I had planned to start writing a series about building a new home and large workshop... but things have not gone as planned. Day one in moving my RV from Florida to southern Indiana to use as our base camp, I had to grab some things out of storage. Searching my large storage slot filled with tools I found what I needed, just behind a portable 12k generator. No problem, I think, just reach over some boxes, drag the generator over a few inches using my right arm, and I am good to go. But something else happened. I felt a pull in my back, which I thought would be just another muscle that would talk to me later, as more and more do every morning. I grabbed the item, closed the storage unit, and went back to the RV.
The next morning, I had a more than usual pain in my back. Even so, we were on the road to Indiana. No back pain would delay our mission, even though that spot would start really talking to me. After two days of bouncing and jarring along our lovely highway system, my right arm was numb with pain shooting down it. Two fingers were numb, and one was, as I say, drunk. The next day, it was bad enough that Beth made me go to the emergency room. After two emergency room visits and one visit to a neurosurgeon, the diagnosis was a severely compressed disk and pinched nerve – all from dragging a stinking generator 6”, which is something I have done for years (decades) without any issues. This was definitely not part of my plan.
So here I sit in southern Indiana, starting two construction projects, a shop and a home, but unable to do physical work. I can hold a measuring tape with my left hand, but no lifting, pulling, nailing, standing for long periods, or motion to aggravate the back. Dang, the idea of all of the processes I wanted to do that now I have to hire out hurts my pride. I could build anything, but not right now and maybe not again depending on what I hear at my next neurosurgeon appointment.
My point is that we guys go through life thinking we are bulletproof. Especially with our construction background, we don’t think about how we may be pushing our limits as we get older. As I tell my kids, life is full of choices and choices have consequences. Beth says I better learn to slow down and leave the tough stuff to the younger generation. Maybe I will, but just a little bit.