When a Blessing Becomes A Curse

[gwand]

When I retired in 2021, I lost 35 pounds on a diet and have kept it off since then. I go to the gym almost every day and do 20 minutes of yoga as well. I feel better now than I did at 55. I’ve come along way. I had triple bypass at the age of 45 and then two coronary stents placed six years later. So getting in shape was imperative for me. I have a strong family history of heart disease. I am the longest lived of all the men in my family over the last three generations who have had this particular heart problem. I am a very strong advocate for a daily yoga routine in terms of joint and muscle mobility, as well as enhanced sense of well-being. If you haven’t tried it I highly recommend it. Start off slow and if you can afford it, use an instructor to get you started.

 

[Alice B]

I have been keeping fish now for 24 years. When I started at age 51 despite being 140 lbs and 5'5" tall I could fill a pair of 5 gal. buckets with water and carry one in each hand the length of the house from a bathroom out to the screen terrace. I also used my bathroom as fish central for doing water changes. This involved 32 and 20 gal Rubbermaid garbage cans and a few 5 gal. buckets. The 5s were normally ppicked up and dumped into the buggers cans being empied with a pump.

Today I do not carry filled 5 gal buckets anythwere. When I am ready to dump the water from one into the bigger can I actually use a specimen box to scoop out about half before I life the rest and dump it in.

Over the years I ramped up tank numbers. So I was getting plenty of exercise. I can tell you one cannot stave off old age in terms of strength. Of course there are some exceptions on both sides of this.

Today I am a couple of inches shorter and pounds lighter. Gravity is not your friend. I am backing out of the hobby because I cannot keep up either strength or stamina-wise.

A number of my tanks have required I use a small folding ladder to be able to do weekly maint. I have escorted both of my parents through old age and death and watched how falling became a problem. Bones get broken. I am doing away with my bigger tanks because I know sooner or later I will wind up falling off of the ladder.

I also no longer work in the woods with my chain saws. I drive my car closer to the speed limit because mu reactions times are not what they used to be. Etc. Etc. No amount of will nor dedication will keep us from physically declining as we go deeper into the "golden years."

Three things I have gleaned from it all about old age and it can be explained by three sentences.

1. And you know that you're over the hill when your mind makes a promise that your body can't fill. . Little Feat - Old folk's Boogie
2. Paraphrasing: Death is nature's way of telling us to slow down.
3. If you wake up in the morning and nothing hurts, you are probably dead.

I wake up in the morning and nothing hurts. I am 65. I am not dead. I want to start yoga but finding time is an issue. I rarely sit down. I find this probably helpful for everything but my feet, but with orthotics, I'm ok

 

[TwoTankAmin]

One of the benefits to how I did things was that most of the people who bought the fish I had spawn in my tanks wanted to get them to try to breed themselves. People who bought my fish were told that if they had questions, needed help etc. that they could always context me even is it was a year or two later. They get my Phone # and Email. I am aware of a number of people who have succeeded in doing so over the years. I have worked with a number of them over the years when they needed input. When I started in the hobby I had some great experts have a lot of patience with me. So I am willing to pay it forward.

@gwand when you retired I was 73.

@Alice B. I have a back issue that originated with fracturing my L5 clean through on both sides at age 12 and having it misdiagnosed. I now have stenosis and arthritis in it. I have ni disc under it (I think it self fused.) But, I have trouble standing or walking for extended periods and lying flat on my back for any amount of time is not possible. But the saving part of this is that when the back pain is bad I can stop it by sitting. this is the opposite of what most people experience. I have tried everything and the only option left would be back surgery and I will not do that. Fortunately a number of my tanks are under tanks and I can work on them sitting on a small rolling stool.

We all do what we have to to get by. But that doesn't mean we have to like it.

 

[Oldspartan]

More people should follow twotankamin’s example of freely passing knowledge. It is the best way to ensure continuation of skills. To often people keep their knowledge close to the vest like it is a state secret to be protected from others.

 

[Alice B]

We all do what we have to to get by. But that doesn't mean we have to like it.

I understand. i had liver and onions for dinner today. Beef. 2 days ago it was chicken liver. Trying to build up platelets. Not having enough isn't physically painful but it is dangerous, and I have arthritis in a couple of places but I tamed it down with turmeric for a number of years so not like it used to be. Fortunately my back is good and today I did my stair stepper.