900: 95-Year-Old Annie on How to Stay Healthy and Happy
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This is episode number 900 with 95-year-old Annie.

Welcome back to the Super Data Science Podcast for episode number 900. Today, we're doing something special. Like in episode number 800, my grandmother Annie, now one year older than last year, a sprightly 95 years old, is my guest on the show. During the episode, Annie details challenges she's encountering at 95 and how she's overcoming them with key takeaways that are relatable to listeners of any age. All right, let's jump right into our conversation.

So welcome Annie, you're my grandmother or as I say in Ukrainian my baba.

So it's episode 900 that we're recording today. That's great. Yeah, you were in episode 800. You were the star of the show 100 episodes ago. And on that one, we talked about what life was like before electricity and running water. I learned a lot about that. But then we actually we had you back not long after that in episode 816, because we had

After episode 800, lots of people asked me on... They said they loved the episode, and then people also asked if we could do an episode where I try to explain what I do for work. For work. Yeah. So people can go back and listen to 800 and 816 if they want to. But today, for episode 900...

I've got a few different topics. One of them I was thinking about how amazing it is you just celebrated your 95th birthday. That's right. You had lots of visitors and phone calls, very popular. Birthday cards. Yeah. Yeah. And yeah, you're still living on your own in 95, which not a lot of people are doing. I know. And you're still very funny. Yeah.

I am, I am. Yes, you are very sharp. And so, yeah, one of the things I was thinking about that we haven't talked about before, you know, in episode 800, we talked about what it was like living before electricity and running water. And something else that you experienced when you were much younger was between 1949 and 1952. So about 75 years ago,

your husband, my grandfather, he built the house that you're still living in. Yeah, exactly. And it's great. It is great. And so what was that like? I mean, how did somebody, you know, today, probably not many people, maybe I have some listeners out there, there's so many of them, maybe some of them have like built a house or something. But most people, you know, you think, okay, you call like,

architect and then you call a construction company and people come in and build it for you. So do you remember what was it like for him? Like how did he get started? Well he had help. Oh he had help. He did have help. Like specially putting cement, foundation and well he did the woodwork, the frames and

But then putting the brick, he had someone putting the brick in the house. Okay, okay. So he did the wood frame? Yeah. Wow, I mean that's still pretty amazing because you think... And he did the floor. He did the floor. Yeah, the wood floor and the woodwork around the doors, frames, and he did that. And the electrical work?

He did some. He did some of it. But there was so much to do, he had to help. What about plumbing? Plumbing too, he needed help. He wasn't much of a plumber. He was more of a nutritionist.

I gotcha, yeah. Yeah. That's still amazing. So he basically did as much as he could. As he could, yeah. And I mean, that's still like to think 75 years ago to put down all this flooring and all the woodwork and the house. It feels pretty sturdy when you walk around. Oh no, he made a really good, you know, job on it. He worked hard.

What he did, he did slow but right. Even he built a kitchen cupboard. Oh, yeah, yeah. Yeah, I mean, that's what he was like. He liked to say, measure twice, cut once. Yeah, that was him. That was his saying. Yeah. Yeah, that's right. He always did a great job with everything. It was fun making. We would work on little crafts. I had a few years when I was in high school.

that I liked building, they had these like rocket sets. - Oh yeah. - And some of the rocket sets were very simple, they were for beginners, but I remember working on ones that were more advanced, like one that looked like this famous American plane called an SR-71 Blackbird, and I still have it 'cause it's beautiful, it's like a piece of art that he helped me build. I never put like a rocket in it and fired it 'cause it looks too pretty.

Yeah. And so did a lot of people, you know, 75 years ago, were other people also, was it more common for people to be building their own house or was he kind of unusual? He was unusual. You know, all these people, they had contracts. All your neighbors. The next door was contractor and they were builders for other people.

Yeah, yeah. And others too, they were, he was an older guy. Well, at that time I was so young yet, you know, he was probably 50 or 40, to me he was old. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So did most of the stuff, did he learn this because he was also at work? He worked in a machine shop. Yeah. So he was very comfortable. Comfortable, yeah.

It's pretty wild to think. So you live in Niagara Falls, and Niagara Falls is famous for having big waterfalls, which they can use for power generation, hydroelectric power. And he also built the clock in Queenston, big parts. Well, your mommy wouldn't know.

even better because they usually talk together you know yeah well i've got i've got some pictures up here and i'll put them in the show notes so it's a big floral clock it's gigantic i mean it's like 30 40 feet wide i'm not sure exactly yeah it's a it's a wide

And people, when you go on Sundays or holidays, people all surrounding, you know, taking pictures. It's so beautiful. It is beautiful. Yeah. But that's, I mean, that's got to be some of the least complex things that he did because I remember he would give us tours of the hydroelectric plant underneath the waterfall. Oh, yeah. And, you know, he was responsible by the end of his career, he was the foreman for the machine shop. Yes, he was. And so he was responsible for building these gigantic machines

turbines I guess you would call them. Yeah, that's what they called them. And so they're like, you know, they're also like 30 feet wide but they have to be exactly like precise down to tiny, tiny, tiny fractions of a millimeter. The hair thin. The hair thin. Yeah.

Exactly. He had those measurements to cost him a fortune because, you know. Yeah, they'd have to make special tools just to measure. Tools, yeah. And then he would make sure that was the right size because he was a foreman, so he had to do it right. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. So, yeah, I guess that's what gave him the skills to be. To be good. To be building his own home, too. Home, yeah.

Well, very nice. And so, well, he's not with us anymore, but you do have, you have some, you have a different, you have someone else around these days. So I have a dog now who's eight years old. Eight years old, yeah. And since he's been about seven, he's been living mostly with you. Yeah.

I think even more than a year. It's true. It's almost two years now. It is. But he's getting close to nine years old. Nine years old, yeah. But I just love him. He makes me happy.

He kind of looks at me, you know, he's just like a little boy. Yeah, a little person. A little person. Yeah, it's nice how much he makes you laugh. He does. Because you had dogs growing up. Were they different because they lived outside mostly? They were a farmer's dog, you know, like getting the cows and that.

horses and they were they were big dogs they weren't they weren't cozy they slept outside or in the barn with the other animals yeah it's hard to imagine my dog doing that oh

that no he's he's 12 pounds and he just likes snuggling up that's his I think that's his main job yeah that's his main job is snuggling and looking at me you know are you okay yeah yeah yeah he likes to he likes to take care of people and uh

Lately, so in the past few months, you've had some trouble with headaches and dizziness because up until a few months ago, you could also drive all the time. Yeah, I drove and now I'm scared to drive because just in case something happens. Yeah, I drove and went to church by myself and did shopping by myself and went to visit doctors. But now I do get a little help.

Yeah, exactly. My daughter, my baby daughter, she's helping. Yeah, my mother. Yeah, your mother is right. And yeah, so you're getting a little help, but still you're able to... I still do things on my own. If you're on your own in the house for... Yeah, because she goes, she lives in Waterloo, so she has to go home to see her house. So then I stay by myself. Yeah, yeah.

something that's been important through this is so hopefully the headaches and dizziness maybe it'll even go away so much that you will be comfortable driving again so I hope so and a big thing that's helped has been physical therapy yes I am I could my dizziness is gone sometimes comes back with the

And my knees, they were so bad. Now I'm in pain, but not in that sharp pain. Yeah. I mean, so this is like, it's an interesting thing because you started going to the physical therapy because the headaches, the dizziness, it was so bad. Bad, yeah. But that's actually, it started, that part, which is why you started going there in the first place, has started to get better enough that now, as of your most recent session, they started working on your knees, which have been causing you problems for decades. Yes.

And you said that, I mean, right before we started recording,

You said how you're walking around today and it's much better than it has been in years. - Oh yes, I mean there's a pain but not that sharp pain. It's amazing, I could walk, I could go, but before the therapy, I could hardly walk. Well now it's so great, it's really, and he says he's gonna do more. - Yeah, it could get even better.

- It's gonna get better, so-- - You're gonna be doing cartwheels? - Yeah. - And yeah, so I guess kind of a lesson here is that for a while,

I think you were probably, you know, when those bad headaches, you know, paralyzingly bad, you felt so, you just had to lay there. Oh, I could hardly see. And you couldn't sleep. Couldn't sleep. And so initially, I think a lot of people kind of have this instinct to see like what happens, to have it go away on its own. And maybe you just kind of get used to that kind of thing.

So I think an important lesson here is that there's, you know, for a lot of problems that people have, you know, it could be... There's help. There's help. Exactly. Yeah. So people should go for physiotherapy like I did in the...

First I thought, oh, because I went to another person and they were working, but they weren't doing nothing for me. Yeah, I mean, that's the thing is that maybe, you know... You have to go to the right one. Exactly. And you probably don't know. You've got to try a few. It depends. Depending on what somebody's being affected by, it could be a different kind of doctor or therapist. Yeah.

And the first person you go to, maybe they just don't have exactly the specialization you need, but after trying a few different places. Yeah. So this, yeah, well, that's a third place because the other one, the second one, they were even...

even worse. So that's good, you know, that shows like the importance of persevering there, where you go to one, it's not that good. You go to a second one, it's worse. It's even worse. So here you pay money and you're... What did you get for it? Yeah, he talks and then goes away, you know, and...

But once I saw this third one, I knew I'm going to get help. Somehow I had that feeling. And sure enough, I'm getting what I wished for. Perfect. Yeah.

Perfect. And yeah, so hopefully, I mean, maybe we'll end up having an episode in between as well, but hopefully you'll be back for episode 1000 and we'll hear about how you're driving around. Yeah, well, that'd be great. That'd be great. And doing cartwheels. Yeah, yeah. Perfect. Well, thank you for taking the time again to speak to my audience. I thank you for having me and the

So stay happy and healthy. That's your line. If my grandfather, your husband, if his line was measure twice, cut once, yours is stay healthy and happy. Stay happy and happy. Yeah, perfect. That's a good sign-off for today. Stay happy and healthy, listeners. Yes.

Delighted that my grandmother Annie was keen to be interviewed for another hundredth episode of this podcast. In it, she covered how at 95, she's beginning to encounter independence-limiting illnesses for the first time, how she's overcoming these setbacks through engagement with loved ones and pets, as well as through seeking professional help from multiple providers until finding the one with the right expertise for her particular situation.

Hopefully, this will enable her to remain happy and healthy for years to come, including in episode number 1,000 next year. All right, I hope you enjoyed today's special episode for number 900. With episode 901 next week, we'll be back to our regular focus on data science, machine learning, and AI.

Be sure not to miss any of our upcoming episodes. Subscribe to this podcast if you haven't already. But most importantly, I hope you'll just keep on listening. Until next time, keep on rocking it out there. And I'm looking forward to enjoying another round of the Super Data Science Podcast with you very soon.