Forgetting words

[Bill HH]

We live in Torquay, from places you can see the thousands of square miles that make up dartmoor. My wife and i decided to have a nice drive onto the moor one afternoon, Beleive it or nor we couldn't find it!!! I regularly lose hammers and screw driver when I have just used them and haven't moved from the spot, but to lose an entire moor was a bit disturbing.

[JanieB]

Many years ago I worked for a huge American company. My boss had been sent on one of those management jollies and came back full of gungho and what have you been doing and why hasn't this and that been done. Apart from anything else we'd had a surprise visit from HMRC and he should be the one to deal with them not me.

He got right up my nose and I stood up in our open plan office and suggested he stick a broom up my a... and I'd sweep the floor at the same time.

He realised he'd gone too far and made arrangements for us to have a private chat later that day.

Bear with me I'm getting to the point!

We decided a plan that meant that all of us were responsible for all the jobs. I was his deputy Management Accountant and we had 2 clerks who worked for us. The first thing we all had to do each day was write a todo list and we all had copies of each others. If someone finished their list they helped another with theirs.

It worked so spectacularly well we won an award at the end of that financial year and our system was suggested to other depts.

It was so successful I still run my life by making todo lists. Apart from anything else it means I don't have that "why have I come upstairs" moments very often although I still tend to forget words for things and peoples names - but I've always been like this.

When I can't do the Telegraph crossword over my first cuppa in the morning I'll start getting worried.

And I'm 68 next week.

[Potstubsdustbins]

Way back in the 70s/80s when I was in the army as you rose through the ranks to be an armoured vehicle commander your first issue was a set of aide memoire on everything from radio and gunnery practices to map reading. Wouldn't do to get it wrong when directing artillery you might just get a big one on your head.