''What's 'is Name'' and ''Thinga-Me-Jig'

This happy duo has featured before in...er...my wife's journal, I think...or was it mine? Recently, I've been fearful of forgetting things...like my bank card PIN number; yes, the one I've used nearly every day for over 35 years! I haven't forgetten it yet, but it happened to one of my subscribers not so long ago, and also to our man of confidence in Spain just last week, and he's only three years older than me.

And, today, I sat at someone's desk in São Paulo to leave them a note saying, 'Sorry I missed you', and as the person who lent me the pen to write the note looked on, I couldn't for the life of me remember my former colleague's name. I had to pause and close my eyes, and just when it was getting embarrassing and I was about to ask what her name was, it came to me; 'Zelia'. Thank...er...you know who! Of course, Zelia's not a common name for English speakers but I had worked with her for over a year, just last year, and have kept in touch every two months by email since. But don't worry, Cc...really, I'm ok, and eating and sleeping well.

I make light of it but it's no laughing matter, whether it be a momentary lapse like these, or the onset and progression of something more sinister...PeterMay has written extraordinarily well and touchingly about it, in my very humble opinion, from inside the head and perspective of someone slipping away from full recognition and recall in his novel The Lewis Man (I doubt I can make him blush, but apologies if I do!). Let's hope that whatever genetic analysis our scientists are engaged upon in this area reveals a way to plug the hole through which a life can sometimes drain away. And maybe it's a moment to acknowledge the painstaking work our scientists do, including that done previously by the very subscriber I referred to above.

In other news, I arrived in São Paul last night, my work mission having miraculously resurrected itself, and have been hard at it today trying to justify that very resurrection! Talk about pressure! But it's been a good day, including my stop here for supper in Arpegio, our local haunt around the São Paulo block, being served by...well...''What's 'is Name'' and ''Thinga-Me-Jig''!