The Old Codger’s Club

~ beetleypete

Quite a lot of the time, I am still quite lively. I manage to continue to walk at least five miles a day, more in better weather, and these days I am outpacing Ollie.

But there are many days when I am reminded that I am on the cusp of becoming a bona-fide old codger, and a member of the old codger’s club. Try to read anything without wearing my glasses, even fairly large print, and that will be one reminder. Spend an hour or so doing something mildly strenuous, like hacking down invasive brambles, and I am reminded once again when I feel as stiff as a board by bedtime.

This morning, I got a more serious reminder.

With Christmas approaching, Julie has taken a week off. We are having the carpets cleaned on Thursday, so she was determined to give the house a thorough clean before the carpet men come tomorrow afternoon. Keen to do my part, I decided to clean the bathroom. It gets a cursory clean most days, but was in need of one of those ‘extra cleans’, when I resolve to tackle the limescale caused by the hard water.

Despite having a water softener installed a few years ago, that is only able to cope with around 60% of the limescale in the water. This area is known to have this problem, causing us to have to regularly replace kettles and taps.

Our bathroom is small, and rather old fashioned. We still have the cream corner bath unit installed by the previous owner, together with a cream coloured sink and toilet, and cream and claret tiles that all scream “1989!”

Until we can get around to saving up to replace everything in the currently favoured pure white, at the same time converting to a shower-only ‘wet room’ style, we are happy to tolerate it. There is a separate power shower above the bath which we replaced, and it works very well. But I prefer a bath to a shower.

Always have.

One of the drawbacks of the wide corner bath is that I am not able to reach the tiles on the far wall without actually getting into the bath to do so. And because the build up of limescale is mainly felt to the touch, rather than visible, it involves me creeping about feeling the ceramic bath and tiles like a complete weirdo!

None of the cleaning products that claim to to vanish away limescale have ever worked in this house. Long ago, I discovered the best thing was to use a conventional spray cleaner, and one of the ‘kinder’ type of scouring pads designed for non-stick pans. The flat green ones, sold in multipacks in any supermarket. They work just fine, and do not damage the fittings, or the tiles. So I set to it today, and after almost two hours, I was happy with my thorough job in that small room.

Then I noticed a bit I had missed, right at the far corner, where the bath meets the tiled wall. I shook my head wondering why life always delivers a bit you have missed, whatever job you are doing I stepped back into the bath, turned to start scrubbing, and bang!

My bare feet slipped away from me on the now smooth and shiny bottom of the bath. My elbow connected hard with the rim of the bath, both legs flew into the air, and the third toe on my right foot disappeared inside the hot tap. Then I got the ‘rebound injury’, as the back of my head rocked back against the thick side of the bath with an audible ‘clump’. It was noisy enough to bring Julie running into the room, worrying what had happened.

I had to be helped out of the small bath like a resident of an old people’s home.

My toe was very painful, and bleeding from a cut across the nail bed. The elbow was painful to touch, and my head felt ‘strange’. When I had my wits about me, Julie washed the small injury on my toe with salty water, and I sat quietly for a moment before going back into the bathroom to actually have a bath and shave before taking Ollie for his walk.

Feel free to laugh. I suppose it was quite funny if you had seen it happen.

111 thoughts on “The Old Codger’s Club”

  3. (1) We still have the CREAM corner bath unit installed by the previous owner, together with a CREAM coloured sink and toilet, and CREAM and claret tiles that all sCREAM “1989!”
    (2) Lime in de tub is better than lime in de coconut. But you still may have to call de doctor and wake ‘im up… “Doctor, ain’t there nothin’ I can take to relieve this body ache?”
    (3) “Feel free to laugh. I suppose it was quite funny if you had seen it happen.” I have yet to view the drone footage. But I’m giggling already!

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  5. Ouch! I hope you are over the worst of it now? When i reading the bit about your toe I thought it could well turn into one of your Ambulance Stories, finding someone in a bath with a toe stuck up a tap 🙂
    White spirit vinegar (10%), the only thing you need to combat limescale. A cup full in a kettle mixed with enough water to cover the element, boil and rinse, no more limescale 🙂 Our kettle is 14 years old and looks brand new inside (not so good outside) 🙂 Equally a spray mix of half vinegar, half water and a dash of washing up liquid will clean shower screens and tiles of lime scale using the same washing up sponge.

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  6. I’m glad you typed that last sentence because I was crying with laughter by the point your toe ended up in the tap. It’s not even the fact you hurt yourself that I found funny, it’s how you described it all 🙂 Sorry, Pete 🙂

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  9. I am very glad that you are virtually unhurt beyond the immediate injuries. We knew of a woman who fell in the bath and died there since she lived alone and couldn’t get out. There is a good reason that we are super cautious in the tub. Take care.

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  12. I’m not laughing at all you ol’ codger! I’m just praying at this moment you’re not suffering the consequences even worse. 🥲 I know well of the green pads. When I lived and worked out of my RV I cleaned treehouses and cabins and the hard water in our area makes using triple the elbow grease a necessity. Ollie, please make sure Dad is ok for his normal 5 miles and takes care of himself. Please and thank you. 😊🐶

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  13. I have always maintained that no good comes from cleaning. 😁

    Seriously, falls in the bath are particularly dangerous because of the tile and hard fixtures as you found out. I once sprayed the shower floor with a cleaner and let it set. I forgot about it until later that evening when I stepped in to shower and my feet went out from under me and I fell across the metal frame that holds the shower door. It could have been a lot worse. I am glad you are okay and suffered no serious injury.

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  14. You do not have to be a codger to slip and fall. Last Friday my 17 year old grandson fell down our stairs and broke his hip. It should be me with the walker but he went out of turn. Keep walking. I think it keeps your writing fresh and alive.

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    1. Thanks, Geoff. Sorry to hear about your grandson. That’s a painful injury.
      I keep my mind active by blogging and writing, and my long walks with Ollie help the rest keep going.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  15. I’m not laughing at all. I think anyone close to your age probably has similar stories. Every week there are reminders we’re not as young as we used to be. Most of the time, I just accept it. I may not like it, but getting mad seems pointless. I think the thing to do is to keep our mind and body active, and it sounds like that is what you’re already doing.

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  18. Welcome to the ‘all fall down club’ Pete. I’m a fully paid up member. My record so far is to trip and fall twice in five minutes! The funnyy thing is I don’t fall when I’m sitting in this old recliner of mine. There’s a lesson there somewhere…

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  19. Scary, Pete! I’m glad it wasn’t any worse! All that walking should keep you out of the Old Codger’s Club for a good while to come. Just stop cleaning bathrooms – the worse job in the house in my opinion) and you’ll be fine! 🙂

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  21. No chuckles Pete. Just empathetic thoughts. With our going into you level of detail, I crashed and burned in the garden yesterday as well. Bandages, lower back brace now and a very, very slow gait and munch wincing and a bir of growning when trying to get up from chair. Young men’s work is for, well “Young Men” we sextaganol plodders need to do a bit of curbing our enthusiasm at times.

    Here’s to hope and prayer that we recover and gain from the experience.

    Cheers,
    CT

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  24. Pete, I don’t know your age, but if you or anywhere near mine, 72, stay off of ladders and slippery surfaces. It’s an age thing. Our balance is shot, equilibrium is about 10% and using reading glasses throws off your depth of vision. I know, I have taken a few falls like that, and one put me in the hospital. Be careful, stick to outpacing Ollie.

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    1. Thanks, Phil. I will be 70 in March, so not far off. I haven’t been able to go up ladders for some time now, as I suffer from Vertigo. But this wasn’t at a height, and mainly caused by the recently cleaned bath surface being far too slippery. I am very stiff and achey today, so have learned my lesson.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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      1. Pete, I suffered from sever Vertigo a few years ago. I took a fall coming out of our hot-tub and knocked myself out on our concrete patio. My ENT doctor showed me the Lipsey Method that can be done at home and it cured mine withing a few days. Our inner ear has crystals that if are jarred or out of alignment, cause vertigo. Look it up on the web. Phil

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        1. Over here it is called The Eply Manouvre, Phil. I tried it at my doctor’s, and it unfortunately didn’t work for me. I no longer have to take the Stemetil tablets, but I have to be careful not to look up or down from a height for any period of time. Hence no more ladders.
          Thanks anyway. Pete.

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  29. The bathroom is a danger to one’s health. I once heard an awful ripping and crashing from the bathroom where my boyfriend was having a shower. He saved himself by grabbing the curtain which broke his fall but I will never forget how my heart stopped when I heard the sound effects. I do hope you have no serious injury!

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    1. Just aches and pains thanks, Carolyn. It could have been worse had I hit my head harder.
      Glad to hear your friend was saved by the shower curtain. Unlike Janet Leigh in ‘Psycho’! 🙂
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  30. Oh dear…the sort of thing that happens to me on a regular basis, and I have a cleaner to do the housework now. And I recently got a wetroom with a shower enclosure installed to reduce the mishaps… life, eh?

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  32. I actually winced when I read about your mishap, Pete, and I’m certainly not laughing. I’m very conscious of safety, living alone, but I still manage to stumble on the stairs occasionally; going up, generally, rather than down, but I’ve managed to spill the odd drink….. My first flight of stairs is a rather awkward dog-leg, better taken at a trot going up, but that’s not advisable when carrying a tray……. 😉 I hope you feel better quickly, and best wishes from a fellow old codger 😀 Cheers, Jon.

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  34. I am sorry that happened, and hope you are feeling okay. But I have to admit the ‘Old Codger’s Club’ seems to be inviting more of us everyday.

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  38. Oh no. I hope you didn’t break or smash up any bones or other body parts! To me, this sounds anything *but* funny (maybe in part because my mom just turned 83 and this sort of accident is a perfect horror scenario for me anyway). And even if you didn’t break anything, I hope you’ll be OK soon and there won’t be any lasting consequences!

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  45. Most accidents happen at home as you probably know from ambulance days – the moral of the story is never do housework when alone in the house! We were very happy to get rid of our bath with its telephone shower fixed to the side and have a walk in shower . We had never been able to get a quote on the small awkward bathroom, but son and daughter-in-law built it as their first bathroom job! It has stood the test of time over two years and visitors staying are happier! Ps I know couples who never share a bathroom !

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