I can't speak to your specific situation @coinjoe, but I do relate to the loss of short term "retention" while having crystal clear recall of things from way-back-when.

In my case, most is attributable to a combination of ADHD (inattentive) and Cognitive Disengagement Syndrome (CDS)... and I would not be able to function without post-it notes and lists everywhere. Some days are almost complete write-offs.

Well done for recognizing and accepting that we have to work with what we have and not what we wish we had. Beating yourself up for perceived shortcomings is a useless exercise...