Calendar

I cannot say that I am a super busy person, but I seldom remember the minute details of my commitments. I know for instance that I have a dental appointment looming on the horizon, but I could not tell you when or at what time.

Similarly, I don’t remember birthdays, anniversaries, and other social functions and this does not sit well with my wife. She recalls (she says) every single episode of her life with frightening clarity. She recollects what she ate 3 years ago in a Parisian restaurant, and she remembers the waiter’s name.
I might remember the waitress (if she was comely), but that’s all.

In order to minimize marital strife, I have taken to use an electronic calendar. The application is present on my cell phone, my iPad and on my computer and it is a life saver.

The calendar has an elephant’s memory and will remind me in a timely fashion where I should go and whom I should see.

I have a memory like an elephant. In fact, elephants often consult me. Noël Coward

 This weakness of mine might have something to do with age but I don’t think so. I basically subscribe to Einstein’s theory who rightly said: Never memorize what you can look up in books.”

 The beauty of an electronic calendar though is that you can summon it at any time without being mocked for it. Like a good butler, it is polite, deferential and precise. And I can also choose the accent of the speaking voice: American, British, Irish, Australian…
Probably due to an overdose of Downtown Abbey, I am personally partial to a woman’s upper-class British accent.

The only flaw with this application is that all these voices are too commanding for my sensitive nature. I would prefer a softer, mellower voice to keep me in the straight and narrow.
After all, one is more responsive to a pleasant voice than to barking commands.

I also favor such a calendar because I am a stickler for commitments. If I commit to some event, my word is my bond. I will be on time and I expect others to show the same courtesy.

The French and the Italians have a widely different notion of time. A rendez-vous to them indicates that they will show up… give or take an hour. I am not sure that any of them carry a watch… This is probably one of the reasons that prompted me to move to America.

When I was younger, I could remember anything, whether it had happened or not. Mark Twain

Today being a little older (and hopefully wiser) I use a talking calendar to remind me of pétanque events, and to take my meds on time.

Alain

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