If I remember correctly, today was a mixed bag. I left the house to go exchange something I’d bought, which meant going to a shop I don’t much like going to because it’s in a part of The Base shopping centre where both traffic and parking challenge my otherwise legendary patience. When I got there, though, I was very—and pleasantly—surprised at how great the traffic was and how abundant car parks were.
It was just after I pulled into my spot and had put the car into park when I realised something important: I’d left what I was exchanging sitting next to the front door (inside the house…) where I’d put them so I wouldn’t forget them. Yeah, just a day in the life, I’m afraid.
I decided not to go back home to get them (roughly 10-15 mins each way), and there was nowhere I wanted to go at The Base, so I decided to carry on to my next stop. Instead, I swung by Mitre 10 (since I was near it) to check out stuff for future projects, and that requires a quick digression.
Nigel and I dreamed of setting up a home workshop where we could do woodworking of various sorts. He’d built (and constantly refined) a CNC router and bought some tools, like a pretty decent drill press. I wanted to get back into refinishing furniture, something I did a lot of up until I turned 30 or so. We were actively planning this as our retirement “thing” when Nigel died. I still have that dream, maybe even enough for both of us. [I talked about our plan a little bit back in September of 2020.]
So, I wandered around Mitre 10 looking for wood stain, paint strippers, and the like. A fairly young lad (late 20s, I’d guess) asked if I needed help, and he showed me their selection of stains (frankly, not even remotely impressive) and paint strippers (ditto). I now know what they have (or don’t…), but he was cute and really nice, so that was a plus, as it always is.
My next stop was K-Mart, and honestly, I don’t know why I bothered. Every time I’ve gone in there I’ve walked out with nothing (in fact, last time I bought anything there was when I was with Nigel, and that would’ve been maybe ten years ago). The problem is that they’re under-stocked, though today the usually vast empty shelves weren’t as bad because they were filled with Easter candy. Still, if I want something they sell, I’m faaaaaar better off ordering it online and having it delivered, like I did with the coatrack for my front entry (I talked about that project in July of last year). Hopefully this time I’ll actually remember this lessen—although clearly relying on myself to remember things isn’t a good strategy.
Next stop was Countdown, and it was the second of two places I’d previously said I wouldn’t go to until Omicron was done (because they have a pharmacy, and sick people go to pharmacies). The other place was off my exclusion list when we went to the movies—though two days later that place became a “location of interest”. Anyway, the Countdown stop was successful (the checkout operator was a guy roughly my age—something I can’t remember ever seeing before; maybe that should be my next career ambition? Hm…)
Tomorrow I’ll head back out to exchange the stuff, which is now in front of the door: I literally can’t open the door without picking it up. I hope. I’m also going to Bunnings to check what their wood stains are like, as well as stuff for much more immediate projects outside the house (I wrote a list of stuff to check…). The weather’s going to get cooler soon, and I’ll feel like working outside, so time to get ready.
So, there it is. I wasn’t able to accomplish my main goal because I forgot to bring the main reason I’d headed out. Then, at Mitre 10 I remembered to get something I needed, but then forgot to check for something I was going to look for at K-Mart, and then remembered to look for other things. Then, I forgot how much I loathe going into K-Mart, but I remembered what I wanted from countdown, but also forgot to check for stuff I couldn’t get at K-Mart. 🤷🏻♂️
How was your day?
This is a revised and expanded version of something I posted on my personal Facebook today.
4 comments:
I've left the house without a major thing, often sitting by the door, a LOT. And for DECADES, so I can't attribute it to getting old (Unless I've been old for 4 decades, which is possible)
Time was, I could remember the tiniest piece of data an information, like when I was an activist I could remember Congressional bill numbers and voting records for the issues I was lobbying on, and even seriously considered becoming a lawyer. Nowadays, I leave the house and forget to bring stuff I planned to return to a shop.
I know some of it is standard "age-related decline", as the doctors like to call it, but I'm wondering more and more how much is related to my statin. I plan to talk this over with my doctor someday when I can see him again (due to Omicron, doctor appointments are severely restricted). This will no doubt be a topic here eventually—if I remember, of course.
I can still remember a lot of things. But part of it is that there's so much more to recall. So if remember Marjorie Taylor Greene (yuck), I'm probably forgetting some former member of Congress that I used to know.
Who WAS that guy who interrupted Obama's speech with "You lie"? I knew in 2009 that it was Joe Wilson. But now I've moved on to remembering the spelling of Lauren Boebert's last name. Wilson (R-SC), BTW, is still in Congress.
Well, yes, the longer we live, we get too much to keep track of. Every once in awhile Nigel ask me something, but couldn't remember what he wsa talking about, so I'd say, "your entry exceeds data field length". I could remember that obscure computer phrase, but not whatever he was talking about. That hasn't changed—only now it's me doing that to myself, more or less.
As for those particular politicians, I saw a relevant meme today, made from a Tweet by "The Volatile Mermaid", and I thought it was particularly funny—and true: "Please stop calling people like Tucker Carlson and Marjorie Taylor Green trash because that implies they were useful at some point." So very true!
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