Is This a Sign of Old Age?

Last night I drove to a small "international" airport north of Orlando to pickup Kathi. She was flying back from helping her parents in South Dakota. The trip broke my usual weeknight routine in several ways.

• Worked much later than normal
• Had trouble getting back into the office after some meetings due to security
• Had to drive to Orlando
• Ate a really terrible McDonald's Angus burger, ick!
• Had to follow the Garmen GPS all the way, because I had no idea where the airport was, and it was dark, so I really didn't know were I was going except for the compass on the rear view mirror
• Had to pay a lot of tolls because the GPS routed me over every toll road it could find. mmm...
• Finally found Kathi, looking lovely as usual
• Went back by following the signs to I-4 rather than the toll roads, a little farther but a whole lot cheaper
• Kathi tried to update me about her whole trip, I may have remembered some of it
• We got home at almost 1:00 a.m.
• I unloaded Kathi's bags out of the car
• Went to bed
• Got up at 5:45 a.m.

Okay, except for the going to bed, everything else was pretty much not a normal weeknight activity. So why is all this significant? Well I'm glad you asked. When I got into the garage to go to work this moring, the car wouldn't start. After what seems like hours of investigation, I found I had left the tail gate open and the lights stayed on all night (about 6 hours) and drained the battery. Now I couldn't get to work, had to call and reschedule a meeting, etc. Fortunately, AAA was there in about 15 minutes, so I was only late for work by about 10 min. Usually I try to get there 30 minutes early just in case.

So here's the question? Does forgetfulness come from old age, fatigue or is that just who I am? You decide.

Steve