Speaking of ADHD. Sometimes, I’m like “I don’t need ADHD medication”…and then reality slaps me in the face. Didn’t take my meds before a road trip last night. I’ve gone this route many times, takes me about four hours usually. I stopped AT EVERY rest area and truck stop to mess with my cell phone. Each stop was 15-30 minutes each. Took me over eight hours to reach my destination. Got dammit!
My vehicle’s horn started randomly honking on its own.
And I mean randomly (unless it was Morse code, with which I am not familiar). It would blast its message, then pause for 3 or 12 or 26 minutes, then send another flurry of ear pollution.
My first remedy was to remove the horny fuses. My second was to trade it in for a new vehicle.
(It is 15 years old and we have been babying it for some time now, spending money unwisely on repairs. It was the honky horn, of all things, that nudged us over the edge)
mmm
Life is so peculiar. I’ve also had similar situations where the smallest irritation will be the catalyst for change.
Happy to hear you have a new car.
It’s actually handy to have a very obvious reminder like that. Next time you’re tempted to skip the meds, this’ll stop you.
Better that than the situation with other chronic health problems where skipping your meds, or eating the wrong stuff, or whatever for a day, just shortens you healthy lifespan by a month, but gives no obvious symptoms right now.
Today is my last chemo treatment. Due to my port being a stubborn bitch, I have to get it in my arm.
No, I don’t got dammit. I don’t even Got Milk?; need to get some this evening so I have it for brekkie tomorrow.
Gottverdammt!
Dayum. They (The Universe) gotta take one last bite at pissing you off.
Here’s hoping everything gets simpler from here.
Since we’re ranting about ADHD.
I’ve been putting off a non-deadline task for two months. Today I spent half the day trying to get myself to do it. Cajoling. Begging. Threatening.
Ultimately what got me through it was one step at a time to a ridiculous degree.
“You just have to boot your laptop.”
“You just have to open this file.”
“You just have to save the file as the current fiscal year.”
I did it.
It took twenty minutes.
I suffered for two months over twenty minutes of work.
Why am I like this?
I don’t know, but this was absolutely what I needed to read today. Thank you.
(Edit: to motivate myself out of a similar place, not to revel in someone else’s suffering, in case that wasn’t clear!)
Lots of us are like this. ADHD or no.
Undone tasks acquire a layer of “I’m worthless, disorganized, and ineffectual.” emotional barnacles. So we hesitate to touch that prickly surface and meanwhile it’s growing a fresh layer of the same barnacles atop the first layer.
Lather rinse repeat until a task the size of a pea is hidden in a ship-sized mass of aversive barnacles.
Then it takes superhuman effort and resolve to lift the mass, split it open, extract the pea, and do [whatever] to it.
As a sea-loving sort, I enjoy the barnacle metaphor. Inspired.
I have to call the stupid Time Away From Work people on Monday and tell them I need to extend my leave two weeks because the PA came up yesterday to personally tell me that my white blood cell count was very, very borderline and would 100% crash after my last chemo. It will take about 2 weeks to bounce back up and I need to take my temperature daily. (Note to self: do that once you post this.) I’m supposed to go back to work on Wednesday which I can tell you right now is not going to happen. The TAWF people are very stupid and slow and I hate having to deal with them. I guarantee you I’m going to have to call my oncologist and give her the good news that she’s going to have to send them another nastygram.
The reason why TAFW is stupid and slow is because I’ve been with my current employer for 7 years which means they have to pay me 80% of my pay for short-term disability leave. They do not care that I have cancer. I’m costing the company money. Not nearly as much as the Stupid Incompetent Bill is about to cost them (Angel Hosptal in Franklin is part of our system and is also one of the hospitals the bill shuts down) but I guess every little bit counts when the CEO wants to buy a yacht for his yacht.
Did you do it ? If not, do it now !!
My late wife nearly died several years sooner due to a post-chemo WBC crash & subsequent infection. The descent from seeming normalcy to very much screwed took about 36 hours. The recovery took a LOT longer. And was far from certain to be a success for most of that longer time.
Take this seriously.
My neighbors are having an all-day pool party. There are kids and adults… yay good for them. Their party guests include all of the ‘usual suspects’ ( neighborhood assholes ).
They’ve been playing a drum-kit solo on repeat for 5-6 hours now… and it’s loud. I’ll give them to 10 after 10 before complaining.
Also, their guests have parked w/i 2 inches of my driveway apron on each side and directly across the street. There is no way to get into or out of my driveway w/o hitting one of their cars. I’m pretty sure that’s intentional. I’m pretty sure that’s a ticket too.
I’m at the park with my kid and husband and the weather is great and I think we got a good spot for his first fireworks.
Everything is perfect except… Two bathrooms.
I waited a half hour to pee, my husband waited 45 minutes. Absolutely freaking ridiculous. Fortunately I’m not having any stomach issues tonight but I’m going to be plagued with anxiety about it anyway. You think small children can wait that long? Unreal.
Happy 4th.
Being short of bathroom space is a true hell.
Hey people. I know I’ve been complaining about my neighbors, I’m grumpy. The music is off, their fireworks are over. I looked out the window and some of them left (yay).
But.
There is now a 6-foot-high fire in the street in front of their house. Either they lit their grass clippings paper bags on fire… or they lit their recycling cans on fire.
Should I call the cops? Should I call the fire department?
…
Edit: Scratch that. One of them was smart enough to put it out with a bucket of water.
Probably could use more than one bucket, to be safe.