I wish I’d known a little ‘Oopsie’ moment last night was a herald of worse to come – I could just have stayed in bed, instead of thinking “Oh, it’s still not raining, let’s try to do something”.
Then, relatively far from home, I headed to one of the big name non-British supermarkets I’ve found to be a good place to visit when nearby, as it always seem to have a handy range of useful stuff ‘Reduced for Quick Sale’.
That part went fine, but when I’d gone to lock up the wheels in the car park, it seemed I didn’t have my keys, and could use the usual ‘High Security’ chain, and had to rely on the supplemental little combination job I carry for quick stops.
The missing keys were perplexing, as I have a fairly secure system intended to make it hard for me to lose them – they’re on a springy reel, and the reel is clipped to an inside pocket, and that pocket is itself kept closed by a Velcro fastener. Not only that, the springy reels and set of keys is bulky enough to be noticed if it’s in the wrong place, or not where it should be.
I also know I must have had it all the last time I was out, as I used at another supermarket, so must have packed it away in that pocket in the usual way, or I’d have noticed something was wrong then.
There’s also other items in that pocket, and they’re still all present and correct.
So far, I’ve checked all the other pockets (unlikely, since the reel/keys are clipped into the correct one though), the place I throw my cycling trousers, the floor, the side of the chair, the tabletop, below the table – and everywhere else I wander after coming in when I’ve cycled to the shops and back.
Then I repeated all those searches – and extended the range.
Not a thing!
If I just stuffed the keys in a pocket at random, I wouldn’t be so aggravated, but with both the bunching, the reel, the clip, the Velcro latched pocket – I just don’t see how I could have simply lost these keys (and the reel), and not noticed.
I’ve had mishaps before, and noticed almost right away – so this one has me stumped, and I guess I’ll be repeating the search for some time to come, until I convince myself they really have gone (or maybe I’ll even find them).
If only I still needed car keys.
Bonus misery
When I visited the last shop I locked up the bike at, I asked Security if any keys had been handed.
Needless to say, none had – something that doesn’t help much.
Given where I KNOW I last touched them, and where I next went, it’s still not certain I lost them.
So, I have to battle with the OCD effect of thinking they might only be a few feet away, and I just haven’t spotted them!
Surprise! Digital cameras NEED memory cards to work
The nice day clearly affect mental abilities.
I usually run a system of leaving camera hatches open if the memory card is no installed. The idea being this should work as a ‘memory jogger’ when grabbing a camera as I head out.
Usually works too.
But NOT when I have to open the battery hatch to remove that item for charging.
So, today I managed to collect and fit the charged battery, but with the accessory hatch closed, forgot there was no memory card in the camera.
Ten miles away, and over half an hour out, the camera would release its shutter, and it was only when I fired up the status screen I got the message, ‘Card Not Inserted’.
Better still, having not been in a hurry and just ambled through the day, by the time I cycled back home, then back to where I’d just been, dusk would have been falling, and I’d have been back to night photography, which would have been fine – if I hadn’t got the night shots last week, and decided to add some daylight shots today, since it wasn’t raining during daylight hours.
Just an observation – It’s mucky out there
Not sure why, but my bike looks as if I’ve been doing actual mountain biking, and is covered with mud every time I go out at the moment.
Not sure why this is happening, maybe something to do with the endless rain we seem to enjoy at times with this crazy weather.
I only go out hours after the rain, not while it’s falling, and this habit hasn’t produced the sort of mud coating I see nowadays.
At least it doesn’t get as bad as this example – although I note that disk brakes appear to be self-cleaning.
The REAL bad news
While I’ve been kind of forgetful forever, I was sad to be caught by one of my neighbours as I was heading out this afternoon, and learned that one of my long-established neighbours has dementia, and it seems to have become quite severe quite quickly.
I suspected this as I hadn’t bumped into them for months, but had seen them from the window on a number of occasions, and had become concerned – nothing definite, but having lost someone very close to dementia, I had experienced its development all the way from the trivial signs I hadn’t recognised at first, all the way to fully developed illness which I had to cope with as a carer.
Sadly, I’d noticed symptoms as far back as last Christmas, but had thought I might just have been imagining things, given my first encounter with the disease.
I’m not a doctor, so couldn’t really raise the points I’d seen with anyone (they are lucky to have a lot of family), but the thought has weighed with me all year, until things recently took a turn for the worse as various activities indicated a problem, then someone was good enough to take me aside, and let me know what had been happening.
For the benefit of anyone like me (rotten memory all their life), maybe getting worried, keep something like this handy (many versions can be found):
Secret Scotland 