Selective Memory???

fureverywhere

fureverywhere

beloved friend who will always be with us in spiri
Location
Northern NJ, USA
I'm not way senior but already those senior moments sometimes...okay more often than I want to admit to. It's so bewildering living in the techy age. You're ideally supposed to have a complicated password for everything. Then for further security they want you to change that every few months. So you've finally memorized it and time for a new one you can't remember.

But how is it we can recall the dumbest information from the past? Your teacher in junior high shop class, the phone number of that girl you dated in '73, hundreds of commercials, your work ID number from thirty years ago, the next door neighbors names when you were a kid. All this useless stuff sucking out the space for the things we need to remember now.

Last night I was fooling around on a trivia forum. I was a big Elton John fan back in the day. Some really obscure quizzes there and I aced almost all of them. But tell you where my car keys are at this moment? No idea...
 

I remember the oddest things from long ago Fur, things that obviously stood out or were important to me at the time. Then there are many things I kind of block out and don't remember at all. My older sister and I were reminiscing about some things when we were kids, and she remembered some things differently than I did, probably just held a more important place in her memory bank.

One thing I'm supportive of is not calling anything senior moments. Looking back I think we've all had many times especially at work or multi-tasking, etc. that we spaced something out and kicked ourselves for it after the fact. And you know what? Age wasn't involved.

My passwords are average, never had an issue with them and don't change them very often at all. I keep them written down for important things, and put in a secure spot. Never changed them every several months, I don't know if that's overkill.

I've hunted for my keys, sunglasses and went to a store to go shopping, with an item I wanted to return there in mind and ready to go on my wall unit, only to be driving in my car and thinking, doh! I forgot to take it! :yes:
 
It doesn't really have to be about age either. My Dad even in his forties was the absent minded professor. You could tick off the seconds before he would run back in for his briefcase...his wallet...his umbrella...possibly the car keys...almost every day. I find myself getting much more organized as of late. Otherwise I couldn't find a thing.
 

My short term memory isn't that great, but I can actually remember every phone number I've ever had, all my life! The earliest ones weren't all numbers, they began with words: Esplanade 5, Waverly 3, etc. I'm sorry they stopped doing that, they were easier to remember. (And no area codes, of course, so they were only 7 letters/numbers long.)
 
Phone numbers were a lot easier to remember back then Sunny, I agree! Nowadays, I make a list when I have to go to the supermarket, years ago I didn't and always came back home and said, man, I forgot to get mayo! I still forget to put something on the list sometimes, but I sure don't beat myself up about it.
 
You got that soooo right, SeaBreeze! It doesn't help a bit to fret or worry yourself about it... But you know what, it makes me kinda smile when I see much younger people forgetting, too! ;)
 
The shopping list gets tacked up to the board at the beginning of the week. Everybody is free to add to it but we still forget stuff. Something that helps is having a designated bag for things. We go to the Y everyday, so the checklist is on the board. Bathing suit, towel, deodorant, ID tags, sneakers. Just grab the bag and go.
 
I have had short-term memory problems for a number of years-since my early forties. I forget words at times, acct numbers, phone numbers, people's names, etc. and found it embarrassing. Now that I am older, I notice people my age begin to forget things too so now I don't feel so bad! I find myself helping them "fill in the blank".

I think we are so inundated with numbers anymore! I remember when our phone number had only four digits. Not only do we need to remember password but pins and ten digit phone numbers. I can't possibly remember all that, I keep a book. Now where did I put that book.....
 
Sunny said:
My short term memory isn't that great, but I can actually remember every phone number I've ever had, all my life! The earliest ones weren't all numbers, they began with words: Esplanade 5, Waverly 3, etc. I'm sorry they stopped doing that, they were easier to remember. (And no area codes, of course, so they were only 7 letters/numbers long.)
Click to expand...

In Florida 1960-64, Spring 11447. St. Ignace 1973-77 - 1616J before they got dial phones.
 
SeaBreeze said:
Phone numbers were a lot easier to remember back then Sunny, I agree! Nowadays, I make a list when I have to go to the supermarket, years ago I didn't and always came back home and said, man, I forgot to get mayo! I still forget to put something on the list sometimes, but I sure don't beat myself up about it.
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I have to write everything down on a grocery list even if I'm only buying 5 things. It's terrible. But ask me what the number one song was in 1969 and I'll tell ya right off. And my best friend's phone number. :eek:
 
The neat thing about being retired is people will give me a automatic, "get out of jail free" card. I'm not expected to remember anybody's name, why we went to the store, what day it is, or where the car keys are. I am required to know what the weather is going to do, and who gives senior discounts. Life is Good.. :sleeping:
 
when we applied for our long term care policy they came to our house to do a full work up of blood and general health .

what we didn't know is they were going to perform memory testing .

heck , we can't remember diddly in our short term memory so we thought this was not going to go well .

the surprise was that when you really focus and concentrate it is still amazing how you remember things .and they sink in .

we did very well on the tests despite the fact our short term memory is like an echo normally.things are only in our head until they evaporate like a vapor .
 
Carla said:
I have had short-term memory problems for a number of years-since my early forties. I forget words at times, acct numbers, phone numbers, people's names, etc. and found it embarrassing. Now that I am older, I notice people my age begin to forget things too so now I don't feel so bad! I find myself helping them "fill in the blank".

I think we are so inundated with numbers anymore! I remember when our phone number had only four digits. Not only do we need to remember password but pins and ten digit phone numbers. I can't possibly remember all that, I keep a book. Now where did I put that book.....
Click to expand...

With respect to words, it's something I'm noticing now. I'll not be able to remember the right word when I'm talking. It will be on the tip of my tongue, but won't come to me. My wife is so in tune with me that she'll often know exactly which word I'm grasping for.

As far as passwords, I actually keep a written spreadsheet. They're all different and obscure, so I have to do it this way. When signing into a secure site, I'll copy and paste the password into the form. I know there are programs to store such things, but I've not invested in one.
 

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