Older? Sleep more.

Tossing and turning a lot at night don’t mean you've had enough of sleep and don’t require more. This is true especially if you’re about a decade or two late of being a member of the baby boomer generation.

Senior adults need a greater quantity of snooze, this is what researchers in the University of California are saying. Rather than deep ones, older folks need longer hours of slumber that can help improve mental health and other cognitive processing activities. The absolute minutes of sleep that they get has considerable impact on how they perform during their waking moments.

In contrast, young adults can do a lot better if they have quality or deeper zzzs, which can result to better memory and brain functions.

***

“My brain’s totally dried up,” Tio Jee smiled as he extended the makeshift trundle of his favorite rattan daybed. “If what you say is true, then I think I should lie down for a while. Maybe I’ll remember some of the adventures we’ve had when we were younger.”

“We were never young,” Brother Juan laughed. “And what adventures are you talking about?”

“I was, once. But you, and the rest of you,” Tio Jee motioned with his hands, “were born old.”

“Partly true.  We were Gilgamesh, rushing to build the great Uruk walls at the age of 30 because...”

“Because life's too short?" Tio Jee frowned.

Juan smiled, sat down in a corner and grabbed a dusty Damman guitar.

“Young acting like old, now old still acting old---” said Tio Jee. “Naknampopok! You were just like those doddering fools you read in books.”

“Most beautiful mistake.”Juan adjusted some strings. “I don’t regret doing it  a bit even now that I see oldness as a natural function of age rather than a notion of being.  

“So much in a hurry to grow old and make a literary compression of life, so much in a hurry...”

Juan played a few lines of Recuerdos de la Alhambra. He stopped suddenly, remembering something, and said, “If there’s one thing that wasn’t compromised with all those years of acting old was our viri-- Tio Jee, Tio…?”

The old man was sleeping like baby.

Root memory

How can we improve memory and help us remember the many passwords we use in several social networking platforms, emails and other online accounts? This was asked by a reader who was so spooked by the recent spate of hacking.

The friary brothers came up with a list of many mental health tips and exercises to boost brain prowess, some of which I plan to share in future posts. I intend to discuss first a mnemonic device that I hope would be enough to address the current need, which is to retain crucial information for logging in and out of your Web accounts.

The ideal online password, we’re told by experts, should combine at least 14 letters and numbers. This alphanumeric code must not be similar to the user ID or email address, or personal information such as names, birthdays, or driver’s license or passport numbers. It should not form a dictionary word of any language, or come in repeated characters or in any recognizable pattern.

The advice is very practical, and you should do it. However, it may only work perfectly when you have a single Internet account to maintain. The trouble begins when you have several Web accounts, have dates and appointments to attend to, mull over the boo-boo you just made today in the office meeting, and daydream on the speech you're gonna give when receiving the Nobel Prize for Economics.

That is what our brain does all day long. Some of us may process several things together and still remember birthdates and phone numbers in an instant. But what if your cerebral acumen is not what it was 10, 15 years ago? Just how can you keep in mind sundry items plus passwords without writing them down on sticky notes or on whatever wall you face each day?

***

Brother Amir, the friary’s chef supreme, called me to the kitchen today asking for help.  He has been cursing all morning and the brothers have been advised not to expect a delicious supper, not even dessert.

“Naknampok,” Amir cursed loudly and jabbed a knife on the chopping board. Slices of blue ginger flew here and there. “Damn it, I’ve had it!” 

“Whoa! Easy there,” I smiled wanly. “Need any help?”

“He can’t open his e-mails,” snickered Brother Juan. “He can’t remember his passwords.”

“All three!” Amir said despondently.

“Sheesh, you’ve got a serious a problem, brother.” 

Amir glared, squinting at Brother Je. “No Tom Yam tonight.”

Tio Jee laughed as he passed a pipe to Amir.

“There’s the problem,” I said. “Poor short term memory may be caused by pot, sleeplessness, hot flashes…”

Amir inhaled deeply. “Yadayada… can you retrieve-?”   

“I don’t know.” I turned to Brother Goy and said, “He’s good with that.”

Goy shrugged.

“Hah! No fried newlook too if you people can’t open them.” Amir grabbed a basket. “I’m off to market.”

Mumbles filled the room as the cook went out with his pipe still a-glowing.

***

The friary uses a simple method for creating password. The Purest Joy developed this mnemonic trick, which has worked for me so far. Some of the brothers and baby boomer visitors use this technique. I often have to remind them to regularly update the password though.

The method may work or not. Feel  free to try it. Tell us if it does or you can offer another method.  

***

“Is the root, LLAP!?”

“He’s no trekker, Tio Jee,” said Je. “And if he is, it should be TTAT.”

“He likes Fisher, he cooks, it’s gotta be WBKAF.” I sliced some coriander and tried to finish the soup. “C’mon, think hard. We have to figure out the root so he can remember the rest of it.”

“TIAB. He likes Disney cartoons” Juan placed diced cuttlefish on the pot of boiling chicken stock.

“No.” Goy scrolled and clicked on the laptop. “At least he got the same question for all accounts.”

“What question?”           

“You know, the private question you got to answer in case something just like this happen.”

“What question?!”

“Umm, sword of omens?”

We looked at each other and smiled. A loud “Ho!” echoed in the walls of the friary.

***

First off, think of a phrase that you really can’t forget and just use the initials of each word in it. For instance, “In the beginning was the Word” can be shortened to ITBWTW.

Next, add your birthday. Say, ITBWTW22977. The result will serve as your base password for all accounts.

Last, add the abbreviated name of the app or program at the end of the root password. For example, ITBWTW22977 now becomes ITBWTW22977FB for Facebook or ITBWTW22977GOGL for all Google accounts or ITBWTW22977TWIT for Twitter.

For good measure, you can lengthen by adding a time marker.  This will help remind you to update regularly . A brother uses months as extension, e.g. ITBWTW22977TWITJUL. I change mine every quarter, thus ITBWTW22977TWIT2Q.

You can put the birthdate before the phrase or place the month in the front. Mix them up but make sure you know the root.

After creating your password, don’t share it with others. Change immediately if you think someone has obtained it.

***

Nuckmann was unloading baskets of produce from the truck when he heard the shout. He looked at Brother Amir, “What the-!”

“That’s it, I know what the root is!” yelled Amir. He ran up the stairs while chanting “G-M-S-B-S” all the way to the kitchen.

Nuckmann, feeling helpless with many crates to unload, shouted after him, “Frakkin' institution! You forgot your keys, idiot!”