When I was younger, if ever I was involved with fiddly, futery work (like building a model kit or taking something apart and reassembling it) and I dropped something on the floor or lay it to the side of me, I could retrieve it almost immediately without having to search for it. It was almost like I had a sixth sense which led me unerringly and with no hesitation to where the dropped or set-aside item lay. Same if I dropped a coin - I saw or heard where it rolled to and recovered it with no bother. Nowadays, though, if I drop or place a part of something aside for a moment, when I reach for it, it seems to have disappeared into the Twilight Zone and, search as I might, it remains beyond my ken.
Seemingly invisible and intangible, I then have to stand up, step away from where I was, move things, double and triple check, curse like a trooper, feel around the carpet, and it takes ages and much displacement of surrounding objects before I eventually locate the apparently vanished item. Whether it's a pair of scissors, a pen, a craft knife, a screw, a needle - whatever it happens to be - it's a major operation to find it again, impeding my progress in whatever undertaking I'm involved with. Is it just down to advancing years and oncoming senility, or is there some mysterious pixie involved (Mr. Mxyzptlk perhaps), who's only allowed to torment folk of an increasingly advanced age?
If you're of a similar vintage to myself, I'd be interested in reading whether you Crivs have also experienced this type of perplexing and infuriating situation that, at this moment in time, remains unexplained. Please help to enlighten me.
16 comments:
This has often happened to me but it hasn't got worse as I age.
I don't think that it's a situation limited to or targeted at your older person; I cannot recall a time when anything I dropped or let out of my sight did not instigate a bout of furniture moving or climbing under desks or tables with a torch!
Seems to be one of the unwritten laws of the universe that dropped items will bounce, slide or otherwise find their way to the most out-of-the-way, unexpected or inaccessible location possible. That's life I guess - annoying as it is. I don't know what's worse; the fact that the item is no longer in plain sight where you expect it to be or that, as you say, it has interrupted the flow of whatever said item was an integral part of.
Just you wait a few years, CJ, then it will change - trust me.
It's not just dropping things though, PC, it's also just putting things aside. For example, I'm often lying on top of my bed (half sitting up) when I'm working on something, and let's say I set aside a screw or a part of a model kit as I attend to another part. Then, when I reach for the set-aside piece, the wee buggah is not there. Screwdriver or pliers, laid by my side? Gone! Must have rolled into the side of my body, I think, but nope - not there. All the searching, reaching, groping for is fruitless. I have to stand up, move sheets and blankets, look on the floor, lift a comic or book from the bed - sheesh! Just recently, I unscrewed a small plastic top from a cassette head cleaner container and laid it at the side of me. When I went to put the lid back on, it was nowhere to be found. Took me three days to locate the thing, and when I did, it was by accident. Happens to me seemingly all the time these days.
Yesterday I was eating a Fab ice lolly when my phone went. I put my lolly down to get my phone, a few minutes later I was wondering did I finish my ice lolly or did I have a bit left. I looked about in every room for it before deciding I had eaten it. An hour later I go to the kitchen to make a cup of tea and see some red goo on top of a storage container ( for noodles) and on the kitchen top, it's my melted ice lolly. I've even forgotten where I parked my car in a small village with only one small car park!!!
Yeah, infuriating, isn't it, McS? Did you know that FAB ice lollies were originally made for girls (according to the ads in TV21), though that's not regarded as being the case these days. As for mislaying things, it seems to happen to me often, even when I've put something down mere inches from me. It's almost as though it's been transported to another dimension. Never used to be like that when I was younger.
I've done a similar thing, where I have gathered a range of tools to do a particular task, only to find one key tool missing when it is required? I've then undertaken a forensic search of the nearby area, blamed the cat, blamed the dog, not the wife, 'I'm not that brave!' Only to then find it safely tucked away in its usual home, in the garage untouched? It seems in my minds eye, I had convinced myself that all was prepared, but it actually wasn't?
That's certainly a similar scenario, AAW, as far as the effect it has on you, but it's totally mystifing when you've actually held the item in your hands before setting it aside for a moment, only to then find that it's seemingly disappeared. And like I said, it happens a lot with me nowadays, far more often than it used to.
Yes, I remember the ads for Fab wee aimed at girls, wasn't Fab linked to Thunderbirds ( Lady Penelope)? I m the same this weather I keep misplacing things mostly I think that may be partly because we have so much going on looking after Linda's dad and all that entails. You may be the same with all the stress re your mums situation.
Kid, I don't think your current stressful circumstance would help you in retaining focus either...where did you eventually find that top, 'I'm intrigued?' And at least no poltergeists were involved... "heh heh"
Very likely in your current situation, McS, but in my case, I think a wee gremlin is responsible as I've been like this for a while now, even before all this nonsense with my mother. And yes, FAB was linked to Thunderbirds and, in particular, Lady Penelope. How is Linda's dad at the moment, if you don't mind me asking?
I stood on it as I was going to the loo, AAW. I'd been using a small Sellotape holder when I lost the top, and I suspect it may have stuck to a bit of 'stray' tape. When I lifted the holder recently to take downstairs for something, the top may have become dislodged and dropped to the floor.
That is truly bizarre!
He's has his good and bad days but they still can't find the reason for his poor blood count. Very much changes day to day I'm afraid.
Ain't it just?!
It's unlikely to be due to something they've never heard of before, McS, so maybe it's just down to incompetence? Sadly, there's a lot of it about in Hospitals and Care Homes these days. Are they testing for any specific cause or just hoping they stumble across the reason for it?
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