Knowing my route home ain't as easy as it once was

[McCabe-Thiele (Ted)]

We have lived in our house since 1984 so you would think I know my local routes when returning home.
Trouble is what was once a relatively small suberb of Derby has grown so much with all the extra housing and development of spare strips of land - I reckon the housing stock has roughly quadroupled or more in the last 39 years.

Some through roads are now dead ends, some dead ends are now through roads, some road junctions have changed priority not to mention lanes to roundabouts having markings altered every  few decades.

I have taken a turn too soon and ended up in a cul-de-sac or missed my turn completely in the dark.
Old lamdmarks have changed as saplings have turned into huge trees plus they have errected mobile phones masts, landmark pubs have gone, once barren roundabouts are now small woods.

Even worse when I take a rare trip into the City Centre - my mental map was drawn up when I passed my test back in 1965- since then I moved away for a few years. One-Way systems have come and gone there are roads where if you stop to let out a passenger (e.g.Railway Station) you end up with a Fixed Penalty Ticket even at night when the roads are empty.  Little wonder I ocasionally find myself on the wrong slip road heading in the wrong direction to find a small business that has become marooned by the developments in the City Centre. I know exactly where Clarke Street is. I could not give anyone directions but in a series of wrong routes I manage to eventually find it.

No wonder I ask myself if all my lifts still go upstairs.

[taysidedragon]

Don't worry about it Ted. You're not alone.
I grew up in Cardiff and left there over 40 years ago.  Every time I go back to visit there's a new road or one way system.  I don't recognise the area where I used to work anymore, the bike dealears are mostly gone, just Bevans left, and they've moved from the city centre out to a big place out of town.

We're just senile old gits, I suppose! 😫

[McCabe-Thiele (Ted)]

Not so much of the gits.
The rest I can't argue against.👍👍👍

[Seabeowner]

We often used to give directions with names of pubs.  Means nothing to younger ones, but still do with old mates except now they are a block of flats.

[Spitfire]

I got a job overseas, should have been for 3 years but I was away for ten, when we got back I could not navigate my way round locally or further afield, my mind just went blank. I could not even remember how to get to Oulton Park which I had been going to since I was 17.
Things had changed but mostly it was my memory that had changed.

Cheers

Dennis

[Bryanj]

I drive for a living and still use a fred fred

[Johnny4428]

I drive for a living and still use a fred fred

Fred Fred??😳

[Bryanj]

Tom tom

[Johnny4428]

Tom tom

🤣🤣 too tired to think tonight! That’s my excuse!

[Bryanj]

25 years of nights means i only think in the dark!

[Johnny4428]

25 years of nights means i only think in the dark!

You and Ken! I’m definately a day light person. I can happily work away all day but comes evening I’m done.

[Oddjob]

Yeah, spot on Johnny, after so many years working either late afternoons or nights my body clock is royally screwed. As soon as I stop work for a holiday or being off sick I would start to go to bed later and later, in the end I didn't go to sleep until 3-5am in the morning, now I'm retired I'm going to bed around 3am but then I read until 7-8am before I can go to sleep. It's a god awful state of affairs, I miss half the day sleeping. I can break the cycle but I have to stay awake for around 36 hours to do it and eventually I just revert back again.

On holiday I had to be at the airport for the flight back at 5am, I didn't sleep for 42 hours beforehand, when I got home I slept for 16 hours straight.

[Johnny4428]

I suppose if you muck around with the body clock for such a prolonged period of time it’s going to get confused about where it’s “norm” is. I think the important thing is getting sufficient rest for the body to reset and repair regardless of what time of day or night you get it.

[McCabe-Thiele (Ted)]

I moved from the old three shift system that I worked for 20 odd years to a so called body clock friendly circadian shift system. 4 on 4 off, 12 hour shifts, two 7.00 am to 7.00 pm day shifts followed by two 7.00pm -7.00am night shift then 4 days off, repeat. Sounds great except your first day off you are asleep, second day off a walking zombie, third day off half retuning to normal but you can't sleep. Fourth day off you feeling good enough to face another 4 days work.

[SteveD CB500K0]

Was that in the police Ted?

They still run the “calls” like that.


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