😘

My kid is in high school, and they communicate about emergencies through text, email, and automated calls. There are lots of jobs, especially low-paying ones, that will not let you check your phone during your shift, and they’re certainly not going to be okay with you leaving early to go pick up your kid. If the choice is “leave to pick up kid (who you know is safe with teachers), get fired,” versus “leave kid (who you know is safe with teachers), keep job,” it’s pretty simple math.

“ran out of medication” me sneaks up on “functional and medicated” me

I’m a simple lady; I recognize the vague outlines of a joke, so I upvote.

Clean towel, foil potato, can’t lose?

it’s clear they’re trying to push the left out of the state but fuck them this is my state. These assholes can go learn to swim in Florida if they want to live in a worse place than Ohio already was

Fuck yes! ✊ Solidarity from the bi mom of a trans kid in Athens. I love this place, and too many vulnerable people can’t afford to flee, so I’m not fucking leaving either

feel less anxiety and am less prone to anger

This is a huge one for me, too. I managed my transition to a new provider poorly and am consequently out of medication, and I have so much less tolerance for other people and their bullshit. It took conscious effort to not be cunty with a store employee the other day when he had the temerity to interrupt my search of a shelf for a thing to offer to help with my search. 😂 It wasn’t until I was relaying the story to my husband that I went from “can you fucking believe that asshole” to “can you fucking believe what an asshole I am omfg.” 🤦

I very nearly replied to his second, “What are you looking for?” with “None of your fucking business!!” 😂🤦 jfc. I just ignored him instead, which I’m sure was also offensive.

I just can’t go out into public after mid-morning until I get more medication, I am a menace. 😂

That sounds like a really good plan, thank you!

the_itsb = the Ill-Tempered Sea Bass, and though it’s a batfish and not a sea bass, I’ve always thought this guy conveys the ill-tempered part beautifully.

Who I actually am as a person is a little more like some kind of crab. There’s the strawberry crab, who is “small, brightly-colored … known to be quite toxic,” which sounds just like me without medication. 😂 And then there’s the black-eyed hermit crab, who “often inhabits shells left by massive moon snails … often covered with colorful pink anemone-like hydroids, making this critter even cuter.”

I’ve been wanting to do a pi lab myself someday, and your post is so encouraging! Were there any guides or other things you used to get going that you found particularly helpful?

They also only got the Supreme Court to agree to their extremely sketchy August date for the election along party lines.

Really rich, lovely quote from the article linked:

In fact, the Ohio Legislature explicitly banned August elections (except in very limited circumstances) in its omnibus election law that was enacted earlier this year. Ironically, the Legislature did so at the behest of LaRose who stated that “August special elections generate chronically low turnout because voters aren’t expecting an election to occur. This is bad news for the civic health of our state.”

It’s fucking gross. My husband and I went in person to the Board of Elections to vote early, and we were heartened to see the steady trickle of people coming in mid-morning on a weekday.

That fortune! Oof, ouch, my self-esteem!

The original Rice Krispies Treats cereal was the best. The current is a pale imitation and lacks the depth of flavor the original had - it wasn’t overly sweet, and it had a perfect balance of vanilla and puffed rice flavor that is hard to explain.

conservative apologist

Isn’t he just a conservative? I know he likes to pretend that Trump gave him serious distaste for some of the more extreme parts of modern conservatism, but - considering the blood on Frum’s hands - I’m not buying it. Am I getting him confused with a different Bush speech writer or perhaps a different Iraq war cheerleader?

🤗 I hope it helps, and even more, I hope you get the care you need. Diagnosis and medication made a huge difference in my life, most importantly in how I think of myself. Doing anything I can do to help anyone else on that road feels really good, because it’s as much an act of self-compassion as it is an act of service.

I do love it, and I’m dying to know what it’s from!

My husband and I have been talking about this a lot lately; he really struggled with feeling betrayed and confused by the actions of HR at his last job, because that person had worked hard to establish a good rapport with him and convince him that they were friends. It worked, even though I told him to not trust and not believe, and when it turned out they were just data mining for better manipulation, he was very hurt by it, because he’s a kind and honest guy who expected the same in return.

I told him it’s pretty likely that HR training involves learning to emotionally manipulate people but doesn’t call it that, in the same way that sales training teaches you “tools for closing” that are just manipulation tactics by another name. I would love to be able to show him some HR training materials. Is there more of this available?

Those ears! 😍 I wonder what it’s like to be able to hear mouse farts and bird burps?

There’s something tricksy about their faces, like maybe they’re the kinda guys who might try to hide extra rows of razor-sharp teeth behind the cute front ones. Big chaotic neutral energy!

They remind me of Flareon! 😍

Oh yeah, making the list is going to be a pain in the ass! For mine, I started a little note for it in my phone, and every time I came across an ADHD thing while internetting that made me think “omg me too!” I would put it on the list. I also sorta “cheated” to get started by looking at lists of symptoms and problems and coping strategies and copying anything that was relevant to me. I think it helped that I didn’t set out to get it all down at once, I just added to it here and there as I thought of things while doing other things, and it grew.

Here’s some of mine, maybe this can help you get the ball rolling?

Symptoms in Adulthood:

• Head full of constant noise - songs, chatter, repeated phrases - “bees in head” - EEAAO perfect illustration w IRS meeting scene
• Bumping into things, bruises, falling - I used to be a dancer, I have great balance and pretty good coordination, but I’m a real klutz when I’m not focused on movement, get injured often, and am literally constantly sporting at least a couple bruises from just existing in my house - what will happen when I’m elderly and fragile???
• talk too much/overshare, interrupting
• struggle to read anything not totally engrossing, but then dead to the world when engrossed
• Financial instability, overdrafts, credit issues, etc - much better now with autopay etc, but I still occasionally fuck up and pay the “ADHD Tax” at least a couple times a year.
• Auditory processing issues, difficulty with spoken multi-step instructions, have to write things down
• Often blank on direct questions - what do you like, what have you been doing, etc
• Lose track of time
• Can only do one or two things a day, have to devote entire day to social function or anything very taxing
• Have to set reminders and add things to list immediately or they will be forgotten
• Rejection sensitivity
• Completely derailed by strong emotions
• struggle to develop habits (but does make it easier to drop bad ones like smoking, binge drinking)

Attempts to help self:

• Lists and reminders - I even have lists of lists and reminders of reminders, it is absurd
• Routines, sleep hygiene
• Breaking big tasks into small
• DBT workbook to help with emotional issues
• Meditation - I can’t reliably do the sitting still kind, but the walking/doing kind is very helpful
• Exercise (elliptical, pilates, weights, yoga)
• Coffee, energy drinks
• Podcasts and music to try to power through boring tasks

gently slaps side

“This baby can hold so many trips to the underworld!”