Dec 11 - 17

A few weeks ago I wrote about technology and what a curse it was, well now I believe motor memory is also a problem. Here is the definition.

Motor memory (MM) happens when a person repeats an action over and over until it becomes automatic, and you can do it without thinking. 

I take the garbage out now and have no recollection of doing it, so I have to look out at the street to see if my cans are there. I will be inputting a password when something stops me and then I can’t remember what the password actually is.

We all drive on motor memory, and we do so many basic tasks with it. People with dementia will keep their MM long after they have forgotten everything else. Glen Campbell was able to go on the road and perform after he got Alzheimer’s. So the other day I am pulling on to the freeway which I have done a thousand times, when I realize they are doing construction and they have dramatically changed the on ramp. I was terrorized. Why, because I had to think. I had to decide how I was going to get on the freeway. It has been several weeks and I still go another way so I don’t have to get on that on ramp. Anyway i guess I should try and use my brain more so I can get use to changes, but it would be wonderful if I never had to think again.

Oh, by the way, after my wife cleaned my son’s bedroom, she started cleaning his bathroom. She pulls out a drawer and finds 4 empty pineapple cans and 3 half eaten clam chowder cans. Do you know what clam chowder looks like after a long time? You really don’t want to know, but I will tell you this, it is no longer white.

Dec 4 - 10

Experiences of horror should be a thing of the past concerning my wife and I, however when cleaning our son’s bedroom, horror definitely exists in the present. 

You know there are things you must do in life but if you wait long enough, it will be left for a future generation, but my wife is better than me at this. 

First thing we found I think was the remnant of an old pet, well it was hard to tell. Next we tried to organize starting with 5 usable guitars and 5 broken ones. Guitar strings were everywhere along with 3 amps and a million cords and a banjo and a trumpet, a piccolo, a ukulele, and an accordion. Then there was the drum set complete with symbols and bass drum, and bongo drums. We found dirty clothes hidden behind furniture along with about 20 other pieces of clothing under the bed. I think it is safe to say when he said he did his laundry it is similar situation as to when the potato that accidentally fell off the shelf last week.

Nov 27 - Dec 3

Our house is not normal. It is not even close.

I walk into the pantry and I look on the floor and there is a large raw sweet potato laying there with a bite taken out of it. I look on the shelf and there is the bite just sitting there next to the crackers. Now judging by the teeth marks and there are some, I am sure it is not Cooper. So I ask my son about it.

“Funny thing you ask dad. I walked into the pantry minding my own business when suddenly the sweet potato falls off the shelf but on the way down it hits another shelf breaking off a piece.”

He then says “Isn’t it funny how the piece looks like a bite”.

Now I am beginning to wonder what is the truth. Has he, or hasn’t he, outsmarted me again?

Nov 20 - 26

A few weeks ago I wrote about technology and its good and bad points, so this week I am talking about appliances. So in the last 20 years at our house we have gone through 4 kitchen refrigerators. I don't know it is the control board or the shelves break or what, but we keep replacing them with new refrigerators. In 1997 I bought a used refrigerator for the patio. I bought this from an ex-employee at the time. This fridge has sat outside for 26 years. I usually turn it off when I don't need it, but on Friday to get ready for our annual Practice Thanksgiving party we, i turned it back on. It came on right away and started working. I just wonder if is because they made things better back then or is because there is less technology. In any case it is a keeper. 

With our celebration each year we have a dance party. Cooper gets so jealous of when my wife and I start dancing that he sits there and barks at us until we pick him up. Mind you West Coast Swing requires 2 hands so we constantly have to put him down, but he barks so loud he is louder then the music, so we have to pick him up again. This went on for 15 minutes, now I am thinking, do we get one of those back pack dog carriers?