Aging, working and aching

Each season brings its kind of chores around the house that never fail to be a test on our resolve and fitness. The only problem is that – over the years – the body begins to balk loudly at these rites of seasonal passage. Take anything that requires bending over a lot, like gardening for instance; the older back doesn't seem to appreciate it too much. The disks in our spine are no longer pristine and decide to act like worn-out universal joints. If they can't get easily replaced like the set on our front-wheel drive automobile, they creak, bulge and protest.

That's right, we're building up mileage and, for the most part, have run well past our warranties. The ride is no longer like it used to be out of the showroom and we now start feeling each pot-hole and pavement imperfection. The problem is that we have to live with one single body and must realize that activities we breezed through only a few years ago are now exerting a toll we no longer can pay. There's probably a good reason why most advanced countries “retire” their workers when they reach their mid-sixties. Anyone knows of some legal and elegant way to “roll-back” the odometer?