O Comes Before P....

Most older folks don't talk about it.  Some don't even want to think about it.



But I realize that my head is a bit tired after 50 years of work...

I read an article recently about aging and memory...the writer is involved in research on dementia...he is also aging, likely around my age from his description...sixty-something going on 8.

He is also a college professor...

His view is that dementia is real...but grossly over-diagnosed.

His reference is based on his personal observations teaching college kids.   He said they were more apt to have a lapse in memory, get days of the week mixed up, forget work assignments or sleep through a test day way more frequently than old people simply forgetting what the date is.

But twenty-somethings get a free pass on their memory lapses, while a Senior would be put under a magnifying glass for the same behavior.

Interesting observation...





But never-the-less, my head is still tired.

It is nothing serious...nor am I too worried...

And yet...I recall at one point, my work password was PL8spinner..."plate spinner".

It was my badge...my personal skill...my own secret power.  It is what I was known for.



You remember the plate spinners on TV - the guys that could spin porcelain plates on the slender poles...and keep them spinning...more and more plates, running back and forth, keeping them spinning...till they started crashing to the floor.

Except I did not allow any of my plates to crash to the floor.



Some may view it as a brag...that is not the intent.  Call it simply an old guy remembering how it was.

Like Springsteen's Glory Days...



I learned to be really good at keeping multiple high visibility projects actively running all at the same time...and to achieve my deadlines.  I never missed a deadline...ever.

Give me the nastiest hill to take, the meanest fire breathing dragon to be slain...then go away - let me do it my way without micro management.

I was good at it...real good at it.

It was what I was known for, it was my niche...and there was high demand!  I got handed the biggest, gnarliest, toughest projects to manage.  I never said No, even times when I should have...

And I know when it all started.  I was 19...it was during my only year of college:

I realized there are a lot of people in the world way smarter than me.  I couldn't control that.  But I could control how hard I worked...

I determined nobody would outwork me.




Pretty simple...but it worked for me...it was my secret weapon.

I worked hard...always up...always active...never stop processing or thinking about work...be better, faster, more efficient...always bring your A game.

Whether it was getting dirty tearing off a dusty 20 year old roof...roust-abouting on an oil rig deck...climbing hand over fist up the outside leg of a 300 foot tower to hang an antenna...operating a window washing scaffold up and down 28 floors on the outside of a building to deliver hardware...resolving a critical network issue costing $25,000 per minute for delayed flights at a major airport...or managing a 130,000 sq foot data center build out.




I assumed everyone was smarter than me...but nobody was going to outwork me.

It was the norm to manage 10 or 12 different complex project work streams, all executing at the same time...

Executive Level status reports and PowerPoint decks for customer review...

With the technical details all tightly managed in my head...project teams, deliverables, meetings, prioritized tasks, risks and contingencies...work breakdown structures...nothing forgot...and never a missed due date!



But...

My mind is a bit tired now...

So, I've reverted to simple memory tricks - using the alphabet.

"Let's see...O comes before P in the alphabet...so it is Organ Pipe Cactus National Park, not Pipe Organ Cactus NP that we are going to next.

Is that OK with you....errrr....hmmm....Ja Je Ji Jo Ju - Judy?"




Let the adventure continue...