I don't know how those old guys do it.

[Tobin S.]

I get up at 4 every morning and go into work at 5. Then I run around Indiana all day picking up loads of scrap metal and bringing them back to the yard. I have to swap containers and tarp loads. I usually clock out between 4 and 5 in the afternoon. It's all I can do to stay up until 8 most nights.

But I do have the weekends off, and it's a better job than doing that long haul stuff and being away from my sweetie most of the time.

Still, I'm 39 years old and this job wears me out. We have 30 drivers where I work and all but two are older than me. Several of those guys are in their 60s and I think one is 70. Granted, most of them don't have to work like I do because of their seniority and better pay, but those old guys still have to get out there and tarp and climb on top of containers and trailers out in the weather just like I do.

I just got a new printer and I was going to set it up tonight and print out the first copy of the manuscript of my first book. That's what I'd planned on telling you guys I was doing right about now, but it's going to have to wait until tomorrow. All I want to do right now is soak up a few beers and kick my feet up.

Maybe I'll make a living selling books. I don't want to find out if I can still do this job when I'm in my 60s.

[dimbear]

1. You get in a rut. n/t

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. My dear Tobin!

I think some guys just have more energy than others, no matter what their age is...

Now, I could very well be wrong, but perhaps beer and cigarettes might be factors for you...

I can't wait to read your manuscript!

[Tobin S.]

3. I don't drink heavily, Peggy

If I have any beer at all through the week it's just a couple here and there. As for smoking, almost every driver there smokes. I can only think of two that don't. It's almost a prerequisite for truckers.

As for the book, it still needs some work. I'm going to try to hire a graduate student from a local college to proofread it and give me some suggestions for editing.

[Auggie]

4. How's your thyroid, Tobin?

When mine went on the blink I lost all my energy. I was 45.

[Tobin S.]

5. It works okay

I have blood work done every 3 months to test it because of some medication I take that might possibly zap it. Everything is good.

Are you saying it's normal to work 12 hours a day and feel energetic afterward?

[Auggie]

6. Hey, it's worth asking

Guess I forget how tiring driving can be not doing it so much anymore.

[Tobin S.]

7. Yes, and it's more than just driving

Trucks don't ride nearly as smoothly as cars. They'll rattle your bones and they are harder to drive to begin with. Throw in climbing all over the thing and tarping...it's just one of those things I'd have to show you to fully understand.

There are probably some jobs that are more demanding, but trucking isn't easy.

[likesmountains 52]

14. Tobin, I work 12 hour shifts as a nurse and I can tell you that it's normal to be tired when you get

home. Especially when you have to wake up and do it all again in 9 or 10 hours!

[Tobin S.]

15. Thank you

You've got a tough job and I know how hard you work. Where would we be without nurses? Everyone is on the receiving end of your care at some point.

I've had mental health issues in the past and have been hospitalized a few times due to it. The last time was 9 years ago and I remember being so impressed by the staff on the ward, from the doctors right down to the custodians, that I wanted to be like them. I found myself thinking that I wanted to work on such a ward even if it meant cleaning toilets. My path took me elsewhere, but when I think back about those people I think that they have a much more rewarding job than I do.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

8. Tobin,

I bet they go home and do the same thing you do Plus take medications for pain and rub ointments on their aching joints and muscles. Ask them.

I really think this should be xposted to GD because it makes a relevant point for the discussion about raising the retirement age along with the discussion earlier about people losing brain power starting at age 45.

Good luck with the manuscript.

[Tobin S.]

9. Thanks, Tuesday

I'll consider cross-posting the OP.

[Tobin S.]

10. Here you go. It's a done deal.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002131212

[Tuesday Afternoon]

11. we will see what kind of discussion it starts.

I really am curious about the 70 y/o that works with you. Gotta be one tough dude. You have a very physical job.

on edit: I recc'd it for you

[Tobin S.]

13. Thanks again

That's what I think about that 70 year old, too. That's one tough dude. He's always happy and smiling and making jokes. Maybe it's his positive outlook that's allowed him to last so long.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

16. you are welcome

[MiddleFingerMom]

12. I worked my way through college in a wholesale greenhouse.

.
.
.
NICE work... but often demanding physically. I was 30 and had a couple
co-workers just out of highschool. I could run rings around them. Our
boss was a GREAT guy -- early-to-mid-40's and he could run rings and
rings and rings around ME!!! In addition to being a hardcore nightly
drinker.
.
I lived a coupla blocks away in a little camping trailer set in the deep
woods along the Brandywine River -- a truly beautiful idyllic existence.
The boss and I would go out tequila "tasting" (he was a good friend),
usually closing the bar.
.
He'd be up starting HIS day in the greenhouse at 4 or 5 AM and would
come down to my place around lunchtime with a couple of the boys.
He'd have them rock the trailer back-and-forth until I rolled out moaning
my aching head off.
.
He was pretty amazing for an "old" dude.
.
.
.

[riderinthestorm]

17. I have a guy working here at the farm whose pushing 80! His wife is not far behind him in age

They help me walk 40 horses in and out all day, make up feeds, trundle around fixing fencing or any other odd jobs that need doing. It's all physical labor. The wife boards horses with me and they "work" off some of their board by helping me for several hours 2 days a week, and have been doing so for 15 years. I'm sure this isn't truly comparable to your situation precisely since I have other much younger guys who handle the real heavy lifting but! the important thing is their doctors tell them they are extremely fit and healthy for their age.

Amazingly so.

Their doctors tell them both that they are in such terrific shape because they never stopped "working". They've stayed active. "Use it or lose it" they tell them.

I suspect that's a big reason why your older guys are doing so well. They just never stopped working. Their workload may be less, they are certainly not handling as much as you (like my two lovely helpers), but they are doing a LOT Of work for their age, and appear to be loving it. I'd also hazard a guess that mental attitude has a lot to do with it as well. My friends LOVE helping me around the farm.