Tim_McTuffty

Tim_McTuffty , 5 months ago to actuallyautistic

Diary of an ASD Squirrel. Day 51 TUESDAY! 19/12/23

TL:DR 🥱😴

Stayed up late last night to catch up with NMS . 1 more day for this expedition.

A mix of chores , chatting with CDP 🧚‍♀️ & playing NMS filled my day, I had a really nice day. 😊

A sudden onset of fatigue is making writing this really hard to concentrate on.

I really cannot string one thought together with another.

Final Thoughts:

I don’t know where this wave of exhaustion has come from , I can barely type!

An early night may be needed!

Thanks 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 #TheMammutMoves

Tim_McTuffty , 5 months ago to actuallyautistic

Diary of an ASD Squirrel. Day 51 TUESDAY! 19/12/23

TL:DR What days is it !!; Restricting my punctuation & emoji use as I tagged one of my fave VI Peeps in todays post ! ; NMS is the bees pyjamas! ; Mastodon ROCKS !

Erm I made a small error in my @Maj1 salutation this morning . . . I may , just may , have suggested it was. . . .Monday again 🙄🤦‍♂️

Ok I fess up , I totally said it was Monday this morning - not surprisingly this caused some confusion & more than a little piss taking on my TL 🤦‍♂️ 😆

I would have cottoned on to this if I hadn’t spent the morning tiding my bedroom so that I could actually move without risking serious injury whilst chatting with CDP 🧚‍♀️ 😊 , & then the afternoon playing NMS in co-op & solo. 🤦‍♂️

I would like to say that I had a more productive day , but hey ho I’ve nearly completed the 2nd truncated NMS Expedition 😆

Had fun catching up this evening & am writing this while watching S1.2 of Red Dwarf 😊

Tracked down @FreakyFwoof after losing track of him (soz mate, totally forgot your handle and was searching for your given name - my bad 😞)
Thanks to @nellie_m for reminding me of his UID ! 🙏

Final Thoughts:

Today has been a good day , I got a bit frustrated this morning , but the more I understand my triggers the more I can apply some basic dampening on them .

I am so glad that I moved to Mastodon just over a year ago , this community is unique & if you land on the right Instances & meet the right folk it is a life changing experience !

Thanks 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 #TheMammutMoves

Tim_McTuffty , 5 months ago to actuallyautistic

Diary of an ASD Squirrel. Day 50 Monday 18/12/23

TL:DR NMS forever ! (well until I get bored with it ! ); Mrs S.s Cans have been replaced successfully ! ; Mastodon ROCKS ! @weirdfolks ROCK harder ! ; 50 DAYS !

Welcome one & all to my 50th ,consecutive, entry ! This is now , officially, the longest diary I have ever kept ! 🎉🥳🍾🥳🎉

As is often the case at the moment today has been a much better day!

Chores were done, NMS was played , both in co-op & solo & I had a lovely time on here this afternoon - I only intended to spend a quick 10 minutes around lunchtime & before I knew it it was 15:35 !

I discovered that the whole ‘over stimulation ’ thing actually applies to me . . occasionally I can have true flashes if insight within moments of learning something new , this , sadly, was not one of those moments! 🙄🤦‍♂️

Mrs S.s new headphones rocked up as promised , so they were duly charged up & paired, just in time for her to watch TV while enjoying her evening repast.

I placed them proudly in front of her . . . . “Do they work ??? “ were the 1st words out of her mouth .

I admit I was slightly short with her & possibly slightly sarcastic, because of course after her spending the day anticipating this moment I was gonna present her with a dead set of headphones ! 🙄🤦‍♂️

Hey ho.

Final Thoughts:

I am totally back into NMS & loving it - hey I know its an addiction , but it’s better than some of the alternatives !

I am especially enjoying playing it in limited co-op with CDP 🧚‍♀️, we have a lot of fun together !

A massive Thank you to those that participated in the Cake war this afternoon with @MaJ1 , I have not had so much fun in ages ! 🤗🥰

Thanks 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 #TheMammutMoves

Tim_McTuffty , 5 months ago to actuallyautistic

Diary of an ASD Squirrel. Day 49 Sunday 17/12/23

TL:DR Triggers galore, with minimal chances for recover today.; Please sir can I get off now , I really don’t like this ride !

Today has been an exercise in masking when triggered.

I bought Mrs Squirrel some seriously expensive headphones to enable her to watch the TV in comfort, in the Black Friday sales.

I could go into detail here & bore the pants off you all , but the short version is that she bust them .
Me being me went thru the whole diagnostic routine TNA ( to no avail - sorry couldn’t resist ) .
So I set up an online chat session with the company I bought the headphones from , they were initially prepared to refund the price paid, but not replace the headphones , which are now considerably more than I paid in the sale !
When pressed they offered me the manufacturers details and suggested that I pursue the manufacturers for a replacement.

I this point a major trigger hit - I was already stressed by the situation & by the chat , now they wanted me to approach a 3rd party!
My brain at this point just decided this was unacceptable !
I told the Rep that I was autistic & suffered from PDD & I just wanted the refund, I also mentioned you lot & said I would recount the story . . . oh the power of SM ! I ‘forgot’ to mention that I am a squirrel on here , but hey all is fair in love and capitalism! I merely said I had a 1000 followers - which is true across the 2 accounts! No lie no foul !
Yon rep put me on hold for 5 minutes & when he came back all of a sudden a replacement was on the table 😊
So new headphones en-route as we speak, due tomorrow !

In the background while all this is going on Mrs Squirrel is trying to organise a Sandwich Platter for what is now a traditional buffet lunch at her Mums that your’s truly puts together.
I have been perstering her since October to do this ! Not surprisingly on the Sunday before Christmas such things are few & far between & our regular supplier was unable to help!! 🙄🤦‍♂️

Triggered again , I held in all the frustration & made a mental note of all the extra effort I now have to put in because I was ignored - again!

Some light relief came for an hour or so playing NMS with CDP 🧚‍♀️, I had arranged to spend the whole morning playing co-op with her , but that had to be vastly foreshortened due to the headphones saga !

After tea I went to try & pause the DVR from my phone app to go to the little boys room - no joy . Mrs Squirrel also had no luck trying to use the app on her phone - I was just about to go into full meltdown when I looked round to check the IR sender linked to the app & discovered it was hidden behind a Christmas card !!
Now the discussion has been had about said sender that it be neither moved nor blocked! Apparently Christmas cards are IR transparent …. in the same way that you can catch COVID from 5G transmitters! 🙄🤦‍♂️

Final Thoughts:

Nuggan save me from folk with the technical capabilities of a small sprout!
If you are reading this then you already surpass that level & thusly stand high in my regard!

So the day ends with me sitting on a mound of frustration that I cannot get rid of easily , An 8 legged monster from the deep has helped a little , but only a little as I don’t fancy a massive hangover in the morning! .

I may put my normal sleep pattern on hold tonight & play NMS until I fall asleep thru exhaustion at around 2am.
This will bugger up tomorrow , but none of the alternatives are any better & some are noticeably worse.

EDIT: I am mentally & physically shagged, the NMS marathon may have to be put on hold.

As I have said before, this is a diary, not a plea for help or sympathy , it is simply a brain dump to try & help me, & maybe others make sense of this game called life !

I cannot even analyse how much of this is ASD, or PDD or just an NT reaction .
The comms side is defo ASD, as are the high frustration levels at fairly minor events.

Thanks 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 #TheMammutMoves

Tim_McTuffty , 5 months ago to actuallyautistic

Diary of an ASD Squirrel. Day 48 Saturday 16/12/23

TL:DR Really , you think tonights entry is too long ! SMH 😜😂

First of all shoutout to all who offered support yesterday it is amazing that so many people reached out! Just Thank you ! 🤗🥰

Had a brilliant co-op with my Bestie this morning , we discovered the PS5s share screen facility, Remote Supports’ tool of choice ! 😆

An afternoon of tree building & decorating was accompanied by a trio of Christmas movies - Muppet’s Christmas Carol, Nightmare before Christmas & Arthur Christmas.

There may have been Blandys & Xmas treats followed by pizza !

Final Thoughts:

Nothing like good friends & a couple or 3 good movies to brighten the day 😊

Watched Arthur Christmas , see if you can spot a certain Squirrel near the end ! 😜 🐿️

Thanks 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 #TheMammutMoves

Tim_McTuffty , 6 months ago to actuallyautistic

Diary of an ASD Squirrel. Day 47 Friday 15/12/23

TL:DR NMS is game de jour yet again, I may be somewhat addicted!; Alcohol crutch or curse ? ; The rollercoaster ride of life continues.

Another day on No Mans Sky, it’s 80% of my life at the moment!
I’ve been ‘lucky’ this week in that Mrs Squirrel has been in the office most of the week so I could really relax & not mask & not be triggered for most of the day.
I often wonder if this is just a ‘bad patch’ or if it’s something more.

Tonight my phone went while I was washing up, Mrs Squirrel was less than 5 ft away on the couch but “couldn’t” answer it.

Thankfully it turns out it was a spam call, rather than an important one.

Alcohol fixes many things it seems.
Nothing much, a couple of ciders & a rum n dry, but more than I usually have - heavyweight drinker that I am 😂

Final Thoughts:
The rollercoaster ride continues, I am definitely on the way up at the moment , but it is most certainly 2 steps forward 1 step back !

I worry that booze is becoming a crutch, I tell myself that it is simply the taste I like, but I wonder if there is something more to it.

Thanks 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 #TheMammutMoves

Tim_McTuffty , 6 months ago to actuallyautistic

Diary of an ASD Squirrel. Day 46 Thursday 14/12/23

TL:DR NMS is game de jour again, I may be a tiny bit addicted!; MH is well on the way up, but there are still peaks & troughs!; Sometimes being autistic sucks !

Another quiet day, my addiction to gaming is back.

Pretty much spent the day - minus a couple of hours doing chores (gotta do the essentials ) playing No Mans Sky, my goto recovery game.

In one way this is a very good sign , it means my MH has improved past the ‘can’t be arsed with anything’ stage to the ‘can be arsed with 1 thing’ stage.

On the other hand perhaps if it was something more productive I’d feel like a better person.

Good news on the MiL boiler front, all fixed & working , with minimal cost & effort!

Just been triggered 🙄🤦‍♂️

Mrs Squirrel did the thing where she heads to bed at 8pm & turns the TV off, sod the fact that I might have other plans. It’s laughably easy to turn it back on again, but the fact that she treats me like I’m not here - which she knows I HATE triggers me something rotten, how hard is it to ask the question?!
I know it was probably unthinking , but then so is just making her lunch & not mine & leaving the sink a mess because hey it’s not like there’s anyone else in the house to notice.

Sorry I’m off my AD meds, for reasons to complex to explain here, so filters that would normally be applied are missing.

Final Thoughts:

I wonder if future generations of governments will make access to a fully immersive gaming experience free to control the masses ? I for one would not fight that 😆

To quote a song, whose title & performer are lost to the vagaries of my memory … “Into every life a little rain must fall! “
Why does being triggered have to be so all encompassing a mood change ? Why can’t a silly thing just annoy me slightly & be forgotten , instead of darkening the whole of the rest of the day ?

Thanks 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 #TheMammutMoves

Tim_McTuffty , 6 months ago to actuallyautistic

Diary of an ASD Squirrel. Day 45 Wednesday 13/12/23

TL:DR NMS is game de jour again! ; Besties are the best 🤗🥰 ; Pretty chilled & MH is on the up ! 😊

Super good day, pretty much NMS wall to wall, major push to finish Expedition 9, which turned out to be worthwhile as I got a mean Fighter ship out of it , that I can use in EVERY other save & all future saves.
CDP 🧚‍♀️ will defo be jealous in the morning 😆

Talking of CDP 🧚‍♀️ who could wish for a better bestie, we played solo this morning but chatted & then had a major co-op session this afternoon!

I think it is a quirk of my ASD that I can only coop with 1 person, & they have to be an exact fit! No wonder its taken so long to get into co-op playing !

Project WOOF sadly took a serious step back today, I could not resist hitting the Danish Butter cookies, which are bite sized & ridiculously moreish !
Hey ho, mucho exercising & dieting in the new year!

The fact that today was another day where all the masks were off also helped sp much to relax me!

Final Thoughts:

Ok I must be getting better MH wise, my gaming addiction is coming back!

Vis a vis the above - I need to schedule my time !!

Thanks 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 #TheMammutMoves

Tim_McTuffty , 6 months ago to actuallyautistic

Diary of an ASD Squirrel. Day 44 Tuesday 12/12/23

TL:DR NMS is game de jour ; If deadlines loom then locking myself away physically & digitally seems to be the only way to get me to concentrate ! ; Sometimes it’s nice to be reminded of old successes! ; Best friends rock n roll ! ASD assessments take FOREVER !

Morning chat with CDP 🧚‍♀️ ended up in an early morning NMS session, not co-op as I’m on with my expedition & she wanted to practice build & repairing. In the co-op save we have found a couple of ‘S’ class Royal Ships from the get go, which is fantastic ! Sadly mucho repairs required & a cold planet - which we will have to warp to another system to find !

CDP 🧚‍♀️ is still getting used to my quirky memory , with many a ‘oh another thing that I forgot to tell you earlier ….. “ driving her slightly nuts 😆

Went into DnD mode to finish the ASD self assessment form notes for this afternoons session.
Dug out the documentation from my TDB (Tape DASD Buffer) project, you know what, once upon a long time ago I was a shit hot Storage Manager ! Shame I’m now a house elf , but hey , memories ! 😊
Finished in time to have a chat before the meeting which was lovely!

The 2nd assessment session went really well, although I waxed so lyrical that a 3rd session is now booked to complete the S/A report!

I could finally relax after the appointment ended & I played a little more NMS .

Mrs Squirrel , who had been in the office returned & game had to go away , mask had to go back on & tea had to be made.

Final Thoughts:

I am so much better MH wise since I started this journey, yes there are episodes & triggers , but they are thankfully short lived & easier to cope with thanks to the support that I get from my Elephant riding friends !

I had forgotten why a major financial institution trusted me to ensure its key data was backed up in a timely & effective manner - I never realised it at the time, but I was a decent Tech back in the day !

One more Pre-assessment session then I’m assuming the real thing sometime in January / February ‘24 .
I hope that next year will be a turning point in my life - preferably for the better 🤞

Thanks 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 #TheMammutMoves

Tim_McTuffty , 6 months ago to actuallyautistic

Diary of an ASD Squirrel. Day 43 Monday 11/12/23

TL:DR My time management sucks ! ; I knew the positive streak was too good to last ! ;I’m totally focused . . “oh look , squirrel!’

Busy day today.

Up at the usual time, but mixed chatting with my bestie with a little NMS to try & get the Expedition moved fwd.
I’d like to say that I jumped to the whole ASD stuff after breakfast, but I’m back to being well enough for the game addiction to be present so lost another hour to that 🙄🤦‍♂️

I spent the morning fighting with the scanner to persuade it to scan the ASD Informant reports in & then collate them into the right order , came close to just chucking the thing out the window !

Spent a couple or 3 hours this afternoon playing NMS co-op , enjoyed it enormously , although did feel guilty that I had failed on concentrating on the ASD stuff left to do!

Late afternoon into this evening was spent summarising up my educational & employment history, boy have I done a lot of stuff ! I could have done without being reminded that 2012 was the last year I was able to work due to a massive MH breakdown.

A call with the elder of my sisters was a nice way to end the day.

Final Thoughts:

I rediscovered why I don’t work anymore, having fought with a mix of the technology , my stubbornness to cough up to renew our MS 365 sub. & reminders going off left right & centre for stuff I had put on a back burner for today , I was thoroughly frustrated with everything by the time my Sister rang this evening, to the point where the cats & Mrs Squirrel had vacated the immediate vicinity and various pieces of tech were in severe danger of being lobbed across the room!

I don’t do defeat, I do however work on the basis of a deadline to force me to do stuff, which then leads to frustration if stuff goes wrong!
To thoroughly misquote Yoda ,“Frustration leads to anger , anger leads to hate , hate leads to the dark side ! “

Tomorrow morning will absolutely have to be dedicated to finishing this flipping ASD Self assessment report !

I can prevaricate for England it seems !

Thanks 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 #TheMammutMoves

Tim_McTuffty , 6 months ago to actuallyautistic

Diary of an ASD Squirrel. Day 42 Sunday 10/12/23

TL:DR I am not unaware of the significance of of todays entry 😆 ; Chats with my Bestie & my Bro made my day; Who knew writing could be cathartic !; Christmas, like Winter, is coming !! 😉

Sunday was a ridiculously nice day, only let down by the weather !

4am , sleepy chat with my Bestie, then when she went out to walk yon doggie I snoozed until Mrs Squirrel woke about 8ish.

Breakfast was followed by catching up on here a little & a bit of TV over a cuppa.
My brother rang & we had a really long chat to catch up & talk about my ASD diagnosis & how he could help. I think my brother is my most favourite sibling & we get on like a house on fire!

This afternoon was taken up by writing a long letter to my old Deputy Head Master / 5th form English teacher from Secondary School, he writes a quarterly ‘Old Boys’ news letter & we have kept in contact for 40 years. Old habits die very hard so I still see him as a kindly figure of authority as opposed to any other form of relationship.
I have told him about my initial diagnosis for ASD & I think he will maybe understand better than my father , which would be nice.
I also told him about my antics on here & sent him a couple of my poems - I hope he likes them (& gives me a good grade 😆 ) .

I also wrote shorter letters to one of my aunts who lives in Cumbria & a the single friend I still keep in touch with from my days at IBM.

The afternoon flowed into evening as I wrote countless xmas cards, a task that I am not overly fond of , but tradition dictates.

A quick evening meal & an episode of the last series of ‘Ghosts’ got me to now.

Final Thoughts:

Having spoken to my bother for nearly 2 hours today it struck me that he, his partner & my teenage niece are my favourite blood relatives , by quite a long way. I am uncomfortable with this a little, I do love the rest of my family , but in a slightly distant fashion.

Christmas is not a massive thing for me, but it is a time when I dust off my address book & re-connect with the tiny list of people that I keep in touch with.
It is a strangely satisfying experience .

Gotta crack on with the ASD assessment stuff tomorrow !

Thanks 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 #TheMammutMoves

Tim_McTuffty , 6 months ago to actuallyautistic

Diary of an ASD Squirrel. Day 41 Saturday 9/12/23

TL:DR How long can this streak last ? ( I hope I haven’t jinxed it ! ) ; I never expected the Diagnostic Assessment to be such hard work, it’s worse than applying for a job, it’s worse than applying for a job in a high security location!

Well who’d a thunk - 3 days (nearly) on the trot of a fairly chilled Squirrel!

Up early, but having had a rough night I had a quick chat with my Bestie then went back to sleep.

Had a great NMS co-op session with CDP 🧚‍♀️ after breakfast, it was so much fun teaching someone else the tricks & bits n bobs, she was worried that I might get bored playing with a noob , but it was enormous fun !

Worked on my ASD assessment self-report form, today, & have started tracking trigger points & behaviour.
Boy am I set in my ways !
It’s weird , many of my routines are deeply based on logic, but are routines nonetheless !
There are 25 pages to this thing! I have until Tuesday afternoon ! (Which is probably why I spent the grand total of about an hour on it today 🙄🤦‍♂️ )

This afternoon & evening have flown past , the latter part of the day was taken up with catching up with a couple of topical satirical news shows & then Mrs Squirrel & I watched ‘The Creator’ which I can defo recommend to sci-fi fans, some slightly tongue in cheek nods to Star Wars, Blade Runner & Chappie !

Final Thoughts:

I am waiting for the other shoe to drop, it’s all going far too well!

I best get a fecking ASD diagnosis after all this work, I know me and oddly I will probably feel like a complete fraud & stranger still a complete failure if I don’t !

I hope I sleep tonight, I’ve had a few restless nights so far this week & need some decent sleep !

I love sci fi movies 😆

Thanks 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 #TheMammutMoves

Tim_McTuffty , 6 months ago to actuallyautistic

Diary of an ASD Squirrel. Day 40 Friday 8/12/23

TL:DR A chilled, quiet day , one filled with love & folks helping me to centre myself!; SNICoM is born 😆 ; Blessed are they who have good mates !

Hurrah for quiet days !

Spent the day mostly chilled, the usual triggers around a certain someone seemingly being unable to do basic tasks but noting remotely serious! Thank Nuggan !!

Got to have decent chats with both CDP 🧚‍♀️ & my Kelda, which truly made my day. Two people I can honestly say mean a massive amount to me & , in their own unique ways make my world a much better place!

My Queen may well be pouting at this point, but worry not , the love of the Sister of my Heart intertwines with all others !

It seems that I have developed a somewhat piratical air, my threads (via MAJ1 ) are apparently notorious & I have somehow reached the point of having an inner circle (again via MAJ1 , since Tim is a total innocent 😆 !) - or as DT (a key member 😆) would have it … SNICoM -> Squirrels Notorious Inner Circle of Miscreants ! 😆

You don’t have to be slightly bonkers to be ASD , but it certainly helps 😂

I managed to con my brother into filling in an ASD Informants report - that’ll teach you to be a smart arse Bro! 😜😂

I end today , really very happy & slightly drunk! ( Project WOOF is in abeyance 🤦‍♂️ )

Final Thoughts:
Thank Nuggan for truly close friends , I am blessed by having an obscene number of them on here!
Members of SNICoM I salute you ! 🤗🥰

Bro , it is likely you will never get to read this, but I love you , I hope all eldest sons are lucky enough to have such a one in their family!

Sorry I am waxing lyrical because I am slightly drunk, but - in vino veritas !

This is a super long road that I am on, even though I am making decent progress, I am not religious but I am truly blessed to have good & caring friends to help me make the distance!

Thanks 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 #TheMammutMoves

Tim_McTuffty , 6 months ago to actuallyautistic

Diary of an ASD Squirrel. Day 39 Thursday 7/12/23

TL:DR Wet; Boiler diagnostics completed; Galaxy quest rocks; Lots of love to my Bestie ! 🤗🥰

What a day, was so tired this morning that I had a quick chat with my Bestie then went back to bed for s couple of hours.

Drove over to my Mother in Laws in the pouring rain , found that I had to clean out the tiny room where the boiler lived before I could get a proper look at it!

Powered off the boiler & spent a merry 20 minutes fighting with the front cover which hadn’t been removed in years !

Got Simon our tame plumber on a video call so that he could diagnose the fault with me - turns out that the fan is dead.

Got slightly triggered when one of my MiLs’ carers rocked up, but we both had our separate jobs to do so interaction was reduced to a quick “Good Morning”.

Sorted out getting details needed for ordering the replacement fan & then had to break the news to my MiL that yon plumber could rock up next week to fit the new fan & she need to agree to that & to paying him.
An hour & a half later we finally convinced her that this was basically the only way to go.
Several triggers were hammered home & I nearly stormed out at one point when she argued that it didn’t need to be done because “I’m immune to hypothermia” , naughty words competed vigorously to be the 1st to be released upon the world, but good manners prevailed & I held them at bay!

We finally got her to agree & raced off at speed before she could change her mind !

A stop off at Costco on the way home for a much needed hot dog & a Cherry cola , followed by Xmas treat shopping helped to get my mind back into a less stressed mode !

Got home & worked with Mrs Squirrel to complete her ASD Informants report form. Thankfully she was able to fill in a lot more than my Dad did !

Bestie went to bed early again feeling rough, wish her a speedy recovery 🤗🥰

Watched ‘Galaxy Quest’ for the first time in years & enjoyed it enormously, it was interesting to see both the nods made by the movie to the space sci-fi genre & also the nods made by other later movies to Galaxy Quest.

A quick catch up on here , & sadly it was only a quick one , has led us to me writing up my diary.

Final Thoughts:
Mother in Laws like mine are the epitome of the gags made by comedians in the late 70’s !
She could be more rude (yet to receive a thank you) awkward or just plain childish if she had wanted to , thankfully she stopped just short of getting the boiler outer casing wrapped round her like a steel straitjacket !

I cannot even begin to list the triggers bounced on from a great height. I am, in retrospect , quite pleased that I recognised some of them & took appropriate steps to minimise their impact!

I may adopt the quote : “ Never give up, Never Surrender ! “ Jason Nesmith - Galaxy Quest !

Thanks 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 #TheMammutMoves