photojosh

I would agree, with the exception of the text lines being too long.

I flipped over into reader mode and it's much improved, solely because of line length and dark mode.

Who reads books with no tables, graphs, images, or maps? ;)

Is this not basically once-off nerd-sniping for post workers... "ooh: here's a challenge."?

I'm sure you only hear about the success stories.

Older devices! And some new ones that still have USB-micro.

It's quite difficult to buy a USB-C cable that is not USB-C or Lightning on the other end. While USB-A on the charger's side with USB-C on device side is quite common and comes with a lot of devices that don't include a charger.

I couldn't find USB-C to USB-micro device cables at any retail store near me.

Ended up getting them off Amazon.

My transition to all USB-C is also much slower than it could be, since you can't get 6- or 10-port chargers that are all USB-C. iirc best I've seen is 2x USB-C and then 4 USB-A.

Use cases:

- my embedded dev boards are all USB-micro (sometimes 2x of) and worse, USB-mini or USB-B. setup for dev on the go from my MBP now is a foot-long USB-C to USB-micro.

- charging older Kindles, bike lights, etc

Ha! Some of my current favourite artists are barely older than my kids!

What's amazing is that you can hear their influences as being the music I was listening to when I was a teen through to my early 20s.

Example: Nothing but Thieves are my #1 favourite in terms of recent rockers; you can hear the Queen, Jeff Buckley, Muse, Pink Floyd influences in there. I might be hallucinating some of it, but I swear half my teen favourites are in there somewhere.

Another point; some of my favourite bands that were making great music many years ago are still putting out new albums, but they're just missing the edge now, sounding a bit formulaic.

Absolutely true.

But in mine and perhaps others' case, not a bad thing at all. See, I've had years of religious indoctrination and because of my way of thinking, I internalised that so deeply, that I lived every moment in a deep well of shame.

So a little "selfishness"; actually trying to be kind in giving myself the things I've wanted = good.

3. Yes, that too. It becomes burn-out at the worst.

>> "intellectualise social interaction" rings a bell

> I tried to search for what this meant, but I found a few differing ideas that I didn't know which one to attribute to what you meant. Do you mind elaborating?

That was the goal behind me asking... if it did ring a bell; I think you'd know! I pre-plan social interactions, they inevitably never go as planned, then I spend forever ruminating on what I did wrong. Rinse, repeat.

To your concluding paragraph, I think a way to join back up these disparate threads is a reminder that ADHD and autism are both non-binary, spectrum conditions... they're labels slapped on a grab bag of manifested difference->disorder->disability symptoms, hence diagnostic criteria that are: "has to have 5 out of 8 of these factors".

> It's literally impossible to discover your favorite song at age 35+ and it's most likely already buried in your brain forever between 14 and 20.

With all due respect, this sounds like a comment from someone who's not really into music.

I did a quick check with a musical friend to see if he shared my initial reaction... "what's your favourite song?" resulted in "I have no idea how to answer that question. Maybe ask me my top 100 favourites?"

I'm well over that age now, and I have a new "favourite song" every week or two. Easing into more free time as the kids get older and am using some of that to go see more live music from local bands.

> Since starting: I'm less angry. I'm less annoyed. I have the ability to listen to my spouse talk to me. I'm not jittery or jumpy any more.

THIS! Absolutely this.

Bit crazy that these are also the symptoms of someone on withdrawal from amphetamines and other stimulants†, huh?

But wait a sec... we had these before going anywhere near medication?

Could it possibly be we've been living a life of dopamine withdrawal?

† I was going to say "amphetamine addiction" but stopped myself... a significant number of these poor folk are self-medicating to escape the constant agony of their inner turmoil. They just couldn't get what they needed under the supervision of modern medicine, and micro-dose their intake so it delivers the beneficial effects and minimises the side-effect.

edit: formatting

> When those coping mechanisms run out, they run out hard

Oh, don't I know it.

Have switched career paths a few times because of it. About 4-5 years to ride the wave up before the crash.

Thankful for MY partner... because she's an absolute harbour in the storm. All the executive function I lack, and then more to spare. Otherwise I'd probably be homeless, imprisoned or dead.

Think I am finally dealing with it properly.

Yes! I've been slowly getting into his work on the various executive functions, not just the intellectual/thinking one... emotional regulation is a big thing too!

Not GP, but I've commented on a few of your comments so far, so will keep going.

I still haven't repaired a few things in my life that still cause me significant stress (happy to go in-depth if you email, see bio), but I really had no idea what the medication would do until I tried it.

For me; it quietened my (extremely vocal) inner critic and therefore lowered my anxiety, and it slowed down the rapid bounce-around of my thoughts, particularly in situations where I wasn't deeply stimulated (eg I outlasted my kid playing ball for the first time ever because I stayed interested and wasn't just counting down the minutes until I could say 'okay that's enough'). And that's it.

But that means I can actually start to do the hard work of building the right habits to put some important bits of my life back on track, particularly when they'd been built wrong and have to be torn down.

High five, fellow PhD dropout. :(

> The coping mechanisms that had served me reasonably well during my young adulthood suddenly stopped working during the pandemic. So, I became unable to motivate myself to a deadline, which had generally been a powerful force to motivate my attention and efforts.

I have experienced the exact same situation (but with work)... always been motivated by well-planned deadlines, but it just... doesn't work anymore?

I'm trying to figure out why. Suspect a combination of WfH, unrelated family issues, dealing with diagnosis and past trauma, a general surge in anxiety across the board resulting in a total burnout of any motivation... just ceasing to care about anything much at all.

hirvi, this is brilliant and so relateable, so thank you. Mine are very similar, but I would add with respect to your points...

1. Yes, but I also have to know that I am the one in charge... otherwise I will not take charge, but I will be ready to be told exactly what to do, and THAT I will do very quickly. [see A below]

2. Also yes, and true for software development too, but it makes the long burn so difficult. Give me a fire to put out! I casually know an ER doctor who is highly regarded, but his personal life is a mess and he's into extreme sports. (And saw my son when he came in with a suspected neck fracture.)

3. Again, yes. Once a solution has been found, I'm done! Implementing it? Naaah... that's the boring stuff.

4. Sort of... I think due to personality and temperament yes, but also upbringing.

Two more points building on those.

Autism and adhd have a high co-morbidity. If someone has social skills to the point where others comment on how good they are; highly unlikely that's you. If the idea that you "intellectualise social interaction" rings a bell, it might be the case.

Sensitivity issues. This is a reason behind my addition to point 1 above. The most mild of corrections comes across as an accusation that one is am totally worthless and useless. A constant running inner critic devaluing every thought and action. My experience is that this is silenced or at least turned down by medicating with stimulants... and it is totally liberating.