Tim_McTuffty

Tim_McTuffty , 13 days ago to ActuallyAutistic group

Diary of an ASD Squirrel. Day 232 , Sunday 16/06/2024

Woke to a gloriously sunny Sunday morning, with clouds lurking around the edges ready to pounce later in the day.

Got my act into gear around 8am & tumbled out of bed, made breakfast & then relaxed over my coffee until it was time to get showered & changed to cross the hills to Liverpool & visit my brother to celebrate his birthday.

The trip across was thru torrential rain that did not really ease up until we approached the NW coast. The the clouds broke & the sun came out.

We had a great day, I enjoyed it more than I expected to.

My sister was the only fly in the ointment, she is mother to my 2 autistic nephews, she herself is NT , however she started lecturing me on what I was & wasn’t capable of, saying how much more she understood about being autistic than I did …. I was good & kept my peace.

There was lots off lovely food, my Bro is a bit of a BBQ fanatic, not as enthusiastic as @kaybee335 (who is a BBQing god IMHO) but does throw together a mean spread!

I was fairly good, Geoff behaved himself most of the day & I didn’t want to aggravate him too much so just had a little bit of everything & didn’t go mad.

Had the first piece of cake since Easter! It was heaven!

Herself decided that 6:30pm was late enough & that we should go home, to be fair we did have a 2 hour drive home & tomorrow is a work day!

The drive home was ,in stark contrast to this morning’ a lovely drive, fine weather & only got stuck in traffic once. Some nutter in a white transit gave us a scare by overtaking us (me doing the speed limit was just too slow for him! ) in an extremely dubious location & nearly ploughed into the bonnet of the oncoming car for his trouble. I am not too proud to say that I was thinking my time was done for a few seconds there because we would have been intimately involved. His reward, because it was only a 2 lane highway with very few passing places , was that he stayed in the same place in front of us for the next 5 miles until our paths parted ways.

Got home & texted my Bro we had got home safe, he was a little upset to learn that we had had sunny weather all the way home & that we are enjoying a sunny evening as I write. Apparently it started raining ½ an hour after we left. 😆

Final Thoughts.

I enjoyed today a lot more than I thought I would, it does the soul good to have a laugh & joke in the company of those we love.

Why do some NT folk think that they can know more about ND folk than ND folk themselves ???
I am blessed that pretty much all the NT folk I know in the Fediverse do not do this, realising perhaps that while some experiences are very much shared , some really aren’t!

Thank you to all those who are helping me on this journey, in a myriad different ways. I am thankful to each & every one of you! 🫂 🫶🐿️🖖

@actuallyautistic
#TimsASDjourney #ActuallyAutistic #Neurospicy #TheMammutMoves

Tim_McTuffty OP , 12 days ago

@HeatherMJ @kaybee335 @actuallyautistic Hey Heather 🤗🥰

I did Thank you 🙏

Tim_McTuffty OP , 12 days ago

@PixysJourney @actuallyautistic Thanks CDP 🧚‍♀️🥰💜

People do such stupid things sometimes !

Tim_McTuffty OP , 12 days ago

@ldmay65 @kaybee335 @actuallyautistic Hey Donna 🤗🥰

Well ½ of those present were over 70 so have developed a ‘blind spot ‘ with regards to my diagnosis - it was not spoken of 🙄.

It was a good day though 😊

Sleep well 😊🫶🐿️🖖

Tim_McTuffty OP , 12 days ago

@DoubleTreble @kaybee335 @actuallyautistic Hey DT 🤗🥰

Know both those roads well. Yes they can !
Once nearly got killed because an oncoming car overtook, I caused a decent pile up (nobody hurt but 5 or 6 cars behind me all shunted) because I had to slam on the brakes to avoid being a bonnet ornament!

Have the best day 😊🫶🐿️🖖

Tim_McTuffty , 14 days ago to ActuallyAutistic group

Diary of an ASD Squirrel. Day 231 , Saturday 15/06/2024

So Geoff (you remember Geoff, the Gouty Great Left Toe ) was an asshole last night, ended up with him going commando stuck out the end of the bed!
Thankfully being evicted from the bed was enough to calm him & sleep ensued.

Up around 7am, breakfast, chores & knocking around the Fediverse for most of the day.

Out of the blue my Dad rang - he very rarely calls, but like me he is polite to fault & was calling to say thank you for his Father’s Day card.

I’ll catch up with him tomorrow when we go over to Liverpool for my Bro’s birthday.
Geoff is almost certainly gonna disapprove come Monday morning!

Watching Roadhouse (the new version) this evening, a surprisingly good , turn yer brain off movie, lovin the soundtrack too, I hope it’s on one of the streaming services !

Ohhhh on Apple Music! Cool !

Final Thoughts.

I’m a bit worried that I’m missing something - not felt the urge to hit the PlayStation in like 3 days …
Hey ho.

Thank you to all those who are helping me on this journey, in a myriad different ways. I am thankful to each & every one of you! 🫂 🫶🐿️🖖

@actuallyautistic
#TimsASDjourney #ActuallyAutistic #Neurospicy #TheMammutMoves

Tim_McTuffty OP , 14 days ago

@PixysJourney @actuallyautistic Thank you 🙏 🤗🥰

Tim_McTuffty OP , 13 days ago

@PixysJourney @Susan60 @actuallyautistic “Save me Susan!” cried Geoff ! 😜😂

Tim_McTuffty OP , 13 days ago

@Susan60 @PixysJourney @actuallyautistic Safe Flight ! 🤗🥰

Tim_McTuffty , 16 days ago to ActuallyAutistic group

Diary of an ASD Squirrel. Day 229 , Thursday 13/06/2024

A better nights sleep last nigh, although I did wake up early, had a nice chat with CDP 🧚‍♀️.

Mrs S. was in the office today & I really wasn’t feeling it this morning ,so after breakfast I went back to bed for a couple of hours.

My brain drove me out of bed just after 9am, unless I’m really quite poorly I cannot stay in bed for too long.

So I was reflecting on the meeting with the Social Prescriber yesterday & subsequent conversations with friends on here.
I wonder if I NEED to be more social than I am now. I wonder if the benefits outweigh the stress / anxiety etc. of being in a group of people.

Also the fact that any decent support is a decent distance away. (thanks UK Gov - so much for the promised improvement in MH services NOT !)

I am social to an extent, I regularly chat , laugh ,cry etc with so many lovely folk on here. Yes it is a relationship in a digital environment, but does that make it any less valid an experience?
The Fediverse is unlike any other Social Platform, it is possible to develop real friendships here & the lack of an algorithm makes for a more interactive experience!

Honestly I don’t know, when actually confronted with the help available, if it is worth pursuing.

On a more positive note I had a great banter session with several of the Peeps on here this afternoon / evening , thanks to all who participated, I enjoyed it enormously! 😊

Final Thoughts.

I never expect that I was fighting for so little, it is quite the anti-climax.
I am glad I got my diagnosis, that has helped me understand myself in ways I did not expect, & almost every day I learn something new.
Apart from anything else I found a whole group of Peeps who relate to & share experiences & challenges unique to ND folk!

Thank you to all those who are helping me on this journey, in a myriad different ways. I am thankful to each & every one of you! 🫂 🫶🐿️🖖

@actuallyautistic
#TimsASDjourney #ActuallyAutistic #Neurospicy #TheMammutMoves

Tim_McTuffty OP , 14 days ago

@PixysJourney @actuallyautistic 🤗🥰

Tim_McTuffty OP , 14 days ago

@cvwillegen @ScottSoCal @alexisbushnell @actuallyautistic Aye , you can’t swear at someone then delete it !

Tim_McTuffty , 15 days ago to ActuallyAutistic group

Diary of an ASD Squirrel. Day 230 , Friday 14/06/2024

I am going to shamelessly nick an idea of a dear friend & my left big toe will henceforth be known as ‘Geoff the Gouty Great Toe! (Big toes used to be called Great toes back in the olden days seemingly)

An awful night last night I ate something that Geoff really disapproved of & he was not shy in putting forth his view ! I took his disapproval for an hour then medicated his ass with some codeine & paracetamol.

Up early this morning despite the disturbed night & Mrs S. being on holiday. Pavlov’s Squirrel !

Had a fairly easy morning & rested my poor,sore tootsies.

It struck me this morning in the light of the last couple of days entries that there is one major problem with yon Social Prescriber getting me to go to this Social Cafe …. They are not providing me with the tools to cope with this first!

One of my NT guides pointed out ,& I’m paraphrasing here, that just because I can do the whole socialising thing doesn’t mean I should. There is such a concept as ‘too much of a good thing’.

I remember the last time I was in a prescribed ‘social’ situation - attending the Cardio rehab course after my MI. Long story short , it was a disaster , I ended up storming out on the penultimate session because the social pressures were too much!

Today ,online, one of my prominent traits showed up - I can be very blunt at times, I fail to ease my point into a conversation - my NT brain proffering to ‘hammer home’ the point rather than be more subtle & gentle.
My ASD diagnosis report picks up on this & makes the point that it can ,& indeed has, trip me up in social situations!

If I decide that I really do want to move out of my current comfort zone into a more physically social one then I need to work with the various health professionals to get the sequence right & get the tool kit first!

Tonight I felt that I struck a decent compromise for tea. I did have pizza , but Ham n mushroom not a meat feast - I felt the latter might be taunting the gout gods just a little too much.

At this point Geoff is quite happy so long as I don’t try anything too athletic. Hopefully that will continue thru tonight!

Final Thoughts.

Geoff has made his views very clear on the whole diet thing, namely that he is in charge!

Is it a good thing or a bad thing I have anthropomorphised my big toe ? Is this an indicator that I should resist mixing directly with the rest of the human race?

Thank you to all those who are helping me on this journey, in a myriad different ways. I am thankful to each & every one of you! 🫂 🫶🐿️🖖

@actuallyautistic
#TimsASDjourney #ActuallyAutistic #Neurospicy #TheMammutMoves

Tim_McTuffty OP , 14 days ago

@pathfinder @actuallyautistic Hey Kevin 👋😊

That is a really good idea, Mrs S. asked me what I wanted to eat this week, given the givens & I haven’t got a clue! A food diary might well help.

Problem at the moment is that I am not sure if Geoffs’ reactions are in near real time & if they are in fact associated with my short term diet.

If any medical professional types reading this - or gout sufferers, who could shed some light on this I would be eternally grateful to!

I need to get some exercise in too. I’m sure that will help.

Tim_McTuffty OP , 14 days ago

@PixysJourney @actuallyautistic Hey CDP 🧚‍♀️🥰💜

Yeah I meant ND - my brain is being particularly obtuse at the moment!
Thanks for the heads up , edits have been made.

Pretty much all my social contact is online now, which suits me fine TBH , I know that I should want to get out & attend parties & chat with folk at cafes etc but one has to put so much effort into masking to do that. Especially as I cannot hide behind a Squirrel suit in the analog world. I think I’m a little quantum like that - your can either know my real identity or know my real self , but not both. Schrödinger would have a field day !

I have some truly fantastic online friends here including a Cheeky Dutch Pixy , and for that I am truly grateful! 🤗🥰

Tim_McTuffty OP , 14 days ago

@PixysJourney @actuallyautistic P.S. Oooh I LOVE the pic , Thank you 🙏 🤗🥰

Tim_McTuffty OP , 14 days ago

@DoubleTreble @actuallyautistic Thank you 🙏 🤗🥰

Tim_McTuffty OP , 14 days ago

@moz @actuallyautistic Hey Moz 👋😊

I like that !

Geoff the gouty foot thumb 😆

Tim_McTuffty OP , 14 days ago

@PixysJourney @actuallyautistic Hugs back & Thank you for all your help lovely 🙏 🤗🥰