Attitude changes with age

Gary W. Graley

Gary W. Graley

“Imagination is more important than knowledge"
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
Joined
Mar 2, 1999
Messages
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While I am not ancient but some days it certainly feels that I am, at 72 I have noticed how simple disruptions seem harder to deal with than when I was younger.
I heard a saying on the tv series Justified that sounded like I feel some days. “He’s about one broken shoe lace away from losing it” 😇

I have always felt like I was an even tempered person and didn’t get too riled up by much, but lately I noticed that when things start to become complicated and I can’t get everything under control, I feel overwhelmed, which doesn’t sit well with me.

Recent thing, silly toilet decided that it would rather not flush everything down the drain, but find a different path to run out and onto the floor. Now the location of the toilet is very narrow section of the bathroom, barely room for one small person to try to remove it. My daughter helped by getting a friend to come to my aid. A small wiry fellow who would be able to fit into that tiny area. I prepped as much as I could and he put a new seal on, not a wax ring but a rubber one. It worked…until he was gone for about 2 hours and after a flush I saw water coming out even more than before. I got a hold of him and he came back and we tried again, after lifting the toilet up he saw where the toilet was not centered on the ring. So he was more careful and reseated it and he stuck around longer and we gave it several flushes and all seemed fine. Until today, I noticed that there was a lot of water on the floor again! I didn’t want him to return, in this ball game it’s 2 strikes and you’re out. Long story a little longer, my daughter’s husband has a friend who is more experienced in this and he will help out on Wednesday. Going to get a thicker size wax ring and not mess with the one in there now.

And tax return prep, that compounded the day, with a late night appointment, I’m not usually out after 6, so that just added to my week.

So yeah, small pity party right lol, but like I said things seem to become larger than usual and the feeling of not having control isn’t pleasant. But realizing that it isn’t that bad is a step in the right direction, but for now it’s a real pain.

I hope everyone else has better days!
G2
 
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I think it's the constant bombardment that makes it so difficult now. We've over-complicated absolutely everything these days. Everyone needs an app, or email verification, or some stupid number that was assigned to you once 3 years ago. We designed everything to break, and forced more of the liability of it on the consumer when it does. Human beings weren't meant to live with the level of saturation we do now. I envy the people way back that could go to work, come home, and just relax with the people they love. Now we need to spend two hours after work being rerouted by AI chat bots to avoid a bullshit finance charge caused by some mysterious billing error.
 
The “To Do” list causes a bit of panic now that I’m older. Younger me just did it and checked it off the list. The sump pump in the far corner of the crawl space should be replaced soon. It’s got me in a tizzy. Got to get it done before all those giant spiders realize winter is ending and my knees and back are older now.
Wax ring replacement really gets to me. Last time one regular ring wouldn’t seal so I had to pull it and stacked two and got 15 years then the leak started. Used one jumbo ring next time. So far it’s ok. Considered one of the new seals but after hours of watching videos of so-so results, decided to stick with wax.
 
Sorry for your troubles. Feeling/being overwhelmed stinks.

Maybe you aren’t overreacting? Toilet and water problems are among the worst. Doing taxes can strain a marriage! Can break just about anyone. I hope you have 2nd 🚽!

We call the plumber and pass the angst to him. 🙂
 
I hear ya, Gary. It's easier to get bogged down by some stuff we might have shrugged off in years past. I try to remember that as long as you have your health and are living well, the rest is mostly minutiae.

This too shall pass. (Unintentional toilet humor... ☺️ 🍺 )
 
Thanks guys for the support. H&R Block was pummeling me with emails reminding me of my appointment, then they called and said we need to change it to this date, ok? I said that will work. Then more emails of course confirming the new date, then another call days later...we need to move the date again, will this be ok? I said, sure, but it was an after 8pm time frame but they are not far away so no big deal. Then several emails says 'you haven't scanned your documents yet and submitted them, please do this before your appointment'. Which I promptly ignored as I have NEVER had to scan and send documents before...like never and I wasn't about to change that. But they sent daily reminders of both the appointment and how I have neglected sending my scanned documents. Once I arrived the girl at the desk took my packet of paper and threw them into an automatic scanner thing and all were scanned within less than a minute, so...there.

My tax stuff is very bland, so none of it concerned me a great deal, but it is just one more thing that I have to do and I worry that maybe I didn't get everything in yet to bring, but it always works out.

And, just the one toilet unfortunately, but I have a back porch that with the below zero weather we had, I didn't dare to venture out to try and use it for that purpose...;)

G2
 
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That's a good point, but I'm doing ok so far, more salads than I use to eat.

The toilet was re-installed a couple years ago by the flooring guys and it seemed to rock more than it use to. I don't think they installed it properly but it worked. I noticed that the tank lid was being pushed back after some guests had used it, so they must have been pushing back against it. So I recently put a board with a block of wood that fits snuggly between the edge of the tank lid to the wall, so now if they push back it's against the wall and not pushing the tank.
Fingers/legs crossed that tomorrow's re-install goes smoothly. My daughter had told me that I needed to seal around the edge of the toilet base so water doesn't get pushed under it, but I wanted to wait until I was sure there wasn't any more leaks. Glad I waited!
G2
 
That’s why I don’t text or give out my phone number. People and businesses can hound you anytime of day or night with reminders and other annoyances. Remember when you wouldn’t call because it was “dinner time?”

For a long portion of my life I never used a calendar, and I never missed appointments or forgot when/where I was going.

I’m sure I was the exception, and it’s doubly annoying to be bludgeoned with repetitive reminders.

Re: tax appointments. We’ve only met our preparer in person 1 or 2 times in 40 years (had several people). Maybe you can find someone with better hours or that doesn’t require you to leave the house except to mail documents at your convenience during the daytime.
 
Gary, if your taxes are not daunting, FreeTaxUSA is very good software for federal and state and is inexpensive compared to the software I used to use years ago, (TurboTax, TaxAct and others).

Only the federal is free and there is a charge for the state, but the interview process is very good and the entries are easy to do.

I've never used a tax preparer, even when my returns used to be more complex than they are currently.
 
Sissies. ☺️

(Guess I'm just used to doing it all these years, and I keep up with it. I wouldn't expect my wife to handle it once I depart this mortal coil.)
 
Our CPA said he had never seen more 1099s for the same return in his career! Was good investment here, too.
 
Toilet flanges get installed wonky frequently and cause issues. Easy to do properly and makes everything else go smoothly. Sorry you are having issues.

When I get really irritated, I know that what calms me down is nature, animals, and my wife. Just taking a few minutes away from the stressor and looking at the mountains, playing with the dogs, or even watching critters eating birdseed can calm me down when I am in town. I get frustrated at times with chores at the cabin, but all I have to do is step away and the sounds/scenery/smells put everything into perspective.

Knowing what is frustrating you, and realizing your feelings before lashing out is always a good thing imo.
 
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