I recently moved and took my cat with me. We lived in a tiny cabin for five years and Gonzo had a door and would come in and out as he pleased. It was pretty much the perfect cat life, hunting small rodents in the woods and sleeping under trees, but also coming in when it snowed and always having food.
Anyway, when I moved into the new house I brought him with me. I’ve felt really guilty about this–frankly, more guilty than I should. I have this feeling that he misses his old life, and that living in this new house, where he doesn’t go outside because of a busy road, is miserable for him.
But. He’s a cat. And I remind myself of this–and that his life is still really good, albeit with less stimulus.
But I definitely understand the decision, @jmakin. And how hard that can be. … Cat’s are really amazing, imo. A dog is just too much responsibility. But I can’t imagine my life without G in it. He’s definitely my adventure buddy. We camped once, somewhere in PA, when I was splitting time between upstate NY and DC. I left a window cracked and went to register at a state park site.
The ranger asked if I had any pets and I said no. Not sure why, just instinct. Anyway, he pauses and looks at me and then says, “so what’s that?” And I turn just in time to see Gonzo worming his way out of the gap in the open window and run into the woods. Fun times. … “Uhhhh. I thought you just meant dogs since he never leaves the van. Usually, anyway.”
Pets are awesome for anxiety and mental health. For me, he is an excellent reminder that I’m a good and decent person. Some days I need that.
Yeah
Ordered seeds from Amsterdam. Blueberry OG Kush
Made a growroom, for 2 plants.
bought a used 600W light.
My plan is hydrophonics , just have to figure out what nutrients I need…
Yeah
I bought some small plants last December. My hot friend claimed they clean the air. Internally, I’m like uh, doesn’t seem right based on volumes of air, but who am I to contradict attractive people? Surprisingly, I haven’t killed them (plants, I mean) yet.
Also bought some Dahlia tubers. Of the 5 of I planted, only one sprouted. It’s doing ok. Maybe I’ll have some flowers for Miss Mixed Messages in a month or so. They’re her favorite.
After having extreme difficulty focusing on my new job, I finally sought out help for my attention problem. It’s always lurked with me since I was a kid, teachers always complained about me being disruptive or inattentive but since I had straight A’s I was never checked out.
So, after things have been slowly getting so bad I can barely concentrate long enough to type out a post like this (I seriously have already taken 2 breaks) I was referred to a doctor who performs legit adult ADHD tests. It’s called the IVA test and it measures several categories.
I can go into the results later when I get them but she was laughing on the phone she was so amused by it. She said I’m not just impaired, I’m one of the most severely impaired patients she’s had in a while. Not only do I have ADHD but there is a ADD diagnosis as well. I get a signed document that says this and I can take it to any doctor or school or employer and they have to accommodate me.
She said she couldn’t believe I finished college, and tbh I can’t either. But I am so so so relieved. She said my life is going to completely change on the medicine and I believe her.
I also have a bunch of hot female friends who love plants. It’s definitely a thing. My hottest ex is big into plants and still has one named after me even though she got back with her kids dad after I broke it off lol.
All through school I was focus personified in the classroom. Probably up until my late 20’s I was the same in the workplace. In my late 20’s I had some life circumstances that brought on some pretty severe anxiety and depression. They were issues beforehand, but these circumstances made them both debilitating. Ever since then, whether its because of what it took to find my way back out of that mess, or whether its the medication I now take to help manage them, or whether its a result of having severe sleep apnea which went untreated until about 5 years ago, I have never got close to that level of productivity and focus.
Sometimes I have an energy drink and get into a flow state and I almost want to cry with happiness because it feels so good to be able to do what I used to do all the time. I’m still trying to find a path to getting back to how I used to be.
This is all to say…I don’t have ADD or ADHD. As far as I understand it’s usually something you have all your life, like in your case. But I know the frustration of not being able to focus and I know how much I want to find an answer for how to fix it. So I am really super happy for you and what this is going to do for you. I hope you’ll share with us how the medication changes your day to day.
This may not go well with some here, but do you feel that maybe drastically cutting down on anything internet/tv related would help? Personally, for me, it has helped quite a bit.
I think it goes deeper than that - this test is called the IVA test and it is measures extremely advanced things like your reaction times and stuff, and takes measurements on how many of certain types of mistakes you make.
The test is seemingly simple - you get shown a 1 or a 2. Click if you see a 1. You will hear the words “one” or “two” and you click whenever you hear the one. Not complicated.
It takes measurements about how impulsive, inattentive, or fidgety you are. It’s like 20 minutes of this and honestly it felt like pure torture. I could barely handle it towards the end, and my report indicates significant fatigue in my reaction times towards the end which is trippy to me because it didn’t feel like it.
I genuinely tried my hardest and made a shitload of mistakes. Like clicking on a 2 was my most common mistake. I just could not help but click on accident so many times. It was really frustrating, and I was super glad it was over.
The test taker told me that 7 and 8 year olds ace this test and it blew my mind. My scores were basically ~15-20% out of 100. Idk how much tv and internet use would cause this drastic of an impairment. There is something wrong.
The best thing I have done lately for my mental health is this: each evening when I’m done everything I need to do for the day, I get quite baked and do yoga while comfort-watching some old show. For some reason I just do Day 2 of Adrienne’s 30 Day Yoga challenge over and over. I know the routine now, so I don’t have to have the audio on, and then I can half-watch a show I already know and enjoy. My wife and I have run through all of The Office and Community like this. Next up is Star Trek: Voyager. I have never been able to exercise consistently, but I have somehow managed this routine for 85 of the last 90 days. I look forward to it every night. I feel like I’ve cracked the code.
I hear you J. To Formula’s point, such things may not be helping, but it’s a mistake to assume everything is fine underneath if only we’d remove x/y/z from our day to day. My life changed when I stopped trying to think or behave my way out and instead worked with professionals for an accurate diagnosis and medication.
H&I network has TOS, Next Gen, DS9, Voyager, and Enterprise on back to back 6 nights/wk. I sometimes have them on as background noise. I haven’t seen all Voyager eps either but I probably will eventually at this rate.
Kate Mulgrew didn’t like Jeri Ryan on the show. It was obvious why her character was introduced but Seven actually added a lot, I think.
