Builds My '78 FJ40 "44" (2 Viewers)

[waiting for time]

Glad to see you are doing well and getting better Danny.
Enjoy the good life.

 

[fj401978]

Glad to see you still 'visiting' us and posting those amazing pictures! Hope your breathing continues an improving trend. I enjoyed the reading on the 'bug dust' link Take care my friend!

 

[Solace in Solitude]

Glad to see you are doing well and getting better Danny.
Enjoy the good life.

thank you Michael!!

 

[Solace in Solitude]

Glad to see you still 'visiting' us and posting those amazing pictures! Hope your breathing continues an improving trend. I enjoyed the reading on the 'bug dust' link Take care my friend!

Thank you Skip!!

 

[handcannon]

Danny, I just finished catching up on your thread. Too bad you had to sell 44, but I can understand your reasoning. My 40 is sidelined because of head problems that I don't have funds to correct. Like the others, I have really enjoyed the pictures and narrative. With a change in your way of getting them I tend to think they will still be available.

Don

 

[RWBeringer4x4]

My 40 is sidelined because of head problems that I don't have funds to correct.

Funny, this is why I bought a 40 in the first place...and now I’ll never have the funds to correct the head problems.

 

[Solace in Solitude]

Well... it’s been a while.

44 is definitely in good hands... I hear from Jaime now and again... she’s had some restorations... here’s the latest picture.

I just returned from my first trip since Oct ‘20. We spent a couple of weeks near Wells, NV... in my little trailer... no more sleeping in a tent. This trailer has the most comfortable bed I’ve ever slept on!!

The weather sucked for about 4 days... cold and snow... then cold and mud... then cold and sleet... then cold and mud... then cold and sunny and completely dry... like magic.

But, Chester and I had a great time with my son-in-law

Cheers!!

 

[Helipilot]

Great to see you again Danny. I have been thinking about one of those small trailers for my grandson and I. Sold my '15 3500 GMC Dually and have the DRV 5th wheel also for sale. Looking forward to downsizing and simplifying my life.

Again, happy you are recovering and getting out again.

 

[waiting for time]

Good to see you are doing well Danny. you Have been absent for a while and I was getting worried. Your setup looks nice.

 

[mrboatman]

Hey Danny Glad to see you are getting out and about

 

[Solace in Solitude]

Great to see you again Danny. I have been thinking about one of those small trailers for my grandson and I. Sold my '15 3500 GMC Dually and have the DRV 5th wheel also for sale. Looking forward to downsizing and simplifying my life.

Again, happy you are recovering and getting out again.

Thanks Roger! We still have a travel trailer, for “Dianna” trips. But, “The Dog House” is the easiest tow I’ve ever made.

I need a rear camera on my truck. I can’t see this trailer on straight roads, with my truck topper full. I’m never sure it’s back there.

 

[Solace in Solitude]

Good to see you are doing well Danny. you Have been absent for a while and I was getting worried. Your setup looks nice.

Thanks Michael! I need to catch up on your thread!

 

[Solace in Solitude]

Hey Danny Glad to see you are getting out and about

Thanks JP! I’m planning to take short trips with my dogs and longer trips when Dianna wants to take the other trailer out.

I have congestive heart failure... it’s “managed”, but I’m beginning to think altitude over 5k’ is causing me problems.

I’ve never experienced altitude sickness, but this may be it. I don’t have the problem at home (2400’), but over 5k’, I’ve had it twice. I guess 10k’ fly fishing could be a challenge now.

 

[65swb45]

Thanks JP! I’m planning to take short trips with my dogs and longer trips when Dianna wants to take the other trailer out.

I have congestive heart failure... it’s “managed”, but I’m beginning to think altitude over 5k’ is causing me problems.

I’ve never experienced altitude sickness, but this may be it. I don’t have the problem at home (2400’), but over 5k’, I’ve had it twice. I guess 10k’ fly fishing could be a challenge now.

Sad to hear about your congestive heart failure Danny. Im like the last person to ask when it comes to medical stuff, living my life up to this point like an ostrich with its head in the ground when people talk about medical problems. What little I’ve picked up has been either on a need-to-know basis, or as anecdotes.

My mother had congestive heart failure for the last ten years of her life. she was a sackful of medical problems, being a smoker for almost 30 years and having two triple bypasses before age 60. She too could not handle elevation.

And my friend Sam, the one who owns the MM40, can’t take elevation any more. I suspect that she has congestive heart failure but doesn’t want to tell me ( she’s ornery and stubborn...like me) She has property in Colorado she planned to retire to. Now she can’t even visit it to list it for sale.

So far I’ve managed to push back against all medical problems by just continuing to push myself a little beyond my comfort zone. With fairer weather at hand, I have no doubt you will do the same.

Take care.

 

[RWBeringer4x4]

Thanks JP! I’m planning to take short trips with my dogs and longer trips when Dianna wants to take the other trailer out.

I have congestive heart failure... it’s “managed”, but I’m beginning to think altitude over 5k’ is causing me problems.

I’ve never experienced altitude sickness, but this may be it. I don’t have the problem at home (2400’), but over 5k’, I’ve had it twice. I guess 10k’ fly fishing could be a challenge now.

Sad to hear about your congestive heart failure Danny. Im like the last person to ask when it comes to medical stuff, living my life up to this point like an ostrich with its head in the ground when people talk about medical problems. What little I’ve picked up has been either on a need-to-know basis, or as anecdotes.

My mother had congestive heart failure for the last ten years of her life. she was a sackful of medical problems, being a smoker for almost 30 years and having two triple bypasses before age 60. She too could not handle elevation.

And my friend Sam, the one who owns the MM40, can’t take elevation any more. I suspect that she has congestive heart failure but doesn’t want to tell me ( she’s ornery and stubborn...like me) She has property in Colorado she planned to retire to. Now she can’t even visit it to list it for sale.

So far I’ve managed to push back against all medical problems by just continuing to push myself a little beyond my comfort zone. With fairer weather at hand, I have no doubt you will do the same.

Take care.

I have a good friend locally, named Bruce. He's actually my father-in-law's best friend (my wife even calls him "Uncle Bruce"). He's a retired DuPont machinist who is about one of the best, most creative hot-rodders I've ever met. He's helped my quite a bit with some of the bigger challenges on my 40 over the years. He also has MS, is Diabetic, amongst a litany of other health issues. He still spends about 6 days a week in the garage building hotrods and fixing people's old cars for $20/hr as a retirement job to stay busy. Whenever someone tells him to slow down, or mentions his bad health and that he should perhaps take it easy, he says "Hell no, it's way harder to hit a moving target." I always thought that was a pretty cool mantra to keep himself chugging away in the face of some serious stuff. His wife, who is very much the opposite and takes it super easy, suffered a massive heart attack last year and was not expected to make it out of the hospital. She did, luckily - but maybe Bruce is on to something!

Glad to see you're still getting out and about with the dogs, despite the health issues. It's probably the best medicine.

Rick

 

[Solace in Solitude]

Sad to hear about your congestive heart failure Danny. Im like the last person to ask when it comes to medical stuff, living my life up to this point like an ostrich with its head in the ground when people talk about medical problems. What little I’ve picked up has been either on a need-to-know basis, or as anecdotes.

My mother had congestive heart failure for the last ten years of her life. she was a sackful of medical problems, being a smoker for almost 30 years and having two triple bypasses before age 60. She too could not handle elevation.

And my friend Sam, the one who owns the MM40, can’t take elevation any more. I suspect that she has congestive heart failure but doesn’t want to tell me ( she’s ornery and stubborn...like me) She has property in Colorado she planned to retire to. Now she can’t even visit it to list it for sale.

So far I’ve managed to push back against all medical problems by just continuing to push myself a little beyond my comfort zone. With fairer weather at hand, I have no doubt you will do the same.

Take care.

All good info and thanks for the kind thoughts, Mark!!

I smoked from 13-35 years of age (22 years) and quit in March of ‘84.

After I quit, I started running and, within a year I was cranking out 7 miles daily, in 42 minutes. I kept this routine until my back made me quit running.

You surely remember the difficulty I encountered while hiking with you. Do you recall that I told you it had happened once before?... both times were just above 5k’. It slowly started occurring more frequently.

And... voila!!

I wasn’t able to do much last year, except visit doctors and take tests and have a cardiac artery blockage removed and a stent inserted. I also saw symptoms of an intestinal bleed, visited a hospital, learned I was barely above critical, with hemoglobin at 9.3. Had three Endoscopies, a Colonoscopy and a Capsule Endoscopy, to find and cauterize the bleed.

Needless to say, trying to get back to fighting shape is quite the endeavor, at 72, after spending 13 months watching TV... but, I’ll get there. Well, probably not fighting shape. But, I plan to spend a lot of this year out with the boys.

 

[Solace in Solitude]

I have a good friend locally, named Bruce. He's actually my father-in-law's best friend (my wife even calls him "Uncle Bruce"). He's a retired DuPont machinist who is about one of the best, most creative hot-rodders I've ever met. He's helped my quite a bit with some of the bigger challenges on my 40 over the years. He also has MS, is Diabetic, amongst a litany of other health issues. He still spends about 6 days a week in the garage building hotrods and fixing people's old cars for $20/hr as a retirement job to stay busy. Whenever someone tells him to slow down, or mentions his bad health and that he should perhaps take it easy, he says "Hell no, it's way harder to hit a moving target." I always thought that was a pretty cool mantra to keep himself chugging away in the face of some serious stuff. His wife, who is very much the opposite and takes it super easy, suffered a massive heart attack last year and was not expected to make it out of the hospital. She did, luckily - but maybe Bruce is on to something!

Glad to see you're still getting out and about with the dogs, despite the health issues. It's probably the best medicine.

Rick

Thanks Rick!! That’s a great anecdote... and a great way to handle these “golden” years!!

There was a period last year where I was definitely ready to give it all up. I can certainly empathize with all these ventilator patients... I never got that bad, but breathing was a real struggle.

To be clear, I didn’t want to give up because I struggled to breath... I simply didn’t see an active future any longer.

Much, much better now... I’m slowly evolving into my old self... I just have to understand my life parameters and stay within them.

 

[greenbeasty]

You are tough man, lot's of good left in you!
Thanks for all you have done here on Mud. Wheeling and camping out west is on my very short bucket list, and you have been an inspiration!
Frank

 

[Solace in Solitude]

You are tough man, lot's of good left in you!
Thanks for all you have done here on Mud. Wheeling and camping out west is on my very short bucket list, and you have been an inspiration!
Frank

Thank you Frank, you’re too kind!!

Thank you for allowing me to use your public land!!