Saturday, November 13, 2021

Covid, Coffee and Caturday 30

We, or at least I, tend to do menial and repetitive tasks on autopilot with the result that I am often not sure if I have really done a thing or not.

For example: I take a couple of pills just before heading to bed, but then I may get up within five minutes to make sure that I have taken them because I can't remember for sure. You see, I hadn't required my mind to concentrate on the mundane task, so it didn't pay attention  and simply drifted off to wherever the vagaries of  life happened to take it.

Another example: I almost always  lock the car twice and sometimes thrice. I click as soon as I close the doors, and then I click again as I walk through the garage toward the house because I am not one-hundred percent sure if I actually did click it. But then, I am so much on autopilot that I am not always sure about either of the two clicks, so I sometimes click one more time, just to be on the safe side. Oddly enough, I don't usually need to do this in a parking lot.

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Speaking of memory lapses, this is in a different category, because I don't repeat the action but don't even do it once.

You see, I have been known to forget to shut the garage door. This is most likely to occur when I enter the house with an armful of groceries, thus rendering it too difficult to shut the door at that point. Of course, I mean to go right back to it once I have put the groceries down, but then I might think, "Oh, I should put the milk away." I do that, and maybe other things, and I may never think of the garage door again.

As you might guess, I do other similar things, but I am not sure that I want to spill the beans on all my foibles. 😎  

I will, however, spill the beans on one more thing that I do often, including this very morning. 

Lacey insists that I keep her dry food dish topped up and gets quite concerned when the level gets low. I keep the container in my den across the hall, so when she implores me to fill the dish, I carry it to the bedroom and top it up. Then, I might realize that I should also freshen  her water. I put the food container down to attend to the water, vowing to not forget to bring it back to the den this time. 

I discover my lapse the next morning when she comes to the computer where I sit, and she wants me to handfeed her kibble. But I have left the darn dish back in the bedroom. Every evening, I tell myself not to forget to bring the container back to the den, but almost every morning, I must trundle back to the bedroom to get it. Sigh.


Speak of the girl and up she pops in the middle of my post. How does she do that? It must be because it is Caturday, and I haven't posted Caturday for quite awhile. It's a glaring omission, really.

You can see in the picture how she likes and trusts JJ. She likes and trusts women too. Me, she doesn't trust too much, but she needs me because I do the feeding and cleaning, and she likes that.

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Even though COVID numbers are rising once again, thankfully moderately so far, Sue and I are resuming normal activities or as normal as they can be in times such as these. I mean going to exercise class is normal but masking throughout the session sure isn't. Ugh!  And we have begun to go for normal-like coffee with friends, but we have to stay masked until we are seated. And to be able to be seated, we have so show our proof of vaccination along with ID.  But we are happy to comply and feel safe because of the precautions.

When Sue was at McDonalds with her lady friends, yesterday, a worker came around to the tables just to double-check for vaccination documents. Sure enough, she kicked out a table of guys who had, somehow slipped past the first line of defense.


Johnny and Bobby at coffee after 18 months.
I wish my beard were all white like Bob's.
Or failing that still all black. Sigh.

Sticking with the pandemic for a minute, we will be eligible for our boosters in mid-December. This morning I read that although the vaccines begin to lose their effectiveness over time, they still maintain quite a lot of protection with regards to how sick one becomes. In other words, we become more likely to contract the disease after awhile but remain more likely to not require hospitalization for an extended period. This is good news, but I will still line up for the booster as soon as my six month waiting period is up.

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Addendum: I see that one country, Singapore I think, has decided that if you choose not to be vaxxed for a non-health reason, you can now expect to pay for your own medical expenses should you be hospitalized with COVID. I am down with this. Choose the action and accept the consequences.


12 comments:

Marie Smith said...

It sounds like Lacey considers you her servant. She was part of the aristocracy in a past life.

Marcia said...

Forgetfulness - a fact of life!

Jenn Jilks said...

What I learned, when doing research on learning and the brain, is that the brain is clever enough to put some actions into muscle memory. Driving, for example. New learners have to concentrate like stink. Once you master it, you can do it and think of two things at once, i.e., carry on a conversation. I forget all the $50 terms for all this, but something like autonomic from doing something new.

FOr us, checking the garage door is crucial, what with bears, coyotes, Butch, etc. but we can check from the kitchen door.
Out of sight, out of mind, I guess.
Aren't the numbers sad to see?
You raised a bit of controversy on Kay's blog about conservatives! tee hee

Margaret said...

I do the same thing with my garage door. I'm on automatic pilot, then have to drive back around to check if I've actually closed it. Love your kitty stories! They have such personalities and likes/dislikes. Mari mostly hates everyone except me. She is utterly devoted to her person, whoever that is. She warmed up to Alison while I was gone--but then Alison owned her for several years. I very much approve of vax passports and for the unvaccinated to have to pay for medical care. I also would like vaccination to be a requirement to fly.

Blondi Blathers said...

I see from this entry that a lot of things at your house are similar to a lot of things at mine.
The "Did I or didn't I do that? Not sure."
The "Pet loves the lady of the house more than the hand that feeds, pets, and dotes upon it."
I agree with your sentiment in a previous post; I too think that those who have swallowed anti-vax mis-info should be billed for their own medical expenses when they get Covid. Normally I have some sympathy for stupidity, as people can't help it if they're not smart, but in this case ... no.
-Kate

Barwitzki said...

Oh awesome. I am very amused. Thanks very much.
Your photo is great and the hats are so great, especially yours and Bobby's red flower ... and your two smiles bring joy to the heart. Keep it up.
Many greetings to you. Viola
p.s. here with us the 3rd vaccinations are also prepared.

William Kendall said...

I spent the better part of the night in the hospital after an accident. My beard got caked with blood.

Red said...

People are becoming very frustrated with having to stay separate for so long. They want to get back out. Now I do almost the same things as you when it comes to memory...particularly the automatic pilot thing. I do have trans global amnesia and that's scary. You do not make new memories. Fortunately it's controlled with medication.

Vicki Lane said...

This all sounds so familiar, particularly the autopilot thing. And I totally believe that governments and insurers should refuse to pay for covid care for those who refuse the vaccine without medical reasons.

DJan said...

The older I get, the more I forget things like you describe. Fortunately I have one of those pill containers that I fill once a week. Sometimes I am amazed to discover I forgot to take my vitamins and statin. :-)

Kay said...

I agree with you about Anti-vaxxers because for quite a while (I don't know if they still do) the government was paying for people ending up in the hospital even though they chose to not be vaccinated.

I glad Lacey knows not to bite the hand that feeds her.

I have a weekly pill case just because I keep forgetting if I've already taken my pills in the morning and night.

DrumMajor said...

Your kitty is trying to figure out why her food and water are in different places. If you change the pattern to normally having them together, she'll get confused!? Like one of those animal-thinking enrichment programs, you coulg put her food in a different place every day; similar to hunting. Glad you have a pill box. The repetitive ADLs (Activities of Daily Living) are easy to forget. Can't remember which country or area; but I read that some death benefits with employers or life insurance companies are going to stop paying out if you died of covid, and did not get vaccinated. Makes sense to me. Hang in there! Linda in Kansas