It Sucks Getting Old

[clifford_thornton]

On 7/8/2026 at 8:54 AM, Rabshakeh said:

I am really sorry to hear this Pim. 

ditto.

not quite the same but I had pretty gnarly sciatica in my early 20s, which curtailed bike racing. I assume it was a disc issue but cannot be sure; PT didn't really help. I later learned that my grandmother on my father's side and my mom both dealt with it pretty heavily... eventually the sciatica subsided on its own with just occasional flare ups and I have been able to get back into an intense exercise regimen over the last several years, though I still try to listen to my body more than I did as a young person.

[jazzbo]

Substitute early 20s for early 30s and there's my story. It was really bad at times until my mid-forties, my work nature changed and it was less bothersome, later the pain moved from my hip down to my leg and would travel down. . . and out. . . over the course of a week or so. Then, in a panic lifting my mother from the floor after she fell I managed to ignite a similar pain path on the other side of my body. . . and on occasion one side or the other flares up. But it's less intense as time goes by. I've been shown and practiced stretches and exercises that help.

My father had a really bad back problem in his early sixties and a few years later had back surgery which was pretty successful overall. After just recovering from a hernia repair surgery I'm glad I didn't have to have that back surgery and hope I never need to.

[Kevin Bresnahan]

I had a hernia repaired a few years ago. It was a small hernia, so not very painful but it did make it difficult to lift heavy items without pain. The hernia was from a prior surgery to remove my prostate, which left a rather large scar above my belly button. Whoever stitched it up didn't do a good job. It still hurts sometimes when I lift something heavy & twist at my waist but it's not nearly as bad as it was.

[gmonahan]

With me it's kidney stones. I go in every couple of years to get them lasered, but it sucks having them. The wages of age.

 

[Kevin Bresnahan]

So me & my wife leave for vacation #4/cruise #3 of 2026 later this week. We're really looking forward to it. Both of us have wanted to go to Italy for a long time. We almost went there on our honeymoon but the dollar plunged that summer so we switched to Hawaii.

The only bad thing about cruising Italy's coast is the limited amount of time we'll get to see the sights. A one day tour of Rome isn't going to cut it. We know this. If we like what we see on this "highlights" cruise, maybe we'll book a longer trip.

Next up after this is the Jazz Cruise out of Tampa in late January.

I will say this though... it is a bit scary front-loading your retirement like we're doing. But I've seen way too many people, my own parents included, who saved and saved their money for retirement and when they finally did retire, they continued to save it and ended up leaving it behind. You can't take it with you. My mom left her children almost all the money that my dad saved for them to travel. She didn't want to do much of anything after he was gone.

I don't want that for my wife. To cover my bases, I've actually encouraged her to take spring break vacations with our daughters to get her used to it. She's gone on 3 of these "girls vacations" and had a blast. Don't tell her I said that.  

[BFrank]

4 hours ago, Kevin Bresnahan said:

So me & my wife leave for vacation #4/cruise #3 of 2026 later this week. We're really looking forward to it. Both of us have wanted to go to Italy for a long time. We almost went there on our honeymoon but the dollar plunged that summer so we switched to Hawaii.

The only bad thing about cruising Italy's coast is the limited amount of time we'll get to see the sights. A one day tour of Rome isn't going to cut it. We know this. If we like what we see on this "highlights" cruise, maybe we'll book a longer trip.

Next up after this is the Jazz Cruise out of Tampa in late January.

I will say this though... it is a bit scary front-loading your retirement like we're doing. But I've seen way too many people, my own parents included, who saved and saved their money for retirement and when they finally did retire, they continued to save it and ended up leaving it behind. You can't take it with you. My mom left her children almost all the money that my dad saved for them to travel. She didn't want to do much of anything after he was gone.

I don't want that for my wife. To cover my bases, I've actually encouraged her to take spring break vacations with our daughters to get her used to it. She's gone on 3 of these "girls vacations" and had a blast. Don't tell her I said that.  

My wife and I took an Alaskan cruise a couple months ago. Very cool. It was only 7 days, but the scenery up there was fantastic. I think that's a good cruise to take because it's not about seeing the sights on land, it's about cruising through glacier country.

If I do another cruise, I think a river cruise somewhere through Europe would be good. But not the big cities.

[Kevin Bresnahan]

6 hours ago, BFrank said:

My wife and I took an Alaskan cruise a couple months ago. Very cool. It was only 7 days, but the scenery up there was fantastic. I think that's a good cruise to take because it's not about seeing the sights on land, it's about cruising through glacier country.

If I do another cruise, I think a river cruise somewhere through Europe would be good. But not the big cities.

We're booked on an Alaska cruise next August. We haven't booked any excursions or bought flights yet.

[Pim]

Enjoy Kevin!

[BFrank]

On 10/4/2026 at 4:08 AM, Kevin Bresnahan said:

We're booked on an Alaska cruise next August. We haven't booked any excursions or bought flights yet.

I think August is about the end of the Alaska cruising season. But it's a good time to go. Enjoy!