14 June 2012

Got Your Back

I got a little wake-up call from my back last night. I was cleaning up in the shop and knocked over a small box of bolts. I bent over and put the bolts back in the box, and when I straightened back up to put the box back on the shelf the pain hit me, right below the shoulder blades, like someone stuck me with a knife straight in the middle of my back, about halfway between shoulder and elbow height.

It wasn't the "ZOMG CALL AN AMBERLAMPS I THINK I'M GONNA DIE!!!" sort of pain, more like a "hey twinkie me and youse gonna talk later" kind of thing. I stood up and sort of stretched around for a bit and after a while it went away completely, but it got my attention.

I guess it's about time I gave up the illusion that I can still do all the things I did when I was younger. Thanks to my houseguests I haven't had to mow my own lawn for quite some time now, and if I complain long and loud enough the house stays clean with a minimum of effort on my part (only fair because it gets dirty with only a minimum effort on my part as well), so I actually haven't had to put myself through any real labor other than what is required of me at work.

It's also a reminder that part of the "lift with your legs and not your back" applies to my own bulk, which has gotten noticeably more in the past seven or so years. I used to laugh when the chiefs told me "if you are in Naval Aviation you are not sedentary!" but it appears to be true after all.

Looks like I need to take the stairs instead of the elevator at work, and no matter how good that cheesecake is one piece is probably enough. Maybe I'll even take Dog to the lake to walk the trails for a while this weekend, I know Dog would enjoy it at least. If nothing else it will make the doc happier when I go in for my annual.

Getting old ain't for sissies.

4 comments:

RabidAlien said...

I know the feelin. I've tried to get back to the gym on occasion, and it always works for a month and a half or so, but then something comes along to break the routine, and its just so much easier to find something else that "needs" doing the next afternoon. And the next. And the one after that, too. I did cut out all sodas/coffee, though (took a few weeks before my brain figured out what I'd done and got really mad at me), which has pretty much knocked out the oh-holy-crap-it-hurts-to-live migraines, and has lost me about 10 pounds in the last two months. Not bad for a lazy dirtbag, I must say!

Larry said...

Yep, hard to start and easy to quit. I've started packing the pounds on since I quit smoking, too, so that didn't help. For the weight, I mean.
Thanks for dropping by RA!

Mike Mendez said...

Check with your insurance plan and find a chiropractor that takes your plan.
As a mechanic, I believe in mechanically aligning the back. It has made a big impact on the quality of my life.

Larry said...

I'll have to check in to that. Thanks for dropping by Mike, good to see that you are well.