I can't, for the life of me, understand how some folks can be so dumb about anything mechanical, electrical, or any thing else, that they can manage to fry or break their stupid bones. I cringe when i see some father letting his kids ride around on a full size off-road machine, with no safety equipment, nor any information of what not to do! "Oh, just twist this handle grip, and hang on!" Yeah, i guess thats why they put handles on kids coffins! " Just grab this handle, and hang on!" The whole problem is this: The Feds have legislated all of the parental instructions and warnings, into an insurance nightmare, to the point that a lot of dumbos figure--what the heck-if i get hurt, the insurance company will make it right! Or, the company that made the machine! They say:"If i get hurt, the company has big pockets, and i'll be able to go on living the good life"! so, whats so good about being wheel-chair or bed bound for the rest of your life? Stupid is as stupid does!

Rooms should be designed around the furniture that goes in them. The same goes for garages, but the furniture is cars AND TRUCKS. Almost everybody drives a pick-up truck or truck-based SUV now. If you don't drive one of these monstrosities, when it's time to sell a lot of potential buyers of your home will. A Silverado or Suburban is 81" wide, not counting mirrors. They can be 20 feet long. You'd want three feet at each end and close to four feet between them and between them and the side wall of the garage. You need to add space for whatever you have stacked against the side and rear walls, tool. Allow roughly four feet (48") between the cars/trucks to open the car/truck doors. Forget about double garage doors. Each bay should have its own door, preferably nine or ten feet wide, and eight feet tall (to prevent SUV tailgates from whacking the open garage door (above). That means the ceiling should be ten feet high. You need table area in a garage. Craftsman work benches (72 inches x 24 inches) work well and aren't too deep. Few architects and spec' builders get the garage door spacing right, so here are some diagrams: For a three-car, 36 feet is the magic number for width, with 21 inches between the 9-foot-wide doors and 33 inches from the doors to the interior of the side walls (or foundation if it's high enough to be hit by car doors). For a two-car, 25 feet is the magic number for width, with 20 inches between the nine-foot-wide doors and 32 inches from the doors to the interior of the side walls (or foundation if it's high enough to be hit by car doors). The garage is really the main entrance to the house. Keeping it uncluttered has aesthetic value. So, separate tool rooms for the normal garage clutter can transform the garage. One tool room should open to the backyard (for yard stuff) and one open to the inside of the garage (for car stuff).

I have in my home many of the things discussed here. I moved to a Continuing Care Retirement Community a year ago. My previous home was a ranch-one story, but garage underneath and long flight of steps to the front door. We had put an elevator chair in the basement stairs for my husband. He found it too much if he had to walk up the stairs repeatedly. In addition care of the house and lawn, etc had really become too much for him at age 80. Here we live in a duplex (neighbor on one side) one story. All the houses here are different and can be (and are) customized to the tenant's desires (at a fee, of course). But all have wide doors, door levers, not knobs, single control faucets, flush in-ground garbage cans to one side of the front door concealed by greenery. I have wood floors except for one bedroom. Roofs have overhangs (we're in WA state--lots of rain) which function nicely for shade in summer. Gutters and gardens are maintained by the organization, but residents can add what they want at their own expense. Any problems w/ the house or appliances are taken care of & ceiling or high fixture bulbs are replaced when needed--no climbing on ladders. This is a rather lage community for a CCRC--about 1200 residents & about 800 homes. the campus is 140 acres and is an arboretum. The one thing many haven't mentioned is when or if you can't live unaided. There is in-home assistance available here (additional charge), and when that isn't sufficient, one can move to assisted living in one of the apartments in assisted living building. After that there is a long-term care facility here as well, which is not what you usually think of. For instance, there's a grand piano in the main reception area which is used by both entertainers brought in and the residents. There is more I could add, but you get the idea. There is more to thinkig long-term than just the physical house. I could have stayed where I was because, fortunately, I have no physical difficulties which I think I keep that way as a result of lifting free weights between 15-35 lbs & bench press 70 lbs. This keeps both bones & muscles strong & lifting groceries and water bottles is not a problem. I encourage everyone to do it. I'm 79 and know whereof I speak. Is it perfect here? No, we live on the perimeter of the campus, and so the regular neighborhood extends behind us. Dogs barking? Check. Motorcycles? check. Do we like all our neighbors? No, but we didn't where we moved from either. But all things considered, its fine.

Faron, I only take ibuprofen when I need it. Another thing she has me working on is moving the arm the "right" way - not popping my shoulder up toward my ear when reaching. Sounds like what your PT was teaching you! I occasionally wake up with the arm aching, but it's not bad. I stopped sleeping propped up a couple of weeks ago (stopped wearing the sling around the same time, too). There's one spot that is still really sore and gives me sharp pain if I reach forward, but it's getting better. I'm trying to use it as normally as possible and get out of the habit of holding it against me or doing things left handed that I would usually do right handed. D