Just turned 74 and am fearful of become a curmudgeon.

It seems to me the older I get, the harder time I have with just simple repair tasks around the home or working on a vehicle or trying to build something, everything seems to be about 4 times as difficult as it ought to be and take 4 times as long as I anticipated. Anyone else have these problems or is it just the fate of geezers ?

life does go on just at a different pace and level of productivity for energy expended

norm

Hell, it didn't take me 74 years...

Thats what I was thinking....hes wayyyyy behind the curve. Besidestaking longer to do stuff, you get crabbier about it, and everything else.And when you are done, you are more tired than you can believe...

My Dad just turned 73. We still have a construction business together. He is "semi-retired", whatever the heck that is supposed to mean.

He instilled a good work ethic in me, I think. It's funny how that can be a double-edged sword. I'm still wanting to go faster, longer, harder etc. and I have to constantly remind myself that he can't any longer. Not that he doesn't want to, just that he can't anymore.

I'm pulling for you guys. As long as you're doing something, anything really, don't worry how long it takes. You've done your part.

"You can't !@#$ something up if you're not doing anything".
- a favorite quote from a guy Dad and I both worked for

If it has taken this long, embrace it.

Pull your pants up to your nipples and learn some Yiddish insults!

used to worry about becoming a curmudgeon, until I realized I already was one!

A gentleman I grew up around was a very active farmer and athlete for most of his life. He grew up on a farm and ended up playing pro baseball and basketball at the same time. After he quit the pro sports he farmed for a living with all the associated labor that goes along with it. I started to notice as I got a bit older that he had begun to slow down. He told me that one morning when he was 80 or so, he just woke up and felt old. Said it was kindof a letdown because he could only go 9 holes at the golf course twice a week instead of 18. My grandad says the same thing, he's 82 now and it frustrates him to no end that he has to take breaks when doing farm work.

When my great grandad went to live at the rest home when he was 97 he always complained about all the folks he thought shouldn't be in there. As he went on and on about these people I realized how fortunate I was for having him and my grandad, his son, in good health at such an old age. You see a lot of the folks in the home with him were in their late 60's or early 70's, and both him and my grandad were still working a full day at their age. They didn't understand and I just feel lucky to have them in decent shape.

Keep plugging along and let the grand kids or a young man down the road give you a hand time to time. It might do both of you some good.

That made me laugh, Good to know your limits Sam.

Boys, it's time to start hiring the neighbor kids and while they work for you teach them some of what you have learned.

They been there for 2-3 years already.

It aint all age-related. For instance, the other day I went to put a tee fitting in a propane line in my new-to-me RV. Since I already had the fittings, taken from my old trailer, should be a 10 minute job, right? Wrong! Fittings didn't fit. Started at 0830, finished at almost 1600. Three trips to Ace Hardware and TWO 50-mile round trips to the propane company in another town. Frustration factor of 14.2 on a scale of 10!

Chit like this keeps happening to me more and more, it seems.

Indeed, I sure do know that feeling of frustration. The other day, I had to change the starter on my ol' Chevy, G-30 van. 20 years ago, I coulda had that engine pulled, completely re-built, and put back in, in the time it took me to get that starter changed! Or like the other day, when I had to change the battery, in my wifes motor cycle! Good grief, when ya have fingers as big as wieners, but are twisted up like cork screws, it's a real booger to handle them lil' screws!
As a sweet lil' ol' lady friend once said "The only thing Golden, about our Golden Years--is your pee"

If those are the criteria, I've been 74 for my whole life.

Like my DAD told me a long time ago,son the older I get,what I use to do all day now takes me all day to do.

"Yes! And if I had had ten dollars you would have been half negro too!"