The Brain of a Pensioner, or is it the start of Dementia.

Well we have reach that age when we all stand in the middle of Tesco's thinking, what have I come in for? You then wander around buying lots of things but when you get home you have always forgotten the main item that you went out for.

You've been clever and remembered to make out your shopping list only for the brain to switch off again and you've left it on the table. This is also the reason why I have a large amount of coffee in the cupboard, I'm sure as I went round the supermarket that I've run out again, but know I haven't.

So how else does the brain play tricks on you as you get older, I think my best so far was cooking the Sunday evening meal, I had put the joint in the oven and set the timer. Settling down to watch TV for an hour an a half, whilst the joint was cooking, I was really looking forward to a good roast dinner and was so pleased when the oven timer went off. Grabbing the oven glove I was astonished to find my joint had vanished and was nowhere to be seen in the oven. A quick search of the kitchen reveled that I had actually put it in the microwave by mistake and it was still sitting there in it's raw state. I had to put it in the fridge for the next day and opened a tin of corned beef for a sandwich.

 Regardless of what I'm doing my brain switches to something completely different and causes me to make a mistake in my current chore. A good example is the morning shower, I've done it many times and have a routine set in stone, but along comes brain and before I've realised what's happening I've used the conditioner before the shampoo or washed my hair again in shower gel instead of my athletic body.

You've probable noticed that my spelling has gone out the window, thank heaven for the spell checker on the PC. It's not the difficult long words but the simple 3 or 4 letter words that have vanished into the corner of my brain and are snoozing away waiting to reappear when it feels like it. The problem is I've started using a little dictionary but my eye sight has also gone adrift and I'm having to use a magnifying glass just to read it.

Driving isn't a problem at all, well as long as the brain doesn't go into it's sleep mode again, I'll be driving along nice and happy then realise that this wasn't the road that I meant to be driving along anyway.

As for peoples names, not a hope these days so you start greeting friends you have known for years with, hi ????? how are you, whilst repeating the alphabet under your breath in the hope that it will jog your memory. It's hopeless if someone asks you to name a person, place or TV programme, it's gone from your memory, removed from that computer in your head never to be found again.

Any youngsters read this must be think what is she on about, just you wait - It's no longer a case of you using your brain, it's more likely the brain has started using you. !!!!