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Batrock
Trad climber
Burbank
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Nov 19, 2011 - 03:33pm PT
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I received the same exact three pieces of advice from Tommy Lasorda when he came by the fire station for lunch many years ago. My station at the time was very close to Dodger Stadium.
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TrundleBum
Trad climber
Las Vegas
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Nov 19, 2011 - 06:28pm PT
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Jim:
We have had this conversation, but for the rest of the reading audiance...
I was told the "Three Golden Rules of life after 60" by a guy in his eighties.
I got a good chuckle.
Then he stated:
"And life after seventy has an additional rule...
"WRITE IT DOWN"!
I asked him, "So this is an addendum rule?"
He responded, "No it's the number one rule for life after seventy"
I queried, "But I thought that rule number one was never let an erection go unattended? Are you saying that for life after 70 the write down rule proceeds the erection rule?"
His reply was "You bet kid, remember we are talking about life after seventy here!"
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Jaybro
Social climber
Wolf City, Wyoming
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Nov 19, 2011 - 09:30pm PT
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Thank Jah, that at 55, I'm miles away from that demographic!
Ksolem beat(!) me to it, a boner is a sad thing to waste...
I just did the coolest calf lock of my life last week.
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Jan
Mountain climber
Okinawa, Japan
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Nov 19, 2011 - 09:37pm PT
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To bad Fred Beckey doesn't post to this forum.
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WBraun
climber
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Nov 20, 2011 - 12:21am PT
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Donini -- "As for me, I'm heading to Patagonia shortly in my quest to maximize the number of daylight hours I experience."
There's nothing down there that isn't anywhere else including where you are right now ......
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SteveW
Trad climber
The state of confusion
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Nov 20, 2011 - 01:25am PT
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Here, here, GOM speak. (I'm one of them, and what Jim says is
SO true).
In fact, I was the recipient of a wonderful call toady from none other
than the Cosmic man himself, wishing me the best for Thanksgiving.
Thanks, Dwain!!!!!
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Sierra Ledge Rat
Social climber
Retired to Appalachia
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Nov 20, 2011 - 08:03am PT
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...what have you learned that has kept you alive all of these years?...
I have just reached that age where I no longer trust a fart.
I didn't learn anything that kept me alive, I bumbled through life as a mountaineer, big-wall climber, cave diver, class V whitewater kayaker...
If I were a cat with 9 lives, I'd be dead by now. I think I've gone through about 15 lives thus far... From zippering pitches, to rodeo-riding down avalanches, to head injuries from rock-fall, to getting dislocated shoulders in class V rapids...
But what did I learn? If I had known that I would have lived this long, I would have taken better care of myself when I was young.
None of this sh#t really matters. What really matters is your loved ones. Find a good woman and be her best friend. You may need her to take care of you...
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neebee
Social climber
calif/texas
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Nov 20, 2011 - 08:40am PT
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hey there say, donini...
most likely, you know this 'thing' that i have learned, that is so very needed AND IMPORTANT for not only our age in life now, but, for all realms of the "age" in the body's 'time frame':
patience...
(not JUST in what you are doing... but, in what you are THINKING to solve, in things that seem complex at the moment)
:)
IMPORTANT EDIT:
course, if and when you learn to master the art of PATIENCE, well, then:
you will NOT be a grumpy old man...
hmmmm, you must therefore, weigh, if this is relevant...
*some folks, after all, enjoy and relish, being grumpy, ;)
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rgold
Trad climber
Poughkeepsie, NY
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Nov 20, 2011 - 11:01am PT
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A few grumpy old men stroking each other.
STOP IT!
DMT
Dingus has a point, the thread is way short on wisdom and way long on commiseration. For my part, I plead innocent, though my attempt may be lacking in depth and perhaps even in content.
One thing is clear: if the GOM's made it to this day by sheer dumb luck as the Rat suggests, then they sure as hell ought to get over their grumpiness and notice that, unlike many of their less fortunate brethren, they are still alive to bemoan their sorry decline.
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 20, 2011 - 11:20am PT
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Commiseration was never my intention. I just love to get out and do it and I suspect the same is true for you. Luck is certainly a factor, one you can't control. You can control your lifestyle which along with luck and genetics is pretty much the package. There is always a strain of ageism on ST as if making it thru life's gauntlet in pretty much one piece is somehow just not right. Your how old? Something must be wrong with you, vegetables and fruit aren't very good when they get old.
I wanted to give that "lucky" demographic on ST a chance to display the wisdom they have accumulated along the way. Sigh...I guess it's a part of life's journey for people to complain and seek commiseration from others on the same path. Not me, I plan to climb more days next year than this year, visit new countries, do the Nose and the Salathe in a day.......Who knows what else...only time will tell.
My advice for climbers of a certain age is do not bemoan what you can no longer do, celebrate what you can and, here's the kicker...get out and do it!
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steve shea
climber
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Nov 20, 2011 - 11:38am PT
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I'm with ya! I've never done the Salathe. I want to go back to the Eiger for the Harlin Route. And I have a vendetta with the GCC on Kitchener. And I'm on my way out the door to go ice climbing. My 12 yr old twins keep me young. And I fully intend to ski over 100 days as usual. SS
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Sierra Ledge Rat
Social climber
Retired to Appalachia
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Nov 20, 2011 - 11:48am PT
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...they sure as hell ought to get over their grumpiness and notice that, unlike many of their less fortunate brethren, they are still alive to bemoan their sorry decline...
I enjoy every ache and pain. I enjoy every agonizing pain in my knees as I descend stairs. I enjoy seeing my hair disappear down the drain. I enjoy watching the brusies spontaneously appear in my shoulder joints every time I try to go weight lifting.
But most of all I enjoy knowing that I've been getting laid longer than most of you have been alive.
(:
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Topic Author's Reply - Nov 20, 2011 - 11:57am PT
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A statement like "sorry decline" is both ageist bullshit and stupid. It's also probably the path the author will take. Every age has it's trials and it's compensations. Enjoy where you are and make the best of it!
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P.Rob
Social climber
Pacomia, Ca - Y Que?
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Nov 20, 2011 - 12:00pm PT
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While America does have a ridiculous infatuation with youth - seemingly at the expense that experience of wisdom does have to offer- witnessed by the obscene amounts of money spent (and made) attempting to slow down entropy, much of “Grumpiness” is really nothing more than biology. The endocrine systems not as effective as it use to be, lower testosterone, HGH, etc. If one does not want to subscribe to the burgeoning growth industry that is Human Performance/Anti Aging Medicine and embrace supplementation to combat the GOM factor, a combination of irreverence, humor and humility can go a long way.
With apologies to all with offence to none (acknowledgement to New Hampshire’s Joe Morrissey)
**Lately it’s occurred to me
That I am not the Man I used to be
I still paint the Town
…. Just use a smaller brush
Still drink my whiskey
….. I just water it down**
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AKTrad
Mountain climber
AK
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Nov 20, 2011 - 12:07pm PT
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Sheer dumb luck has kept me alive. I should have been dead many times and long ago.
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MH2
climber
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Nov 20, 2011 - 12:11pm PT
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I was supposed to be accumulating wisdom?
I'm screwed.
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rich sims
Social climber
co
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Nov 20, 2011 - 12:25pm PT
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Dumb Luck or being Aware?
Was it dumb luck that out of the corner of my eye I saw my partner start to lean back on a rope he had not tied back into?
Somewhere tow thirds of the way up RNWF.
I reach out with one hand grabbed his shirt front and pulled him into to me.
As I was pulling him in his eyes widened with the realization of what had just not happened.
It’s not like I consciously saw, and then though oh! I better grab him.
It all happened in a second that took forever as some things do.
Dumb luck or being aware, maybe both.
So be Aware of more than the view at the same time you are enjoying that fantastic view.
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mike m
Trad climber
black hills
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Nov 20, 2011 - 12:33pm PT
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Learning from your mistakes.
Such as: knowing that taking a ice axe to the face once is enough.
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Norwegian
Trad climber
Placerville, California
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Nov 20, 2011 - 12:51pm PT
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yesterday my dad and i were standing
beside a smokey fire as snowflakes fell
around and upon us.
a seasonal ale in his hand,
he relayed to me
the last time he ever saw his father.
the family had traveled to folsom lake
in the old pickup.
i guess back then, the only
approach to the backside of the lake
was thru placerville.
after a day of pick nicking
they traveled home thru the
west-coast summer.
along winding and climbing
highway 49.
the damn fuel pump was acting up.
they'd roll a hundred feet then
the crew would haveta get out
and huff the beast to the shoulder.
blow the crap outta the filter and
tinker with live-wires,
and then wagon-up and onward...
over and over they repeated this struggle.
....well let it be known that my grandfather
had rhumatic fever as a young lad
and it damaged his heart.
as a man he became a ranger
in world war two by lying about his
health record.
he thrived for years in this pursuit.
when he reached 40 his heart gave out
and he spent a year in the hospital.
he begged for release and the doc's
reluctantly granted his wish....
now again we're shoving an iron beast
outta the lane. my dad, 14 at the time,
says he remembered
seeing his dad's heart bulging in the chest,
twice it's normal size.
they made it home,
and the man died that night.
they just don't make last days like they used to.
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TYeary
Social climber
State of decay
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Nov 20, 2011 - 12:54pm PT
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My advice for climbers of a certain age is do not bemoan what you can no longer do, celebrate what you can and, here's the kicker...get out and do it!
Pure gold.
TY
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