Arrrrg! I'm getting old{er}...

[Capt Steve]

Well today it finally happened, got my Medicare card in the mail. It doesn't go into affect until November and only after a couple of mountains of paperwork but the damned thing just showed up in the mailbox.

Now the VA has been taking very good care of me for the last 6 years or so...
but the truth is folks, I'm a physical wreck.

I wake up in the morning and take off my C-Pap mask and stumble off to the bathroom. Got pills for cholesterol and blood pressure along with ibuprofen for the the myriad of aches and pains that seem to arrive all too frequently.

I put in my hearing aides {gun fire can necessitate them}, and slip the remote that controls them around my neck {it also controls the bluetooth transmitter that makes watching TV and speaking on the i Phone possible}.

Part of getting dressed is often one of my many knee braces, depending on the days scheduled activities. Two total knee replacements on my right knee {turns out I was deathly allergic to the first one}. That and the PHN - Post Herepetic Neuralgia - permanent nerve damage on the bottom of my right foot {a parting gift from a nasty bout of Shingles a few years ago}, combined to get me permanent handicapped parking plates for all of my vehicles.

Sigh... Other than that {Mrs. Lincoln, how did you like the play?}

But then I walked out to the garage, past a safe full of great guns and gazed up at Mt Lemon towering 9,200' above our little valley at (3,400'). There sat my Harley Dyna Super Glide glistening in all of its Vivid Black Glory and started thinking about the camping trip we're taking on Monday.



Four days and 3 nights up at Big Lake in the White Mountains at 9,000'. The 24' Class C motorhome towing the Harley on its Kendon single trailer. We will be riding highway 191, The Devils Highway, more than once along with all of the other great bike roads in the area beating the summer heat left behind here in Tucson.

Labor day we are off to northern California for our {5th} annual trip to the gold country to visit friends and relatives, pan some gold, shoot some guns, play some golf....yep I can still play a couple of rounds a month (9 handicap), and just limp a little extra for a couple of days after; and of course ride the bad boy on some more great roads.

Early October we are headed back up to Angel Fire, NM to my buddies new house on 3 acres at 8,900' in the southern Rockies - {same agenda as northern California but with Black bear and Elk added to the mix}. He even put in an RV pad complete with 30 amp service and water, what a guy!

November will see us headed to Florida, Key West to be specific {where I was born}, to celebrate my 65th birthday. Yep, towing the bike on that trip as well, in fact we plan on leaving the RV in Homestead and riding the overseas highway to Key West on the bike, we have reservations for a nice hotel right downtown.

The trip to Florida and back will include a lot of stops see the country, visit friends and relatives, bike rides {Tail of the Dragon?}, play golf etc., etc..

So now, upon reflection, I guess this getting old thing just ain't so bad after all... Toss my wonderful bride of 46 years into the equation and life really just does not get much better. I do miss my doggie, had to put her down a few months back, and the new year might just be the time to get another pooch...but

Life is good!

 

[jimbo728]

Hang in there Capt! Im in the same boat with regard to my ability
to do things. Im coming back from paralysis with neuropathy and amputations.
The rule I live by is ( there are 10 ways to do anything).
It helps.
Good luck on your journey.
Jim

 

[JamesArthur60]

Assuming that picture was taken in your front yard, at least you don't have to cut grass like many of us. Enjoy life, the road of fun and frolic is starting to get bumpy.

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

Sounds like a well deserved retirement.

Ivan

 

[Harley Fan]

Just caught up with this thread, Capt Steve.

BOY! I can relate! But I love the upbeat tone... Like is oft repeated- "Use it 'till you lose it!"

Well today it finally happened, got my Medicare card in the mail. It doesn't go into affect until November and only after a couple of mountains of paperwork but the damned thing just showed up in the mailbox.

Now the VA has been taking very good care of me for the last 6 years or so...
but the truth is folks, I'm a physical wreck.

I wake up in the morning and take off my C-Pap mask and stumble off to the bathroom. Got pills for cholesterol and blood pressure along with ibuprofen for the the myriad of aches and pains that seem to arrive all too frequently.

I put in my hearing aides {gun fire can necessitate them}, and slip the remote that controls them around my neck {it also controls the bluetooth transmitter that makes watching TV and speaking on the i Phone possible}.

Part of getting dressed is often one of my many knee braces, depending on the days scheduled activities. Two total knee replacements on my right knee {turns out I was deathly allergic to the first one}. That and the PHN - Post Herepetic Neuralgia - permanent nerve damage on the bottom of my right foot {a parting gift from a nasty bout of Shingles a few years ago}, combined to get me permanent handicapped parking plates for all of my vehicles.

Sigh... Other than that {Mrs. Lincoln, how did you like the play?}

But then I walked out to the garage, past a safe full of great guns and gazed up at Mt Lemon towering 9,200' above our little valley at (3,400'). There sat my Harley Dyna Super Glide glistening in all of its Vivid Black Glory and started thinking about the camping trip we're taking on Monday.



Four days and 3 nights up at Big Lake in the White Mountains at 9,000'. The 24' Class C motorhome towing the Harley on its Kendon single trailer. We will be riding highway 191, The Devils Highway, more than once along with all of the other great bike roads in the area beating the summer heat left behind here in Tucson.

Labor day we are off to northern California for our {5th} annual trip to the gold country to visit friends and relatives, pan some gold, shoot some guns, play some golf....yep I can still play a couple of rounds a month (9 handicap), and just limp a little extra for a couple of days after; and of course ride the bad boy on some more great roads.

Early October we are headed back up to Angel Fire, NM to my buddies new house on 3 acres at 8,900' in the southern Rockies - {same agenda as northern California but with Black bear and Elk added to the mix}. He even put in an RV pad complete with 30 amp service and water, what a guy!

November will see us headed to Florida, Key West to be specific {where I was born}, to celebrate my 65th birthday. Yep, towing the bike on that trip as well, in fact we plan on leaving the RV in Homestead and riding the overseas highway to Key West on the bike, we have reservations for a nice hotel right downtown.

The trip to Florida and back will include a lot of stops see the country, visit friends and relatives, bike rides {Tail of the Dragon?}, play golf etc., etc..

So now, upon reflection, I guess this getting old thing just ain't so bad after all... Toss my wonderful bride of 46 years into the equation and life really just does not get much better. I do miss my doggie, had to put her down a few months back, and the new year might just be the time to get another pooch...but

Life is good!

 

[ohioseabee]

I'm closing in on 69 rapidly and to post all of my ailments would use up too much bandwidth! Agent Orange seems to be (according to the docs) the primary culprit.

 

[Tom S.]

A couple of saying about getting older:

It's not for sissies.
If I had known then what I know now, I'd have taken better care of myself.
Growing old beats the alternative.
One thing about old age - it doesn't last.
Waking up in pain means your still alive.
Old age is always fifteen years older than I am.
Men do not quit playing because they grow old — they grow old because they quit playing.
Birthdays are good for you. Statistics show that the people who have the most live the longest.
Life is a moderately good play with a badly written third act.
Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional.
Life would be infinitely happier if we could only be born at the age of eighty and gradually approach eighteen.
Time may be a great healer, but it's a lousy beautician.
Wisdom doesn't necessarily come with age. Sometimes age just shows up all by itself.
I don't do alcohol anymore - I get the same effect just standing up fast.
First you forget names, then you forget faces, then you forget to pull your zipper up, then you forget to pull your zipper down.
As you get older three things happen. The first is your memory goes, and I can't remember the other two.
Life is like a roll of toilet paper. The closer you get to the end, the faster it goes.
You know you're getting old when all the celebrities you once liked as a teenager start dropping dead.
You know you're getting old when you start hearing all the music you once liked as a teenager in elevators.

Feel free to add your own.

 

[soFlaNative]

Honestly, a 50's era Conch in the Catalina's?
Too cool. Gots to be a good story in there somewhere.
Stay well, thanks for the post.

 

[Twiki357]

A couple of saying about getting older:


You know you're getting old when all the celebrities you once liked as a teenager start dropping dead.


Feel free to add your own.

I guess I'm in trouble. They all already are.

 

[Big Cholla]

Capt. Steve: Your op could have been written by me. Watch out for that Ibuprofen....use too much of it and it can really play havoc with your liver. I was living on it for a while when after a 'checkup' required CBC, my family Doc. told me I was on the edge of liver failure. We reviewed all that I was taking on prescription meds and there was nothing there. Then we reviewed all that I was taking of 'over the counter' meds'. My over use for some time of Ibuprofen jumped right out at the Doc. That was two years ago and my liver has recovered....... Thank goodness! .....

But, darn it! Ibuprofen worked sooooo well. ........

 

[wilkoi]

Ride long and often.

 

[shouldazagged]

I'm 79, going on 158, and have lots of physical limitations, at least three needing surgery. On the other hand, I've accumulated an awful lot of knowledge and painfully-earned wisdom in nearly eighty years.

Younger people generally don't want to hear it, but it's mine and I'm glad I have it.

It's some consolation.

 

[Hugh WW]

The fire dept medics have been to my house so many times they all know my medical history without asking. Flat lined 5 times in Sept. of last year. Waiting on Barrows to call me back for the next neurological exam to remove the blockages. Hell of a way to quit smoking. But we do live within 30 minutes of Big Lake...

 

[rwsmith]

Join the club....

If you WEREN'T getting older that would definitely be a problem.

 

[joe44va]

I hear ya. I had a Dyna but started having issues keeping the shiny side up. Traded it for a Corvette. Getting into that isn't getting any easier but I'm determined to drive it to a nursing home some day.

 

[Old 44 Guy]

Capt, I know the feeling. As George Burns once said " My doctors are all dead". Why I'm here is beyond me, guess I'm lucky or come from good genes. Had a bunch of guns, hunted all over the West, Had 3 wonderful children, lost 3 wives, 8 grandkids now 3 1/2 greats. Guess I'm a lucky guy. Now at almost 86 I sure enjoy the Forum. Teach the young ones coming up to shoot & enjoy as we have.