Hell Man!! Your "Do-over" is YOURS!! I want my own!! :bigthumbsup:

 

Wow... old farts WISHING they were young farts. Young farts THINKING they are old farts. Where do I start? :smokin::lol:

My dad was 25 when I was born, so he was 25 times my age. When I turned 25, he was ONLY 50... so I was HALF his age. When I turned 50, he was ONLY 75... so I was 2/3rds his age.... and if he lives to be 100, I'll be 3/4's his age! I'm getting OLD faster than HE is! :eek2::lol:

Life goes by REAL fast! So... don't miss a SINGLE opportunity to LIVE it!

When I reached middle age, I asked him if he FELT "older." He said... "no, I still feel like I'm 25 (in my mind) in a 75 year old body!" That made me feel better about being attracted to girls the age of my daughter! :eek2:

I USED to think that 80 would be about my "limit." But... my dad is 80 and STILL beats me at golf! issedoff:

There are no "do-overs." We only get this ONE life! I USED to feel important because my MIND was so much older than my body. Now... I see the importance of keeping my BODY fit enough to live the life my MIND wants to live!

I'm gonna start working out tomorrow! :lol:

Kids don't understand the saying that, "you're as YOUNG as you feel." Cuz... well... they're KIDS! :roll:

By the time they're old enough to understand it... it's too late! :cry:

I spent YEARS trying to rationalize that I had traded maturity and knowledge for the YEARS of my youth... and thinking it was a fair trade. I was WRONG!

Starting tomorrow, I'm going to regain my youthful body, and I SWEAR that by the time I'm 75, I'm gonna BEAT that 100 year old man at golf! :lol2:

 

I don't think much about my age as long as I don't look in the mirror. I don't recognize that guy in the mirror. I have black hair and his is gray. The thing about age is that it sneaks up on you. It happens very subtly. One day you are in your youth and the next you are looking at an old geezer in the mirror. I am fortunate that I am in good health, as far as I know. I don't need to take any meds and usually only see a doctor when I need my DOT physical. Hopefully, my good health will continue. Many in my family live well into their 80's and 90's. My grandmother made it within 2 weeks of being 100. It isn't the getting older but the things that happen to our body. We don't realize what is happening until it is too late. One day we are in our youth and the next we are old. People do seem to be living longer. Many have good health well into their old age. Others have chronic illness. Some believe that it has to do with genes. I think genes may play a factor, but for the most part it is about lifestyle and how you take care of yourself. I have a couple of things that bother me, but still don't take any medications on a regular basis. One thing about the boomer's is that we tend to take more supplements and herbs. That has seemed to work for many.

 

Some dated info from Statistics Canada, no doubt the numbers will be advanced into the 50's by now?

Help wanted: Truck drivers

In 1987, the average age of a trucker was 37; by 2004, it was 42 for wage-earning truckers and 45 for owner-operators. In 2004, for the first time, truckers aged 55 and over outnumbered those under 30. In addition, 18% of truckers are over 55 compared with 13% of the general work force.

Stagnant earnings growth aside, trucking is appealing less to younger workers possibly because of its long hours, irregular schedules, fewer benefits and the attractiveness of competing jobs. Adding to recruitment problems are minimum age regulations on trucking licences and higher insurance premiums for male drivers under 25.

Another study, by the ATA in 2005: http://www.truckline.com/StateIndust...ageStudy05.pdf

As noted in the media note at the beginning, the current economic difficulties have eased up any shortage problems.

 

Sorry, but while I might be able to get on my heels financially and educationally out in "No Bear" state, many of the women here are stuck up and care about "going to the beach" or "going for a night on the town".
Although there are many rural spots in CA, the urban-centricity reaches in and makes its presence known.

If you want to live in Europe, you don't have to travel far.

As far as age goes, it's nothing we can really control and if I live everyday normally and the end suddenly jumped up and bit me, guess it'll be my mistake for taking it for granted.
In that regard, I think of myself as a machine, one that keeps running until something finally lets it know that in no longer exists.(think Bruce Willis and the 6th Sense.)

But for all you old dudes living positively and thinking about the beach, more power to you and your love for salty water.

Eh, maybe being a non-smoker and just a casual drinker is having more of a detrimental effect on me than the benefits promised by those fruity PSAs.

 

Lad......You missed my point. You live in an area where being "Young" is prime. Yes....today a tank of gas to get you to the beach cost's more......BUT.....The beach is still FREE, once you get there. And yes.....it takes money for "a night on the town"...but again....you are young and jobs are available, for those whom seek them out. Jobs with good live-able wages.

Before I moved to southern California from New Mexico, I was living in motels, whether I was working in Bakersfield, Santa Paula, Santa Maria....or the Los Angeles basin. That was when I was YOUR AGE! Instead of sitting in those rooms, when I wasn't working, I would take the company car, the rental car or whatever was provided by the company, and go do something....anything...to keep from being bored. It wasn't easy....but I did it. It did help that most times, there were guys my age from other areas, that wanted to get out and about as well. Don't knock the beaches. You don't have to swim to have fun (even though swimming IS fun). Hell....You can lay on a towel and read....and be surprised by what...or who...... you find.

I am a non-smoker and casual drinker now...and was back then. Believe me....as someone who didn't smoke or use drugs and someone who doesn't drink himself silly....I stood out. Back then....you were the "Odd" one for being sober, though LA did have several night clubs that had "designated driver" specials......which is why those four stand out in my mind. "Todd's" in Bakersfield was in the Sheraton Hotel......and that was usually where we stayed....there or the Ramada.

 

I've experienced the beach due to living in Victorville and going on trips with family and friends from there down to Santa Monica, Newport, etc.,
You might've enjoyed it, but CA is just too "urban centric" as a whole.
Rents are expensive, people are too "far left" and I've actually angered a hippie to the point of getting shoved by one due to persistent and clashing views.

I've lived in this state when I was four and want to move out of my parents place(YES I LIVE WITH THEM) and the only way I'll feel I'm able to experience the outdoor life and get a relationship I want to be in is by moving to one of the adjacent states and making better use of the money I'm making whilst driving.

Case-in-point, I pulled the bike off the truck and rode to downtown Flagstaff for lunch while waiting for my load.
I got into more friendly conversations and wasn't "shrugged off" by the many female college students that attend NAU or Coconino CC.
Some of them actually seemed interested in me and were into things I like to do(hiking, mountain-biking, ghost-town and abandoned building exploring).

Needless to say on the bright-side, this new round of "post-rollover" driving is opening my eyes to other places I could find happiness and not feel old all the time.
The way I see it, I have a much bright and better chance of feeling happy and young in the AZ, UT, and CO desert small-cities than I would in the megalopolis coastal area of CA.

 

Hey everybody, didn't mean to let this turn into a "why I'm moving away from/hate CA" thread.

But, back to the OT, is truck driving becoming the primary career for retired and old folks?
Seems the recently retired from other industries are heavily getting into it and many who have been driving since the 60s/70s are staying with it.

I just don't notice a whole lot of young people getting into it as much.
This comes from seeing the types of people who are at many truckstops I go to.
Lots of gray hairs and war-stories to go along with it.

 

If you had a job, where you could knock down $50-60K a year, and see the country while doing that.......Would you trade it for a job where you could make $17-23K a year....so you could be home??

I see plenty of "younger" drivers...mostly in the mid-west and on the east coast.

 

If I happened to find one that was 40hrs/week and paid that much in say, Flagstaff or Denver, then yes, immediately.
As far as the east coast, haven't been back there since my Swift days.
As you could tell, I'm a desert-rat and the company I'm with right now is pretty good about keeping me in the 4-corners region and CA.

Maybe there's more younger drivers in the areas you mentioned due to not-so-many urban-centric locales or mentalities.
The parents maintained relatively simple or hands-on careers and the kids were convinced to do the same.
And if not that, they went to school in state in order to retain those family ties.

Simply put, in areas like that, truck driving is probably not looked down upon by the peers and any work is good work.
Not like here where the greenies discourage it, but encourage taking trips on aircraft that spew out more pollutants in one trip than a single truck does in 10-20 years.