An aging pilot

(warning: religious content follows)

1) Take care of your body as if you're going to live forever.
2) Take care of your soul as if you're going to die tomorrow.

....and I'm a hypocrite on both counts :-/

Go easy on the booze, quit smoking, get off your butt and walk instead of
drive whenever feasable, take the stairs, watch your diet a bit more
carefully. Fly as often as you can, do fun stuff frequently. Enjoy life.

Live long and prosper.

-0-

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:5D_ed.243219$wV.57086@attbi_s54...

[snip]
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?

"Will Robinson" wrote in message
news:5bbfd.2284$kE.146@trnddc03...
Go easy on the booze, quit smoking, get off your butt and walk instead of
drive whenever feasable, take the stairs, watch your diet a bit more
carefully. Fly as often as you can, do fun stuff frequently. Enjoy life.


..... and then there's my Dad. Age 91. Smoked till age 70 (unfiltered Pall
Malls). STILL drinks at least one (sometimes two) six-packs of beer a day.
Hasn't eaten a green vegetable in all of my 50 years. Lives on hot dogs,
bologna, and potato rolls. The only medical stuff he's had done in the past
50 years has been to have his prostate reamed out and cataracts.

And is obsese. (Not grossly, but he's got a pot belly.)

Still rides a bike. Quick reflexes. Shoots pool every day (won the Gold at
the Senior Olympics). Has absolutely no idea what his cholesterol or BP is.
His outlook: what's the worst that could happen? It kill me?

Carl

My philosophy is as long as I can get it up, I'm 21 years old! Now that I'm
53, I want to get one other thing up: a plane! I'm half-way there.


"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?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Some years ago I knew a man who was an active pilot in his 90s.
He didn't even start flying until his 60s. His approach to main-
taining his health was hard work. You'd see him out working on
his property every day. I hope I can do as well (just turned 60)

David Johnson

Jay Honeck wrote:

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?

I'll be 56 in a few weeks. I switched from drinking beer to drinking wine to try to
keep the weight down. I had to stop patronizing Dunkin' Doughnuts about 10 years ago.
I stopped eating breakfast when I hit 40; recently I went back to eating breakfast
but no longer eat lunch. As far as diet goes, I would recommend a diet balanced
between meat and veggies like peas and broccoli, avoiding potatoes and white rice.
Since my wife is of Russian heritage, she's big on potatoes and other starches, but
I'm slowly convincing her to cook veggies instead (I gained 25 pounds the year after
we got married).

I had to go to graduated lenses about 10 years ago, but many people don't like them.
I hate them for reading, but fortunately, I can read without glasses. Don't know what
to tell you about floaters. I developed them early from using welding/cutting torches
with no eye protection. They cause a lot of "false alarms" when scanning for traffic,
but I think you'll just get used to them.

On my doctor's advice, I've abstained from caffeine for the last 4 years (except on
very rare occasions when I need to be on top form). This has had the extra benefit of
giving me a bladder endurance nearly as great as my aircraft.

I'm now doing odd jobs to eke out my savings while I continue to look for a software
position and take a few courses. As you've discovered, the regular exercise has been
good for my back, though I'm not doing weights. My cholesterol is still an issue.
There's a med called Zetia that helps, but it's expensive.

Short-term memory will become a problem for you, if it hasn't already. People's names
seem to be the first items you'll have trouble with. Develop a shorthand and start
carrying a note pad in your flight case for dealing with unfamiliar fields. When I'm
dealing with clearance delivery at a controlled field, if I put the transponder code
in as the controller speaks, I'm certain to forget the departure frequency or other
necessary info by the time I'm done. Get used to just writing everything down and
setting things later.

George Patterson
If a man gets into a fight 3,000 miles away from home, he *had* to have
been looking for it.

Jay,
I was older than you when I first started flying -- I am now 63. Don't
sweat it -- you should be good for many more years, as long as you keep
yourself alert and active.

I added Instrument and Commercial in 1992 and 994, respectively, even though
I have no intent to exercize Commercial priviledges.

Keep up to date on what is going on; try and fly at least 50 hours per year
(I'm a bit shy of that these days); push the boundaries every so often
short, difficult fields, good cross-winds, etc), and above all, don't take
R.A.x too seriously. :-)

Cheers.

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?

Quit worrying, start flying:
http://jimsladesairlines.com/rothenberg2.html

(Flight log of 74 year old pilot who flew an Ercoupe to airports in
the 4 farthest corners of the continental USA).

Your weight training is an excellent plan. Start or continue some
cardio stuff too....join a health club, or better yet, put an exercise
room in your hotel and use it yourself. Watch your diet! Hard to do
perhaps in the Midwest. Avoid restaurant foods. Watch "Supersize
Me", that should cure anybody of the fast-food places.

Pick the right parents.

On 10/24/04 11:42 PM, in article 5D_ed.243219$wV.57086@attbi_s54, "Jay
Honeck" wrote:

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?


My DOB: 1957. My advice and personal practice:
No drinking, no smoking. Vitamins every day. Get down to your fighting
weight. Sex as often as the wife can stand it. Keep your mind sharp by
keeping active physically and challenging yourself mentally.
--
Jeff 'The Wizard of Draws' Bucchino
Cartoons with a Touch of Magic�
http://www.wizardofdraws.com
http://www.cartoonclipart.com

On Tue, 26 Oct 2004 19:50:17 -0400, Wizard of Draws
wrote:

On 10/24/04 11:42 PM, in article 5D_ed.243219$wV.57086@attbi_s54, "Jay
Honeck" wrote:

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?

Date young women, but make sure your wife doesn't catch you or instead
of maintaining your edge you may find she keeps all the silverware
really sharp. But thinking on the positive side, like my used-to-be
tomcat, you still might want to go out, but wouldn't remember why.

That and no more testosterone poisoning.

You might even find doing the dishes fun.

Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com

My DOB: 1957. My advice and personal practice:
No drinking, no smoking. Vitamins every day. Get down to your fighting
weight. Sex as often as the wife can stand it. Keep your mind sharp by
keeping active physically and challenging yourself mentally.