Post begun 1007hrs Weds 26 Feb 2025

 

I've always known the old saying 'Use it or lose it' was completely true. So true, sigh.

 

Right, so thanks to that childhood bout with Rheumatic Fever (and all the little 'bonus parting gifts' it left me with like a damaged aortic heart valve and Essential Tremor and Rheumatoid Arthritis and...) I missed the important school years during which my age group learned the multiplication tables and long division (and fractions and decimals and...). 

 

I scrapped by but never really learned those all important maths skills. I say 'all important' because without the times tables and the steps to long division under the belt, progressing to things like algebra is impossible. I did manage to scrap by but barely and my lack of maths skills held me back in several ways. The sad truth is the only reason I passed Stats (on the 3rd try) was because I make a damn good cup of coffee and the 3rd time the professor (then called Cal State Long Beach, yes, I am a Miner 49er) saw my face he said he'd pass me if I kept his coffee Thermos full and his appointments straight. I did, he did, and I scrapped by, again.

 

I confess all that to explain why, aged 68 as the New Year of 2025 loomed, I made the mother of all NY Resolutions - yes, dear readers, I resolved to FINALLY learn multiplication and long division. 

The nearest actual bookstore is a two hour bus ride south so I bought several books online aimed at adults claiming to be absolute beginner self-guided teaching manuals. HA! Books arrived, opened to intro pages and discovered...

 

THE PREREQUISITE TO USING THOSE BLOODY DAMN BOOKS WAS...

 

Full understanding of multiplication and long division. Oh, and fractions and decimals as well. 

 

So I bought 'workbooks' for children, again having to shop online so a few of those books arrived and were yer basic 'Oh bloody hell, what a waste'. A double digit number of those books aimed at ages 6-11 years old, however, have been proving 'just the ticket'. 

 

Except. Except if I skip one day working on the current book, I forget nearly everything I've learned so far. Use it or lose it. So now I'm worried once I finish all the books (the ones for children and the ones for adults) I will forget all the hard won maths skills. sigh

 

Worse, I've discovered even with 1-2 hours a day work, I still can't make the 8-times tables stick in my head, also the 12s. Even using it (to avoid losing it) I STILL can't make my mind confidently remember 8x9 equals 72 (and yes I did have to pull out the multiplication square to see the answer).

 

Which leads me to worrying my inability to retain certain core facts is an early indicator of one of the forms of dementia. 

 

So I consulted (I now avoid the NHS so paid privately) a doctor known for his gerontology expertise. He laughed, in a kind way, but he laughed and I felt quite small and stupid and wondered why I was spending triple digits to consult this man. 

 

And then. He said he has trouble with the 9-times table and has since aged 8. He also complimented my decision to try to learn these maths skills, said the work would help keep my brain challenged which would stave off 'normal for age' cognitive decline and since my scans and other tests completely ruled out vascular dementia, I could safely stop worrying including worrying about the 8 and 12-times tables. And he said once I worked through the maths skills books I would need to find another brain challenge - for the rest of my life - if I really wanted to fight off cognitive decline. 

 

I dunno, maybe another go at learning Italian?