A couple of weeks ago I unpacked after an extended trip to Hong Kong.

Some things got put away immediately. Some things sat around for a while. A few days ago I finally got motivated and found proper places for everything new I brought back.

Or so I thought.

One of the small purchases I returned with was a ziplock bag containing several packs of lozenges that I quite like and cannot find in Thailand.

So I put them somewhere safe because they were one of those things that had taken a bit of effort to acquire.

You can already see where this is going.

The problem is that I am usually pretty organised with this sort of thing. I do not have lots of storage for small items in my flat. There are only about three places where things like that would realistically end up. I do not have endless drawers, closets, storage containers, or mysterious black holes where objects disappear for decades.

So when I went looking for the lozenges earlier today and could not find them, things started getting serious.

At that point it was no longer about the lozenges.

It became a question of memory.

Had I really forgotten that quickly where I put them?

Had I accidentally thrown them away?

Or had they somehow entered a parallel dimension occupied entirely by missing toenail clippers, emergency condoms, lip balm jars, and single house keys?

After checking all the obvious places, thrice, I even started checking the impossible places.

Cupboards.

Shelves.

Travel bags.

Places I knew with absolute certainty that I had not put them.

Two hours later I was standing on chairs with a flashlight conducting what can only be described as a forensic investigation.

Nothing.

This is the point where the real concern starts.

Because once you accept that something can completely disappear inside your own abode, you begin wondering what happens next time when it is something far more important than a bag of lozenges.

Anyway, I know nobody is going to believe this.

After over two hours of searching I was mentally exhausted and decided it was a good time to have a little puff and calm down.

Within about five minutes I was standing there staring into space when suddenly my brain rebooted.

I remembered exactly where I had put them.

Not approximately.

Not vaguely.

Exactly.

I walked straight to the location, an old little floor cabinet behind a piece of furniture that I use to keep a few things that I do not like to leave out in the open.

And there they were.

So apparently the lesson here is that my memory is either failing completely or occasionally requires herbal technical support.

Getting older really does require a sense of humour. And not just sometimes.

Edited June 13Jun 13 by Alpha84

28 minutes ago, Alpha84 said:

So when I went looking for the lozenges earlier today and could not find them, things started getting serious.

This is what happens when I get home drunk, the next morning I can't remember where I've put things.

Sometimes you are thinking of other things, it happens sometimes, if it happened every day, yes worry

I believe it's quite common to temporarily "lose" things after unpacking luggage after a trip.

I make it a habit to not immediately unpack everything other than clothing that goes in the wardrobe or the usual drawers, and retrieve other items as they're needed over a few days. This means you aren't in a mad panic to get everything organised and can unpack miscellaneous items in a considered and unhurried manner.

The flipside is when you're away and have say a suitcase with two compartments and maybe three zippered pockets, and a backpack with six compartments. You get in a frenzy because you can't find your charging cable which you're convinced you always keep in a specific compartment. You eventually find it stuffed inside the left shoe of the spare pair that you never wear anyway, because at the time you put it there, it seemed like a really good idea.

Women hide things. Can never find them.

I can remember things from when I was 5 years old but sometimes I walk to the refrigerator and can't remember what I was looking for.

I'm always mislaying things. Where are my glasses? Where did I put that in the fridge? Pushing 93. What was the subject?🤔

Sometimes I start some microwave popcorn and then go to another room. Suddenly I hear this banging, rattling, noisy commotion going on in the kitchen, so I run in there to investigate what kind of hell is breaking loose. It's the sound of the popcorn in the microwave which I had forgot about in less than two minutes.

At age 77 I find this now happens quite frequently (a recent development of the last 2 or 3 years). But it usually takes only 1or 2 minutes for the forgotten 'item' to pop back in to consciousness.

More physical exercise helps. No alcohol. Intellectual exercise is also important.

2 minutes ago, mfd101 said:

Intellectual exercise is also important.

What on this forum?

6 minutes ago, VocalNeal said:

What on this forum?

What forum? btw where are we?

I tend to forget things very fast these days, can remember things from when I was a lot younger but now can put something down and 5 minutes later have no idea where I put it, makes it hard because my wife suffers the same thing but at least we can laugh about it. At 73 I kind of expect my memory to be not very good, the fact I was on opoids for over 20 years doesnt help

Edited June 14Jun 14 by seajae

At the age where I cannot remember what I did yesterday , BUT can remember the names

of all my classmates at school, and the words to songs of the 60's , it's a funny old World

isn'it ....

regards worgeordie

1 hour ago, JerryM said:

I can remember things from when I was 5 years old but sometimes I walk to the refrigerator and can't remember what I was looking for.

I remember a cartoon posted on the Worst Joke forum. An elderly man is staring at a piece of paper taped to a door. "a list of feasible reasons for entering this room"

Saw this thread title earlier today and thought this would be interesting.

Here I am reaching the thread hours later and no idea what distracted me in the intervening time.

So my short term memory is poor I guess.

1 hour ago, JerryM said:

I can remember things from when I was 5 years old but sometimes I walk to the refrigerator and can't remember what I was looking for.

I think you were looking for something to put in your mouth.

6 hours ago, Alpha84 said:

Some things got put away immediately. Some things sat around for a while. A few days ago I finally got motivated and found proper places for everything new I brought back.

It’s not uncommon to forget little details like this for most people.

17 minutes ago, worgeordie said:

At the age where I cannot remember what I did yesterday ,

I would be concerned at this point.

6 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

Sometimes you are thinking of other things, it happens sometimes, if it happened every day, yes worry

Crap, happens to me almost every day. I put my shoes on spin cycle to dry them yesterday after a run. A few minutes later I was asking the wife where she put them and spent 10 minutes looking for them.

"I read somewhere"......that we don't forget as we get older.....we don't even "record" things in the first place, so there is nothing to recall......then you are in big trouble.

9 hours ago, Alpha84 said:

I walked straight to the location, an old little floor cabinet behind a piece of furniture that I use to keep a few things that I do not like to leave out in the open.

Wow. If you had asked earlier, we could have told you that's where you had put them and saved yourself the 2-hour forensic search.

4 hours ago, mfd101 said:

At age 77 I find this now happens quite frequently (a recent development of the last 2 or 3 years). But it usually takes only 1or 2 minutes for the forgotten 'item' to pop back in to consciousness.

More physical exercise helps. No alcohol. Intellectual exercise is also important.

My mate swears by Sudoku.

I've forgotten his name...

I was told, probably by one of those highly qualified Instagram Doctors who wear their surgery gowns and stethoscope to make a video, that to remember something you should be in the same emotional state as when you were doing the task you want to recall.

So revising for an exam in a comfortable, relaxed state, for example, is of little use of you're going to be stressed in the exam hall.

Conversely, trying to remember where you put an item when in a stressful state because you think you're mind is failing ..... I've forgotten where I was going with this ...

Oh yes, you need to be calm if you were in a calm state when you put the item away.

10 hours ago, Alpha84 said:

Getting older really does require a sense of humour. And not just sometimes.

Yeah, it can be fun to be old — great fun — by the way, what was the headline and purpose of this post...

Earlier today, layin on the lounge watchin a movie.

Felt to urge to defecate.

Got up, went to toilet and did the deed.

Went back to layin on the lounge, 20 mins later the movie finshed but I could not remember if I cleaner the snipper or not.

Quick scratch and sniff reveals I did infact clean the snipper.

Next movie.

I suffered a very small stroke a few years ago it left me with a problem of my Automated speach ( putting the wrong words together in a sentance ) and short term memory loss. Long term memory is as good as it was prior to my stroke. I can still remmember things from 40-50 years ago but names numbers things i should remember are forgotton within 190 mins unless i write them down to remind me.

Many people suffer from the

'doorway effect'.

It is when you go into a room and forget why you went in there.

I'd suggest it's more than many, probably everyone at one time or another.

Sorry, what was the question?

14 hours ago, Alpha84 said:

This is the point where the real concern starts.

Because once you accept that something can completely disappear inside your own abode, you begin wondering what happens next time when it is something far more important than a bag of lozenges.

Anyway, I know nobody is going to believe this.

After over two hours of searching I was mentally exhausted and decided it was a good time to have a little puff and calm down.

Within about five minutes I was standing there staring into space when suddenly my brain rebooted.

I remembered exactly where I had put them.

Not approximately.

Not vaguely.

Exactly.

I walked straight to the location, an old little floor cabinet behind a piece of furniture that I use to keep a few things that I do not like to leave out in the open.

And there they were.

So apparently the lesson here is that my memory is either failing completely or occasionally requires herbal technical support.

Getting older really does require a sense of humour. And not just sometimes.

This is often, how it happens with me: I put something away, to never be able to find it in its "logical" places. My wife takes not more than two quick looks to find it, which makes me look like a poodle in the rain (and yes, one time it was about a mislaid passport right before travel, so of maximum importance).

The problem is not memory, but not being concentrated when you do things (listening to youtube videos is, for example, a sure thing to be not concentated when I do things in my place). I think this has worsened considerably for me over the last years.

Maybe it is age, in my case I think it is simply being overloaded with stress and constantly thinking about or doing three things at once.

27 minutes ago, jts-khorat said:

The problem is not memory,

No; like me it is my wife "organizing" things.

Well, if consuming too much caffeine causes short term memory loss,

just imagine what consuming too much caffeine can do.