Well, remember the pretext (context?) here. This was not my first rodeo. From where I sit typing I can see 5 buildings I built. A really neat barn, greenhouse (ok, that one was easy) my first shop/woodshed, my big shop, and the house I'm sitting in. Oops, 6- I tore down the POS wellhouse the property came with a few years ago, poured a new slab, and built a very sweet new BIG wellhouse using "best practices" home construction techniques. On all of them, in fact, I did everything from the concrete work to the roofs. Not to mention all the field fences around the place (now, THAT is a pain in the..... everything), 4 cords of firewood a year since 1991 or whenever it was, cutting in roads with a shovel and keeping them graveled, the cedar fence I just built, etc etc. In other words, I kinda *am* a construction worker, but I'd argue doing it at a NON-daily level is healthier than doing it 40 hours a week. How many 50-something construction workers still move well?
I'll certainly agree most people in their mid-50's shouldn't do it, any more than they should do what Mike is doing virtually daily. But as I've rambled on about more than I should've, I'm not most people. That's not because I'm awesome; I'm not. It's because I've been continuously going at this stuff for pushing 30 years to some degree.
Hmm.... this got me thinking. Two of the physically healthiest, most physically-capable "old guys" I know are contractors. Note that's NOT a construction worker. Contractors are generalists; like with me, the job changes.
Again, I'm in no way arguing against going to the gym or denigrating the hard work therein. Just saying, it's not the only way. And I'll concede that I do take risks that maybe aren't smart as I get <bleep> older.
