Not ready for this. Pennsylvania winter.

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Last year was very hard with a lot of snow. Multiple times having to go out and clear due to how much snow was coming down. A few appointments were even canceled due to it. Lucky this year I don't have to fight my way to work.

I don't know how I am going to handle it this year as the muscles in my stomach are worse now than they were last year by a lot.

I looked into an electric shovel that runs off a battery but they are $$$.

There are also a few new shovels that look like they would be better on my back.

Yea, I am not ready for the snow But I love it so much.

 

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At least you have 2 legs!

 

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I have to pay to have my snow removed. I’m not able-bodied anf it’s worth it to me

 

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@justej

True, though I am really worried about falling this year. My stomach muscles don't hold me up at all and my back is just getting worse.

@LeeC

My parents have a rental property just down the street from me so they have to pay our maintenance guy to plow there but he does not have to clear their parking lot so doesn't have a way to clear me out due to where I have to park. I cannot pay to have it done as I have no money. Just going for food for a few minutes makes my back hurt enough that I have to sit down.

An electric shovel would mean not having to bend down to do it. I talked to my mom about it and she is going to try to get one for their property but then I would have to go clear out my Nanny's place (Not like I didn't do it all of last year anyway so)

 

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We can get some pretty Harsh Winters here in Wisconsin and trying to get down the sidewalks and idiots don't shovel their walks and the city doesn't enforce the laws

Last year was very hard with a lot of snow. Multiple times having to go out and clear due to how much snow was coming down. A few appointments were even canceled due to it. Lucky this year I don't have to fight my way to work.

I don't know how I am going to handle it this year as the muscles in my stomach are worse now than they were last year by a lot.

I looked into an electric shovel that runs off a battery but they are $$$.

There are also a few new shovels that look like they would be better on my back.

Yea, I am not ready for the snow But I love it so much.

 

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We can get some pretty Harsh Winters here in Wisconsin and trying to get down the sidewalks in a wheelchair and idiots don't shovel their walks and the city doesn't enforce the laws

Last year was very hard with a lot of snow. Multiple times having to go out and clear due to how much snow was coming down. A few appointments were even canceled due to it. Lucky this year I don't have to fight my way to work.

I don't know how I am going to handle it this year as the muscles in my stomach are worse now than they were last year by a lot.

I looked into an electric shovel that runs off a battery but they are $$$.

There are also a few new shovels that look like they would be better on my back.

Yea, I am not ready for the snow But I love it so much.

 

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FLGuy If you're problems are getting worse and your parents can help, you need to be up front with them and ask for the help you need. There has to be a solution that will work for all of you. I know what you mean about back hurting. It takes me a lot of time to do anything because of the curvature of the spine. I'm hoping the PT will help, but most of it will be up to me. it's not a cure though. I too am not looking forward to winter and for most of my life it was my favorite season. But I'm old now and the cold hurts.

I never heard of an electric shovel. Does it run on batteries? When I lived in Colorado above 9000 ft we had to shovel snow off the roof of the motel and we got over 100 inches a season. Back-breaking work.

Your parents sound like they would help you if you just leveled with them about what you need from them.

 

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@ritanofsinger

My parents help a lot. Mom buys about $50 worth of stuff from me each month (Miralax, smooth movers tea, and vitamins)

The shovels can run off batteries or some plug-in.

Here is lowes batteries one.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Kobalt-40-Volt-Max-12-in-Single-Stage-Cordless-Electric-Snow-Blower/1003200796?cm_mmc=shp-_-c-_-prd-_-sol-_-ggl-_-PLA_SOL_239_Battery-Ope-_-1003200796-_-0-_-0-_-0&ds_rl=1286981&gclid=CjwKCAjwqeWKBhBFEiwABo_XBn3N3_fMd6kyybkqNOothRa1SSjRnxADqzFWUzEofYcb27xm_d1ETBoCqwkQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

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So that's an "electric snow shovel!" That looks really cool and why didn't they have them when I lived up north? Of course I've been in Florida for something like 20 years now!!!
I remember waaaaay back when my dad had a gasoline powered snow blower when we lived in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and New Hampshire. We thought that was the greatest invention since sliced bread!!!

 

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Old age and retirement were supposed to be the "golden years"! NOT!

@justej , I know you are an amputee, and I can't imagine how tough that must be for you. I lost my left eye 👁‍🗨 due to a detached retina and an incompetent surgeon. I used 4 different surgeons trying to get a solution. I had 13 surgeries and months of agonizing pain and misery at level 10. Only my trust in God helped me get through that ordeal.

In the end, they "eviscerated" the eye (scooped the guts out), implanted a plastic ball, and made a "scleral shell" that is shaped like a bowl but looks like a real eye. It just sits on the bump of the implant. However, it doesn't fit very well. It's a real HOOT when it gets too dry. It pops out and bounces across the floor! :O

BACK PAIN: I had a fusion of my lower back at L4/L5. That really turned out well. However, I developed a bulging disk in the middle of my back between the shoulder blades. That really gets me down. They say surgery is out of the question.

SNOW SHOVELING: We live in a suburb of Kansas City, Missouri. Fortunately, our neighborhood has a "home owner association" (HOA). Our dues gets our lawns mowed and snow removed when it's at least 3 inches deep.

LEAF RAKING: The big pain is raking leaves in the Fall! HOA does NOT do that. However, they occasionally run the mowers over the leaves to mulch them, but not remove them. That real makes my back and every other muscle hurt!

 

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@MezaJarJarBinks

I have had an MRI a bit ago and it said I have(copied from my results) L3-L4: Broad-based disc bulge causes mild canal narrowing and mild bilateral
foraminal narrowing.
L4-L5: Broad-based disc bulge causes mild canal narrowing and mild bilateral
foraminal narrowing.

My physical therapist is aware of it but it is not what she does. In November I have to talk to my PCP about it.

 

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MezaJarJarBinks: the guy (has to be a guy, women aren't that stupid) who said this is the golden years probably wasn't 45, yet. Hope he enjoyed 75.
Oh! Wait! Maybe he meant that everything would now need gold to pay for it! Now, that's true...

 

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Need gold to pay for the golden years????? That is definitely true!!! Or at least take out a second mortgage! But if the guy who coined the term golden years was saying that in jest, then we all know that many a true thing was said in jest!!

 

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@AlasSouth @billliveshere

In my younger years I used to work as an "estate planner". In a nutshell, we would help people determine how much money they would need if the breadwinner were to die, and provide various ways for them to reach that goal. Since most people were never going to save that much money, the solution was usually some form of life insurance.

I often think that I wish I could ask the guy who trained us how he felt about some of the things he said to us; like, "You won't need as much money when you are retired."

My experience has been quite the contrary! I spend a fortune on insurance premiums, healthcare providers, surgeries, and medications. And then there are old-house maintenance and old-car maintenance. Many of the things I used to repair myself I now have to pay someone else to do it.

 

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It's interesting the guy who trained you would say something like you won't need as much money when you are retired. So what planet does he come from?????? And did he not take into account this rampant inflation we have now????

 

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I am hearing a lot of angst and worries. When I get this way, I try to shift into problem solving mode. I feel better when I am actively thinking about how this problem could be solved. If you get a snow blower or electric snow shovel, can you hire a neighborhood teenager to run it for you and pay them for their work? Allow them to use it for another neighbor and be paid by them? How could you sweeten that work for the operator? Also, check with local resources to see if they might be able to help. We have a Spinal Cord Commission https://www.spinalcord.ar.gov/programs-and-services[/URL] in Arkansas that helps lower income folks with all types of resources. If Pennsylvania has one, you may be in luck. When I lived in Philadelphia, neighbors always looked out for the elderly and shoveled their walks and dug out their cars (parked on street) if necessary. That said, in my present hometown, that would be a rare thing. Luckily, snow and ice don't last very long in Little Rock, and we have the luxury (retired) of just waiting for it to melt! We gave away our snow shovel (manual) when we left Philadelphia. If moving south is out of the question, call the local services agency and see what they suggest/can do. Good luck.

 

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It's interesting the guy who trained you would say something like you won't need as much money when you are retired. So what planet does he come from?????? And did he not take into account this rampant inflation we have now????

Exactly...

I think that was around 1970. Back then political parties were not so different from each other. I won't go any further except to say that both parties were fighting communism and socialism, corporations had no reason to leave the USA, and factories were churning out products; now they are ghost towns.

 

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DPCare I love the photo. Thanks for sharing.

FLGuy You have a peach of a mom. I'm glad that you share with her.

MezaJarJarBinks How do you like Missouri? I lived in Grandview from 1960-1961. Bill and I went fishing at Lake Jacoby a lot. We watched Sputnik overhead!

Your eye ball story is pretty funny but so awful that you had to go through so much misery before that. I had a torn retina in 2010 and that was awful enough. I was in South Padre Island, Texas when it tore and we were driving back to Albuquerque the next day so I had a laser surgery scheduled for the next day. I got the anesthetic shot and waited and waited. The surgeon meanwhile had an emergency surgery. By the time another surgeon was available the anesthetic had worn off and he went ahead with the laser anyway. It was so painful. I was moaning and "expressing by discomfort" yowling is the word. I began to sweat and couldn't hold my head in the contraption with the chin rest. I told him I was going to faint so he stopped momentarily and then he called for a big fan to cool me down. I was so distraught and angry with the whole situation. Too bad there wasn't any physical damage, I thought about suing them. But it sure made me think about the pain and misery that soldiers endured in the Civil War and other wars for that matter, when they had no pain killers or antibiotics. It made me really thankful that I live in this time and not before.

AlasSouth I don't know what the Golden Years are supposed to be like. But I know that if I hadn't gotten a Reverse Mortgage 10 years ago I would today be living with my daughter (she would never have allowed me to be homeless!). Instead I've been able to have my son and a granddaughter living with me!
"I ain't got a barrel of money," but have gold in relationships!

 

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Hi @MezaJarJarBinks, Well that is just what happened around 1970 and before!! Oh, that we could return to those days when both parties were concerned about fighting communism and socialism (and not each other) and that we didn't have to import every damn thing we use from China!!! And we actually had real manufacturing that was made in America!!! We have fallen so far.....and can we even get back up???
And @ritanofsinger, that was a harrowing story about your torn retina surgery. And in this day and age (even if it was 2010) it was bad enough to make you think of the Civil War battleground surgery with no anesthetics or antibiotics. And you are so right, we do have a lot to be thankful for (at least medically speaking) that we are living in this time.

 

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@ritanofsinger

MezaJarJarBinks How do you like Missouri? I lived in Grandview from 1960-1961. Bill and I went fishing at Lake Jacoby a lot. We watched Sputnik overhead!

Missouri is fine. Lots of outdoor things to do: hunting, fishing, float streams, Ozark Mountains, and theme parks. I don't like being in tornado alley though. Grandview and Hickman Mills were almost wiped out by a tornado in the '50s. I've lived all over the Metro area on both sides of the state line, North, South, East, and West. I now live in Raymore. That is the next suburb south of Grandview and Hickman Mills. (By the way, highway 71 is now I-49.)

Lake Jacoby: I think you probably meant to say "Lake Jacomo", as in Jackson County Mo. I spent lots of time there too.

Sputnik: My dad and I used to sit on top of "Cool Crest" miniature golf and watch "Telstar" go over. That was the silver balloon satellite that they bounced radio signals off of. I haven't seen the Milky Way at night for so many years. Sad.

...he went ahead with the laser anyway. The first surgeon I had was a quack. He did 4 surgeries on me before I fired him. He forgot his laser the day of the 3rd surgery when he put another "buckle" around my eye. So he had me come to his office the next day where he blasted me with his laser without any anesthesia. I was screaming at him because it was burning so hot! I turned away and the laser scorched my face! He really messed me up bad. My eye filled with blood. I went to a second surgeon for 3 more surgeries, and to a third surgeon for 3 more. That was the last time I saw any light from that eye.