-=> CHARLES ANGELICH wrote to WAYNE CHIRNSIDE <=-

 CA> I 'manage' because of all that I no longer do. Trying to work
 CA> on my car on my back with my arms raised is extremely painful
 CA> and I've given up even trying anymore. Loosening rusted nuts
 CA> and bolts can jar my shoulders and I've given that up to. In
 CA> short, I can't fix my cars anymore.

About 2 years ago I passed on a sweet deal for someone on fixed
income because of my injuries. A Honda CB-750 came available
from a neigbor at 50 bucks!
Great shape missing only side covers, carbs and starter 
solonoid and never dropped. 100 - 110 bucks
at cycle salvage would have got the parts needed
and I already have all the tools.
Maybe ten hours work tops, half of that just 
cleaning stuff, and I could have sold the low
mileage bike with a grand profit but had to pass on it :-(

 CA>> At the time of the accident I could lift my 100 lb older
 CA>> son over my head (as a joke) any time I wanted to. I've
 CA>> always been strong for my size, 5 foot six and 170 lbs.

 WC> I've lifted 560 or more to waist level and am certain I've
 WC> put over 220 over my head just not since 1990.

 CA> At 170 lbs I used 380 as my 'dead lift' weight (3 sets of 6)
 CA> and 375 for squats (3x6). I pressed 180 on an Olympic set
 CA> (military press - flat footed, no 'bouncing' it up) six times
 CA> in a row once to show a power-lifter than 'body buiders' were
 CA> not weak. He could only do it 4 times and he weighed 220.

I put on a show at the bar once lifting one of those reinforced
concrete car bumpers from the parking lot over my head but no idea 
what they weigh in at. 
I made it look easy but it wasn't all that easy.

 CA> I did not normally go for 'max', I did body building type
 CA> exercises, not power lifting. I had 17 inch biceps which looks
 CA> huge on a 5'6" frame.
 
 I considered work exercise and never went in for training
 or workouts.

 CA> I try to avoid the popping. I don't want sympathy, it won't fix
 CA> the damage.

Find something that will, let me know will ya ;-)
How does one avoid popping ones knee I never know
when mine will let one go.
Got some helpful tips here from people I never considered might
share my problems and I'm glad the moderator cut me slack 
as the disabilities echo is dead.
Talking about it helps acceptance and I've a few tips
that I'm going to try out.

 WC> Sucks. Still retain a great deal of upper body strength but
 WC> with the lack of a firm lower body foundation I can't
 WC> usually actually use it to an effect.

 CA> My remaining strength is more of a potential hazard than a
 CA> help. Parts of my body are strong enough to detroy other parts.
 CA> :-\

 Same here.

 CA> Could be. I know the knee 'pain' is not like hitting my finger
 CA> with a hammer but it's continuous nonstop every waking moment
 CA> of my life for the past 35 years.

That's my spine the last 12 years. Knee is quite painful of late
but sporatic for the most part.

 WC> It's a phreaking miracle I'm alive all things considered. I
 WC> bet I'd make for an interesting autopsy to see all the
 WC> accumulated damage.

 CA> You must have some 'unfinished business' here on earth?

Well I did manage to be highly instrumental in running 
a large crack house out of the neighborhood back the latter
part of 96 but nothing much of late.
Can't really imagine what I _can_ do anymore.

 CA>> The job market is brutal out there and being over 50 is
 CA>> like being a 'leper' now, at least in Michigan it is.

 WC> Bet if my spine wasn't injured I could still trade on my
 WC> size to keep working as my father did. Doesn't get much
 WC> worse than Florida as a "right to work state" which is a
 WC> deceptively named piece of legislation. My brother in law a
 WC> former special forces guy says he was astonished to see my
 WC> father carrying an AC unit up to the second story on a
 WC> ladder at the age of 67 and this _after_ having had a
 WC> spinal fusion. I maintain I would still be able to trade on
 WC> my size given my persistence were my spine uninjured. The
 WC> wall I ran into was the qaulity of health care available to
 WC> the disabled because health care had not yet kicked in
 WC> after I traded up jobs.

 CA> All true but your size would also allow employers to work you
 CA> to death with no regrets. Size is only an asset when trying to
 CA> impress the girls.

 And than the girls that are impressed are the ones you're not
 likely interested in. I was more into the cerebral stuff
 but society tends to judge by appearances :-(
 True employers do run you into the ground but I enjoyed physical
 work and didn't notice my knees degenerating until it was too
 late. Knees weren't the sum total of job related injuries and 
 not exclusively so where the right one was concerned.
 My spine also showed deterioration from heavy work but I
 didn't recognize it for what it was at the time.
 A rebuild job on the knees and barring my other injury I'd have been
 right back at it.

 WC> No, it becomes obvious as one ages this is a youth oriented
 WC> culture.

 CA> More of an obsession than an orientation. I've often wanted to
 CA> tell managers that they too were getting older but I doubt they
 CA> would've admitted to that. Let them find out the hard way I say!

I often found managers are more hindrence than help.
It's those that do the work that understand how best to get it done.
I've had some twisted amusement following _superiors_
instructions in destroying equipment and machinery after 
voicing my objection. Funny how a boss rather than appreciate
your input frequently really gets P.O. when you're right.
I was much amused when a former superior at a company I worked
for, he was a real pri.., got fired for telling a customer
the truth which was highly uncharacteristic of him.
A former co-worked told me he saw the chump stocking candy
displays at service stations. No sympathy there despite
him being somewhat disabled as he took great pleasure at the
previous job making people unneccessarily miserable.
 
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