I was impressed when I walked back into the real estate office a full six months after my earlier visit. I had been there only once, for a period of about half an hour. I spoke to the manager about the purchase of land in the area. He ran through some options, we discussed these for a while, he gave me some papers to take with me and I was on my way.

So when I returned, my expectation was that I would introduce myself again and discuss a particular piece of land I was interested in. I spoke to a friendly young lady at the reception desk who placed a call to a back office saying only "Dave, there is a gentleman here to discuss some land."

Out strode Dave with his hand extended. "Hello Stu, how are you today?" He must have seen the pleasure on my face at being remembered and added "Have you chosen one of those sections we were looking at?"

I couldn't help but remark on his exceptional memory and he was frank in his comment that it was an asset in his business and that it was a fairly recent achievement. This interested me, that there might be some way of training my memory to have such recall. I must admit, I had looked at his name on a printout he had given me before I entered the office. I get embarrassed when I cannot remember a name, so I try to prepare myself. I do it as a courtesy, rather than to impress.

We went over some details about the land I was interested in after the usual exchange of pleasantries, but all the while I wanted to steer the conversation to his startling memory ability. The thought did occur to me that it might not be wise to ask. What if he was just being tactful and really remembered me because I was a freak, or had I said something wrong on my last visit?

I decided to put my spurious train of though aside for a bit and just ask him outright how he does it.

He replied with a single word. "Association." I asked what he meant, but I was already on to what he was saying. I had heard of using the association of ideas to help remember things, but I had never taken it all that seriously. Not that I didn't believe in it, but I guess I am just mentally lazy and hadn't considered actually working with it.

We started to discuss this a little further and he revealed that a former client of his had told him where he could find training to enhance memory. This person had astonished Dave by being able to recall a very large list of sales figures he had acquired, about house sales in Dave's patch. Apparently he could not only recite from memory the details of sales over the previous year, he offered to recite it backwards. Dave had to be looking at his computer monitor the be able to verify the accuracy of the information. Dave told me the man could recite it faster than he was able to read it from the screen.

I was very interested and leaned forward to see what Dave had brought up on his screen. "That's the place there," he said as he smiled almost condescendingly at me, "Shall I write it down for you?" Of course I had to ask him to do so as there was no way I would remember it.

I pocketed the piece of paper and we talked some more about his discovery. He was only two months into the program and I though it odd that he could have logged in his mind an association of me from about four months before he started learning his techniques. When I asked about this he said all he had to do was go back over his notes and he could employ his methods that way.

It turned out that Dave was a raw beginner and was currently learning the techniques that enabled him to recall long lists of figures. He had used his association technique first because it was that which made such an impression on his clients. Well, I told him it works.

I had not considered my memory to be lacking until that day. I had always got along making the usual mistakes associated with lapses in memory and of course I found it difficult to remember the names of new people I met. My opinion changed that day and I have joined up with the photographic memory program that Dave had shown me.

It is startling what I can remember. I should say, more correctly, that it is startling to my family, friends and colleagues. I am not amazed by it because it is becoming natural to me and since I know how it is done, it makes perfect sense. I am only a few months into this and there is still huge potential for more. I am no longer interested in simply impressing people with my photographic recall. To me it is a personal discovery of just how immensely capable our brain is in its ability to store and recall data.

Its better than any computer and I walk around with it all the time.