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Where are my keys???

I'll soon start practice for the Alzheimer's fundraiser and I've been reading warning signs of the disease. I'm certain I'm not headed down that path (right now) but I'm amazed at how my brain works -- or doesn't at times. How in the world can I instantly remember the artist who sang an obscure song in the early 1980s or remember exactly where I was sitting when Cecil Cooper pulled off the bag and reached to the sky in October 1982, yet I can't remember where I put my keys?

I'm placing partial blame on technology. I used to be Rainman when it came to telephone numbers. I'd look at a number once and have it stored in my bank forever. Now, I have this great app that does the thinking for me. While I still remember the phone number for Skatin' Place, I can't recall the number of a business that's opened in the last three years. My White Page app does that for me.

I don't even need to know the numbers of friends and loved ones. All I have to do is speak their names and my phone dials their number. I have the phone numbers of my grandparents, old friends and parents from years ago etched in my brain. Most of those numbers are now irrelevant. Today, I speak the names of my new friends and I magically end up talking to them a few moments later. Technology is a double-edged sword.

Ask me the phone number for Wal-Mart and I can rattle it off (754-7800) but I cannot remember the non-emergency Rock County number. Thankfully I don't need to know it right now but I'd rather have that number lodge in my brain rather than Wal-Mart.

If I were to fill out an application for employment I'd have no problem writing down my previous employers addresses. Yet, I'd have to pull my phone out and grab the address of my current employer. Turn left at the light, then a quick right and over the train tracks won't fit on the address line.

I need to hear another song from Haircut 100. How about 'Love Plus One'…why do I remember that? Now, where are my keys? Grrrr…ever have those moments?

Steve Knox was born, raised and landed back in Janesville. He encourages you to participate as he writes on Janesville and beyond as this Generation X guy supports his Janesville mission, global vision. Steve is a community blogger and is not a part of The Gazette staff. His opinion is not necessarily that of the The Gazette staff or management.