ADD is going to the bathroom holding the jar of mayonnaise in your hand, because you know if you set it down, you'll forget to put it in the refridgerator.

That kicks ***....I have been there...(well, not right there...but you get the picture). I would say that ADD is buying personal organizer after personal organizer in order to organize yourself only to lose them or lose track of them or never getting around to using them and then realizing that you need to buy a new one because the next year has come around and so you buy one and promise yourself that this year will be different and you will get organized and that you will use that new organizer/daily planner everyday,..and then you lose it your first day back after christmas holidays.....

I gave up Planners log ago. I use my palm Pilot for addresses and quick notes and Yahoo Reminders for anything I need to remember.

ADD is getting wierd looks from people because you write notes on your wrist, and especially when you're bald, you look like a gangster with a tattoo on his wrist.

They never seem to notice that the tattoo changes shape or color or even disappears some days...

ah yes...baldness and ADD....I often get more of a "hey look at that freaky skinhead" look from people...but I know what your talking about....just imagine if you spoke and wrote in german!!!! (yikes)....I find I get these looks sometimes too because I dont always smile a lot...especially when I have a lot to do and I am walking around campus looking straight ahead of me...I dont mind the wierd looks and sometimes at night it works as a criminal deterrent as well...people mess with you less if you look moderately scray/borderline nuts...hehehe...

MC

ADD is... putting your keys in the fridge on purpose so you can't forget to take your lunch with you.

Yeah, I have very little fear of being robbed- your typical thief looks for victim types, and while I am a very nice guy, I LOOK like someone who would kick your a** with little or no provocation.

I would imagine you've had to learn to wave to people with your left hand to prevent misunderstandings... kinda like a memory of my brother and I at church when we were younger, and looking at a fold-out of some image of a galaxy in OMNI magazine- people thought we were looking at playboy! It took us a few minutes to figure out why everyone walking by was giving us dirty looks... it was very funny next week when the minister talked about not judging lest ye be judged, and then showed the congregation the fold-out in the magazine.

There were a few red faces as my brother and I laughed and laughed... some of them knew why...

ADD is having SOMETHING in your hand, such a remote control, and you put it down somewhere for one second closeby to do some very quick task. Two seconds later you look for that remote, and you can't find it....

ADD is watching a movie on T.V. and during the commercials you channell surf but only a few moments at a time...because you MUST get back to that movie RIGHT where it left off for a commerical. But if it's still doing commericals, you start the channel surfings over and continue to channel surf but for a shorter and shorter period of time until that movie comes back on...

ADD is feeling disorganized and overwhelmed about some SMALL little task...where non-ADDer's would think it's no big deal....such as putting a postage stamp on an envelope and actually mailing the envelope.

ADD is raking leaves during the fall seasons in New England...and "tiring" only after three minutes of raking...

I could go on:)

come to think of t, I do wave with my left hand always....probably because I am left handed....(which I guess is a good thing in my case).....ADD is also obsessively checking the ADD support page to see if someone has responded to your message and then realizing an hour later that you have accomplished nothing in the past hour except responding to a bunch of people with ADD about having ADD....and still feeling somewhat good about accomplishing nothing...

MC

roger that about stamps and mailing stuff, and also compulsively checking for activity.

Do all ADD people make use of online pre-scheduled banking? I have come to the conclusion that it would be cheaper than paying the late fees...

No Force I don't take advantage of pre-scheduled on-line banking...I'm afraid something will get screwed up and they will take all my money:( Also I don't know how to do it:(....I still opt for longhand billpaying every month...and try to do it on the first of the month when I pay my rent so that there will be no late fees...

We use the pre-scheduled paying online, but mostly my wife does that for us! :) The non-add person in the family!

Overload--Regarding checking for posts, yes I do that sometimes as well. One thing that helps though is checking the email notification box when you post. Also it is not available when you reply, but there is a way around that. After you relply you have 60 minutes that you can edit your post, so right away if go to edit and then check the email notification box.

I just went back in and check the Email Notification box.:D

Earth to Barbette, yoohoo, calling Barbette, come in Barbette !

ADD is...asking someone for directions and then realising that the universal translator ain't working and I don't understand Klingon ;)

Paul: Oh good one...asking for directions...people spout them out SOOOOO fast and only a handful will automatically repeat them in a summary....:( Amazing how when people ask ME for directions, I assume they are like me...ADD....and so I say them and then say them again, ONLY SLOWER:)

Originally posted by aforceforgood
ADD is going to the bathroom holding the jar of mayonnaise in your hand, because you know if you set it down, you'll forget to put it in the refridgerator. Originally posted by aforceforgood
ADD is getting wierd looks from people because you write notes on your wrist, and especially when you're bald, you look like a gangster with a tattoo on his wrist.


OMG !!! So very funny !! :D :cool:

Paula

ADD is having to wash your clothes over and over for days because they smell moldybecause you keep forgetting to but them in the dryer...lol...

ADD is Calling your child by the cats name and not even knowing it till your kids are laughing and tell you what you said....lol...

ADD is forgetting you have someone on hold on call waiting... :D


Paula

ADD is being able to expose your self to your friends and tell them what silly thing you do just to try and maintain a sense of normality

Pap, I don't suppose you've been to Las Vegas to go the Star Trek Experience? If you get over here, it's well worth it.

Not only do they have a simulator ride in which they BEAM YOU UP to the ship- and it really seems real- but there is also a large section of shops, restraunt and bar based on the deep space nine set. Totally freakin cool.

A klingon even tried to pick a fight with me. Nice!

Strangely though, they don't sell horgones there. Well, I guess it's not so strange after all, it is Las Vegas and that sort of thing is legal there... :D

ADD is getting up in the morning for work and sitting down with your ADDfourms friends and now not wanting to go to work

****

I love how some post work just like our mind

talk about one thing and then slowly drift off on a new tangent

but thats ok cuase we all know why

ADD is having 10 books on poetry and writing checked out from the library and 10 hold requests waiting. It also wanting to read them all but not really having time to get to them all.:D

ADD is reading every post in here sometimes 3 or 4 times and still not being able to remeber where a paticular post is when you want the information from it.

I guess I have a couple of "classics":

1) When downstairs, I think of something I need upstairs, but when I get upstairs, I can't remember what it was I was after. I have to go back downstairs and stand exactly where the thought first came to me and only then can I remember. By that time, I'm so annoyed that I've self-dosed on adrenalin and can remember the second trip up.

2) I'm of two minds on bills. I hate the late fees, but I see only a different kind of fee hitting me when I lose track of automatic payments and THEY start bouncing because I have less money in them than I think I do.

My wife is very organized and pays lots of bills online with automatic deductions. However, I would feel like a freeloader and like some kind of dependant adolescent if I took her up on her offer to manage my bills too.

The best solution I've ever come up with is to deal in cash as much as possible (the ATM is a big help here), and keep my accounts to a minimum. Of course, that, too is easier said than done!


Enuf said for now.


Ken

Vin, kudos on your desire to stand on your own two feet, but hey, everyone has strengths AND weaknesses. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought marriage was at least partly about two people who want to help the other person.

I'm jealous of your untapped resource- if I had someone offer to handle my bills, I'd accept immediately before they thought twice about it!

I'm undiagnosed and without health insurance, and like I told a friend the other day, it is not POSSIBLE for me to do as much paperwork as someone without ADD (at least without meds, don't know yet). I've come to terms with that, unpleasant as it is, and just work around it as best I can.

Would you say your wife was being a freeloader if she were pregnant and asking you to help her with things she couldn't do because of her condition?

I do use online banking but don't set up the bills to be paid in advance. I use MS Money to remind me when bills are due, I open it every day or two. That way I can be sure the money is there before I pay a bill and it only takes a day or three to post to the billing account, depending on the company. You do need to set up the accounts you want to pay in advance but only once. Then use it like a checkbook and make a single payment . You can download your checking info daily if you want to, I do so I can keep track, and money will balance your acct .

I use the ATM Machine

I put my card in and it gives me money and has never failed me yet

My wife works in the bank and when Im away in the big truck and use the ATM she knows exactly where I am and how much money im spending

Im not sure if i like that lack of freedom but since I dont even know what my bank account number is I better not complain

Sheepish Grin

1) OK -- I stand corrected. As far as the "freeloader" bit is concerned, that is the old AD/HD negative self-esteem shtick that I let get past me -- again!

Personally, I think marriage is sharing talents as well as liabilities. What I am personally most proud of in my marriage is keeping my job when my wife lost hers (twice). That's saying a lot for someone with AD/HD to keep a job with one company for 18 years (so far)!

2) Checkbook? I started relying on my ATM printouts for my balances because I cannot keep a correct balance in my checkbook. On the other hand, I strongly suspect I have an LD on top of the AD/HD -- for example, I cannot remember phone numbers two seconds after hearing them on the phone or reading them off a sheet of paper.

Ken

No problem, that's what friends are for, to show us things from a different viewpoint. I know how you feel at having to rely on someone else for things, it rankles, but at this stage in my life, I've had to accept that there are certain things I'm just not good at.

Yeah, keeping a job for 18 years w AD/HD is darned good, I have the typical 2 year average. Congrats!

Well force
I obviously wasnt included in the statistics for job retention if a 2 year average was obtained

Grin

I agree, those statistics are skewed.

I have had 5 distinct positions at this company in those 18 years, the longest lasting 6 years, the shortest 2. However, this counts as "one job".

Philosophical question: does this make me one of the children with AD/HD that "outgrew" it, or does it mean bean-counters can't count worth beans?

Ken

I had a problem with my homeowner's association management company waiting until the 20th of the month to mail a bill due on the 1st of the next month. I like to pay all of my bills at once, and that one always ended up being the odd one because it came 1-2 weeks after all the others.

So it ended up being late a couple of times, and this management company had a nice $5 late fee (not sure that's legal, especially on a bill that's only $30 in the first place..)

My solution for that was to send them a double payment of $60, in effect making my account paid one month in advance.

That basically gave me one full month to pay the next bill after I got it in the mail. I'd pay that bill with the rest of my bills and so kept a $30 credit on my account at all times.

My HOA eventually fired that management company and got another one, which bills quarterly. Haven't had any problems with them so far.

The trick of sending a double payment should work with pretty much any bill that has the same amount due every month (or close to it--for example, my phone bill doesn't change much from month-to-month).

Originally posted by aforceforgood
roger that about stamps and mailing stuff, and also compulsively checking for activity.

Do all ADD people make use of online pre-scheduled banking? I have come to the conclusion that it would be cheaper than paying the late fees...

1) Okay I have been in Florida over a week and there is one suitcase still which remains as yet unopened and unpacked...

2) it rained yesterday...and I freaked (it never rained in Califorinia) and I had no umbrella....

3) The more organized I try to get, the more disorganized I feel.....

Getting out of the shower and realizing you didn't rinse the shampoo out of your HAIR !

On the same day..... After being out and about in the morning(seeing many people) coming home to find you have your shirt inside out ! Really wouldnt have been a big deal, except the design on the front was VERY backwards.....lol....
(it's what happens when you grab a shirt out of the dryer, not bothering to click on the light and throwing it on)......lol...:D


If I don't have ADD, I'm in trouble.....lol...

Paula

Oh my God Paula, the shirt inside out thing...I do that all the time and then when people say, "hey you have your shirt on inside out" I just about want to die". I tell them "but I don't have a husband to let me know, after all". SOME EXCUSE! Also I noticed today that half of my wardrobe is thrown askew all over a chair in my bedroom. I just can't hang things up as I take them off. Also, are the dishes in the dishwasher clean or dirty? No system yet with my roommate/friend.

Originally posted by joanrdtobe
ADD is having SOMETHING in your hand, such a remote control, and you put it down somewhere for one second closeby to do some very quick task. Two seconds later you look for that remote, and you can't find it....

ADD is feeling disorganized and overwhelmed about some SMALL little task...where non-ADDer's would think it's no big deal....such as putting a postage stamp on an envelope and actually mailing the envelope.

I'm so bad about "losing" things I was holding 1 second ago! One example of hundreds: I have a coping system to ALWAYS put my car keys in the very same pocket of my purse no matter how soon I'm going to need them again--and I will STILL forget where I put them. Worse, a lot of times I won't even be able to SEE them in their special little pocket even though I DID put them there!! Gotta laugh! :D

The thing about the overwhelming SMALL little task is soooooo me! I'll walk by an empty glass--or worse plant myself on the couch each evening for several days in a row--and not take it to the kitchen sink or dishwasher--all of 10 steps away. Lazy? Probably, but it's sad when I see a glass in my bathroom and thing to myself, "Since you're going near the kitchen next, take that glass with you." Selective memory?

ADD is forgetting that you're hungry ...

or forgetting that you have to go to the bathroom ...

or getting something out to take for a headache and then forgetting to take it (or forgetting that you've already taken something for that headache) ...

or forgetting to tell your doctor about your forgetfulness when you talk with her about ADD ...

at least, I hope that's all ADD :confused:

I guess it could just be all in my head :D

ADD is FUN

Fun when you can openly admit some of the silly things we do (or don't do) to ourselves and friends and laugh about them

That's probally becuase as much as we try, to not do it again, we probally will.

and laugh about it again as we will have forgotten about the last time we did it and how much we laughed about it then

That's probally becuase as much as we try, to not do it again, we probally will.

and laugh about it again as we will have forgotten about the last time we did it and how much we laughed about it then


That's probally becuase as much as we try, to not do it again, we probally will.

and laugh about it again as we will have forgotten about the last time we did it and how much we laughed about it then

That's probally becuase as much as we try, to not do it again, we probally will.

and laugh about it again as we will have forgotten about the last time we did it and how much we laughed about it then


That's probally becuase as much as we try, to not do it again, we probally will.

and laugh about it again as we will have forgotten about the last time we did it and how much we laughed about it then

That's probally becuase as much as we try, to not do it again, we probally will.

and laugh about it again as we will have forgotten about the last time we did it and how much we laughed about it then

I dont know if it will help girls as I have also put my shirt on inside out. When my wife tells me about it I just ttake it off and throw it in the clothes hamper and continue with what I'm doing without my shirt.

That might work for you , ,,,,,,,,,,,,,, nah I doubt it!!!!

ADD is bleeping your car alarm, taking about 20 steps or so, pausing in uncertainty, then bleeping it again just to be sure you did.

I don't often have the problem of having my shirt inside out, but on the other hand, I do often end up wearing my shirt backwards, not noticing that anything's strange until someone alerts me to it...

I've also had a few occasions where I was wearing a button-down shirt, and put each button into the hole directly below where it was supposed to go. Again, I didn't notice anything was wrong until someone pointed it out.

[sigh] I know the feeling all too well...

Here's one: How about always opening the same WRONG drawer first before opening the right one when looking for the toothpaste twice a day! Even my understanding wife rolls her eyes and laughs at that one. Can't blame her--I do too.

:eek: Holy cheese bread!! That is a perfect example!! I have over 12 organizers from paper to electronic and have never managed to use any of them. You are exactly right! I hve intentions to use them but then suddenly realize the year is over and I will have to buy more inserts if I want to try again!! Arrrrrg!!!

MM

Originally posted by missing_cues
That kicks ***....I have been there...(well, not right there...but you get the picture). I would say that ADD is buying personal organizer after personal organizer in order to organize yourself only to lose them or lose track of them or never getting around to using them and then realizing that you need to buy a new one because the next year has come around and so you buy one and promise yourself that this year will be different and you will get organized and that you will use that new organizer/daily planner everyday,..and then you lose it your first day back after christmas holidays..... :eek:

I have given up on day planners/orgainzers. I just don't use them. I have bought the Franklin/Covey planners, twice. Then I made my own using Outlook, printing out daliy calendar days. Awile ago I just said, "I am Done" with these, much to the pleasure of my wife, so we don't buy anymore. I even bought a palm pilot, but do not use it the way it was intended. It is just an electronic address book for me, and a place to jot some notes if I don't have a pen and paper.

The best thing for me is Yahoo reminders. They are free and easy to use. I make myself a reminder of something I need to do then it sends an email to my Yahoo email, work email, and text pager, 1 hour before and 15 minutes before I need to do the task.
I highly recommend Yahoo Reminders!! Best thing for my orgainzation and remembering my brain. One of the great features is the recurring reminders; I have it remind me every week to take out the garbage on Wed night. You can have monthly reminders, weekly, bi-weekly, daily, just Monday thru Friday, etc. I think they are great, in case you couldn't tell!!!!!!

:confused:ADD is "reading" a paragraph or page and then suddenly realizing... you never made it past the first five words.

:(ADD is sitting in a room full of people and realizing how 'different' you are... in both good and bads ways.

MM

ADD is being a prisoner of the present.
trapped by an attitude of ineptitude.
confined by a mind seemingly surpassed by the masses, whom we study.
surrounded by those unaware of our findings,
and being set free because of it.

ADD is going back into your house for the fourth time in a row because you remembered something else you forgot, and being late to work because of the added time involved in unlocking and relocking your door four times...

ADD is having a resume that looks like Swiss Cheese...

ADD is accidentally giggling in church, at funerals, and when your partner undresses in front of you... because of something you remember from earlier today...

ADD is refusing to make promises because you know damn well you will never remember to carry them out...

ADD is being a marked man in every local and school library for lost books and overdue fines...

ADD is thinking of the perfect example of what ADD is when you are nowhere near a computer or a pen and paper...

ADD is sitting down to play a game with your kid, and the kid has to tell you that you have played through supper, the entire evening, and his bedtime...

ADD is not being able to find anything if someone cleans up your desk...

ADD is creative bolts of inspiration that you just KNOW would change the world if only someone with money and power would listen to you...

ADD is starting at a new job.....and you're learning TONS of details and information and can't remember squat...and have to keep asking the same questions over and over again....BUT your people skills are really great.....

AND you want someone who compliments you (on your general people skills) to report that compliment to your boss.....because you're afraid that the boss will only see the "struggles" and not the good stuff -- such as compliments on your people skills...

And you go in and out of "I hate this job" and "This job ain't so bad"....

And you imagine that "next" job already....

And you wonder if your co-workers around you think you're dumb or slow.....

ADD is explaining complex maths in laymans terms for someone... then having to ask that someone what day of the week it is... :D

ADD is setting off 3 alarm clocks around the house to remind you to take your meds.

ADD is still having summer fans out in the middle of the winter-- and not even noticing it until someone points it out to you.

ADD is stopping in the middle of a sentence because you can't remember what you were going to say.

ADD is making multiple grocery lists (because you keep misplacing them) and then going to the grocery store days later.......without your list.

ADD is not really breaking promises--- just forgetting that you ever made them.

ADD is spending more time in a parking lot looking for a car than it would take you to walk home if you'd left the car in the garage.

ADD is when you find you've become very good friends with the local locksmith.

ADD is having great ideas but not being able to get them down on paper before they've left your head.

ADD can be found in Roget's Thesaurus under the word "Procrastination."

ADD is knowing that it will take you 3 days to mail the letter/bill that you just stamped yesterday.

ADD is knowing that it will take you 5 days to open the mail that you just got this morning.....and that's on a good work week!

ADD is walking into a room and wondering why in the world you just walked there. Giving up and deciding to walk back to whence you came. Finally remembering and heading back again-- only to be stopped and forget again. Then finally yelling out in your loudest voice.... "Hey honey, would you check the garage door?" because you know you'll forget again if you try it one more time!

ADD is taking 2 hours to look up the word "anthropologist" in a dictionary, because you had to first stop and read: "Alabama," "albino," "amber," "ambrosia," "amphatheatre," "angel," "ankel," and "anomoly."


~Sandy

Oh yes! Directions. And someone telling you something in general for that matter....;) Either I'm just staring into the air, not thinking of anything particular, or daydreaming, or doing something else so I can't hear anything, just mumbling. I say "yeah" and "mmhmm" but actually don't listen. And that about zapping the TV channels over and over and over again. I zap around (when there is a commercial for something I want to see, for example) and then I just keep zapping and forget what I wanted to see and watch something else instead.
Then I can go somewhere and I might have forgotten what I was supposed to do. I can be quite good at remembereing groceries that I must buy, but often I forget something.
Someone else was writing about telephone numbers. I have the same problem. I have to check the number at LEAST 2 time, preferably 3 times, because I can't look at a number for 2 sec. alone and remember it. But, I don't sit for 2 min. remembering it either. No, I have a few quick looks and THEN I can make the call.


Erik

ADD is checking a thread here at the forums because you can't remember whether or not you've already posted in it... :D :D :D

Re; remembering telephone numbers- have you tried saying it out loud? I have all those problems others mentioned with remembering what I went into a room for, but found that when I hear something, I can remember the SOUND.

ADD is disconnecting your cable from the box and hooking it directly into the television because the remote they gave you doesn't click fast enough.

Driving on the freeway on a Saturday (day off) and then automatically driving to work instead of where I'm suppose to be going. I do a lot of daydreaming in the car when I'm driving so I'm notorious for missing the turn-off. I'm also notorious for constantly trying out new "shortcuts". I especially feel the need to do this when I'm in a hurry and I'm running late. I think that I will miraculously find a great shortcut that will get me there on time but actually I'm more late than I would have been.

Loaning a friend 50 dollars and then a week later asking her why she is trying to give me 50 dollars. She has to then remind me that I loaned it to her a week ago. I try to document as much as possible in my Palm Pilot. Sometimes I'll read something I've written and can't even remember what the heck I'm talking about or when I wrote it.

Have you ever looked at photos of yourself from a few years back and not remembering ever owning the outfit you were wearing? Or pictures from high school and not remembering even being there in that photo with those people? I also think I confuse childhood memories with photographs and/or stories told to me. I think I remember a certain thing but I'm really thinking of a photo or a story my parents told me. Sometimes I'll even think something happened to me that actually happened to someone else because I'm so visual when people explain things to me that I feel like I'm there. I don't know how to explain it but hopefully, you'll get what I'm trying to say.

And my favorite ADD moments are long rambling stories and random tangents. I know I drive my friends crazy sometimes but I am pretty entertaining.

Andrea

Laying in Bed at night Watching TV and taking the remote controls battery door off for the eleventybillionth time just to have something to do.

Originally posted by Bullitt78
Laying in Bed at night Watching TV and taking the remote controls battery door off for the eleventybillionth time just to have something to do.

LOL I am always doing that... hehehe

I don't know how many of those things I've broken. My wife just got me a Tivo. So I'll let you know how long that battery door last. I have yet to find a door that will last long. Then out comes the Duct tape or electrical tape.

Bullitt78

ADD is......doing the trash day sprint week after week after....

ADD is throwing an emergency load into the washer early in the morning, and restarting the dryer when it stops (to ensure your favorite jeans get dry), only to realize at the last minute that the clothes are still sitting in the washer. Sigh.

lol krisp, What's your high score on "warming up" a load that needs to be folded?

ADD is getting two months worth of cleaning done in three hours.

Originally posted by FlakeyGirl
lol krisp, What's your high score on "warming up" a load that needs to be folded?

Oh, who can count that high .... ? :rolleyes:

My two "at home" sons are named Skye and Quay.

Of course I'm always getting their names mixed up.

When I try to address Quay, I'll quickly say..... "SkyeQuayKid"

So, to make it easy, I just call him Squid.

Oh well.

EkimDam

The dreadded ADD moment, for me, that is sure to resurface when least expected:

(There are a couple of irritating moments, but this is the most annoying):

I am at a store (any store). I am at the register ready to pay for something. The kind cashier rings up sale and tells me the amount--this happens, normally, when I buy something relatively small that would cost under $20.

Anyway, the amount would be something that costs $5 or whatever. I open up my wallet to pay, in which case there will normally be within it a few $1 bills and a larger bill. I am reaching into the money area to pull out the larger bill, where I would be expecting some change and/or a recipe. I grab the bill and hand it over to the cashier, upon which he or she will stare at me with a blank look on their face.

I stand there waiting for a response when I embarrissingly discover that I, in fact, gave them a $1 bill, far less than the bill I was so confident I had handed the person :eek: .

If this had happened once in a while, or if I had done this while engaged in conversation with someone, it would be a perfectly understandable mishap. This same scenario has happened so many times, I'm almost embarrassed to admit I have a brain :mad:. It will happen when I am specifically making sure they are getting the right amount of payment, but this can happen anyway. It hasn't happened much for awhile, but every-so-ofter, it will come out of its hiding place.

Of course, there was that time I thought I bought my mother a Mother's Day card and only discovered, after I had signed it and gave it to her, that the card was, in fact, a Birthday Card, instead :eek:. The parents should have picked up there was something drastically wrong with me on that day, but they, again, failed to take action.

Oh well. I think that is enough on embarrassing moments from my past. :rolleyes:


Jay.

LOL Mike----With all five of mine around, with lots of 'J's' and 'k's' , I almost never get anyone's name right. Throw in some pets and that's an ADD nightmare. If I get flustered, I'll usually just say, "YOU know who you and you know what you did!":mad:

Hehehe East_Coast_guy, I do stuff like that... the worst example lately: redid a resume for a new job, was TOTALLY proud of how it turned out... discovered only AFTER it was delivered to the prospective employer that it had my old contact information on it from before my last move... :( :( :(

ADD is when your most used phrase is "Could you remind me to...?"

ADD is telling your spouse something and finding out that you've already told them the same thing 3 times already.

Here's one of my worst examples. This happened back in my 20s, shortly after college. I was very restless and dissatisfied, and was taking some night classes to keep myself busy. (Which career was I thinking about switching to? I can't remember now.)

Anyway, on this particular evening I was short on time. The class was 20 miles away, and I'd stayed late at work. I whipped through a drive-through and picked up a burger and fries. I was famished. I put the food on the passenger seat so that I could start munching on it once I got out of the city traffic. It smelled wonderful.

So, once on the highway, I eagerly picked up my burger to take a bite .... and there was already a bite taken out of it!!! :eek: Did I do that? I couldn't remember doing that. What if some vengeful fast-food employee took a bite out of it before wrapping it up? Gross. Nonetheless, I was starving. Not eating the burger was out of the question. So I ate it, leaving a little semicircle around the bite mark .... just in case.

ADD is never organizing your desk/room until 4 AM the day before an important deadline because the only thing more terrifying than cleaning is reading or writing for more than 10 minutes.

I make food and don't remember eating it, just last night I asked my friend what happened to my sandwich? I knew I ate it just didn't remember.
ADD is calling your boyfriend, your last three boyfriend names.
ADD is never getting into my bath before it cools off.
ADD is never being able to decide what to do on a free evening until it is too late.
ADD is having 12 journals, with entries from 15 years mixed up in each one, written upside down on one page and rightside up on another. And 8 completely different styles of handwriting.
ADD is having 4 organizers, 4 address books. Yet relying on a bunch of scrap papers laying on every table to find numbers and memos.
well thats it for now, my bath got cold again.
j9

. . . having ten cans of tuna and fifteen packages of Raman noodles in your cupboard because everytime you go to the grocery store you buy more because you didn't bother to check to see what you needed before you went shopping.

ADD is really, really intending to print up the bumpersticker "I'm on my way to celebrate the birth of Christ by hacking down one of His trees! :p " this year for sure, and suspecting/knowing you won't get to it in time...

12 days and counting.

I think I may have given a girl the wrong phone number at the bar the other night not out of maliciousness, but my mind wsa somewhere else....Its too bad too because she was rather cute....

That is what BUSINESS cards are for... they have the right phone number of on them!

Yeah, but someone needs to invent business cards that leap into your pocket as you're walking out the door...

That is what disappearing ink, and "free" email addresses are for!

ADD is

When your boyfriend has to arrange the house so that your clothes make it into the hamper...

When your non-add boyfriend hopes you took your meds so he can keep up....

I dispatch vehicles all over the city...one day I sent one to Terie & Eall...The roads are really Erie & Teall...whoops

When you're having a conversation and suddenly stop...and then have to ask what it was you were talking about...

When you tell someone you have ADD...they say..."You must be really smart then huh!" and you think he is making fun of you when it is really supposed to be a compliment...*that was a tough one*

When your boyfriend has to ask where you put his clothes...b/c he can never find them when you put them away...

:)

Brand new ADD moment for today....


I just rented an apartment today. This is a big area (Southwestern Connecticut), with lots of unique communities, and I only had a few days in which to find a cheap place in a central location. I found a nice little place only 2 blocks from the beach, off the Long Island Sound. Apartments near a beach aren't usually cheap, but I found one right within my price range.

Anyway, there are probably many other places I could look to find just the ideal apartment, but here this one was staring at me, saying "rent me, please!", and I just had to go for it.

I first looked at the place yesterday, but I was unable to pay for the credit check to get approval to rent the place, because I forgot to bring my checkbook with me (again) . So, I told the real estate guy that I would be back today to pay for that and to sign papers.

This morning, I get ready to go to the real estate office to make the first payment for the apartment. I put my checkbook in the brown leather case I use to tote books, pens, and other stuff. I get to the office, but decide I wanted to take another look at the apartment. I pull out the checkbook to pay for the credit check, but the real estate guy said I could do it after I look at the apartment. I slip the checkbook in my back pocket, and grab a set keys to go look at the apartment.

About 1/2 hour later, I return to the office to make payments, but I completely forgot I had put the checkbook in my back pocket. This is partly because, it is thin, and I couldn't feel anything back there. So, I am looking thoroughly through my bookcase (and my car), knowing I put the checkbook in the case before I left home. I looked and looked, but it was "nowhere" :rolleyes:. Thinking I possibly set the checkbook on a table at home, I had to go all the way back home (about 12 miles) to get that or my other checkbook. I didn't see the first checkbook "anywhere" :rolleyes:. So, I grab the other checkbook and travel all the way back to the real estate office to make the payment.

I kept saying "I know that checkbook is with me somewhere." It wasn't until I got home, this evening, and emptied my pockets, that I found the checkbook still in my back pocket :rolleyes:. Oh brother! Another gap in those expensive Ritalin pills I've been taking.

Well, at least I rented myself a lovely apartment today and I will make sure I set up a station where I keep keys, wallets, money, and my checkbooks!!! :mad: all in one spot, so that when I leave my place, I will know there is no possible place for my things to be with me on my body someplace, and not some other place they shouldn't be.:mad:

East_Coast_guy, my story is so much like yours that it's eery:

I had a coveted ticket to the first home basketball game. I put it in my jacket pocket and headed out into the night, remembering that I had told my new psychologist that I had carefully planned ahead for a good time out, and wasn't that great!?

I even found a rare, great parking space near the field house. When I arrived at the gate, I reached in my pocket and handed the ticket to the ticket-taker. She was so puzzled it took her several seconds to hand the ticket back. I heard the cheers and the band playing inside. What was wrong? Why was she looking at me like I was some kind of weasel trying to pull a fast one?

The ticket turned out to be just the long stub, and it said, "University of Kansas vs. University of Colorado," and the year printed on the ticket was 2002. I was so embarrassed I just peeled out of the line, left, and jogged back toward my car. I had to call my husband and confess that my ticket to a sold-out game was going to waste because of my darned ADD. After I had hung up, I reached into my pocket and pulled out the ticket one last time. There, plain as day, was the GOOD ticket, the RIGHT ticket for that night's game. That dadgum stub had just sat in my pocket . . .the OTHER pocket . . . since last spring.

Rock Chalk Jayhawk!

I avoided that same ticket taker and made my way to my seat up in the rafters. I was jammed in among the crowd, and would be there for the next two hours, cheering. THEN I remembered that I had forgotten to lock my car.

Ace,

Please see my post on this thread from 12/07/03, entitled "Notorious", for even more eery feelings. We both might need to find new psychologists :p.


Peace,



Jay

I never told my psychologist, Jay. Or should I tell her? Maybe I'll save it for later when I'm all "fixed up," to illustrate how goofy I was w-a-a-y back in December, 2003. Or was it 2002?

ADD IS . . .
Having the mystical, magical powers to change solid objects into other objects in one's pocket or wallet, move then around without touching them, and transform them back to their original place and form again.

Well like everyone here I have had many ADD moments. So I will give you my latest.

Last night I was going to ride my bike from work to my Monthly ADD group meeting. I noticed my cell phone on my desk as I was getting ready to leave. I reminded my self to put in my knapsack. When the meeting was over I went to pull my cell phone out of my knapsack to let my wife know I was heading home and of course it was not there. It was still on my desk when I came in this morning.
Second, after changing and sitting down at the meeting I noticed my bike helmet was not with me. I went to the bathroom where I changed my cloths. No helmet. Went back to the room and my helmet was sitting on the back counter of the meeting room.
Jim

I was just kidding, there, Ace. Those who pretend to know anything about this thing, can't tell us much more than we already know.

I am working on ways for me to "isolate" the various activities I can be involved in during a short period of time. When I am reaching into my wallet to pay someone, almost everything else needs to be blocked out, for that second. In that moment, the most important thing is for me to give the cashier the right bill (ticket, receipt, address, or whatever) to the person I'm handing it to.

If there is other activity around me (it can be anything, and it can all be directly related to what we are doing--multitasking), grabbing for my attention, I just need to tell them to wait a second. If I prepare myself ahead of time to keep different activities separate (in my mind), it will be much easier than having to adjust in the moment.

If there is a lot going on, and I can't immediately find what I am looking for, that can add to more confusion, in which case my mind cannot think straight, at all. Then, I need to completely remove myself from the situation, and let my mind calm down.

Just start telling yourself every morning that you (anyone here) is going to find one tiny way to make one area more manageable or organized. I started doing this years ago when I got tired of forgetting keys or wallets or payments or anything. I began to associate things, like keeping my wallet and important payments to mail in the same spot. In the morning, when I grabbed my wallet and keys, the payments were right there. Then, you just get in the habit of doing things like this, and most of problems can be eliminated--then, when embarrassing things happen occationally, we are better able to accept it and laugh about it later.

Just keep the faith and all will work out in the end.


:) :) :)



Peace,


Jay

Thanks. I totally agree with you, and reestoring a certian rationality and confidence is my goal for now. This observation of yours was especially true for me:
"If there is a lot going on, and I can't immediately find what I am looking for, that can add to more confusion, in which case my mind cannot think straight, at all. Then, I need to completely remove myself from the situation, and let my mind calm down."

Usually, I have actually not really lost the item[s] I am panicking over. You've clarified the mechanism at work in this kind of situation. It is such a good feeling to reclaim that balance and calm, and discover that you have passed through the storm and come out into the sunshine again.

I really do like to create some automatic patterns, too. I try never to deviate from certain learned routines. Once in a while, if I am excited (e.g. "I heard the cheers and the band playing inside") my memory fogs over.) "Ordinary" people would be shocked to know that my small purse and car keys "live" in the car, and that I wear my little remote door button on a ribbon around my neck. I also stash my cell phone in my bra(!) when I go out, if I don't have pockets in what I'm wearing. But don't tell anyone!

Originally posted by biking guy
Well like everyone here I have had many ADD moments. So I will give you my latest.

Last night I was going to ride my bike from work to my Monthly ADD group meeting. I noticed my cell phone on my desk as I was getting ready to leave. I reminded my self to put in my knapsack. When the meeting was over I went to pull my cell phone out of my knapsack to let my wife know I was heading home and of course it was not there. It was still on my desk when I came in this morning.
Second, after changing and sitting down at the meeting I noticed my bike helmet was not with me. I went to the bathroom where I changed my cloths. No helmet. Went back to the room and my helmet was sitting on the back counter of the meeting room.
Jim

This wil get to the point...

I heard a woman interviewed on Marrianne McParkland, the PBS Radio Jazz show, and she said that she had to pay attention to her right hand, but that her left hand "just knew what to do."

So I started thinking about that a lot.. It sort of haunted me, and i noticed, things I put in my right hand got left behind the instant i needed my right hand to do something else.

But stuff i gave to my left hand stayed until the "final destination" showed up.

In fact, I could hand multiple things to my left hand, until i looked like a comedy routine, and my left hand would hold onto a thing until its 'proper place" became available.

When I can remember, I use this to my advantage. It avoids me losing stuff INSTANTLY and WITHOUT CLUES like my right hand will do.

Originally posted by Ace
ADD IS . . .
Having the mystical, magical powers to change solid objects into other objects in one's pocket or wallet, move then around without touching them, and transform them back to their original place and form again.

It is a magical power, isn't it? A couple of years ago, I made an emergency run to the store before heading out for our family Christmas gathering, then stopped to buy gas. Horror of horrors, my credit card was GONE. I looked behind all the cards, looked in all the pockets ... no card. I rushed back to the store to see if I'd left it there. Nope. Checked the car, went home and checked my usual piling places .... nope. Finally, in desperation, I dumped everything out of my wallet, and there it was. I'd put it back in there upside down. A good example of how ADD panic can short-circuit your brain if you let it... :rolleyes:

Wheel, that's very interesting about the left hand. Maybe I should give my left hand more responsibilities and see if that works for me too.

The other night I was at dinner and, after having the location of fajita quesadillas (sp?) on the menu specifically pointed out to me and deciding in my mind that was what I wanted to order, once the server came to take orders, apparently out of my mouth came an order for fajita NACHOS. In my head I said quesadillas, so I'm expecting quesadillas to be brought to me. Instead, I get a plate of fajita nachos! I was astounded at this hysterically funny ADD turn of events.... Gotta love total lack of working memory, huh? :D

I had an ADD moment just today. My H had told me earlier that we'd run out of stamps and he was going to go on Monday to the Post Office. I was headed out to do some last minute shopping for a few small items and saw some cards which I swear had stamps on them. Thought I'd do H a favor and mailed them. I guess I should have looked through each one. I feel like a nitwit. Now my H has to catch the postman when he opens the box on Monday. Boy do I hate when I do dumb stuff like that. Oh well...... Dee:(

Actually, something my dad did. He went to walk the dog. And forgot...the dog.

I want a donut.

Checking my watch, then asking someone what time it is.

Pouring a drink, mind wanders, and comes back as the beverage is pouring all over the counter.

Writing a check, ask someone for the date. They say something like, "12/21" and I still cannot write the check because I'm too embarrased to ask them WHAT YEAR it is!

Rearanging all of the furniture in my house in 25 minutes. Boyfriend comes home and wonders if he's in the right house :D

Peeling off all of the stickers on a rubix cube and glueing them back with all of the colors grouped together; and still feeling like I've legitimately solved the puzzle.

My ADD moments are so common that I dont even think of them any more...I just know that thats how it goes with me. The most ANNOYING, IRRITATING, FRUSTRATING thing for me is losing stuff when I HAVENT moved. Like the remote for the TV, my ink pen when Im trying to finish my paper work, or the tape when wrapping presents. The stuff just disappears...i look and look, get up and look, still cant find it...and I know I didnt eat it!!! Sit down, and like magic, there it is. That drives me crazier than anything!!

Last summer, I had poured out my sons medication (yes his ADD meds). Stood there talking a minute to my mother, popped the meds in my mouth, took a swig of diet coke, and kept talking. John said..."Mama, did u just take me medicine?" Fortunately, that was not the last of his meds, so he had his usual dose. As I had taken my meds earlier, didnt see any effects from his.

ADD is: being pulled in many directions at the same, not knowing where to turn next or what to do next and consequently doing nothing, not finishing a train of thought but starting another just anyhow and then not finishing that and never knowing what you are really doing or trying to do until you have a moment of quiet in which you can concentrate to find your way back in your thoughts..., racing your thoughts and finding yourself glued to a daydream one hour later while not knowing where the hour went, losing your job without ever knowing why you were fired, not finding a job in spite thinking that you are perfect fit for a number of them, etc. etc. etc

I can relate..

On the topic of daydreaming; I just saw a movie in a theater today that I adore (second time seeing it)- and by the time it was over I realized that I had daydreamed through about a fifth of it despite that I enthralled by it. The same happened the first time I'd watched it. Third time's a charm???

What was the movie?!

oh man! Return of the King- baaaaaaaaaaaaaaawwwl! Sorry peter Jackson!

In relation- when watcing Jackson's adaptations; I can remember every particular of Tolkein's trilogy as Jackson either held to it or deviated from it; I even catch really subtle chapter title references (like the 'shortcut to mushrooms' from the Fellowship). AND YET- I have trouble remembering my own phone number and address. I sometimes forget my own birthdate when I have to write it- I never seem to know what day of the week it is, and can't tell what time it is. And yet I could tell which sceneries in the movie were inspired by Alan Lee. :rolleyes:

Adhd is going to get a beer. Then walking away. Your husband goes and gets a beer out of the fridge and you ask him what the hell he's doing. He goes huh? and you say, you've got a fresh beer right there on the counter. And he says, hon, I just watch you put that out, open it, and sit down on the couch. At which point you go, hey, that is my beer! Yay! bring me that beer. And that is the only drink you've had in several days, so you can't blame the beer itself.

I understand, but no one who could make a difference wants to listen to why.

it is as simply as where your orientation anchor is and is not.

Loosing your anchorage creates disorientation, by definition, in our cases. orientation is always referenced to SOMETHING. Those things you orient to are externally defined.

My sister in law gave me a watch for Chrismas. It was just what I wanted. Trendy, feminine.....she has great taste.

I've started wearing it and remembered why I didn't already have a watch. I cannot tell time. The watch she gave me is not digital. It has hands. To make matters worse, there are no numbers on the face of it, not even roman numerals, just slashes where the numbers should be.

I feel like a complete moron whenever someone asks me what time it is. It feels like several minutes pass before I can silently count by fives with my lips moving and pointing to each mark to figure out what the minutes are, store that figure away temporarily while I then work on the hour, retrieve the minutes figure and recombine it with the hour to tell what time it is.

AAARRGGGH!

I know what you mean! It's not even worth my time trying to read non-digital clocks and watches.

I really hate it when I stop someone on the street and ask them if they know what the time is, and they just show me their wristwatch (with hands). It's too embarrasing; I'll just peek at it, thank them, and move along.

LOL, SM,...not worth my time..., I have done that countless times.

I'll still wear my new watch, tho, it's so pretty! Maybe I'll stop someone on the street, show them my watch and ask THEM what time it is? I'm not proud, I just need to know the time;)

....when you loan a book to someone, forget you loaned the book out at all, look everywhere for the book, finally remember you loaned it out but can't remember to whom, and still don't have it back 10 years later.... :( ....and you really liked that book.....

...when you start doing the dishes but notice the floor is sticky and needs to be mopped, so you start sweeping it but then come across a large piece of trash that needs to be thrown away, so you throw it away and realize the trash needs to be taken out so you go through the house to find all the trash that needs to be taken out and then stop to watch a video with your 3 year old, then the phone rings and by the end of the day the only thing that got done was that one little piece of trash got put in the trash can.

:mad: Have you been spying on me?:mad:

Yes, but then I saw your neighbour doing something much more interesting... :D

You got that right....they are so noisy....I have to admit, I've turned into that grouchy lady who calls the cops on loud parties. I think it is sour grapes that I'm not invited!

I found my tribe!!!!
It was said of my Gramma, "She was a great cook, but you wouldn't want to watch her."
Making homemade salsa with a sink full of dirty dishes and no place to drain the chopped up tomatoes etc. No proper strainer either, so I fit a clean pair of pantihose around the container of chopped up stuff and decide to drain it in the toilet. The elastic snaps and I lose the contents down the loo.... (it seemed like a good idea at the time).
Frequently can't articulate right/left -- ie. It takes embarassingly long for me to conceptualize it, kind of like the time-telling described by Flakey Girl and Subtle. Also have to do calculations on my conceptual "fingers" -- groups of numbers appear as dominoes??????

Oh, heavens! Left vs. Right....don't get me started.:o

I write with my right hand and my left is left over... :D

Where I get screwed up is trying to use a screwdriver upside down, or twist a tap that is upside down... always get it backwards...

I can't open %&#@ without saying "Lefty loosey...."

It's looking down at your hand suddenly, getting fed up with yourself, and shouting, "Why the hell an I holding this???" because you don't remember picking it up, or even why.

It's being in a chatty group of people, not being able to discern much or stay involved in the conversation, but you can hear that the kitchen faucet is leaking.

For me, it's often being ignored no matter how loudly I speak, because people have just gotten used to the fact that I never have anything relevant to say.

Wifemomservant; the book thing drives me crazy. Are you a private library too?? I hated to do it, but a law that I must stick to now is: never ever ever loan a book to anyone, if you do consider it a gift!

I am sometimes amazed at how perversely reliable my left | right mix up is!

I can even "commit" and reverse myself, and I still get it WRONG!

Originally posted by SubtleMuttle
I can't open %&#@ without saying "Lefty loosey...."

Ahahahaha....This got me laughing. Why? Cause I DO IT TOO!!!

Does that mean that I should tie my left shoe loosely and my right shoe tightly? Hey, that could work!

Originally posted by SubtleMuttle
For me, it's often being ignored no matter how loudly I speak, because people have just gotten used to the fact that I never have anything relevant to say.
Now I may be wet behind the ears around here Subtle, but I look forward to reading your posts because they're....well relevant (and clever, thoughtful and funny to boot).
Because I grew up being the youngest and the only girl, I felt invisible much of the time and still do in certain circumstances. It was a given that nothing I said was worthwhile and it still hurts when it happens.

ADHD is buying lot's of calendars and dayplanners, planning to sue them to get organized. When you find them again and is ready to start using them, you have to buy a new one, because over a year has passed.

ADHD is not knowing left from right and nodding when people tell you directions, so you can avoid looking like a total idiot when saying "I'm sorry, I don't know left or right". (I always get the address, and try to find it myself ;P)

ADHD is not knowing "analog" clocks and looking like a fool when there's no digital clocks around. because ADHD also is that I always forget my digital watch somewhere. :P

ADHD is when you feel you're having a normal debate and the other person feel that you're having an argument.

ADHD is why I have to "win" discussions with people I know.

ADHD is being messy and liking it, when your partner can't stand it. ADHD also is having a hard time to change your messiness.

Originally posted by deMorr
ADHD is buying lot's of calendars and dayplanners, planning to sue them to get organized

Strangely, for ADDers, sueing someone might actually be more effective in creating organization than using the calendar itself. I've come to view buying calendars as roughly equivalent to buying a lotto ticket; it stands about the same chance of helping me get organized, but it makes me feel a little better.

ADD is not knowing the order of the months of the year until you get a job that requires you to know them. When I tell people this, they look at me in that quizzical way that I'm sure many of you have seen staring back at you when you say something like this, and understand a little better when I tell them I don't know exactly where Idaho is on a map, but I'm seldom lost outside of California either, so it hasn't really been an issue.

Originally posted by deMorr ADHD is being messy and liking it, when your partner can't stand it. ADHD also is having a hard time to change your messiness.

I prefer to call it a "rich visual environment".

LOL! Yes! (Said Like Ed McMahon)

<I am sometimes amazed at how perversely reliable my left | right mix up is!>

OMG I do that too!!! If I had a dime for everytime I told my hubby to turn left while pointing to my right......unsure of just which way I want him to turn in the first place.....that drives him NUTS! I can read a map better than him, but don't EVER let me go into a store or something to ask for directions! That's his job! LOL

Originally posted by rednecgrl
<I am sometimes amazed at how perversely reliable my left | right mix up is!>

OMG I do that too!!! If I had a dime for everytime I told my hubby to turn left while pointing to my right......unsure of just which way I want him to turn in the first place.....that drives him NUTS! I can read a map better than him, but don't EVER let me go into a store or something to ask for directions! That's his job! LOL

If I may say, A wonderful example of self imposed restriction from a task of identified incompetency, rather than an unrealistic demand that you be a good directions getter ANYWAY!

Good for you!

Originally posted by deMorr
[B]ADHD is when you feel you're having a normal debate and the other person feel that you're having an argument.

Dear God I do this all the TIME! I don't even feel it's a debate often, and someone sensitive (such as my wife) will suddenly get hurt that I am "mad at her". I am mystified! I wasn't mad at her, I wasn't even arguing with her!

On the subject of Left/Right, at the college I attended there was a sign on the wall that looked like this (I am not making this up):

WASHROOMS
NEXT RIGHT
<--------------

Going off to work with fly open, wrong shoes (untied, naturally), tie left at home on the dresser... :D

ADD is having to struggle not to smile when your spouse complains it took you six months to go through two boxes of old papers from the office, as you think, "Hey, only six months? That's not half bad!" ;)

How about smileing, and not being able the help it, when it is completely INNAPROPRIATE? Even when you don't feel like smileing; it just happens! And clearly sends the WRONG signals! ADD???

I relate krisp. "That's all you finished today??" boyfriend will ask incredulously, and I'll grin proudly.

ADD is making plans to clean the house all day, getting up in the am, turning on the computer, 3 hours later, you should really get that cleaning started, make lunch, I'll start that cleaning after I look up one more thing, 3 more hours pass, hubby's due home in an hour, so you get your whole day's cleaning done in that time to make it look like you've been cleaning all day....WHEW! But you still didn't get everything done you wanted to......oh well tomorrow's another day......what did I want to remember to look up on the internet in the morning? LOL
Jen

When telling my husband how to get someplace and I am in the passenger seat, I use the very specific "turn this way" or "turn that way". "This way" would be right, because it is closer to me, "that way" is left because is farther away. "Right here" means on passenger side and "over there" means up a ways on the driver's side. He often fails to see the crystal clear logic behind my method. I doubt I will ever be giving any directions anyplace where traffic flows the opposite way.

ADD is having a huge lexicon of excuses and lies that usually fools no one just in an attempt to do damage control when you've screwed up.
Hoping you haven't used the same excuse twice to someone.....
Being really bummed about it because you value radical honesty.
Being angry that you have to resort to excuses and fibs.

Originally posted by FlakeyGirl
When telling my husband how to get someplace and I am in the passenger seat, I use the very specific "turn this way" or "turn that way". "This way" would be right, because it is closer to me, "that way" is left because is farther away. "Right here" means on passenger side and "over there" means up a ways on the driver's side. He often fails to see the crystal clear logic behind my method. I doubt I will ever be giving any directions anyplace where traffic flows the opposite way.

Well, at least your apparent lack of information has some internal logic to it- my mom drives me up the wall by continuing to refer to things as "that thing over there" even when we're on the phone and there's no chance of my looking where she's pointing, though I've patiently asked "what is 'that thing' and where is 'over there'?" for YEARS.

I hope you've done your husband and your marriage a favor and at least explained the logic to him...

ADD is working on a multi-step project and doing step 4 before step 2, thus finding yourself having to undo step 4 to do step 1.

ADD is doing electrical wiring where you splice wires before you installed them. Gotta unsplice and install both halves first, that's if the right half is installed properly!

ADD is your mind blanking out just when you know a person or people are watching over your shoulder.

ADD is calling my daughter Angel when that's actually the cat's name.

ADD is having a slight panic attack when you are roaming around in the back of a large department store and you can't remember if you locked the parked car, which by the way, has a $1500 laptop in the front seat for the nearest burglar to see.

ADD is grabbing the wrong power cord for the laptop...now you are forced to use a system at work that's even more anti-ADD!

ADD is setting up one eternally fixed place in your house for ALL items required for daily departure (i.e., security badge, keys, lip balm, wallet, hearing aid (and batteries), and about 136 pennies threatening to weigh down the wall basket to the floor).

ADD is putting away the cereal in the fridge and the milk in the pantry.

Originally posted by navyman

-ADD is working on a multi-step project and doing step 4 before step 2, thus finding yourself having to undo step 4 to do step 1.

Check!

-ADD is doing electrical wiring where you splice wires before you installed them. Gotta unsplice and install both halves first, that's if the right half is installed properly!

Well I am not an electrician, but I can see this happening...

-ADD is your mind blanking out just when you know a person or people are watching over your shoulder.

Oh dear GOD I can't stand people watching over my shoulder! Especially bosses or my spouse! (heh)

-ADD is calling my daughter Angel when that's actually the cat's name.

Check!

-ADD is having a slight panic attack when you are roaming around in the back of a large department store and you can't remember if you locked the parked car, which by the way, has a $1500 laptop in the front seat for the nearest burglar to see.

Check!

ADD is grabbing the wrong power cord for the laptop...now you are forced to use a system at work that's even more anti-ADD!

-Check!

ADD is setting up one eternally fixed place in your house for ALL items required for daily departure (i.e., security badge, keys, lip balm, wallet, hearing aid (and batteries), and about 136 pennies threatening to weigh down the wall basket to the floor).

-Check!

ADD is putting away the cereal in the fridge and the milk in the pantry.

-Check!

LOL

ADD makes a determined person a stronger person.

ADD is about endless self discovery.

ADD does not make any one more special.

ADD is one of many. Educate yourself.

If you want to be mentally healthly you should do so with your lifestyle in all aspects.

He knows what I mean.

Add is talking to a customer about a cell phone plan and noticeing the cool color of the radio shack and haveing to ask with plan you were discussing. (Customer didn't get mad he actually thought it was real funny. He also said that the color was cool looking)
LOL

Originally posted by FlakeyGirl
He knows what I mean.

LOL!

Isn't that another odd feature of ADD? That every once in a while you find a like-minded person and you can almost experience telepathy with them? I.E. you can say, you remember that time with the thing, and the other person will know exactly what you are talking about? :eek: :D

Oh yes. But this is not that. We have just been together for 127 years.:rolleyes:

so he knows the code, eh?

You know you're ADD (and that it's genetic) when you take your kids out to eat, and they frighten the NT children sitting next to you. ("I'm not talking to those people, Mom!")

ADD is writing yourself a note on your left hand to remind yourself to check your calandar on the computer and forgetting the password.

ADD is jumping to a conclusion and making a snide remark to a friend only to regret it the rest of your life after losing that friend.

Originally posted by Nucking_Futs
ADD is writing yourself a note on your left hand to remind yourself to check your calandar on the computer and forgetting the password.

So true... mulitple unpredicatable levels of difficulty, finding opportunity in the smalest gap.

ADD is....

- not being unable to *listen* to a person because you're distracted by their *hand gestures!*

- forgetting what else I wanted to post.

- suffering from an incurable case of "foot in the mouth" disease

- not being able to truly focus on more than one thing at a time

- noticeably zoning out during meetings

- forgetting what you went in the grocery store for

- not knowing when to enter a group conversation

- trying to surf, read a book and watch tv simultaneously

- feeling hopelessly flawed and different

...having a million places in your life where you can describe how things could have gone infinitely better if only you had known...

you dry your dishes in the oven (no clean dish towels)

you take a cookie sheet out of the oven and set it down on the stove then turn around to grab the tinfoil. turn back around and grab the cookie sheet without the oven mitt on

this is not the first time you have burned your fingertips in this manner

Every time you are finished preheating the oven to 350 degrees, you remember that you forgot to take the dishes that were in it out first...

...and they are the dirty pots that you forgot you left in there a week and a half ago...

ADD is paying at least 10% more over the course of your life due to late fees...

ADD is managing to spend more at the library for overdue videos than you do at blockbuster... even though the videos are free until they're late... doh!

ADD is having your children ignore you because you are constantly calling them by the wrong name.

ADD is forgetting a year of your life

WHOOPSY,,,forgot one lol

ADD is losing your shoe,,,spending hours looking for it when you have a closet full and finally finding it in the dog food bad and being grateful that if nothing else you remembered to feed the dogs. Now have you seen my car key's?

turning on the shower, waiting for the water to heat up, it never does, calling the gas company under the assumption you did not pay your bill, discovering you paid it TWO DAYS ago, checking the faucet again and realizing you had been running the COLD WATER ONLY!

every plant you've ever owned has withered and died. so, now you don't have plants in your house. (animals and kids will come find you if they are thirsty, plants don't.)

this probably doesn't belong in "describe your ADD moments" as I am sure this has happened to nearly everyone, but,

-- you back out of the garage and bang into the door because the door hasn't finished opening all the way and you didn't notice.

perfectly normal, right?

Finished opening yet? I've backed out under the assumption I *HAD* opened the door.:rolleyes:

just what i thought, something *anyone* could do. :*)

~~~note to self: do not back out without opening new garage door~~~

fortunately i dont' have a garage :)

ADD is routinely leaving 4 hours of study time in order to get 1 hour of work done...

(done that ever since i can remember...)

note to self: make a note about where i left that note

what a collection of geniuses - you can all write so wittily.

I recognize myself in quite a few of those - esp. putting milk in panty and cereal in fridge.

lack of impulse control - saying something out loud and realizing after how inappropriate it was (esp. to your boss)

always feeling like a fraud.

Telling someone a story you think is cool, and seeing them nod patiently and tune out, and realizing that you have in fact told them this same story three times already...

Originally posted by pembroke
always feeling like a fraud.

GET OUTTA MY HEAD!:D :D

feeling like a little kid (or teenager) playing at being grownup.

(and every time i look in the mirror, i wonder who the woman is staring back at me?)

STOP IT!:D

You gotta fake it till you make it!

I feel like I'm pulling something off. I don't know what it is, though. :o

you remember to bring money for the pop machine and even put the change in your pocket ('cause yu had $.50 and you only needed $.40). but, you forget your pop in the machine and drive home without it :*(

You know your ADD when your boss rambles off a short list of things to do and you immediately feel overwhelved and panicky inside.

You know your ADD when you have lost your car keys for the 5th time this week and accused your husband of moving them from where you put them. (Actually, I accuse him of moving everything)

You know your ADD when are afraid if you don't clean the house soon the health department will come to condemn it if you don't.

You know your ADD when ya shoot your mouth off at your boss the day before your annual review.

I have many more but I will stop here.

When the long term effects of all of your problems come crashing down all at once...

I imagine my mind like a big engine, ( very )slow to start but with a big back up power.
More precisely, as many people with Add, my youth was not precisely full of joy. From this time i think i have many scars in my mind ( i don't know if there are physical or psychologic (? ) probably both).
As i grew up my mind have learned to circumvent these scars but it need time to do it every time i need to use a skill wich is impaired by the scars.
The lapse of time need is when the bad side of my add pop up.

It is when i'm am in low esteem , messy etc.

Happily it s also in these periods that i have new ideas, big insigths and cheerful moments with my wife and ours childrens.

Originally posted by waywardclam
Telling someone a story you think is cool, and seeing them nod patiently and tune out, and realizing that you have in fact told them this same story three times already...

add is ... starting *every* story you tell with, "stop me if i've told you this before."

Losing your glasses. Remember you left them on the dining room floor. Forgetting again and having your wife ask you the next day if you are missing something as she picks your glasses off the floor.

walking down a crowded street feeling just a little different than everyone else, but knowing they will never know or understand.

Having friends, relatives, partners, who no longer want to support you in a crisis because you seem to have them so often...

Leaving your car at the lot when car pooling to college,(my college was 50 miles from home) returning to your car 5 hours later after school not knowing where your keys are so you may need a ride home and then back to the car port. Looking in the car to see if you did ONCE AGAIN lock them in the car, only to find not only did you leave them locked in the car all day but the car has been running the whole time you were gone to school!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's locking your keys in the house and having to break in. Telling yourself never again will I do that and then turning around and locking your keys in the car. Who says life isn't an adventure!!:)

there was a transom window at my first apartment. i'd never had to carry keys before, so, i didn't have a system. consequently, i was locked out often. luckily, the transom window was backwards, so, i'd remove the window, and climb over the door and through the window. (ever have slivers on your stomach? not too bad, really, just don't laugh). worked for awhile, until the landlord "fixed" the window....

I've gotten kinda good a breaking into houses... lol!! I used to always lock myself out all the time... (i have some relaly creative stories... hehe)

Losing a big truck in a truck stop parking lot when you have a red truck, parking it and going into the truck stop and coming out and finding about 10 red trucks all in the same area and not know for sure where you left yours

ADD is needing to find an item, and clearly remembering that you told yourself, "I'll put this right here, so I'll remember" ... but NOT remembering where that special place was!

I 'm feeling very much my ADD when :

After Two hours during I was programming on Excell, my boss ask me to summarize a project I'm managing

... AND I HAVE NOTHING TO SAY, MY HEAD EMPTY
....AND I WORK ON THIS PROJECT FOR TWO MONTHS
...AND IT TAKE ME AN HOUR TO REMENBER THE INITIAL SCHEDULE AND TO SUMMARIZE THE EXCHANGES WITH OTHER SOFTWARE COMPAGNIES...

When i m like that it's horrible, in that case my memory wasn't very deficient, nor my organization. I have all the papers i need,
but they don't make any meaning.

To deliver my report i have to rebuild , no to live again, in my head two months of work (and big one )

In the end i was feeling inappropriate, lonely and VERY tired

P.S. : I m feeling my very bad add memory when i'm writing in a forum and i have to check almost every word in my french english dictionary...

...After more than 15 years of reading software and science fiction books in english:D

LOL xav, i know how you feel about having to summarize work you've been doing for like forever!!

whenever I have a good idea I KNOW everyone will like I just can't explain it for the life of me... and of course then it goes out of my head forever.

ADD IS PRINTING ALL THE INFORMATION FROM THE INTERNET THAT YOU THINK IS INTERESTING AND EXCITING, AND THIS YOU KNOW BY READING BITS AND PIECES. OF COURSE YOU PLAN TO READ MORE @ IT LATER. AFTER A YEAR OR SO YOU'VE ACUMULATED SO MUCH, YOU LOOK IT OVER, IT'S INFORMATION YOU ALREADY KNEW ANY WAY, YOU WERE JUST IN A VERY GOOD MOOD WHEN YOU READ IT. YOU THROW IT AWAY AND YOU TELL YOURSELF YOU WON'T DO THAT ANYMORE BUT YOU DO.

Originally posted by Christiana
whenever I have a good idea I KNOW everyone will like I just can't explain it for the life of me... and of course then it goes out of my head forever.

This is why one of my ADD-coping tools is a pen I keep on me at all times, usually hanging from the collar of my t-shirt, so I can jot down notes and brilliant ideas like that on my wrist.

I've found the SANFORD UNIBALL MICRO writes easier than ballpoints on skin, and washes right off while still being fairly smudge-resistant.

ADD is being knowledgeable about the types of pens which best write on skin.;)

heh yeahhhh <grin>

ADD is.........


Reading everything else, but school stuff.

being late to class because of poor time management

getting constant writer's block.


getting your papers back with comments on how proofreading needs to be done.

starting short stories and not finishing them.

being in the middle of reading several novels.

buying an expensive wallet, on impulse

etc

Thank you to AFORCEFORGOOD for the pen suggestion. Will I remember it?

ADD is begging your friends not to give you live potted plants.
Most folks don't expect to see them dead-dry next time they visit.

While rushing to get supper started yelling out "Someone feed my keys and put the dogs on the hook."

Glad I could help. You're welcome. ;)

When you're cleaning the house and not only do you jump from room to room or project to project.....but you also stop in the middle of vacuuming to clean (the outside) of the vacuum!

Or the inside if you are on meds;)

Clean the inside?? You must be on some powerful meds! LOL!

ADD is having your kids beg you to not forget them when you stop @ a convenient store for gas,and they run in for something!!!!LOL!(Only did this a couple of times)

J/K about the inside of vac, but I did just start taking meds today again after being off for about 18 mos. I am noticing what a h**lhole my home has turned into. Ok, who hasn't been doing their chores around here!?!? :o

ME! ME! Yesterday I just got on this cleaning frenzy and was unstoppable. I think I found a few dust bunnies behind my TV that were bigger than my daughter :)

Flakey, it's not you, it's the house trolls. They trash my home every night while I'm sleeping, I swear.

And ADD is taking a close look at how you spend your day, realizing that early mornings could be a time to get a lot of work done, and still choosing to sit in your bathrobe, drink coffee, and mess around on the computer every morning instead.

Can I get some sort of trap or repellent for these trolls?

ADD is having 3 tvs on, in different parts of the house and following all 3 different programs.

Find a way to fight off the house trolls, and you'll be a wealthy woman. ;)

ADD is having the kids help you look for your keys and they look in the freezer BEFORE they look on the key rack.:o It happened last night and we all had a pretty good laugh...btw, they were on the rack... d**n trolls.

lol at cleaning the outside of the vacuum while vacuuming the room--guilty!!!!

Add is forgetting the oven is broken and making a cake. Three days in a row. I really need that chocolate.

Originally posted by LostOne
ME! ME! Yesterday I just got on this cleaning frenzy and was unstoppable. I think I found a few dust bunnies behind my TV that were bigger than my daughter :)



That is soooo me!

Spending hours and eventually missing an important meeting because your running all over the house looking for your glasses that just happen to already be ON your face.

Spending hours and eventually missing an important meeting because your running all over the house looking for your glasses that just happen to already be ON your face.

D'OH GRRRRRRRRRR

Sixty seconds before you go out the door, grabbing that item you MUST remember and putting it in your hand so you won't forget it. Then, after putting your shoes on, discovering it is no longer in your hand, and it takes a fifteen minute search to determine where precisely it actually is...

<<I'm guilty of this one too :)

putting on a pot of water to boil and forgetting about it *totally* until you decide to investigate that annoying noise in the kitchen. And not just once, but THREE TIMES in the same week....

Oh yeah.

Or worse yet, a pot of SUPPER. :mad:

Originally posted by Nucking_Futs
Add is forgetting the oven is broken and making a cake. Three days in a row. I really need that chocolate.

Well, that's easy to fix- just put a higher wattage light bulb in the oven! :p

lol I"m blonde but not that blonde

This thread is great! I thought I'd add a few from my past...


ADD is throwing away the mail and walking in the house with the trash.

ADD is thinking of something to ask your spouse, having the coversation in your head, then getting mad because of what you think he/she will say!

ADD is taping a post it to your monitor so you remember what you were doing when you come back from the bathroom while waiting for a server to restart that affects 1200 or so users.

ADD is not realizing your laptop was stolen for a few weeks until you realize you can't find it then confirm it when you find marks on your door where they broke in the car. Insurance companies love that kind of thing.

ADD is thinking of things like these when you have about 400 1/2 finished projects you SHOULD be working on.

ADD is always wanting to be somewhere else doing something else.

Welcome to the ADD Forum Dave66.
If I can be of any help, please feel free to contact me any time.

Hi my name is Apcpapergirl and I am part of the ADD Forums Welcoming Committee. On Behalf of ADD Forums We would like to extend a warm welcome to our community Dave66.
If you have any questions or need any help at the forums please feel free send me a private message (pm).

Damn good contributions Dave66... I have actually done five out of those six... :eek:

Originally posted by Nucking_Futs
While rushing to get supper started yelling out "Someone feed my keys and put the dogs on the hook."
I've said far too many things along those lines... I'm a master at getting my words all scrambled somewhere between my brain and my mouth.

Originally posted by D.Lerious
ADD is.........

being late to class because of poor time management
Yep. I'm trying to get myself under control, but it still happens all too frequently... though I have noticed that leaving the computer, my main object of hyperfocus, turned off helps to some degree. :)

starting short stories and not finishing them.
Substitute 'musical compositions' for 'short stories'... I have about ten halfway-done .mod files still sitting on my hard drive.

being in the middle of reading several novels.
Yes, yes! And usually it's forever before I actually get around to finishing them, too...

Originally posted by wheezie
note to self: make a note about where i left that note
::snort:: Oh, I completely know this feeling! People look at me strangely when I say something about having to write so many notes, and even more strangely when some of the notes refer to notes I've already written...

Originally posted by waywardclam
Going off to work with fly open, wrong shoes (untied, naturally), tie left at home on the dresser... :D
...and forgetting your belt in the process.

Oh, if I had a dollar for every time I forgot to wear a belt when I was dressing up...

(Yes, I'm on a replying spree tonight. I'm bored, and procrastinating on schoolwork...)

ADD is driving 30 miles back to your home to make sure you locked the door only to remember when you pull into the drive that your husband is home and capable of locking the door himself.

How about this.....
I go outside on a cold winter day to warm up my car, on the way back inside I realize I locked the door to my house so I am stuck outside with the house keys inside the house and my car outside running (towel still in my hair BTW)... So I climb through a window to get back into the house, lucky me.....
Then, on the same morning I am finally on my way to work, and I have to open my store, only to realize I left my store keys at work the day before (so they are locked inside the store)...
To make a long story short I ended up opening the store very late that day!