Do you ever have moments when you wonder if your brain has turned to mush and you do inexplicably stupid things? One of these moments happened to me this morning when I managed to lock my bag and my car keys inside the car.
I'd unloaded the shopping in to the car boot, chucked my bag and keys inside the car (from the boot) and on to one of the doggy look-out seats and then...I shut the boot. I'd used the remote to open the boot and, because I don't have central locking on it, the doors remained locked.
What did I do? Did I stay cool and calm and not get upset?
I burst into tears, cursed the fact that Mr FF was in the UK and not due back until this evening and then I wandered back into the supermarket and the lady I know who runs the dry cleaners looked up my neighbour's phone number*, he came and took me to my ma-in-law's and I cried again. Then my neighbour arranged a locksmith and we now have new locks, but my car is still at the supermarket with my bag very visible. I knew I had a spare set of keys here but when m-i-l drove me to my car and I tried the set I had, they turned out to be the spare to Mr FF's car - he has my spare set with him (I hope he's not had to find out he had the wrong set).
I'm at the age now (51) when I'm doing the occasional daft thing and it worries me. I tried to take pictures of my two new pairs of Rocket Dog boots for this post and couldn't manage to upload them from the camera - and this is something I've done countless times. I'm taking a female supplement (its base is the Maka root) for women of a certain age and I thought it was helping but after this morning I can see my brain is not working very efficiently. If anyone has any advice it will be gratefully received - no, a brain transplant will not be considered.
After this little story I feel a fraud to accept an award from the lovely Cynthia
especially as this award is to *celebrate women's smart, strong and inspirational spirit*. I certainly felt like none of those things this morning and I'm not looking forward to the expression on Mr FF's face when he returns this evening and has a nano-second of anxiety when he doesn't see my car outside the house. Anyway, back to the award- I don't want to single out any of you fabulous female bloggers so I'm not going to pass it on.
One last thing - I've worked out that the person who was my 10,000 'hitter' is the lovely Ann from Dublin. She doesn't have a blog so I can't link to her but Ann, if you would like to let me know how to contact you then I would like to send you a present from Brittany. If only I'd had my stat counter for the first two years that my blog was up and running - oh well, I'm just happy that 10,000 times someone has come to my little corner of the internet. I don't even need a top-level brain to maintain my blog - just a lot of silly stories.
*of course my mobile was in my bag and I couldn't think of m-i-l's number and she is ex-directory.
43 comments:
I seem to be doing slightly fewer completely brainless things now I'm older - but perhaps I'm doing slightly fewer things?
Oh dear, what a terrible circumstance. It's happened to all of us, in some ways. And it had everything to do with our multitasking all the time, handling stuff for everybody.
You forgot to pour yourself a glass of wine and celebrate the brain you have.
Dear FF, I have no advice to give you, my friend, being the Woman who left a copy of Tony Buzan's book, Use Your Mind, on the shop counter of Boots in Newcastle on my way to work one morning...
Going back to look for it at lunchtime, apparently I gave the pharmacists a story to eat out on for years!
You have my sympathy... And my congrats on your lovely and much-deserved award!
I've no advice either I'm afraid and your bad morning is horribly familiar to me. Recently my latest trick has been to put a pan on the stove with nothing in it (several times)and let me tell you the dogs are fed up with the smoke alarms.
I agree with Lakeviewer in that we've carry around too much in our heads so it's inevitable:-)
Hope MrFF gets back safely and you can relax with bag and car safely retrieved.
Frankie - I thought I was sailing through this stage of my life but if I was sailing then I now feel stuck on the rocks (enough nautical metaphors now!)
lakeviewer - you're very kind. The funny thing is that with Mr FF away I've had less to think about - that's it, there was not enough stuff in my head to keep it all in balance
AWONI - that did make me laugh.Did they keep the book to give back to you?
Lane - maybe the empty pan will be next week. My m-i-l has done a drive by of my car about five times now and nothing is amiss. I wish it was outside our house now - it does feel odd - car-less and bag-less
m-i-l has just rung me to say that there are very few cars in the car park now and she's parked alongside and will wait until we can get there with the other keys.
Hurrah for good lovely mothers-in-law everywhere
Car in drive now - huzzah!
Hey FF, I don't think you need a new brain, just a new car with one central locking system... about 20000 euros should do it... :-) We are victims of our technology !
Doing the occasional daft thing and taking it to heart is the preserve of the truly intelligent. ;-)
Thank heavens there was nothing alive in the car -- excpet then, I suppose you grab a rock and bash in the window.......I'm sure your excellent brain was full of much more important things......
Crikey this all sounds very familiar eh!...But I didn have a MIL to help me!!!!Glad it is all sorted now
I HATE days like that - glad to hear the car is safe and sound now - what a palava!
Oh! Sorry to hear about all of that FF but it seems to be working out nicely. 51? No way! I had you down for 35 tops. It happens to us all. Sit down and have a lovely long kir royale. Treat yourself...you deserve it. H x
FF: They had saved the Buzan book behind the counter, just waiting for the Madwoman to come back and collect it!
It was about Mind Maps, which Buzan is famous for... I found it useful and do use mind maps a bit to try to remember the detail of new policy work. Not sure how it would work with remembering keys, 'though!
Best of luck this week, FF!
ARGH I'm so sorry...but not to worry it happens to all of us sometimes. I did it the other day...I left work and fished around in my purse for my keys...couldn't find them...went out to my truck...and YUP they were still in the ignition. I had to call my hubby to come save me. And he's been making "senior moment" jokes ever since.
So lovely to discover your blog.
I am a similar age and find I am doing things like that sometimes.
I have been taking Fish oil capsules, Omega 3 which seem to be really good for everything. We have a friend, who is a Doctor and he swears by this and says, we all need to take this.
Carolyn
FF, I've never tried it, it might be a myth, but I read somewhere that Hubby can use the remote opener for the car via a mobile telephone.
GG
FF - Glad you managed to get back into your car. We all do silly things from time-to-time, whatever our age.
There is nothing more frustrating than not being able to drive your own car. In the icy weather earlier this year, all of my doors froze around the edges and I couldn't get in for a while. Then, last night, I was going to go out, but my car wouldn't start. It is working again today, but it needs a trip to the garage I think as it's the second time it has happened in a month.
P.S. word veri = fiend
My life is full of doing daft things! Thank Dieu I don't drive!
Yesterday I tried to put orange juice in my cup of tea instead of the milk that would have been more appropriate. I blame cat sitting duties wearing me out.
Glad it all got sorted out FF.
PS: When I get some work/money I would love to hop over to Britanny for a French lunch with you and Mr FF.I can think of nothing finer.
Oh, I have had many things like this happen over my 50 years and I keep thinking it's the beginning of the end, till I realize that I also did this sh*t in my 20's... though then my excuse was that I stayed up all night dancing. Ahem. That should still be my excuse, even if I didn't, don't you think? Do you want to borrow it?
You totally deserve the award! ;-)
Owen - I've got to confess to having been locked out once before. I'd only been driving a few weeks - about 30 years ago - was putting air in my tyres and locked myself out. Then my dad sorted it for me - good old dad.(I'm an adult orphan now).
Steve - I'll take comfort from those words - but I'm a long way off from being 'truly intelligent' :)
Elizabeth - all yesterday I was doing 'what if the dogs had been in the car?'. Thank goodness they weren't and - as you said - I would have just broken a window - they would have come first totally and in every way.
Blu - I did think of you and your recent similar experience. Why didn't I have someone there who could break in? This was a place heaving with Saturday food shoppers though - not many crims about.
Lulu - mushy brain days are bad, really awful.
Hadriana - I'm always being told I don't look or act my age - I think the fact that Mr FF is 35 helps me to stay youthful (she tells herself)
AWONI - when I've tried mind maps for study and revision techniques they really do not do it for me. So I don't think your book would do me much goood, I'm afraid.
nikki - good old hubbie, eh? that was the bad thing about yesterday - it happened when Mr FF was in the UK. Sod's law
Draffin - hello my new bloggy friend. Omega 3 caps are now on my shopping list for tomorrow. I'll be over to see you v soon
NWBD - thanks for the tip but I reckon you would both need to be in the same country at least
Hiya Carrie - once you have a doubt about a car it is always dodgy. I had to have my suspension fixed recently (well, the car's) and until it returned to the garage to have the 'droplinks on the anti roll bar done', I never felt relaxed being out for a drive. I felt something was always about to happen. good luck with getting it fixed.
shame I had to reinstate word veri but I got spammed
Phil - so it's not just us women then - good to hear you do daft things too. Yes, it was cat-induced weariness.
It will be good to meet you Phil
Hello Sydney - I also used to blame things on being up and out all night. Remember how we could do it and then go on to work the next day. I could never manage that now.
Sounds as if there is a weird get-locked-out-of-car bug going around. I seem to remember Blucamels doing something similar!
I'm desperate to see what Rocket Dogs are so please post a pic when you can!
And don't worry - we all do stupid things, no matter how old we are!
I have 'blond' moments all the time (but then I'm blonde so...)
Wow 10K hits!! I must get a hit counter, but I'm scared it'll show just how few hits I get! But I'm not suprised you get so many people, your blog is a lovely place to visit.
My advice is, don't be too hard on yourself. I came back from the park yesterday and forgot to get the dog out of the car...for an hour. Fortunately it was coolish and he just slept.
From one fuzz head to another. Have a better week this week.
It happens to us all - and it's hideous each and every time!! I managed to lock small child in the car once with the keys inside. It was one of those days that looked cold from inside the house, but was actually quite warm once you got outside (hence the quadruple layers of clothing small child was wearing whilst sitting in a boiling hot car). I didn't cry, but I nearly did. Friends with spare house keys came over 20 minutes later luckily. Not one of my better moments!
Oh dear! Glad it all worked out in the end. One of my biggest fears is locking myself out of my car with the engine running (entirely possible with these auto-lock buttons on the door, etc). I'm glad that wasn't what happened to you!
I know exactly how you feel FF. Things like this happen to me all the time. But don't beat yourself up about it. I used to but I try not to now. I have decided when you get to a certain age people should accept that you are allowed to be a little eccentric (I prefer to use eccentric rather than forgetful)
Ladyfi - Rocket Dogs are fabulous but I only ever get the boots, never the shoes. Their smallest boot size - (36) fits me but the shoe equivalent is too big. So until it gets too hot to cope I wear my boots most of the year round. I've now got about 13 pairs of colourful boots (some are by Sugar, another good make)
claire - aw, you are so kind. Actually most of my hits have been in the last 7 months when I really got into blogging, despite the fact I've had my blog for over four years. I used to be a very lazy blogger, now I am devoted to it.
Reasons - I must let this go. I keep thinking about it and wondering how on earth I could have been so daft. I've got to admit to it shaking my confidence a bit as well - I'm just waiting for the next stupid thing to occur,
Maternal - oh, I can just imagine how you felt. How awful and how good you didn't cry. I've always been a bit over-emotional and cry very easily, I'm afraid. No stalwart spirit coursing through *my* veins.
Contem - When one has a head full of stuff it is so easily to get momentarily distracted and do silly things. I bet you'll never do them though :)
Ayak - Yes, I'll happily settle for eccentric rather than a dozy woman going through hormonal imbalances :)
So sorry you had to go through all this nonsense, but glad your survived.
As for the gray stuff in side my head, it is turning from brain into silly-putty. Makes life complicated for me, but also means the grandkids always have something they can play with.
Congrats on your new award. I'm awfully sorry to hear that you had such a stressful time. A big hug!! Don't worry these things happen. I'm 26 years old and my brain is already going batty! I had the most unfortunate weekend in Glasgow. All will be revealed in the blog soon.
my best one recently has been to turn on the microwave with nothing in it and blow it up!
How can you tell who was the 10,000th reader? I have Statcounter or something and I can tell how many hits I get a day but other than that I can't work the thing out. My brain hurts too!
Rob - I'm just a little bit paranoid that I'm going to be doing other silly things though - and then of course worrying about stuff like that is a sure recipe for doing them.
ASD - so sorry to hear Glasgow did not work out well for you. I bet you're never batty but thanks for pretending :)
Rosie - hello there. You sound like my sort of person :)
Dumdad - I monitor it through Feedjit (I think you've got one) - on the real time live options. I know roughly all my usual people (the area they log in from and their browser) and was monitoring all the run up to the 10,000. I've noticed a Dublin log in lately and I checked on Ann's profle - she is from Dublin - I've not seen one before (I've got one of these boring memories for nerdy things like this)
You deserve your 10,000 and many more. You're always just a fine read.
One of my classic move is to put milk in the cereal cupboard and cereal in the fridge. I did it two times this week.
Congrats on your 10,000th reader!!!
Deepest sympathies, FF. Lots of times I start out in the house to do one thing, and half way there something else comes to mind which needs attention. When I finally get close to where I think I should be, I've forgotten both things I was thinking about.
It's not that I've got a few roos loose in the top paddock; the top paddock has been totally vacated! SIGH!
Hon, if it makes you feel any better I am the ripe old age of 33 and yesterday I confidently announced to my husband that I had seen a bargain....you could buy one get one free or get two for the price of one!!! In the words of Homer J Simpson 'DOH!!!'
C x
Thanks Ian - likewise I'm sure :)
LBR - and then when you realise it's a Doh! moment - I've done very similar things.
Rob - I've got Mr FF to normally sort things out for me - hope Mrs Rob bear is understanding.(I bet she is)
Carol - I'd just be happy I'd found a BOGOF - not often seen in this bit (or perhaps any bit) of France. It's good to see you blogging again btw - although everyone knows that sometimes life gets in the way.
I've been doing things like this from when I was in my 20s, so it doesn't have anything to do with age! I've driven off with my purse on top of my car (it was returned by a good person who found my number inside). :)
I really have no advice. I once found a cup of tea in the fridge and while I pondered its existence the bath overflowed. Perhaps a support group? If any of us remember that we set it up...
Thought I had already posted something on this topic FF, anyway it was along the lines of;
Your brain was probably far away that day, Mr FF was coming home, you had missed him so much.
Glad everything ended well.
If it is any consolation, I locked MY keys in the boot a couple of years ago. Unfortunately, the spares were in there too. It took 2 AA men over an hour to get them out, but I was slightly less embarrassed when they told me, very cheerfully, that keys locked in car is the number one call out reason! So there you go. Its NORMAL behavior!
bindu - Mr FF once drove off with his wallet on top of the car and, just as in your case, a kind person retrieved it and - in our case - took it to the police station. There are some good honest people left in the world it seems - and we're all bloggers on here :)
MH - hello there - well, the doc has now given me little white pills to adjust my hormones. Maybe my Silly Season is at an end.
Ann - how nice of you to put it like that. I've done loads of dopey things lately - this was just one more. I want to send you a present btw (as mentioned in my post)
justme - I'd never have thought of the AA for retrieving lost keys. They don't have that sort of thing here - well, they have accident call out vehicles, tow trucks and the like - but not the good old AA or RAC (and if someone knows different then please let me know)
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