A while back, I bought a ball point pen that fits in a short metal cylinder with a metal loop for my key ring. But the other day, the pen fell out of the cylinder and I couldn't make it stay in any more.
That was just my latest attempt to have something to write with and something to write on with me at all times. A friend told me that her short-term memory was disappearing. A book recommendation or the name of a good pro-biotic should be written down to be read later and a purchase made.
Long ago, the basics of education were thought to be reading (decoding), writing (composing) and calculation (arithmetic). Those skills still count even though we have modified versions using computers or other smart electronics. The first major step beyond elementary skills of reading, writing and arithmetic in my life was the acquisition of the computer program Appleworks. I did take typing in 8th grade but I was rather poor at typing a page or two of text without any errors. I hosted a lab room of calculators, machines to do arithmetic, when I was in grad school but I didn't have a small pocket calculator of my own until 5 or 10 years later.
There are many approaches to making a note quickly but securely, a note that lasts as long as it is needed and can be decoded accurately later and disposed of neatly. Even my flip phone, un-smart as it is, can record a short message ("remember to buy milk") and that utterance can be played back and it can be erased. Just hope to remember to play it back.
So far, I can make a note in writing or by voice and pay attention to it later. So far, I haven't made any note that I can't decipher but I have come close. I bought inexpensive small pens a while back, and after my key ring pen failed, I took one of the small pens and make it fractionally smaller. I broke off the tiny ring that connected an old-fashioned cheap chain. The little pen and a folded sheet of 8x11 piece of scrap paper work well so far.
