Matthew Jarvis wrote:
> I don't know - maybe it's the crazy nature of my work, or maybe just
> this environment, or whatever....
>
> I'm just feeling like I'm getting dumber all the time... in addition to
> that my stamina for sitting here working with computers for more than 9
> hours is gone (that might actually be a good thing)...
OK, back from my ride.... the house is full of whiny nieces and nephews
("I'm bored!!!!!!!!") but I'm still full of endropneumenomorphinites...
I found about 7 or 8 years ago that I didn't feel as mentally acute.
Hanging around with a group of 20 year olds at the time just intensified
those feelings. I just wasn't as quick about 'getting it' when faced
with a new algorithm or something that was going to take some serious
high IQ noodling.
Ask me now if the +1 goes at the beginning or the end of the do while
loop and I'll spend an hour trying to analyze it. And then I'll just put
it one place, and the other, and determine the answer empirically. :)
> I eat reasonably well, exercise vigrously for usually an hour or more
> 5-6 days a week (cycling)... Cut back on the beer.... sleep is sometimes
> an issue a couple times a week but I'm normally getting 7 or more hours...
I find that I can't pull the extremes any more. I used to able to stay
up till 3 or 4 and then recover a few days later by sleeping 10 or 12
hours. Not any more.
And physical recovery is awful. Achilles overuse last year has had me
off the roads for six months now, with no end (i.e. recovery) in sight.
I may be off for another six months, or this may be the last injury for
me....
> I'm 45.... Is this what it's like to get old?
45? Wow. I woulda guessed 55, or higher! You look mah-ve-lous!
OK, seriously, again..... like that other old fart said, 'yes, older'.
The big problem is that our memories don't age like the rest of us. I
still remember being able to run with the big dogs. Now I can't even
spell 'big dogs'. But I still see guys running and think, "Faster than
him..." and then, "Used to be faster than him."
So.... my personal strategy is multi-fold. First, realize that one
advantage is that you 'know how to do things'. When the ticket agent on
the phone tries to blow you off, you know how to deal with the schmuck,
instead of getting all flustered like you did when you were 27. That's
wisdom.... (iow, experience....)
Second, wisdom helps you figure out how to 'pick your battles'. That's
French for knowing when to fold 'em. But also knowing how to set your
expectations. Doug Hennig relayed a great story a few years ago.
(Actually, nearly ten years ago.) His nephew was back from college, and
was setting up a four on four 'touch' football game, and called him up
to fill out one team. Doug, at 40, agreed in a flash, and spent the
afternoon playing his heart out with 7 other guys half his age, and he
more than held his own, scoring, passing, knocking the pants off the
other guy if he wasn't paying attention.... the guys were all pretty
impressed that this old guy was able to keep up with them.
The next day, just after lunch, the nephew calls Doug again. "Hey, we're
going to play full court four on four hoops for a couple of hours. Want
to come?" Doug is lying on the couch, legs, arms and back covered in
ice, moaning, "I can't feel any part of my body below my neck....."
OK, maybe that doesn't have much to do with setting expectations, but
it's a fun story that we can all relate to.
Third, knowing that you're just not as sharp and quick as you used to
be, you don't have to accept it. Fight it. I find trying to learn new
stuff to be good practice, seems to retard the spoiling of the grey
matter. Right now I'm trying to learn Mandarin. And while I still read
plenty of trashy spy novels, I also try to pick up a non-fiction book
every couple of months... There are some wonderful technically-oriented
books out there. Most anything by John Allen Paulos or Simon Singh, for
example. And even some fiction, like Stephenson and Gibson and Sterling.
Fun to read, but you have to pay attention, and the more you pay
attention, the more you catch just how clever they are.
Fourth, I find myself resorting to mnemonics more and more so I don't
forget things. I've always been anal about commenting my code; I've
gotten better at doing a specific job about it, so I can remember what
the hell I was thinking when I wrote that crap three months (days?) ago.
But other things, too, like I'm making lunches for the kids. I run out
of bread and will have to go get more from the freezer in the basement.
But I don't want to go down right now cuz I've got a sandwich half made.
But if I throw the wrapper away right now, sure as shootin' I'll forget.
So I leave the empty bread wrapper tied around the faucet, and when I go
to use the sink in twenty minutes, I'll remember that I need to get the
bread.
Fifth, I've come to depend on the 'aha' moment, and it's really quite
nice, because I don't freak out about it anymore. (I think my folks
would have said 'fretted unnecessarily' - ain't it great growing up in
the late 60s and early 70s?)
Finally, another story, this time from The Cowboys, a western where John
Wayne, Roscoe Lee Brown, and a bunch of 8 to 12 year boys have been
tasked to drive cattle when the original hands abandon them. At one
point, the crew runs into a brothel. The ladies petition Brown for a
stop, and he explains, "Well, I have the inclination, the maturity, and
the wherewithal... but unfortunately, I don't have the time."
Whil
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