Yep, it’s a favorite saying. Even from year to year I can feel myself slowing. Finally got myself a righteous proper workshop about 5 years ago. With each passing year I use it less and less, and stand back and admire it more and more.
Damn. Should have done it years ago.
Yard work impacts on the back, specifically overseeding. Wait for it… it’s not just overseeding. It’s overseeding after steel-raking an area of the lawn after thatch-raking out the dead moss after spreading moss killer after raking oak tree sticks preceded by removing a billion leaves preceded by 300,000 acorns over maybe 6 iterations over the fall & winter.
I just flipped a tens digit and am feeling it. I am lucky to be able to keep doing it. That said… our next living space won’t be within 100 yards of an oak tree.
I’m retired and I hit 60 this year. I have redone much of the landscaping. Probably planted 30 new trees/shrubs and moved another dozen. Next week I’ll be getting 20 yards of mulch to put down. Great thing about retirement is that I don’t have to move the whole pile in one weekend.
Good to see you are still kickin’! I retired at 62 in '02, so here I am at 82m my days of yard work are done, we managed to find a good home cleaner, every 3rd week, and some really great folks for yard cleanup, landscape, about every 3 months or so, it’s just gotten to be too much for us, luckily we’re able to afford the help, but we have slowed down, Covid lockdown, slowdown had cost us, stamina loss, slow recovery, manage to do what needs to be done, but us, Inlaws now all octogenarians, have slowed the pace…
So now all these tools, some mementos from my 40 years at WeCo, Ma Bell, good years, lots of good workmates, cusomers, hardware to play with, make work, now obsolete, sadly… Maybe garage sales, maybe donates, younger family is off in different directions, so ho help there…
Crazy times, glad I went out when I did, traveled a bit, lotsa memories, but my peers are slipping away… Too fast, too soon…
weco
Sorry about your loss my friend.
Retire but stay involved. You will enjoy your new freedom.
Annuities? I don’t know. Sounds boring. Is there a tax advantage?
I suppose there might be situations in which annuities are beneficial. But in all my years on TMF one of the messages I got loud and clear is that -in general- annuities are not good. 1poormom had one, and it was liquidated when she died. She didn’t ask me, or I would have advised against it. It was one of those where they cap your gains on “up” years, but guarantee no losses on “down” years. I think the “guaranteed no losses” is what appealed to her.
Good to see you, Weco (and PSU). Blasts from the TMF past. 
Still have all those tools, eh? I might suggest donating to Habitat for Humanity. I’ll bet they could use tools. I’d offer to take them off your hands, but I have most of what I need already, and don’t really have additional space in the garage.
I was 59 when I retired. Coming up on 61 now. Yes, we’ve already done some traveling. The entire month of January we were in Asia. Visited some in-laws, snorkeled some wrecks, etc. Planning on an Iceland trip very soon. Always wanted to visit there. Collecting memories, and photographs to aid the memory.
We still try to do some of the yardwork. It’s good to keep active. I took down a tree a few weeks ago, and will be pruning our palo verde so it won’t be as vulnerable to the wind (they break easily). But we have found a competent landscaper, reasonable prices. I even had him do a drip line repair yesterday (I usually handle those, but I didn’t know how much digging would be required…I was afraid it might be A LOT).
Back to topic, so glad I retired when I did. I fear I may have missed the opportunity to do a South America / Antarctica cruise. The last one I saw was over 100 days. I’m not sure we can be gone over 3 months. We both have meds that would need refills in that time, for example. 1poorlady needs to see the oncologist 2x per year. Plus 1poorMIL has kidney cancer (which appears to be slow-growing, so they don’t want to operate…she’ll probably die of old age before the cancer can get her), and that requires regular checks. Etc. You probably get the idea.
Your health will be fine until it isn’t. Well, ours “isn’t” since 2019. But it’s not crippling, so we can still do stuff. At some point, we probably won’t be able to anymore.
Well, Well, Well a positive look on life is always a treat for me.
My yardwork led to a busted shoulder this month. At 64 it hurts. 7 weeks and I still haven’t visited P. T. Not my favorite cup of tea you know?
I had less than 50K when forced into retirement because of major back surgeries. That was 25 years ago. I still work part time but $50K goes fast.
TMF saved my outlook on life in 2018 after trying my small knowledge of stocks for a month on Robinhood I knew I was in trouble. I listened to TMF ads as they pushed Shopify down my throat thank God for them. Went from up 8% to 138% by the end of 2022. My 4th year.
I spent the last year watching my portfolio dive -80%. A high price to pay but no better education than to feel the pain of ignorance, inpatients, and nietivity about where stock tips come from. It’s not a cocktail party.
Today I still own Shopify. Up 375% . I have around 30 shares left but it has paid for itself over and over.
TMF used to advice 3 to 5 years buy and hold. Recently it’s 5 years so my head went under water on that one.
I now own a diverse portfolio that carries some awesome dividend stocks. Nothing like compound interest.
Annuities however are not in my bag of tricks.
This is Kathy my nurse. You got to love that part of a broken shoulder.
Looking at that live means my injury is got at least 6 more months to heal lol.
Bummer about the forced early retirement. If it was voluntary, that would be different. Are you waiting for SS, or taking it now?
While I can appreciate the nurse visits, PT is very helpful. When I have gone, I learn the exercises in three or four sessions (usually), and then just do them on my own at home. So I pay for some sessions, and then DIY it from there. I don’t bounce back like I used to, so PT helps make sure it heals properly.
The last time I had PT they gave me an app for my phone. The exercises were timed and I didn’t have to remember them. PT is OK but what really fixed my problem was a shot in the neck. Only problem is those shots don’t last forever. The pain is coming back.
“PT is OK but what really fixed my problem was a shot in the neck. Only problem is those shots don’t last forever. The pain is coming back.”
Is your pain golf related ?
I xc ski all winter ( even during the recent lame winter ) and then when it’s done I take a month off to heal/rest up. Don’t mean sit on the couch month off, but just a month of no strenuous activity. Went to the driving range Monday, 1st time swinging a club since last year, and I am still sore. Hitting off of a mat that is atop a concrete pad, so maybe that has something to do with it, as it is not a forgiving surface, and I was not hitting it well, coming down steep and hitting behind the ball ( into the mat-concrete ). I don’t golf a whole lot, and am starting to think that golf is a lot tougher on the body than I assumed ( or old age is rearing it’s ugly head, lol ).
Dunno. It might be. It’s definitely nerve related. The nerve runs from the neck across the sholder and down the arm to the elbow. Sometimes my elbow feels like it’s on fire. I do know when I got a shot in the neck I got almost immediate relief, however a Google search indicates the pain will eventually come back. It’s trying to do that now.
I don’t practice so I don’t have the issue of hitting off of concrete. Perhaps that’s why I’m not a good golfer but with a handicap I manage to win $3 every now and then.
I play three times a week and marshal one morning a week in return for golf so I guess you can say I get my practice by playing. Like most duffers my short game is horrible, I putt fairly good and I can keep a tee shot in the fairway, it’s just not long enough. I’m a 20 handicap.
Regards,
ImAGolfer (retired 2003)
From chronic pain management, nerve pain that does not impair* function should be ignored. Easy to say; hard to do.
In pain rehabilitation, there is a concept of stoking a fire. paying attention to the fire and feeding it with pain behaviors incentivizes the brain and associated parts to continue to upregulate the signal.
If you can grin and bear it, AND it doesn’t impair function, ignore it and try to help your brain “forget” about it.
Again: Easy to say; hard to do.
*loss of sensation, strength or control.
Has your Dr said if it’s stenosis of the foramen where the nerve exits the spinal/vertebral column?
(There are other types of stenosis, such as the spinal canal.)
Has the Dr specified what exactly is causal?
Or an impingement in the muscle/s across the top of the shoulder / shoulder blade, or deltoid?
The deltoid is the muscle at the top of the arm, above the bicep/tricep.
If it’s muscle, then massage, myofascial release might help.
Myofascial release is deep, targeted massage… And involves some pain.
Where is the injection site?
Vertebrae/cervical neck?
Farther out … In the muscle/fascia between vertebrae n deltoid.
Near the deltoid, into the area around the rotary cuff?
If these questions are too invasive, tell me to foff. 
Would you consider chiropractic if it’s vertebral foramen stenosis?
Asking for a friend.
ralph
This is not medical advice.
It’s financial advice. If you can eliminate the arm/elbow pain, you increase the potential to win $6 every once in a while.
Have you consulted a SPORTS INJURY PT?
Hey Ralph. Are you a doctor or something? Man I haven’t heard so many big words since the last time I read the results of all the tests I took for other issues. Didn’t understand them then and don’t understand them now.
I’m not the one hurting. I am a little but nothing like before the shots. I was just providing input for someone who was hurting.
Cervical neck as I recall. I think as people age things like authritis (sp) creeps in and causes issues. There was a small bandaid right below my neck when I showered after the procedure.
Yes. Like I mentioned earlier the best one gave me an app for the iPhone with all the exercises and timing.
Again, I’m not the one that needs help. I was merely providing input for someone else. I’ll now try to look up some of those high fangled words you threw at me in my PDR.
Regards,
ImAGolfer (retired '03)
Nope. Not a doc. NOTHING I write is intended as medical advice.
I just thought you’d likely heard those words and might know the concepts.
Myofascial :
… Myo = muscle;
… Fascial is Fascia = the white connective tissues that surround and connect one muscle to another, or to bone. Think about the ‘white membrane’ you see on a roast. It provides a ‘slippery surface’ between layers of muscle. It’s usually pretty tough.
(Fibromyalgia - painful fascia/muscle;
Chronic myofascial pain - pain in muscles and fascia.)
Cervical vertebral foramen:
… Foramen = the canal (through which something passes). There are foramena (plural) for anything that passes through a bone, or between bones: blood vessels, tendons/ligaments (?), and nerves. We often hear about the nerves being ‘pinched’ cause this causes pain. and PAIN.
Stenosis = narrowing. The canal/foramen becomes more narrow. Anything that passes through the canal/foramen is constricted. Pressing on a nerve can cause pain. Or PAIN.
Cervical = neck area;
Cervical vertebrae are the 7 vertebrae from the base of the skull to the first thoracic (chest) vertebra. There are foramena/canals between each vertebrae, on both right and left sides.
The nerves for the shoulders and arms exit the spinal cord and pass through cervical vertebrae foramen, on the way to/from the arms/hands/etc.
As an aside - Sciatica (pain due to the sciatic nerve being pinched/compressed) down into the leg, is similar to the ‘arm pain’ you described.
Sciatica can be caused in a least two places:
hth
ralph
Thank you Ralph. I am overly impressed. I’m sure everyone else is as well.
