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Dementia delayed...

2K views 17 replies 12 participants last post by  gryphon51 
#1 ·
Sometimes, just when I think maybe dementia is attacking me, an even occurs that gives me relief. About a week and half ago, I set about the task of changing out both tires. Since this is the first time I've had the front wheel off, I immediately found that I needed a 12mm Allen(hex-head) wrench to remove the axle. The 3/8" drive set that I bought a few months ago only went to 10mm. Then, it struck me that I remembered that about 12 years ago I bought a single 12mm Allen wrench on a whim but didn't remember seeing it in either of my large roll aways that I had totally re-organized last October. Then, I remembered that it might be in one of my smaller boxes. Opened the first one and there it was! Back in business and dementia delayed.
 
#2 · (Edited)
Good for you on the wrench recollection and find.

At 50+ sometimes I really question my memory (especially names), but then I think of the tremendous volume and variety of thoughts that pass through my mind in just a single day at work and I decide that maybe I shouldn't feel so bad about the few things I really forget.

It's amazing the things from the distant past my mind / memory can still dredge up. Childhood memories - mostly good - etc.

I work in a design / manufacturing environment and there are thousands of part numbers in "the system". Sometimes I can remember a ~10-digit string of numbers I haven't seen or used in months or years. Then I'll turn around and not be able to remember, 10 seconds later (and I'm not kidding), the name of a person who's just been introduced to me !
 
#13 ·
Good for you on the wrench recollection and find.

At 50+ sometimes I really question my memory (especially names), but then I think of the tremendous volume and variety of thoughts that pass through my mind in just a single day at work and I decide that maybe I shouldn't feel so bad about the few things I really forget.

It's amazing the things from the distant past my mind / memory can still dredge up. Childhood memories - mostly good - etc.

I work in a design / manuafacturing environment and there are thousands of part numbers in "the system". Sometimes I can remember a ~10-digit string of numbers I haven't seen or used in months or years. Then I'll turn around and not be able to remember, 10 seconds later (and I'm not kidding), the name of a person who's just been introduced to me !

That's eerily familiar. I worked in industry for 30 years and could remember many of the equipment specs even though I worked in the production side. It wasn't unusual for the maintenance techs to taunt me with questions about certain pieces of equipment to see if they could trip me up. I remember issuing a permit for work changing an agitator seal on a pressurized tank and having one of the maintenance techs asking me the RPM's of the agitator in front of other people to try and make me look bad. I responded by asking him if he wanted the input shaft speed, the output speed, or the reduction ratio. That incident followed me from that point on.
 
#3 ·
Two possibilities. I need to get some tests run OR I need to organize my garage.

I left an ad for a dremel set circled on the kitchen counter around my birthday last year so guess what....I got it. Where to put it, where to put it?

Found a spot.

Right next to the other one I bought 2 years prior and never used. :headbang:
 
#10 · (Edited)
Yep! Looks like I forgot where the "T" went. Dammit Stanley! I know how to actually type, but have devolved into the 'hunt and peck' bad habit.
 
#11 ·
Lately, I've been doing a lot of work on my toys and for a friend who wanted his Yamaha Grizzly maintained after neglect during this past hunting season. Learning from my past mistakes, I decided to attack the Grizzly project in a more 'organized' manner that seems to be working well. As I removed all the pieces from the machine, I re-installed all the fasteners where they came from as I worked. Once I finished disassembling the bike, I ended up with zero fasteners laying around to get lost and not knowing which ones went where. This is probably no big revelation for pro-level mechanics, but it's a rather big step for me as I struggle with organizational skills. Hey, baby steps!
 
#14 ·
Can't have too many ... just like reading glasses.
:yesnod:

Yep. I'd be lost without them. Though I've basically lived in front of a computer screen for the past 15-20 years, I was able to hang onto my good vision (unaided for all distances) until I was probably 48 years of age or so (this may be more typical than I imagine it to be).

When I began to struggle to clearly see the characters on the monitor my wife encouraged me to see an eye doctor (for the first time ever). He was nice enough, and the technicians were nice enough, but after paying my ~$250.00 (with the insurance paying on top of that), and getting ready to walk out the door with my new "blended(?) bifocal glasses" the doctor told me "you'll probably want to keep your reading glasses for computer work" (!). The only reason I needed glasses was to be able to see the darned monitor. I knew I'd made a monetary mistake when I walked through the plant and couldn't see as well with my new glasses as I could without them. I've barely worn them (though I did give them a fair chance) and don't even know where they are now.

On the other hand...

I live by reading glasses. An acquaintance recommended to me that I just go buy 5-6 pair (pairs?) of reading glasses and leave a pair in all the places I spend time. So now there's a pair at my home computer, at my work computer, on my nightstand, in my Wee tail case, etc.

I work with another engineer who has just the opposite vision as me - he sees well up close but poorly at a distance. During .ppt presentations in a conference room if we're looking at the projector screen he'll put his glasses on and I'll take mine off. Then when we switch to reading hardcopies of something I'll grab my reading glasses and he'll remove his glasses. We laugh about this. It helps to find something to laugh about...

How the heck did I get here from dementia?
 
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