Where Should I Put This?

My brain sometimes does this thing... I have to admit right now neurology was not my favorite subject in vet school, so I have no idea what part of the brain is responsible or what this "feature" is called.

The math side of me wants to call it a lack of the transitive property, but that's not quite accurate.

The programmer in me describes it as a singly-linked list.

And the part of me that has spent way too much time accidentally memorizing lyrics calls it "You can't get there from here." Now that I think about it, that's from an REM song, and the name of the band has something to do with the brain so it all works.

Let me describe the phenomenon I'm referring to by giving an example. A few years ago I decided to make banana bread, and while I was buying ingredients in the store I was trying to remember if I had a loaf pan. I finally decided that I didn't, so I bought one. I made the banana bread, then washed the pan. When it came time to put it away, I thought "Where should I put this?" And then my brain responded "Why not put it in the same place as the other loaf pan?" Because yes, I already owned a loaf pan. And I knew this. Sort of.

Today I made chocolate almond cookies again. The last time I made them I searched all over for powdered sugar, and finally decided that I didn't have any so I just used regular granulated sugar for the meringue topping. (It turned out just fine -- it had little sparkles in it!) But today when I was grabbing something from the top of the refrigerator I realized there was an unopened box of powdered sugar. So I opened the box and used it. And then it came time to put it away and I thought "I should put it in the right lower side of the fridge next to the other box of powdered sugar."

It turns out sometimes I know things. I just have to ask the right questions...