Sometimes mate you feel like putting a bullet in you head. with the friggin pain.

Yes o sung wu, I am taking a couple of prescription medicines that I would rather not. I've found stuff called Vital 3. 3 drops in water every morning has done wonders for the pains in bed at night. I recently had a cortisone injection in a shoulder I injured repairing some fencing. The results are amazing. All pain gone in 36 hours, & it appears permanently. I should have let them do it 9 months ago when I injured the thing.

One thing about the pain, it reminds you that you're no longer a kid, so you should start taking more care. It also triggers your thinking.

I have one & a half acres in the house paddock About half of that is shrubs & fruit trees. Last year I found picking up prunings pretty hard. This year I hooked the little trailer onto the ride on mower, & drove it under the shrubs, so the prunings fell into the trailer.

It was even stable enough for me to stand in the trailer to reach many of the higher branches, which also fell into the trailer.

As a mate of mine used to say, "it's no good getting old, if you don't get cunning".

I have a couple of ex footballer mates who live with a lot of pain, with the battering they gave their bodies, & the games are played much harder today. I reckon todays players are really going to pay dearly for their fun & high earnings.

You're right mate, I can just imagine what your two footballer mates are going through; as you are as well. Sure cortisone is brilliant, but in my case it only lasts between 3 to 5 months. I have it injected at the base of each thumb (regularly) and occasionally, in the palm of each hand at the base of my fingers. My thumbs are by far the worst.

I've been on 'Ordine 5', 10mls x twice per day & Kapanol 50mg x twice daily. HASBEEN it's like being in chemical handcuffs, it really is. I spoke to my Quack and he said I'm too old to worry about coming off it, but I could reduce the dose very carefully and incrementally, if I wish to? So over the past 6 weeks or so, I've reduced my Ordine 5 down to 5mls x twice per day. Which has made me much happier.

I notice you do a fair bit of manual work around your property, like fencing, pruning of your fruit trees, together with other physically demanding activities. Do you find it exacerbates your level of pain; or has more of a therapeutic effect, because of the exercise component associated with manual work? Oddly, after I've done a bit of physically work I tend to feel better in myself, though much sorer. Beats me mate? Just take care of yourself is all, OK?

I think keeping active helps, but I have to pace myself. I have quite a few chores to do in the afternoon, Feeding the daughters horse, filling his water trough, watering my hibiscus & such like.

Nothing too strenuous, but I have to be careful to save the capacity to do it. Do too much before hand, & the 200 metre walk buck up the hill from the pump can be pretty bad.

My lady has suggested I take the ute, or the ride on mower. I'm inclined to think if I start that, it won't be long before I can't do anything.