Survival Rolls: Those First Three Stats

[Icosahedron]

I "lost" several years of living due to health issues. Over the past several years, I've been working on slowly expanding the envelope to increase my activity levels and get more of my life back.

<snip>

And I hear you, too, Ico. Exercise doesn't make lungs any healthier, either. Not when they're past a certain point due to other problems. Before I could start exercising I had to get healthy enough to exercise. Then I had two false starts thanks to injuring myself while trying to exercise. *sigh*

<snip>

I used to make long lists of things I wanted to do. Then I got to the point where I just wanted to get to the end of one day per week, and be able to point to one thing and say "I did something." Now I'm working on doing that every day (not quite there yet) and on getting more than one thing done per day (it's happened twice now in past weeks.)

Well, I would hope that most people's problems are insignificant compared with yours, Saundby, best wishes for your continued recovery.

Mine are just the natural 3 Rs:

Ever-decreasing ability to read small fonts, to remember those important little details, and to recover from damage sustained in daily life.

 

[Madarin Dude]

My fitness regimen is keeping up with a 4 year old and a wife 12 years my junior. But it is a good life. I too need to get some bifocals soon. argh I find myself often looking over my glasses to inspect my work I can read fine but really getting tight on something is a different story.

 

[saundby]

Well, I would hope that most people's problems are insignificant compared with yours, Saundby, best wishes for your continued recovery.

I've had a rough time of it, but then again things could have been a lot worse. I know a fair few people who have it worse, and I've lost too many friends over the past several years.

I'm still here sucking air and God willing I will be for some time to come. I've outlived my father, age-wise, by 3 years now, and I'm working on living longer than my grandfathers.

I went out to a star party tonight and showed the sky to people alongside my two great daughters who have the whole astro club in awe of their abilities and knowledge. During the rough times I have to remember that I'm toughing it out for good times such as these. And I want to last long enough to see grandkids.

And pull out these little books I picked up back in 1977 and tell them if they want to grab some pencils, paper, and dice, I've got a game they might enjoy.

 

[JAFARR]

At 58+ (59 comes in late Sept) I too am failing some of my rolls. I started out with higher strength and endurance than the average person and being raised on a farm where there was lots of manual labor didn't hurt them any. I have lost some in both, but more in the endurance area. Didn't have that much dexterity to start out and RSI (likely the carpel tunnel version) has taken lots of that. It feels like I am wearing those rough leather work gloves for skin. Counting money, buttoning my shirt, and that sort of thing gets to be a nuisance. Operating a mouse and keyboard is no picnic either, especially when I never learned to type in the first place.

On top of all that, I have always eaten like I was still on the farm having lots of hard physical labor, even when heaviest thing I lifted was a 25 pound bag of cat litter or dog food. All my jobs have required lots of walking and occasional to frequent lifting of weights and I have always done yard work at home and some times as part of the job so I have kept fairly active, but the concept of exercise for the sake of exercise is an alien concept to me.

A lot changed in late Jan this year. My eyes were bothering me some and I knew it was time for new glasses, but the Dr found some signs of diabetes as well. My MD also diagnosed me with high blood pressure and high cholesterol as well. I didn't know about the cholesterol, but I had suspected the BP and possibly the diabetes and ignored them.

To shorten the story some, medication has controlled the BP (100/60 last dr's visit) and hopefully the cholesterol. Basically, I changed my eating habits by trying to eat smaller portions and replaced snacks with fruits and veggies (which I like anyway). I replaced the sugar in my iced tea with Splenda or the store versions as I can't stand the after taste most other non-sugar sweeteners leave. I had gone to the decaffeinated tea several years back just on general principals. My A1C which measures blood sugar levels for the past 3 to 4 months was 5.7%. (There are 2 groups of diabetic authorities that my dr told me about. 1 recommends a max of 6.5% and the other says 6.0% while a normal non diabetic person maxes out at 5.0%.) I had also gone from 290 pounds in late Jan/early Feb to 264 pounds the first weekend in April.

Just by co-incidence, I did one of those "real age" things online last night. Putting the new stats from the last dr's visit and guessing that the cholesterol is nor at "normal" levels, it reported my "real age" as 54.2 vs actual age of 58.6, for whatever that means.

You know, life keeps on moving, our bodies wear out in spite of what we may do to keep them in good condition. It's how we live the life we have that matters, not how long that life may last. He who dies with the most toys still DIES. I want those who come after me to say, "He made a difference for the good while he was on this earth."

 

[saundby]

Congrats on the weight loss & other improvements. That's one less cat litter bag you're carrying with you all the time! (I didn't think I was the only person around who used cat litter bags as a touchstone for weight carried.)

I got two hours in the yard today. Overdid it a bit, but not too much. Was beating myself to death on getting a stump from a dead scotch pine out at first. Cutting it was like cutting lignum vitae! I finally switched over to hauling topsoil as the easier job...

 

[sabredog]

I mountain bike, fence (sabre), shoot practical pistol and rifle, and chase gangbangers through back alleys. Other than that I squeeze in a lot of time sitting in front of this computer writing, building models, reading, and chasing my kids around the house and neighborhood. So I guess it all balances out.

Oh, and plenty of red meat seared to carcinogenic perfection and spaghetti from the mom n' pop Italian place down the street keeps me in fighting trim! :rofl:

I've had to cut back on the fencing (my knees, back, neck...wear n' tear from the job and the sport) 'cuz I'd rather not blow out a knee at my burgeoning age. But I increased the biking to account for the loss. And a lot of running and cardio is involved in practical shooting, too.

But I must admit these short Oregon summers are making it harder and harder to work off the fat from those long Oregon winters. Might be time to go to a gym, sigh.

 

[Brillig]

We are all of an age, and seem to be in similar straights.

I had a health disaster at 32, heart infection, damaged the muscle, scar tissue on the heart, have largely recovered, some 'angina' like symptoms.

At 40 I married (first time!) and was blessed with a son 2 years later (planned) (first born!, now 8 years old). Best call of my RL Life. ('Real Life' Life).

They do not keep me young, but they _do_ keep me relevant.

I'm doing Model Rocketry with da boy, building scifi Model spaceships, living a little more intensely, generally psychologically more fit on their account. Helps with the physical aging rolls, too - I'm less inclined to folly (no beer for a year).

Coming Back is tough, and progress is best done 'slow, easy, steady as she goes'. The payoff is another term of 'service'.

The Ox is slow, the Earth remains patient.

Cheers, friends.

Will

 

[JAFARR]

by Brilling
At 40 I married (first time!)

Me Too!, but our son was adopted as my wife had fibroids and needed an operation that negated our being able to have our own flesh and blood child.

 

[JAFARR]

This might be of intrest to some trying to push back the weight.
I saw an article in one of those health orientated magazines today that suggested that the following method is much more benifical in helping to lose weight than twice as long sustained exercise.

8 minute workout

3 alternating days a week

Walk 2 minutes to warm up. Then alternate 8 sets of
15 seconds of full out sprinting and 30 seconds of walking for a total of 6 minutes. This gives a total time of 8 munutes, but you might need to walk a little longer to cool off at the end.

I haven't tried it, but then I walk all day long at my job anyway.

 

[sabredog]

Holy Toledo, I'm overdoing it! I ride my bike to work 5 days a week for a 16 mile round trip. That's about 30 minutes each way if I hit all the lights and keep a reasonable pace. Or a 10 minute sprint 3 miles up the hill to the light rail, then back down at the end of the day if its raining too hard.

But I hate the gym, and its too much fun to see how much time I shave off the bike trip by the end of summer. And its getting too dang hard to keep the weight off nowadays. Lord, before I hit 40 I had the metabolism of a shrew, but now I can't remember the last time I ate a whole pint of coffee Hagen Daz topped with chocolate syrup chased with a couple cokes while running an Traveller game from dusk till practically dawn.

And not feeling like I had a brick in my gut the next day and like I was going to die.

 

[saundby]

The Hacker's Diet

Something I found after learning what was in it on my own the hard way:
http://www.fourmilab.ch/hackdiet/www/hackdiet.html

A way of approaching the problem of weight management for analytical types.

 

[Brillig]

Unto Jafarr

Profoundly sad that you and your mate could not have issue 'of your own flesh', but I will ever believe that being a Daddy/Mommy is not the procreative act, but rather what you do for a child after the fun stuff, the hard work of raising that child, not whether you actually sired/bore the child.

As Bob Heinlein said, Bringing a fetus to term is unskilled labor - a Queen or a Cow can do the same in 9 months - and as I say, most males are free with their seed, many unknowing or caring of the consequences. A Daddy is a guy who does the hard job of raising.

I suspect that your children are fortunate to be yours, and bless your name for your love.

A very fine thing to nurture a child to health, and wisdom.

...

Back more near the topic, I took my 8 year old to a rock climbing wall at a Boy Scout camp this weekend, and for giggles, tried my 'hand' on the wall - and made it to the top of the wall! Fairly easy wall, requiring a couple of tricky transitions, and one 'leap of faith' (WITH belaying cable - quite safe)
Then I rapelled down. Good times.

The young lads could not do it (most were afraid, I think) - to be fair, they were all less than 12 years old.

My boy was delighted, shouting out 'My Dad is Cool!' - to my immense delight.

10 years ago I could not have done this, being about 70 pounds heavier, and very introverted and low energy. My Sons have rejuvenated me - perhaps anagathic properties associated with 'Daddy'hood?

Carry on, Papa.

 

[saundby]

Brillig-

Very, very cool!

70lb., eh? Congrats! OK, time for me to drop another 10 (at least.)

 

[Brillig]

Saundby, my friend

There is time. I myself am a work in progresss, a 'human becoming', not a human being. The trip is the thing.

I love Traveller. I will confess that it is hard to give up moments with my sons to go and hang out with my buds, to play our old game. This stands in my way (of playing) more than anything else. Rightly so.

I like the idea of the aging rolls, in the game as well as in life. The rose is past it's first bloom, but it is yet quite sweet, and more to be.

Perhaps a corollary roll after failing an aging roll would be a chance to gain 'Wisdom', perhaps expressed as a Social skill of some sort? Carousing? Leader? Some sort of Empathy rating?

The trauma of Aging creating the space for other skills?

I observe how very more interesting a Woman becomes when she turns 30, 31 ... at some point the first bloom of the rose fades, the attribute of Beauty diminishes somewhat, and the greater skill of being Damnably Interesting sets in ... the ladies become much better company, or so says this old man.

(Trying to segue somehow back to the idea of Aging Rolls! Clever, eh?)

Every Loss should allow some sort of Gain.

Brillig

 

[saundby]

When I was a teen, one of the big appeals Traveller had for me was the ability to play a mature character with a real background and set of skills, as opposed to the SF&F stereotypical awkward youth setting out on a first journey.

For me, being quoted or noted in Aviation Week was bigger than making the cover of Rolling Stone. A friend's father was quoted in AWST once, and was shocked (and pleased) when I noticed and called him up to congratulate him. I idolized folks like Kelly Johnson and Scott Crossfield.

Playing a game where I could be someone with experience doing the things I dreamt of doing in my favorite genre was right up my alley.

I still haven't been quoted in AWST, but my work has been featured prominently, and there's still time. My old mentor knew what he was talking about when he was trying to beat some wisdom into my thick young skull. Every age does have its own pleasures. The trick is that you've got to go find them, rather than sit on your tookus and complain about what you can't do.

Meanwhile, I'm gonna keep working on that "Personal Development Table" list and see if I can recover a point of End this term. My next aging roll is coming up.

 

[by_the_sword]

To keep fit, I fence, all three classic weapons (foil, saber, epee) and once in a while I'll do rapier.

 

[far-trader]

Normally the winter snow shovelling (no self-propelled gas-guzzling snow-chewing machine for me) keeps me relatively fit through the Great White North season of never ending snows, but it was a mild winter. So today, cleaning up the winter debris on the lawn before mowing it (good old fashioned push type reel mower* for my huge corner lot) I think I lost an End point somewhere. Maybe two

* most of the time, I bought an electric for the odd time I let the grass (more weeds than grass) get away from me

 

[JAFARR]

I Know that feeling too. We have multiple pine trees (we rent so I can't call a timber company to sell them) which fill the yard with pine straw, pine cones, and dead limbs that must be removed before mowing (usually several times during the mowing season). Here the mowing season has just started and runs until late Oct. or later. If we ever become able to buy this house, the first thing I would do is sell the timber. There is enough to make several years payments, even at the lowered prices standing timber is going for these days.

 

[saundby]

I cut down my own trees (I own the place) with a bow saw. After seeing what the loggers did to a friend's property taking timber off it, I'd rather not call them in.

I get several deadfalls each winter, I'm still cleaning that up, then I take out about 2-3 mature trees each year and cut them into firewood. Unfortunately the woodstove in this house doesn't draw its air from outside the house, so it's more for show than for real heating. With energy prices rising, I should knock together a vent out of sheet metal and save myself some money. I've got 7-8 cords of wood just sitting around waiting for termites to move in (our winters are pretty mild, we usually only burned about 3-4 cords each winter at our old house with the real, working wood stove.)

I'd like to increase the number of trees I take this year, so I'm thinking of picking up an electric chainsaw for cutting up the timber once it's down. I used to own a gas chainsaw, but I gave it to a friend because I was spending more time maintaining it than using it.

 

[Icosahedron]

I used to own a gas chainsaw,

LOL. It took a few seconds for the Americanism to click. Until then I was picturing a pipe-fed chainsaw connected to a Propane tank on your back, and I was wondering why I'd never seen one... :rofl: