But you will have some of your SS taxed based on how much you make....
guys over 50 doing maintenance
- Thread starter MaximaGuy
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65 here and have MS, so everything is difficult or impossible. I would take the pain, but I just can't get on the ground and stand back up. I feel for all who are struggling with their bodies not wanting to cooperate. Car maintenance was something that brought me great joy and satisfaction. A 4-post lift is the only thing I feel that would allow me to stay active in the vehicle owner world, but I have no room for one. If you can do it, do it. Remember, it could be worse. MS takes and takes without a cure.
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hats off to you and your wife! Funny we're talking about guys, age, and diy.....it's really interesting how many folks say "need to get over to my accountant" rather than DIY. So many wild reasons....I may get audited, I might not maximize my deductions, the game is on, I simply don't have the time hey pass the chips, whatever...I have a buddy who actually said he hopes his 3 kids don't go to college as there isn't any value or gain from it, don't I agree? No, but I just said it may not matter for salary (sometimes it does not), but there are some things to be learned. And he said why? That's what AI is for. I think by DIY your taxes you do have an understanding in your mind with SS. I'm sure your wife having taught 29 years may think differently about education.
I was trying to explain to him what it meant if the skate were sharpened to 5/8" (radius of hollow) and he said I don't understand what you're talking about and I don't need to....my dad explained this to me when I was 5. No I didn't understand, but eventually I did. My friend is 43. He should be able to understand at his age. Or why 20F is the optimal temp for the ice at the rink, and colder it becomes more difficult to skate.
thread could have easily been
Age age age guys over 50 doing their own taxes
Going to be 52 next week and just dug by hand, 50 ft of trench 20” deep to get the eves away from the house. Went afterwards to the dentist and had a bridge replaced. Today I feel like someone beat me with a ball bat from my jaw to my toes. I refuse to let the old man in! I lift weights (not as heavy as 20 yrs ago) 4 times a week and up until plantar fasciitis hit a few months back, I walked for 45 minutes 3 times a week. My acl is gone so running is never going to happen unless a bear or the wife is hot on my heels! I do sound like an 18 wheeler setting it brakes getting up and down out of a chair but am going good. No maintenance meds whatsoever, weigh 180lbs at 6ft tall and still have a head of hair. Everyone in my family dies of cancer, doesn’t matter if you smoke or not. I’ve watched my dr who’s the same age turn into a fat old man while I coached him into a carnivore diet and he’s lost 30lbs. My best friend who has paved roads since he’s been 16 is bald, beer bellied and looks like a sun dried piece of bologna. I don’t look 52, more along the lines of 48 lol. I do all my own maintenance as long as it’s possible and am way more detailed than my 30 yr old self.
I hear ya. I get off the ground pretty quick still, but I find myself getting out of bed in sections every morning. I think rigor mortis starts to set in at night and takes a few minutes each morning to break loose from it.
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My dad was very athletic and I remember he went back to work (had his own co prior) at around 52. So he managed “kids” 25-45 and back then people at work hung out. So he told me about a picnic and volleyball where he said his brain knows where he wants to go but his body can’t get there anymore. I recall feeling disappointed knowing my dad was aging. A couple of weeks ago I took a nasty spill on the ice (on skates) and it truly reminded me of the same as above. It’s something to accept and maybe even embrace. Our minds are still sharp and that’s pretty good lol
I’m noticing things as well. I travel via air or car around 50% of the year and set my own schedule. Traveling kicks my butt more and more with each passing year, but I’ve got know it alls nipping at me, like I used to do to the veterans. I used to start at 9am and went till 6 or 7. Now I start at 7am and am done by 4 at the latest. Supper is now no later than 5 and bedtime is no later than 8. I don’t need an alarm clock to wake up @4 am but can still drink beer like a college kid. If a college kid has 4 and goes to bed early. We went out for my daughter’s 27th birthday the other night and it wasn’t good. We didn’t meet up till 6 (which felt like midnight) and I don’t remember how many glasses of beer I had, but it was way more than usual. I paid for the beer and staying up till 11 for two days after. Now when I buy beer I buy it for quality over quantity and can carry it out instead of needing a cart. I grew up in a family that drank beer and I like it very much. I just can’t do it like I used to, and that was sign #1 when my dad was getting up there in years.
harbor
Site Donor 2025
I’m 73 and still wrenching on cars, doing my own landscaping & minor home projects (plumbing, painting, etc). I’ve been lucky so far, but I know what’s coming.
Wife & I are looking at condos.
Wife & I are looking at condos.
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One thing evident in this thread if you keep moving you keep moving. I'm only 44 but mostly a desk jockey. It's hard to do manual labor but I've been forcing myself to get moving. I might not be able to move my arms in 30 years if I don't.
I hope to invest in a two post lift with my next move. I still do oil changes and brakes for my very small fleet. I'll do spark plugs and fluid changes as necessary. Staring 60 in the face, I actually got a quote for a shop to do an oil pan gasket on my truck. I almost gagged when I saw how much. But it is beyond my reach on my back on concrete and limited power tools.
We have a friend at church, a lady in her 50s, with MS. She uses a walker, and is in almost constant pain. Very nice person. It's heartbreaking to see the struggles she goes through.
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I am very sorry to hear you have MS.
I have an older brother with Cerebral Palsy and it’s been hard to watch him struggle in life to do things other take for granted.
Mark
It doesn't appear so. I got lucky recently and found some Metrinch sockets and wrenches at a flea market. They even had all of the bit drivers which were pretty rusty. I soaked them in vinegar, and they cleaned up pretty well. It's nice to have extras because one of mine broke the retaining ring years ago and I had to have it replaced under warranty.
I worked all day. Don't feel real good...Allergies? Came home and rotated the tires on my f250. Wore out now.
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My thing about DIY, as routine as an oil change, is to see what's going on (hey let's face it my cars tend to be older, leaks, etc.). It was on this forum that someone said, it's ok to not be able to do something and then have to pay (I could not get my front o2 sensors done in my driveway, had to pay $180 and shop told me in their opinion that would be difficult to do on one's back in a driveway due to lack of access and the angles--and besides on that incident, sensors was ok, they had to repair the wiring, meaning even if I did the sensors in my driveway, code would have instantly come back). Doing, leads to question and understanding. For example, I stated, I don't understand how penetrant is going to help--sensors have crush washers and if penetrant could get in, exhaust would leak. They said true--we crack ever so slightly, spray, and wait. The whole process of understanding what one is doing is what you say, therapeutic.
Patman
Staff member
I’m 55 and have no problem crawling under my cars for oil changes. I have a set of Race Ramps and so they don’t offer a huge amount of space under the cars but they are great for low cars like my Corvette.
I have never really done more complicated repairs on my cars, although in the past I used to do my own transmission fluid changes, coolant, plugs. Now I’m content using the dealer for stuff that I know will be a little bit more frustrating to do. I recently changed the air and cabin filters in the Civic, that was an easy job. But the Corvette is trickier to do those so I had the dealer do them this week. IMO there’s no shame in paying others to work on your cars as you get older. Sometimes it’s nice to sit in a waiting area as opposed to having busted up knuckles
I have never really done more complicated repairs on my cars, although in the past I used to do my own transmission fluid changes, coolant, plugs. Now I’m content using the dealer for stuff that I know will be a little bit more frustrating to do. I recently changed the air and cabin filters in the Civic, that was an easy job. But the Corvette is trickier to do those so I had the dealer do them this week. IMO there’s no shame in paying others to work on your cars as you get older. Sometimes it’s nice to sit in a waiting area as opposed to having busted up knuckles
65 y.o. and do all maintenance. For some reason brake work takes a lot out of me. Still tired and a little sore the morning after. Everything else, no problem.
