On age, fatherhood and writing computer code

I'm a little slow on blogging this morning, here on Fatherhood Friday and that's because I've been busy getting my health advice from Wilford Brimley. Yeah I'm getting up there in years. Apparently its time to start thinking about having my medical products delivered to my door. And Betty White says I should do the same thing for my pets. These are my mentors as I creep up on 40 later this year. Big Dubya and Mrs B will probably be around advising us all for years to come. Cause apparently they are reanimated just to perform these commercials.

Well at least they aren't concerned about mine and my wife's intimate moments. That's delegated to other folks, late at night on the Sci-Fi channel; but I digress.

See, I remember for a brief time I was cool, smart, good looking, and had some sort of memory. I nearly left geekdom for a time actually. I mean I was borderline normal. Perish the thought right?

As I get older, from a fatherhood/provider standpoint, I do wonder if I'll retain the mental agility that programming a computer requires. That's what I do for a job, for those of you who don't already know it. Programming really is a young person's "sport" too.

Repeatedly, over the past few years I've interviewed new employees, new programmers, for companies at which I've worked. All of those programmers (nearly all) have been younger, smarter, faster than I. I keep waiting for one of them to kick my walker out from under me and take my man-purse.

They say as you reach the age of 40, heck even after 37, that your mental facilities decline. That would explain why I feel a near constant need to have a progress bar installed in my forehead .. so people can tell there is still something happening when they ask me a question. They need to be reassured that I'm only thinking.

Not that I need to be resuscitated.

So yep sometimes it takes me awhile to remember my programming syntax when writing code too. But I do write good code, it just takes twice as long as it did 10 years ago ... back then I flitted about from idea to idea, spending only enough time to fully assimilate the knowledge, categorizing it all for later, or just turning into reality as I thought it. Working and the thought it required was just a side-issue as I primarily concerned myself with what would be happening ont the upcoming weekend.

Now though, I doddle from one muddled thought to another, brushing the fog away so I can see the good ideas hidden behind the swirls of everything else happening in the vast (not empty .. ahem) expanses of my mind. And work-thought takes nearly 100% of Rob-processor chip.

Well all this writing has me wiped out already. I'm gonna hop on my Rascal, scoot on down to the cafeteria and see what kind of pudding is for lunch today. I hope good ol' Wilford is on the TV - I can never remember that darn phone number he gives out.