Dementia Fairy

Did you ever find yourself questioning your own sanity? Think about it….at times we tend to do such dumb stuff, it isn’t surprising to say to ourselves, what was I thinking? It is times like these that I find myself questioning my own sanity. One of the good things though is that being who I am and being as wild and crazy as I am without even thinking about sanity – usually my mind doesn’t even answer me when I do ask the question. And that’s a good thing because seeing that it doesn’t answer me and though no one ever truly called me an intelligent being, I take the absence of a response from my mind that it is I who am still in charge of my facilities, in spite of the fact that my sanity hasn’t uttered one single word on the subject.

I do find at times though that I tend to remind myself that the year is 2020 and not 1971. Why 1971? That year comes to mind because we used to volunteer to do quite a bit of stuff back then and well, at this point of my life, even though I am retired, I just do not have time to do as much as I did back then,. Of course, one wouldn’t believe that were you to look at our daily planners.   But it is so much fun! True, these old bones must rest more frequently than they used to. Why, because where is it written that we have to get everything done today. Tomorrow is another day!

We are soon coming to the time that our “snow-birds” will be returning home for the winter and while that may mean social activities here in our community may slow down a bit, it doesn’t mean that we will slow down. Nope, that is the time that we take it upon ourselves to catch up with relatives we haven’t seen in a while, set some travel plans, attempt to do more household projects (ones we are physically able to do ourselves), try to learn new line dance routines, attempt to write more (who knows I may even work on that third book I started towards the end of last year), and other events/things we may want to do that, well, at times I just get tired thinking about all of them.  Oh, and by the way, did I mention that I frequently have doubts about my sanity?

With so many things weighing heavily upon my mind, it isn’t a huge surprise that at times I forget something. But being of sound mind and body I prefer not to blame early onset Alzheimer’s primarily because if I do, the dementia fairy will find me.

In conclusion, when you reach our age, retirement is a time of less commitments and more laughing. And if anyone thinks I’m crazy, well, I’d rather be crazy happy than any other kind of crazy.

Until next time!

Other Emergency Call Numbers

Did you ever wonder who came up with the 911 emergency call system and how some might consider it to be, well, somewhat inadequate? I mean, I will be the first one to agree that should a fire occur or someone fall and need medical assistance, the dispatchers on the other end of the telephone do a fantastic job sending either the fire department or the paramedics out to assist those in need.

But I have to stop and ask myself, are there other things that they could be doing to assist the communities within which they serve? Think about it, I am sure many of us, being at the advanced age we are, can think of many other emergencies that occur in our day-to-day lives where having a broader range of three-digit calling codes might come into assistance.

So as to not confuse people with the number 911 that we are all so familiar with, we could utilize a different set of three-digit numbers to call when experiencing some of these other daily emergencies.  The thought of using numbers ending in 33 come to mind. Numbers like 233; 333; 433; 533; and quite possibly 633 come to mind.

What type of daily not so life-threatening emergencies come to mind? Well, at our age, several thoughts come to mind:

In thinking about the high-tech-world we live in, my guess is that we would need a three-digit code, say 233 to use for computer explanations. I mean how many of us at one time or another got stumped by something our computer did and wished we had an emergency number we could call for immediate assistance without being charged say an arm or a leg (I’d say our first born child but at age 79 pushing 80, I’d never get any assistance). Walla – dial 233 and get connected to a computer genius just waiting to provide you with an easy solution to your problem. It would beat banging your head on your desk or on the wall or quite possibly throwing your cup of coffee at the monitor.

And then knowing that every now and then we visit our children and grandchildren, we need a three-digit code, say 333 enabling us to ask for translation services so we can interpret our English language with that of today’s youth. Did you ever notice how children talk today – they seem to have their own foreign language. Dial 333 and immediately you are in touch with someone that knows how to speak childrenish. (I know, I tried my darnedest to come up with a better word).

What about the many times we go from one room to another only to forget what it was we went in there for? There should be a three-digit code, say 433 for forgetfulness which could also be used to seek out missing items. Dial 433 and a party comes on the line and reminds you of what you were either looking for or what you went into the room for in the first place. You know us old geezers, either we are looking for something we cannot find or we enter rooms and immediately forget what it was we went in there for in the first place.

We could also have a dedicated three-digit code, say 533 to use when receiving all those unsolicited telephone calls we receive daily. We would learn how to transfer the unsolicited calls to the number 533 (probably by punching in that 533 number which would automatically refer the call to a representative). That 533 representative would then take down the data being provided by the other party and in response would call the unsolicited caller for the next 90 days at 3:00 AM in the morning with the dialogue prepared by you as payback for interrupting your day or evening. Paybacks are …..well, you get the picture.

Last, I would be remiss if I would fail to mention a three-digit code, say 633 to call for television mediation service when couples cannot compromise who should have control of the television remote control device. I mean why start an argument with either the children or your significant other. When it appears that there will be some sort of disagreement as to what to watch, dial 633 and allow the arbiter to make the decision in a nice friendly way that satisfies all parties.

It is clear to me that we need such additional emergency call services. Why you ask? Well, would you like it if you were a 911 emergency operator and I kept calling you at 2:00 in the morning with a missing mince pie recipe report?

Until next time!