Au Cochonnet Marin

I first started driving a car when John Ford launched his Model T… or so it seems.

My initiation to this mode of transportation took place in France just after I reached the very mature age of 18. After a few weeks of arduous training in “une auto-école”, I was granted the right to pilot one of these machines and let loose in Paris.

Driving in France then seemed like a poker game. The best bluffer won and it took nerves of steel to meet the challenge. Going through Place Charles de Gaulle (where 12 avenues converge) for instance was once one of the greatest challenges any young driver could face.

I learned to drive in a Renault Dauphine, a cute little car with a very simple setup. A speedometer and a “compteur kilométrique”. That was about all showing on the dashboard. The car was, of course, a stick shift model, and this was the most difficult part to master. But it was a rite of passage that almost every young Frenchman was eager to pass (very few women drove then) and I did it.

Since then, I have been driving many different cars, some with stick shifts and some automatic models and I never had second thoughts about it. When you drive, you usually do it in a semi-automatic mode, with very little to worry about.

My last car was a Toyota Camry and I loved it. A solid workhorse that never balked at any task. I kept it for close to 10 years and I was always very happy with it.

Then came the pandemic and this blasted immoral, inhuman, monstrous war in Ukraine, and suddenly the price of gas took off and affected everybody’s wallet.

What is the average fellow to do? Keep a tight upper lip and pay through the nose… or do something to mitigate the damages. Many people switched to electric cars or hybrids, and I finally did it too.

After all these years, I thought I could handle any car, but new models are a very different breed. When you have been driving a 10-year-old car and switch to a new one, you just cannot sit behind the wheel of a new model and hit the road.

Before venturing into the blue yonder, you better take the time to study the manual. A very fat one for that. New cars are so feature-rich that it leaves you scratching your head. Buttons are everywhere and you need to know what to do before taking off.

You just cannot learn while driving, it would be foolhardy and dangerous. So I downloaded the owner’s manual on my computer and tried to master it that way, but it is very difficult. You need to actually sit in the car and experiment to get positive results.

This long preamble is to let you know that I am doing my bit for the environment, and for my wallet. But if you happen to see me in my new wheels, don’t come too close because I am still flying by the seat of my pants. I could inadvertently launch some anti-tank rocket without realizing it.

Thank you for your understanding.

Alain

In a recent conversation, the term “dementia” came about and while I had a rough idea of what it meant, I did not know exactly how to define it. So, I looked it up on the internet and this is what I found.

“Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease aren’t the same. Dementia is a general term used to describe symptoms that impact memory, performance of daily activities, and communication abilities. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common type of dementia. Alzheimer’s disease gets worse with time and affects memory, language, and thought.” Healthline

“None of us wants to be reminded that dementia is random, relentless, and frighteningly common.” – Laurie Graham

Both conditions are indeed frightening, especially when you have known the affected person for a long time. It is when you see people at irregular intervals, that you most notice the changes. Everybody ages, this is the immutable law of nature, but age affects everybody differently. Generally, what is most apparent is the physical decline. Wrinkles and various physical ailments.

What is less obvious, is somebody’s mental decline. Yes, occasionally everybody forgets one thing or the other, but it is generally a temporary lapse. It is when a person becomes incapable of learning and memorizing a simple routine, that it becomes truly frightening.

This is most noticeable when you are in contact with both, older folks, and young children. The youngsters learn extremely fast and have an ironclad memory. Don’t ever make a promise to a young child if you don’t intend to keep it. They will remind you of it until you cry, uncle. The contrast between these two groups is difficult to believe.

A person affected with dementia becomes incapable of remembering the simplest routines, like making a phone call on a smartphone, or even more important remembering a password. Memory loss is what you will notice most readily, and if you are not aware that the person has some dementia, you might crack a joke or make a remark about it.

But you should not. Dementia can strike randomly, and you never know who will be affected. And it is especially painful when it hits a relative or somebody close. Lately, I have heard that an old girlfriend of mine is now going through this dreadful disorder.

When I think about how lively she was when we were together, and how she is now, it breaks my heart. Don’t ever joke about dementia; it is a horrible fate.

Alain