Is it time to start taking it easy?

Timbuck

Timbuck

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In about 3 years or so i'll be 80 :eek:ld:..I've just got over a bad illness that just about floored me...My hearing and eysight gets worse every year and I spend ages looking for tools and things that i've mislaid , until I can't remember what im looking for in the first place :confused:...and on the news, lots of pop stars and famous people younger than me are kicking the bucket on a daily basis, as Clint Eastwood says "We all got it coming"... Old age is great int it ?... This morning went into the workshop to work on my latest soprano, and the first thing I did was make a cock up on the work piece (a soprano neck) that i was finishing off...So no problem! I took another neck blank out of stock to replace the one that i'd just ruined.....10 minutes later, that one also ended up in the scrap box :mad:...I am now back in the house "pissed off" with a mug of tea wondering if I should pack it all in and just sit in front of the TV instead... But all is not Doom and Gloom the weather is picking up and the daffodills are out and Spring is just round the corner So I think i'll wait until tomorrow and then give it another go:D
 
Well I'm about 11 months away from hitting 40 (yikes!) and my eyesight is terrible (+8 in both eyes ... one of which is lazy ... yes just like the rest of me...) and my girlfriend says my hearing needs checking or at least that is what she said an unknown number of times before I heard her.

I think what I am trying to say is continue building if you enjoy it ... drink tea and eat cake when you don't. Oh and I trip to Specsavers might not be a bad idea mate :)

remember ... "only the good die young" so avoid being good for as many more years as you can.
 
I can't say I know you, but the impression I get is that you don't really enjoy just sitting in front of the television as much as you enjoy making things, and solving those problems that arise as the inevitable result of making things.
Selfishly, I'll say I've enjoyed seeing the solutions you've shared via the internet.
 
Practically fell over from exhaustion crawling home from the workshop Saturday Ken and I am 12 years behind you. I fail at something everyday but can't bear to be out of the workshop. Chin up mate. Tomorrow is aanother day ��
 
You can't stop making ukuleles until I can afford one of yours!

Should be another year or two...


-Kurt​


(Heck, in a conversation a couple of years ago with Rick Turner, he said he'd love to have one of your ukes!)
 
I don't know if this is any help but I love my Timms and play it everyday!
 
Haha. I've followed you for many years and you talk like this every Winter. Your'e right though, that's the great thing about sunrises. Every one of them brings the possibility of a better day. :)
 
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I'm approaching my third year of retirement and worry that I may not be active enough and have been contemplating getting one of those fitness trackers to spur my self on to longer walks and bike rides.

It's likely the activity (physical and mental) involved with your work that's keeping you in good health. The odd shiraz won't hurt either.

Be well.
 
Timbuck said:
Yup! I'm relaxing now..Just opened a bottle of " Yellowtail Shiraz " 14% no less..Nice little wine from OZ , and I'm watching NICS on the box.
Click to expand...

That's the story. Nothing wrong with Yellowtail, we get it here in NZ. I took six months off building B/U's to "fix up" the house we just bought. Almost twelve months later I have just about finished:) It would appear that as you get older everything takes longer. Seventy one this year, and looking forward to some shed time. As said by many there is always tomorrow, and in the meantime there is always the wine!.
 
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ksiegel said:
You can't stop making ukuleles until I can afford one of yours!

Should be another year or two...
Click to expand...


Ditto to what he said ^^ :)
 
I've been dazed and confused since Woodstock (the first one). I too find myself in a room forgetting why I am there, what I was looking for. My mind is thinking about something else by then, Oh look, there's a squirrel!

Still I've been able to lead a fortunate life. I'll be 71 this year and am seriously considering retirement. The thing that concerns/frightens me most about retirement is not being challenged enough to keep my brain working.

I'll never have the skills you have but hope I can reinvent myself by resurrecting old, or developing new, competencies.

I don't think that someone like you, who can create objects of such great beauty, will ever stop creating.
 
there's a lot of information on the web about diet, supplements, and mental acuity. it's there for those who want it.
 
Ken, it's not a good time to pack up, whilst there are many newbies like myself relying your help, such as the idea you came up with a few weeks ago. I tried it and it works a treat. Many thanks, Mike.P1000820.jpgP1000821.jpg
 
I am lucky enough to have a nice grouping of ukes, of them all, my peghead Timms is one of my favorites, it is a joy to play and has a beautiful voice, whatever you decide I wish you well but you def have the touch, mahalo for your work, Art
 
Ken, I'm about even with Pete, in age anyway. It's pretty normal to wonder why your keys turned up in your sock drawer.

The other day, I screwed up a 95% finished neck and fret board for a tenor that I am really anxious to get shipped off. At times like that, it makes a lot of sense to kick back with a cuppa. I tell myself, "I've done this many times before. I really do know how to do it and I enjoy doing it. I'll do it again and do it right. What the heck, wood isn't all that expensive and some is going to get burned up every so often."

Hang in there, mate! Enjoy the Yellowtail. We get that here and it isn't half bad.
 
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Ken, I feel your pain, being almost a year away from the great eight-oh and like so many others in our age group, tend to have spells of brain fade more often than not. However, in my case, since I have only recently discovered the amazing artcraft of lutherie, I want to spend as much time as I can to "catch up," so to speak, with everything there is to know regarding the subject before my time runs out! So many ukuleles, so little time!
Making mistakes, and I've made a lot, annoy me and slow me down, but I plod on with the hope that the same mistake won't happen again.
In your case, as others have suggested, I'm sure that after a short break with nothing to do, you'll be back at it again. After all, what else is there?

Bob
 
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