Lost in the Airport Parking Lot

I never liked parking in large lots, like at an airport. ‘Let’s see, we parked on level 4, section AA3-Blue-R. Got it’. I was always afraid of losing my car and dying of starvation in the parking lot. Luckily, that never happened, but I was always afraid it would…

Well, a few months ago, I found myself in the airport lot again. Economy parking, Blue Section C6, 3 rows from the sign, and 5 spots in. The funny thing was that I looked up at that sign, and almost without thinking of it, I memorized exactly where I was. I saw a blueberry on the sign, with a cigarette poking through it and an axe buried in the post. That was enough for me, and I confidently got on the shuttle. When I got back late the next day, I wasn’t worried at all. I didn’t have to write down where I parked on a scrap of paper and hope I still had it… So I got back on the shuttle, went to Blue section C6, moved down 3 rows and 5 spots.

It’s a little thing… but I love not having to worry about the little things 🙂

I’ve posted this experience, and many others in the past over at the School of Phenomenal Memory Forum.

Were you paying attention?

I was at a local dance this last weekend, and I met an interesting girl. We ended up going to watch a movie with some other friends of mine. It turned out well, and after the movie, we walked around town for a while, just talking. I didn’t hardly even notice myself doing it, but as I listened to her, I was encoding things I was learning about her into visual images and memorizing them. Just simple things, like how she loves daisies, used to play soccer(left wing half-back, and a little goalie), is starting to learn the guitar, and that she loves Italy and wants to travel there. She gave me her phone number when I took her home, and I memorized that as well, but I’m not going to post it for you 😛

It’s just nice. A year ago, I would have a hard enough time remembering a girl’s name, had I just met her, let alone the entire conversation we had and her phone number. It helps me to feel more sincerely interested in someone when everything they say doesn’t just pass through one ear and out the other. It’s great that I can memorize entire books if I so desire, but even more important to me is the improvement in quality of life by not having to stress over the simple things.