My Dad is 84...

[cheesy]

So, talked to the old man today. Seems he spent four hours in the hospital this morning. For a broken rib. That he broke the previous week when he missed a step and fell.

Some may remember years ago when the axle broke on Mom and Dads trailer and they rolled their Dodge diesel. Dad got transferred to different hospital back then because an X-ray showed a fracture in a neck vertebrae. Turned out that it was something from a snowmobile accident 25 years before.

Tough old bird.

[Bruces]

If I remember correctly ,when I first started hanging out around here ,that tough old birds son looked like he had been through the meat grinder himself ,possibly a car bit him but don’t know if I ever did know .
I think it runs in the family !

[Plump Kibbles]

You don't stop playing because you get old - you get old because you stop playing!

Never been on one myself - but heard they're pretty fun!

[cheesy]

Originally Posted by Bruces

If I remember correctly ,when I first started hanging out around here ,that tough old birds son looked like he had been through the meat grinder himself ,possibly a car bit him but don’t know if I ever did know .
I think it runs in the family !

Yes, it was a car. The running joke between my wife and kids is that my guardian Angel has a tendency to sneak out for a smoke break at the worst possible time. My Dads’ just might be scared of him.

[cheesy]

A bit of a bump here. My sister just stopped by for a visit on her way back to Lousyana after spending 10 days with our Dad. She told me an amusing story.

Seems that Dad and our brother were out cruising around in Dads' Ranchero and going quickly enough to catch the eye of a county cop. Dad was driving and was clocked at 72 in a 55. Apparently the cop did a double take when he got to the drivers door and saw an old guy, pushing 90 years old, was driving. The cop decides to let Dad off with a warning but my a-hole brother is telling the cop to tear up the warning and give Dad a ticket. The cop tells my brother he's not going to because his shift was just about over and Dad was the only guy he caught today. No way in hell was he going to write up a report that said the only vehicle he could catch was a 1968 Ranchero driven by a very old man and have to deal with the ribbing from his cohorts because, and he said it, cops are assholes.

Dad is very proud of that warning. He's having it framed, along with a pic of him sitting in the Ranchero.

[TominMO]

Just turned 72. My next milestone is 75 (3/4 of a century). Looking forward to 80, when I can say any outrageous thing and people will just say, Aw he's just old, don't be offended.

[JerryHawk250]

Originally Posted by cheesy

A bit of a bump here. My sister just stopped by for a visit on her way back to Lousyana after spending 10 days with our Dad. She told me an amusing story.

Seems that Dad and our brother were out cruising around in Dads' Ranchero and going quickly enough to catch the eye of a county cop. Dad was driving and was clocked at 72 in a 55. Apparently the cop did a double take when he got to the drivers door and saw an old guy, pushing 90 years old, was driving. The cop decides to let Dad off with a warning but my a-hole brother is telling the cop to tear up the warning and give Dad a ticket. The cop tells my brother he's not going to because his shift was just about over and Dad was the only guy he caught today. No way in hell was he going to write up a report that said the only vehicle he could catch was a 1968 Ranchero driven by a very old man and have to deal with the ribbing from his cohorts because, and he said it, cops are assholes.

Dad is very proud of that warning. He's having it framed, along with a pic of him sitting in the Ranchero.

Priceless!

[TominMO]

Yeah, the old coot sounds like a barrel of laughs! Looking forward to cootdom myself.

[tpelle]

Originally Posted by cheesy

...and he just bought a snowmobile. I haven’t seen it yet but I’m still trying to get my head around the fact that my 84 year old Dad just bought a snowmobile.

Well, if he lived in Arizona or Florida.....maybe cause for worry. If he lives where they get frequent snow, like Alaska or North Dakota or someplace, then maybe a logical choice. Rather have him in a wheelchair watching Gunsmoke re-runs on TV, or out having fun on his snowmobile?

[cheesy]

The old guy bought himself a 400cc Polaris ATV last week. He'd gotten rid of his Can-am last year and he has regretted it ever since. The reason he got rid of the Can-am was that he was afraid he'd get hurt. He'd been riding with my brother and he rides a lot more aggressive than Dad is comfortable with.

My two sisters, our half sister, and myself told him that he doesn't need to ride with our brother. There are miles of ATV trails close to his house that he can ride comfortably and, besides, it isn't always about getting air.

[TominMO]

Glad to see that he's not slowing down as he approaches middle age.....

[Wild Dog]

Driving vehicles is a great way to stay active.

My grandfather was healthy, until my aunt took away his driving license. He was around 86 when she took his license, but he was able to pass the health, mental and skill checks.
After that things went downhill, all the sudden he was all the time in bad mood, a lot of pain in the legs.

So congrats for the Polaris, those are fun vehicles to mess around.

[Magician16]

I'm 70 and my son 50. Last time I rode a snowmobile was 4 years ago, and I was riding with my son and my granddaughter's husband. I was riding my 2008 RMK with a 155 track, son on a XC Sp, and gd's husband on a Trail RMK. After several hours of intensive ditch banging my son said I can't keep up with you young guys anymore. Still feels good.


My mom pulled my Dad's license when he was about 96, after driving through a fence. He didn't last long after that.

[Wild Dog]

Originally Posted by Magician16

My mom pulled my Dad's license when he was about 96, after driving through a fence. He didn't last long after that.

It's a blowing hit not being able to drive or forced to stop driving. My grandfather 86, he lived till 94. I'm pretty sure if he was allowed to drive a bit more, he would have lasted a few more years.

My aunt was afraid that he would hit someone if he had a medical problem while he was driving, which is understable to a degree.

My mother is around your age and i encourage here all the time to keep driving, avoid taxis or public transport. It keeps you the mind healthy, at least from my point of view.

[cheesy]

I just saved my Dad some cash and grief. He'd been looking at an online auction in Custer, SD and found an old kit car project that floated his boat. My sister tried to get him registered as a bidder but they ran into problems with it. They even called the auction service and they couldn't figure out why he couldn't register.

Anyway, he called me to look at the pictures for him and give him my opinion. First alarm bell was 'Kit Car'. Second was '80s Kit Car w/Pinto drive train'. Third was that it has sat outside for a decade. I told him to consider just the cost. Say he got it for a grand. It's going to run another several hundred in fuel just to get out to Custer to see it up close, plus more to get it home. Then consider driving through N. Minnesnowta and South Dakota in late October, early November. Weather could be dicey.

He said I was no fun but it was probably for the best. I told him to look closer to home and asked why that particular car. Seems he picked up a rebuilt Ford V8-60 and is looking for something to put it in. I mentioned that I've seen several Ford 9N tractors with that mod. I may have created a monster.