August 10

Well, one of today's studies says if you didn't use it you're more apt to lose it. It says, people doing manual labor are more likely for Altzimers than people who have more mental jobs. I guess people doing mostly manual labor doesn't need to think much or at least not to the degree that folks working in a office or working with figures or words do. I always thought they would equally spend most of their time actively working their minds on a way to fluff off or for a way to make their job easier. I've worked both sides and it worked for me that way but guess I was in a minority and didn't realize it.

It's sad to say but now when some poor soul comes up with the gradual memory loss, decline in the ability to perform routine tasks, disorientation, difficulty in learning, loss of language skills, impairment of judgment and planning and personality changes, everyone will know he/she wasn't much on thinking in his earlier years. Only positive I can see there is he/she probably won't care too much. How does that go, "mind over matter, if you don't have a mind nothing matters"?

I think they said they are still working on this study, trying to find out if the effects are the same with the various races. I'm not sure how they'll do this with any accuracy because as I understand it from one of my neighbors, there are some minority groups that won't have enough folks in either group for a legitimate study.

I'm not too sure that I used my mind enough in my earlier years and I'm worried about it. That could explain why there isn't much there for me to use now. This worry encourages me to frantically continue with the computer! Sitting here I really have to use my mind! I know the words don't show this but I do need to locate the proper keys to push. And spelling! I can't spell worth a hoot! That causes many extra keys to be struck with a kind of try and try until it works method. Most of the time I'm too far off for the spell check to help. Heck, just for this little nothing message I'd say I needed to locate over 2,800 keys. Right, most all of them more than once but each time any letter or number comes up it is the same as new to me.

I have a feeling this isn't a message I should send so I'm apologizing now. I don't mean to make light of a grave and serious situation nor of any race, creed or color. I was just trying to poke at another one of those truly dumb studies. Not that some of them can't be a blessing but most only seem to further cloud the issues.

He had a photographic memory that was never developed.