When You Discover You Are Not The Man You Used To Be............................

farmerart
Today I was touring the three well sites on the go for my new venture. I get to the third site only moments after an accident (roughneck had a fall) and the toolpush says if I want to suit up he can keep drilling until sundown instead of shutting down for the day. I readily agree and spend the next five hours rolling pipe, shoveling mud, and wrapping chains. I just about died! When we stopped for the day, I staggered to my F-150 and collapsed on the back seat.

Two years of soft living has rendered me absolutely useless for this sort of labour. I shall restrict myself to repair welding or trucking if I am needed in the future. I have long recognized my status as a PL in the SC world but now I have the same status in the world where I used to be King Shit.

My life really really sucks now.

17 comments

  • newmark
    •
    13 years ago
    Well, given the title, I thought this was going to be about Viagra
  • steve229
    •
    13 years ago

    "The older I get, the better I was"
    --Tom Jones, "Sugar Daddy"

    Seriously, art, five hours of laying pipe is pretty damn impressive for a guy of any age...wait, what's that...oh, you were actually laying real pipes?

    Sheesh...you life does suck!
  • shadowcat
    •
    13 years ago
    gridget still appreciates you!
  • txtittyfan
    •
    13 years ago
    At least you are in an area where you can get some good massages to work out the kinks you are going to feel today.
  • asianluva2009
    •
    13 years ago
    I feel your pain. Keep in mind that your wisdom taught you this lesson after only one experience.
    Probably like most of us when we were young, it may have taken several times
  • Dudester
    •
    13 years ago
    I have a degenerative condition. I think I might have more time than I was told a couple of years ago. Like you, I was Superman at one time, but until I need a walker, as far as anyone is concerned, I'm still a badass. I just am still creative enough to pretend that I'm not helpless.
  • Prim0
    •
    13 years ago
    ^^^^ So you could say that you are a ..... degenerate! *yuk yuk yuk* (seems to be a good day for bad jokes from me)

    I always said I wouldn't feel old until my body couldn't do what my mind wanted it to...turns out that I became old about 2 years ago. It's not the years though...its the mileage!
  • Clubber
    •
    13 years ago
    I went from retired to construction work for about a year. i was like you after the first day, and it didn't get a lot better. Old bodies just don't work as well, and they DAMN sure don't recover as well!
  • SuperDude
    •
    13 years ago
    "A man's got to know his limitations." Clint Eastwood in "Magnum Force."
  • Dougster
    •
    13 years ago
    I think your big money cushion will help you cope okay with not being able to do as much physical labor as you could when you were younger. Still plenty of whores to fuck and fun to be had though, right? Focus on the positive!
  • CCRiderm
    •
    13 years ago
    Art, remember that you couldn't hold up the first time you did it either. You had to work up to it. After two years off, you've lost all of the conditioning you built up. You'll never be 30 again, but you can still get back in shape.
  • dudeanonymous
    •
    13 years ago
    I'm with you, Art. Yard work, gardening and softball this year all seem to be taxing my tired bones more than usual. Getting old sucks.
  • joker44
    •
    13 years ago
    famerart: I empathize. My professional career never entailed physical labor but I worked out regularly for years only to be told by my doc that I had a medical problem that would require meds for the rest of my life. Rather disheartening. It's easy to lose sight of other positives about ourselves when something important that makes us who we are is suddenly lost.

    On a lighter note: Too bad your ITC & OTC "physical workouts" haven't kept you in shape for the oil field. In the U.S. you could probably find a way to claim those expenditures as a business expense lol
  • gk
    •
    13 years ago
    QWords to live by:

    Life is short, so have fun whenever you can.
    Not having any fun, you're not working hard enough to find it.
    Complaining too much makes anyone feel older.
    Best cure for aches and pains begins with boobs in the hand, oh wait, boobs dont exist anymore! (see previous TUSCL discussions).
  • trojangreg
    •
    13 years ago
    Well at least you weren't out of shape for NO 5 Orange the other night. Maybe your expenditure of energy there left you in a weakened condition. I know it left our wallets in a weakened condition.
  • farmerart
    •
    13 years ago
    trojangreg,

    In a hotel tavern in DirtyAss, Alberta right now. No strippers but there is a toothless old girl in greasy coveralls at a table across the room. Three big glasses of draft cost less than a single Kokanee at the 5.
  • Clubber
    •
    13 years ago
    fa,

    And just think, about 10 of those big glasses of draft and she'll look like a 10 herself! :)
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