Random 5 for March 3, 2024 – Jeopardy, cognitive ability, anxiety, errors, taxes

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Useless trivia – I was commenting this week that the beloved husband still gets his two questions right on Jeopardy every day and that’s how I track his cognitive abilities. (Lord knows how he tracks mine?) I’m better at Jeopardy than he is but it’s because I keep tons of useless knowledge in my head. The beloved husband is much more selective. If it’s not guitars, music, woodworking and a few other topics (did I mention guitars?), he won’t rent out his brain cell space for it. On the other hand, I am fascinated by utterly ridiculous stuff. Not the Ripley’s type, but a scattering over a lot of topics.

Speaking of cognitive issues – As I’m aging, I worry about that. Will I know when I’m getting dotty? Will someone tell me or just roll their eyes behind my back. I remember the day my mother got confused for the first time. It was a “major” confused. My heart dropped two feet in my body (yes, I know that’s impossible but it’s what it felt like!). That was my first recognition that she was aging, and rough waters were ahead. She was younger than I am now. My 93-year-old brother is cognitively sharp so I’m hopeful. He’s also stubborn and that runs in the genes too.

Good riddance! – The anxiety that has been stalking me all winter has finally receded. Sometimes I can tell what is causing it. Sometimes it’s cumulative stress. Sometimes it’s idiopathic (no known cause). I’m more likely to get it over the winter. This round the stressors were the heat pump (and no it hasn’t been fixed yet! We are going on three months of auxiliary heat), my cat Gus’ surgery and a few other things. The surgery is in the rearview window. Although he’s still healing, I feel a lot lighter. I often wonder to what degree the cold winter contributes. I’d love to spend a month in a warmer climate over the winter but with four cats, it’s not possible.

Speaking of Gus – About a week after the surgery, I was getting concerned because his butt was looking like tar was smeared on it. The vet asked for pictures. I took a bunch of cat butt pictures of the surgical area then I enlarged them. Very graphic. (It was normal healing. The black stuff was scabbing). I was sending a friend pictures of Gus in his cones when I accidentally attached the surgical site shots. Fortunately I was able to correct that before I grossed anyone out.

The grumps – Today is tax day for me. I’ll be compiling and inputting our information to file taxes. I hate doing this, but I also hate paying someone for something I can do. The cost to me is an extra Starbucks and a round of whining.

So how was your week?

 

 

54 thoughts on “Random 5 for March 3, 2024 – Jeopardy, cognitive ability, anxiety, errors, taxes”

  3. Well, I’m glad Gus is continuing to heal and that your anxiety is gone. Not everyone has dementia problems. Why Betty White was sharp as a whip!! And she was about to be 100, right? I hate taxes. My husband takes care of them, but I hate how we always owe! Ugh, good luck with those and yes, you will deserve extra Starbucks for doing them yourself.

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  4. My Dad – bless him – has been gone since 1992 but he was almost religious about watching Jeopardy until the end. He said he did it so he could keep track of when he was “losing it”. I mentioned to my doc a couple of weeks ago when I went for my 6-month checkup that I had a problem with finding the right word sometimes and it bothered me – he said he’d add a B-12 check to my regular blood work. Still waiting to hear about that but found it interesting. Anyway, my standard thing I tell myself when I can’t think of a word (which always magically pops into my head 10 minutes after I NEED it!) is “MY BRAIN IS FULL”. Yeah. That excuse works for me alright! Good luck with the tax prep stuff – my husband is in charge of that – I just avoid his home office during that period of time – it’s dangerous in there!!!

    Hugs, Pam

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    • I’ve always done taxes for myself and for my mom too. Her return was simple but mine never is. The e-programs are sort of wonderful but every year there are some sticky spots that take me a while to figure out and every year it’s different. Argh! B-12? Hmmm….interesting. Putting a note in my PC doc file to ask. I get energy issues and that may be a B-12 thing too.

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  5. I love the cartoon!

    I don’t watch Jeopardy? Why? Because I’m not good at it. Come to think of it, I’ve never been particularly good at remembering facts. I like history and I understand it, but I have a hard time remembering the details. The past few years, I have trouble finding words. I know it’s there, and I know what I want, but I can’t find it. I’m not complaining. Often the word pops out a few minutes later, and that’s fun.

    I’m really glad your anxiety receded. You had plenty of reasons for it, but there’s always that mysterious component.

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    • I remember useless details (I can give you the birthdates of my first boyfriends but struggle with my husband’s!). It seems finding words is an aging thing based on comments. Love Maxine. She is my alter ego.

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  6. I never get tired of Maxine cartoons. I wish I’d learned to do my own taxes years ago. I started working in 1973, so for the past 50 years, I’ve gone to the same place … the original CPA’s daughter owns the business now. My parents just had my taxes done the same time as theirs that first year (1974) and I kept on going there. My father was a tool-and-diemaker, so he had things he could take off like depreciation for tools and other odd things (like a Texas calculator which, at the time, was expensive as it was considered a high tech gadget), so they used a CPA. Glad Gus continues to heal up. I cancelled my cable in 2010, so I’ve not had TV since then. When my mom/I watched Jeopardy, we did not do so well; we both did better at Wheel of Fortune. I play Word games and Solitaire to keep my mind active. I gave up Word Wipe for Lent because I play that three times a day and enjoy it, so Word Wipe and Whole Grain Goldfish crackers were a big sacrifice for me. 🙂

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    • Wow! I can’t remember the last time I gave anything up for lent. Maybe grade school? I gave up potato chips for year a while back to bring down my cholesterol. Very painful. I love the crunch and the taste. Now my cholesterol is low without giving them up or using any meds. I have no idea why. There was a while I had a small design business and that really complicated my taxes. Learned a lot. It’s easy these days with the e-programs.

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      • My mom and I always gave up sweets for Lent, so after she was gone, I just kept up the tradition. I used to give up a food or treat and then give it up forever, but I don’t eat sweets that much anyway, so I quit doing that, although I’ve not had fast food or tried food in about a decade as I gave them up for Lent. I love Goldfish crackers and they are baked and whole grain, so they aren’t really bad for you. I eat very boring as I’m not much of a cook, so I make a lot of crock pot dinners. I have to learn to do my own taxes as I resent giving paying them for what takes about 20 minutes’ time. I drop them off and pick them up a week later. They have loyal customers who have retired and left the area and Fed Ex their tax materials every year for tax prep.

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        • Crockpot meals are good. I’ve been making sheet meals where you put veggies and protein (usually chicken) on a cookie sheet lined with foil) add spices and flavors and bake for 20 to 30 minutes. Easy peasy. I’m not big on fast food but I love a good fried chicken.

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  7. Just worrying about a beloved kitty undergoing surgery is plenty to have anxiety over. And then getting the bill for it all- if only we could write cats off on taxes. 🙂

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  13. I have a hard time finding a word I want to use. I think I spend too much time trying to find a great vocabulary word to plug into a sentence and then when I find it, if I find it, I have totally forgotten what I was talking about in the first place. Terrible time remembering things. I feel distracted… when I am talking about something my brain has already moved on to the next subject! I do a lot of proof reading because I don’t type the letters I think I’m typing.
    It’s good you have kicked the anxiety. I think excessive anxiety makes it impossible to think straight.
    It’s very good to hear that Gus is recuperating well and feeling good.

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    • My issue is getting the word out of my mouth right. Sometimes I can’t remember the exact word I want to use but more often I discombobulate it on the way out. Did you notice I had no trouble with discombobulate? I remember the weird and bizarre but not the regular.

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  14. Brain health is really a major concern, especially as we start to age. So glad your anxiety is receding, at least a little. It’s good that you know what’s happening, even if it doesn’t really help how you feel. I have anxiety issues as well. It ebbs and flows, depending on what’s going on (and sometimes no matter what). Yay for medication!

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  15. Trivia!!! Don’t ever play against me on Trivial Pursuit. Don’t ask me why this stuff stays in my brain while I struggle to remember what I had for lunch yesterday, but it does. Taxes – coming up for me soon. I used to use an accountant when I was a commercial landlord but now I just plunk down my $40-50 (forget how much it costs) and do it online. EZPZ (in my head I am saying E Zed, P Zed…the curse of being Canadian 😉), but I know you get it, Kate.

    Deb

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    • I did most of the entry today but what we are getting back is too much so I’ll have to review it carefully. It will cost over $100 to use an e-tax system but still much cheaper than an accountant. Now I’m trying to remember what I had for lunch yesterday.

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  16. So far my brain seems to be okay though sometimes a bit slow to get in gear. Hopefully, if friends notice something off they will talk to me about it…and that I will listen to what they have to say.
    Good to hear Gus is doing fine. The way I sometimes worry about my cats makes me think it’s a good thing I never had children.

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    • I am much better about people than animals. People, even children, you can explain what’s happening. Animals don’t understand. I’ve never had children to test that theory though.

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  18. Life deals some harsh hands at times; here’s hoping the lighter load will provide some comfort (and I hope the heat pump situation gets resolved soon!). Coincidently had my taxes done yesterday at an AARP site in a part of town I hadn’t been in for a few years. I was the only Anglo there yet everyone was kind and made me feel welcome. It broke my heart there has been such massive gentrification in that part of town with so many Victorians and Italianates torn down, replaced by houses that look like they were made of Legos and costing well over $1M. Traffic was abominable with every Gen Z and millennial out pushing a SUV sized stroller, walking a dog while they were reading their phone on the way to brunch at some hipster restaurant. It was painful to see after spending time with people who worked hard, played by the rules, loved their families and just wanted to live in peace and who possessed such genuine decency in their hearts, welcoming a stranger among them. Sure made me contemplate about inequities in life a lot all afternoon long. And the worst part wasn’t doing the taxes which I always loathe having to do (more like providing the info for someone to figure out for me). And for the 7th year in a row, my tax liability was higher. So much for the tax code revision helping out middle class. With each year since 2017 I’ve had to pay more. Growl. 😕

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    • The tax code revision ended my deductions work so that was good. I haven’t pulled it out yet so I’m not sure if I’ll be higher than last year. I still wish it was all simpler. Our state taxes are easy compared to federal. Flat rate.

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      • Don’t misunderstand, I don’t mind paying taxes-I like paved roads, funded hospitals, public nschools, firehouses, etc. What I do mind are the lies that were told how it would benefit the middle class be so simple and we would likely pay less because of the ‘simplification’ (elimination of most itemized deductions in favor of an increased flat rate deduction). Lower tax rates (if there were any, will continue to sunset through 2026, returning tax rates to pre TCJA levels for individuals, but not corporations who will continue to reap the benefits from the 2017 con job. Colorado has Tabor (Taxpayers Bill of Rights) which is another whole ball of sticky wax. Maybe this year, I can complete the tax preparation exam though I’m not sure what’s worse, knowing exactly how the system is rigged or only guessing about how it. Sigh.

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  20. For me it’s words–sometimes I can’t find the exact one I want anymore. But it’s not as bad as it was after Baby D was born and I was a sleep-deprived wreck recovering from an infection and emergency C-section. I trailed off in the middle of a sentence and my sister looked at me and said, “Oh my GOD.” I crossly told her, “Hey, everyone forgets what they were about to say sometimes.” She immediately responded with, “Not you!” Sadly, me will now sometimes say the wrong name of a person or animal!

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  21. Since there’s no way I can do our taxes, I picked up the completed return from the accountant yesterday. Glad to have that out of the way. And I worry about sharpness too as the years move along. I can tell I’m not as sharp as I used to be, but hope someone will let me know what things start to slide downhill too much.

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    • You have a business so it makes sense. We have some investments which complicates it a bit but overall, with the ability to download into a tax program, it’s fairly easy. I just hate doing it. Cognitive acuity? Yikes! That is a scary thing about aging. We don’t have kids nearby to gauge us. We keep ploughing along.

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