An aging pilot

Hi Jay,

I started with the old reading glasses and floaters thing when I hit
forty. I am 52 now. The reading glasses are a little stronger now (not
much) and have a few more floaters (again not much). At forty, I can
remember seeing something floating to the side of my vision and saying
"What the hell was that?", thinking it was a bogie.

I read talked to my doctor about the floaters and he told me that
eventually your brain learns to "tune" them out. I have found that
this is true. I've gotten so use to them that they are no longer a
factor and only notice them when I'm thinking about them. Accept them
as part of your life now and move on.

I would say that you have nothing to be concerned about. I keep my
reading glasses in the airplane glove compartment and found that
Walgreens sells sunglasses with bifocals for around 15 bucks. No
problem!!

Keep on FLYING!
Jim
http://FunPlacesToFly.com






"Jay Honeck" wrote in message news:5D_ed.243219$wV.57086@attbi_s54...
So I've reached my 46th year fairly unscathed. I've still never missed a
day of work, ever, and I'm rarely under the weather. In fact, I feel great.

Still, now that I'm solidly in middle age, I find that my cholesterol is too
high, I could stand to lose 15 pounds, and, at my most recent check-up, my
blood pressure was a touch high, for the first time.

In short, the inevitable effect of aging is starting to show itself.

To combat this I've been doing daily weight training with my 14-year old son
for over 9 months. I've built muscle mass and stamina, and (for the first
time in 20 years) my back isn't on the verge of "going out" all the time.
I've passed the CAP cadet requirement for running a mile (even though, as a
senior member, it wasn't required), just to show my kid that "the old man"
could still do it. (I darn-near died... ;-)

So, all things considered, I guess I'm doing okay for an old, balding white
guy.

My biggest concession to age has been my vision, which has always been a
weak point. (It kept me from joining the Air Force.) Although I'm still
corrected to 20/20, I'm going to need bifocals at my next check up for sure
(boy, that danged sectional is just about impossible to read), and I am
plagued with more and more floaters every year. Low-contrast backgrounds
(like an overcast) make it very difficult for me to spot traffic.

Since life is a terminal condition, it's only natural that whatever is
deteriorating will continue to do so -- although I assume there are various
things pilots can do to compensate. At some point, however, the lines on
the graph intersect, and you've got to quit flying. Question is, when?

For those of you farther down life's trail than I, what have you done to
maintain your edge? Any tips on staving off old man winter as long as
possible?

And for those of you who have hung it up, what made you do it? When did you
know it was time?