know I HAD.
Never much of a fighter. If someone insisted upon fighting me I’ll find something hard to break over his head. I’m worse now, never fight with an old man, they know all the dirty tricks and have nothing to lose.
As for drinking, last time I really tied one on was two years ago on my birthday (my 49th), we were on a cruise and left Bermuda on my birthday. Beer all day, wine and a cordial over dinner, then an Irish whisky tasting, then a few more beers, then a few more at the bar on the stern with a cigar. I managed to get my staggering timed to the rocking of the ship so I could walk fairly straight.
Since turning 50 my mantra has become:
Motrin is my friend!
If we had known we wuz going to live this long we would have taken better care of ourselves.
It’s a terrible thing when you’re actively pursuing drugs — and it ain’t recreational but maintenance. :D
Jenny
But you know why you do it, don’t you?
Because the look on the faces of the young pups who have been giving you crap for being “old” is priceless when you show them what you CAN do.
“Holy Crap, Dave! How did you DO that?!”
“Hell, son, you should have seen what I did twenty years ago.”
Why I don’t forge anymore: I can do it, but a day hammering equals ~ three days of it hurting to pick up a glass.