He could contract out the job but he enjoys the work and it is a diversion from his day job of a rocket scientist.
Below is an excerpt of a recent e-mail from him.
----------------------------------------------------------- We passed the framing inspection yesterday, and the inspector also signed off on insulation. I still have plenty of insulation work to finish, but it's not required by code. The tweaks to the hopper tool work well, but it's still a brutal job. It's kind of like filling up mattresses by stuffing cotton balls through a mail slot. It takes me 3 days to recover from the soreness after a morning working on it. It sucks getting old.
So Lew, does your son get regular exercise? I went through that stage of being sore, not being able to get up quickly from the floor, joints always being sore, ect. at about his age. I began a regular, walk like you are on a mission, daily 2 mile routine about 8 years ago. Today I turn 60 and do that 2 mile walk in under 30 minutes. Nothing hurts anymore and I seldom get sore. I am a firm believer that it is hell getting old if you let yourself get old. Want to feel like a kid, stay physical like a kid. Well not like today's kids but like we were when we were young. Like the old saying goes, use it or loose it.
I'm suppose to be on a walking exercise regimine, but I'm lazy most of the time. I try to stay busy with some work/chore type task, but that's not ex ercise enough, with lots of walking involved. I don't get sore, so much, b ut my legs get tired or fatigued-like, by mid afternoon, then I'm in slow-m o gear for the rest of the evening.
I realize I'm fooling myself, with this faux work/chore routine being a sub stitute for adequate exercise. It ain't working out, as a dedicated, even minimum, exercise program would. A simple program, as yours, Leon, would d o wonders for anyone.
I am pushing 60, right behind you. A couple of weeks ago I started a Hardi e Plank install on a house. Some of the siding was torn off, some stayed o n. While I sometimes sub this work out, I had the time and wanted the mone y, so I did the install myself. My helper couldn't make the entire day of work after the first day and petered out after about 3.
In his day, he was a real Trojan. Not quite a Spartan... We have known eac h other for about 40 years now, and he has worked for me in various capacit ies over the years as a roof repair tech, a job foreman, and a general carp entry helper. He has been a full time school teacher now for about 7 years and spends his days in the A/C, but likes to think of himself as a constru ction guy at heart. He loves to come out and work with me when I need a he lper as he likes the money and it reinforces the fact that "he can still hi t it". We used to turn out a ton of work when we were together.
My normal day is 10 hours. I like 10 hours. It gets more done, keeps you out of traffic, and it seems that you have a more quiet job site as they ar e focusing on the haul, not where they are going to drink beer after an 8 h our day. 10 hours is just too much for him now and he was struggling hard a fter the first full day.
I won't call him again unless it is just to check up on things on a job. W e were up and down ladders a couple of hundred times, carried all the sidin g around the house as needed, and all the other activities that come with t his type of installation. He was sore (not used to going up and down ladde rs with siding in his hands and the nail gun hanging off his pants), isn't used to being on his feet for several hours at a time, wasn't used to carry ing siding, etc. In the end, he missed a couple of days completely because he was so beat down.
I had to caulk the house by myself to prep for paint, then took my airless and spray shields out to the job and painted the new siding on the house my self. I moved the ladder, drop cloths, paint machine, paint, sprayed and c leaned everything up myself. Out of guilt, he came out and helped me for a bout an hour with the final cleaning when I was finishing up and loading up all the tools. In his salad days before teaching, he would have been a tr emendous asset on the job and no doubt I would have finished about 3-4 days earlier. His current physical condition made the job much harder on me, es pecially in this August heat.
He took off a week from doing anything to recover so he could start school. To draw the distinction, the day after I finished the job and got paid, I went out and delivered a couple of bids I typed up in the evening and then went and drank whiskey, played cards and smoked a couple of cigars.
After watching my father literally rust out in his early retirement, I hope I can continue working (although less physical would be nice) as needed wi thout a lot of pain to keep my level of activity up. I am not sure I am di sciplined enough to exercise regularly, although many years ago I was a fai thful gym member for about 10 plus years. Don't know if I have exercising on a volunteer basis anymore, but still don't think a minute about acceptin g a paying job that requires a lot of physical work.
All of my friends take some kind of heart, blood, or other daily medicines for their recurring ailments. All of them have to "watch what they do" as they are feeling the pangs of old age, even though many of them are younger than me, in some cases much younger. They have no energy, their stamina i s non existent, and while their self talk tell them that "tackling that dam n yard" on the weekend is a big project, I remind them that I can mow, edge and blow in an hour.
I am aware that being able to do what I do at my age is part luck, but I al so remember that when I started in the trades there were guys that were my age that could work the wheels off of me when I was 40 years younger than t hey were. Those guys are the guy I want to be. I don't take any kind of m edicines on a regular basis except when allergy season starts. None.
Leon, I couldn't agree with you more with the old adage of losing it if you don't use it. I could happen despite best efforts, but with no effort tha t it is a virtual guarantee.
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