Retirement thoughts Past Present Future

[Larry Caldwell]

In 1973 I joined the Navy to see the world .and got to see some of Europe before I got married . Doing trade shows with the kids for for years got us into a lot of theme parks nature parkes.

Last Friday I had what on Monday the doctor suspected was a heat stroke in the horse lot. After the recent bushhogging accident involving a broken tree limb I had stopped helping with horses while a leg abrasion healed over time.

Recently read a long article about Iceland. The summer temperatures 47/57F range sounds interesting to me for 2024.

Does anyone have any personal Iceland travel experiences.?

I presume the doctor warned you that one heat stroke leads to another? You are now more susceptible for the rest of your life.

 

[Oaktree]

Outliving your entire generation is a problem for those left behind. It's easy to become isolated. I'm already seeing the effect. I just lost another friend yesterday, from kidney failure. She loved plants, and I have a crab apple tree that she gave me, a keepsake like so many others in my life. I watched it happen to my grandfather, who died in 1961 at 98. He came from the era of chautaquas and debating societies, but the world had moved on. My mother lived to 95, and buried half a dozen best friends before she got too old to make any more. I'm only an average old guy, but the ghosts at Christmas far outnumber the living.

My mother is in the same situation, all her long-time friends are gone and most of the "old people" in the town she lives in are a good 8-10 years her junior. I would imagine it could be quite lonely.
My sisters and I try to visit when we can, but we're all 2+ hours away, and we've never been a particularly close family to begin with, so those visits can often feel a bit "forced".

I had to look up chautaquas, never heard of it before. Cultural shifts are certainly a tough part of getting old...I probably feel as disconnected from today's culture as my grandparents did with my generation's.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

I presume the doctor warned you that one heat stroke leads to another? You are now more susceptible for the rest of your life.

Yes. I had a friend that talked about his experiences until he died in his early sixties.

Internal organs failing due to the high heat does not make for a pretty picture. As organs start to break down, they throw a tremendous load on the kidneys and all the rest of the system because everything is already compromised. The sad part is because one is cognitively limited at that point in the game one is unaware or what is going on and what to do about it if it's gets very far.

Thankfully, the wife does the horses typically between 1:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m.. which is a good thing.

I thought I was doing fine yesterday. Able to drink water out of a glass without giving myself a shower. But right before we went to town I went out and took the hose and sprayed down the dog pens because it's a dust bowl and I wanted to make it a little cooler. That was a mistake. Not for the dogs but for me.

 

[ponytug]

Yes. I had a friend that talked about his experiences until he died in his early sixties.

Internal organs failing due to the high heat does not make for a pretty picture. As organs start to break down, they throw a tremendous load on the kidneys and all the rest of the system because everything is already compromised. The sad part is because one is cognitively limited at that point in the game one is unaware or what is going on and what to do about it if it's gets very far.

Thankfully, the wife does the horses typically between 1:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m.. which is a good thing.

I thought I was doing fine yesterday. Able to drink water out of a glass without giving myself a shower. But right before we went to town I went out and took the hose and sprayed down the dog pens because it's a dust bowl and I wanted to make it a little cooler. That was a mistake. Not for the dogs but for me.

Sorry to hear about your heatstroke episode. I did something quite stupid as a kid, and I have been very intolerant of heat ever since, almost brittle- I'm ok, and then suddenly I am not ok. It can take a long, long time, to not be extremely heat sensitive and for many it is a life long sensitivity to heat. My $0.02 is try to clean slate your habits. Don't go out in the heat, wear a hat with a broad brim, light colored, loose fitting long sleeve shirts and pants, and take it easy. Basically, I think of it as getting a new body. One that has no heat tolerance. Don't be surprised if you over-sweat or under-sweat in response to heat from here on out.

If you can manage it for the rest of the summer, only go out with someone else, who can keep an eye on you. Repeat attacks can come on very quickly.

All the best, Peter

 

[ultrarunner]

I don't do well in heat and when friends suggest visiting in a warm local be it Palm Desert or the Philippines my first thought is the heat/humidity.

That said I passed through and stayed the night in Death Valley with no I'll effect even at 119.

Humidity single digits and lots of water and Gatorade on hand and I drank extra water in prep...

Maybe the low humidity made the difference?

Remember getting out of the pool and instantly dry including swim trunks...

My friends in both locations are retired and happy with their respective choices.

Apparantly quite a presence of retired US military in the Philippines with VA services and the dollar still goes far…

 

[newbury]

If you can manage it for the rest of the summer, only go out with someone else, who can keep an eye on you. Repeat attacks can come on very quickly.

All the best, Peter

And try to keep a CHARGED cell phone with you (or other way to immediately contact someone) for help

 

[scootr]

I presume the doctor warned you that one heat stroke leads to another? You are now more susceptible for the rest of your life.

I lived and worked in the desert for 20 yrs. I got heat stroke in 1995. The effects stay with you. For a year afterwards I felt like a vampire when the sun shined on me. 4 yrs later I gave up and left the desert to a more mild climate.
Today I can't stay out in the 100º sun like I did prior to the stroke. I don't know if it's psychological or real but I get a little panicky about too much heat.
After 15 yrs working construction in the heat I thought it could never happen to me. I was wrong.
Heat stroke comes on fast and it's no joke.

 

[old and tired]

Oh to be young and stupid again... I would only care if it was above 100* but I would still have to get into a Tyvek suit, rubber gloves, full face-mask respirator and spray insecticides on about 0.5 acre, (7,260 feet, a little over a mile) walking it with a 50# backpack sprayer on. Used to pour sweat out of my boots.

Kicker was, we had to collect "insect counts" in the morning and by 2 pm; I would know how many plots I was going to be spraying. We could not spray in the morning - we had to collect data first.

On other days, I would count up the distance and bad days would be in the 7 mile range (at more tolerable temps). I would have the summer helpers sit in the truck in the AC to keep an eye on me - I tried to let them spray a couple of times but they did not get paid enough to do that kind of work... Besides, I enjoyed it..

 

[arto98607]

...................snip....................

Recently read a long article about Iceland. The summer temperatures 47/57F range sounds interesting to me for 2024.

Does anyone have any personal Iceland travel experiences.?

No other personal experience from Iceland except spent some time outside at the Reykjavik airport in July 2018 while waiting for our connecting flight, and it was cold and windy.
Prepare for any weather just in case if going there.

 

[WinterDeere]

And try to keep a CHARGED cell phone with you (or other way to immediately contact someone) for help

I suspect a lot of our members live in or do work in areas without great cell coverage. I try to always make sure someone knows where I am, and when I should be back.

Speaking of which, that reminds me of a favorite aphorism: A friend is someone who will visit you in jail. A good friend is someone who will bail you out. Your best friend is the guy who looks at you and says, "we sure did have some fun last night, now who's gonna bail us out?"