Ed and Jim (@jimhd) - When ]Ed says "I really enjoy doing things like this. It's our house and I love taking care of it, and I'm very picky about details. I'm struggling with the realization that in my upper 70s it may be time to pay someone to do it..." I really relate! We paid someone to do the painting on a kitchen remodel early this year, and I just couldn't watch them!
But so far this year, we have paid for the kitchen/plumbing/new window installation, new siding & trim on the front of the house, and a solar installation on the roof. We "could have done" each of these, but arthritis, periodic vertigo and age have somewhat grounded us.
My young - 55yo - next door neighbor convinced me to replace my rickety 50yo five foot step-ladder with a new, light sturdy one that has a handle on top for steadying oneself.
And my daughters keep reminding me that old bones, muscles & tendons heal more slowly than they used to - which you have clearly learned this year, Jim!
When my Dad was in his 70's he treated himself to a 5-hour workday. If it wasn't done by 1 pm, it waited until the next day. I'm still at about 7 hours, but 5 is pretty much all I can do of the very active stuff.
Congrats on starting the new projects, and please stay safe.
Sue-
This is great! "When my Dad was in his 70's he treated himself to a 5-hour workday."
I love my shop work building musical instruments, but I'm learning not to feel guilty about my shorter work hours. I'm learning to take my time, be patient and not injure myself or work to exhaustion.
Two work sessions of 2-3 hours gets a lot done.
I'm not sure those 10 hour work days were such a good practice.