DillyDaily

The benefit of living on an island. I'm very privileged to have this opportunity. Sadly access to nature is not guaranteed, especially in developed nations. Hopefully there's a small park or green space near you that you can enjoy when you need to relax and feel the earth beneath your feet. If not, maybe time for some guerilla gardening?

I'm awaiting assessment, but there's a strong chance I have both autism and ADHD (my brother and father are both autistic, I was never assessed because it wasn't as obvious growing up as a girl that I struggled with similar things, but it's hard to know without an assessment because my ADHD was undiagnosed for so long so there's a lot of overlapping symptoms from all the maladaptive coping mechanisms I've developed)

I know poor hunger signals are a big part of autism too, so maybe I've got a double whammy 🤷‍♀️

But it also sounds like your sensitive to hunger signals the same way I'm sensitive to fatigue/drowsiness signals, so it sounds like the same underlying interception issue, just two different outcomes of that attempt to listen to our bodies.

The last 3 places I've lived in have come with various models of this budget burner

https://www.chefappliances.com.au/freestanding/gas/cfg517wb/

On the point of driving whilst stoned. Confidence comes with experience

I can definitely understand what you mean by this, but I think a certain level of confidence also comes from tolerance.

I don't drive at all, so can't weigh in on that, but I cycle everywhere, and in my youth I would have never considered cycling while stoned, too risky, too dangerous, not fair or safe to others using the paths.

When I started smoking, I stuck by that statement, I'd give it a full 12+ hours between my last smoke and getting on the bike.

But just like your example, 12 hours became 8 hours, became 4 hours, and so on, where now I might have an smoke and 40 minutes later get on my bike to go somewhere.

But then I take a T break, and I pick up a new bag, and I have my first hit in a month or two, and I sit with that high for a while and think to myself "fuck no, I absolutely will not be getting on the bike any time soon, this tiny toke is too much to cycle on"

Then I'll smoke heavily for the next month, and by the end of the month, my tolerance has increased, and I'm back to riding my bike while stoned (or rather, buzzed, because I'm just not capable of getting as high)

Do I feel guilty for these decisions because I know it's a big risk? Yes. Do I keep doing it? Also yes.

But now that I'm in discussions with my doctor about medical dosing, it has raised a very important question - if I use medical marijuana to manage my chronic illness (the one that renders me medically unfit to drive) is the ethical and legal obligation of that treatment plan that I can never ride my bike again? I must always walk or take the bus? The same does not apply for people who use opiate based pain relief or therapeutic ketamine. They are warned not to drive if the meds make them impaired, but ultimately it's their judgement to decide what is "impaired". It will only be externally questioned if there is an accident or a near miss. If I am assessing my level of impairment before I ride stoned, how can I best ensure my capacity to ride in those moments?

Also answering OPs question, I think this applies to a lot of hobbies, but I notice it a lot as someone who likes to sew my own clothes - the pressure from others to constantly get better, try harder, and keep building those skills.

I do my hobby because it's fun, sometimes it's fun to learn new things about it, but sometimes I just want to stick with what I know and play in my comfort zone.

My dad will often look at things I've made this year and say "you made something almost identical 5 years ago, and your stitches are still skew wiff, haven't you learned to blah blah yet?" because his expectation is that I will get better and better with every passing moment as I practice my hobby.

Similarly, people will tell me that I have "clearly got the skills to make xyz" and I should "challenge" myself. And sometimes I will, but most of the time I retreat to my hobbies because I don't have to challenge myself if I don't want to. I like my hobbies to be no pressure (I go to the gym to push myself, I go to my craft corner to relax)

You are allowed to dabble, fool around, play, and have fun with a hobby. You are allowed to decide that "getting better" isn't the goal.

But it seems others will always question this, or suggest you somehow aren't doing the hobby right, or enthusiastic enough about it if you're only ever doing it on a surface level.

Just today, I managed to get hold of a second hand overlocker, I'm really excited to make things with it, and my co-worker who also sews said "oh that's awesome, the quality of clothes you're going to pull off now that you can surge! I can't wait for the fashion show". She meant that in the most positive way, and I know what she was trying to say so I thanked her and promised her to show her what I was making, but part of me definitely heard "if the quality of your final product doesn't improve as a result of this, you're bad at this hobby, now you have no excuse not to be better than you were before" even though she meant nothing of the sort, and a lot of that was internalised shame because of previous discussions with people who were genuinely questioning my lack of improvement.

The timer on my oven might as well just be glued on the front after the fact. It's just a little clockwork twist timer with no connection to overall the mechanism of the oven at all.

I've never used an oven that automatically turns off after the timer buzzes. That sounds luxurious!

(and honestly, sounds like a super helpful OT tool/accommodation for me to be more independent/safe when cooking, so I know what to look for in a new oven.... Not that I get a choice of oven as a renter, you get what you get)

My partner bought me one of those all in one cookers (instant pot style thing) because it will automatically shut off when it's done cooking..

It has saved our relationship with our neighbours because I'm no longer setting off smoke alarms every other night.

Case in point, while typing this I just heard it beep and it scared the shit out of me because I completely forgot I put some squishy old pears (that were always destined to rot in my fridge) in it to stew when I got home... like 2 hours ago.

It feels like past me has left a suprise gift for present me, because I have stewed pears for dessert now!

So true, even if I realise I'm hungry and have enough impulse control to put something in the oven instead of ordering in or resorting to a protein shake for dinner, there is an 80% chance that I will both forget that I'm hungry and completely forget I haven't eaten, in the time it takes the food to cook.

40 minutes later I'm sitting at my desk thinking "why have I got such a bad headache? why do I feel so groggy and cranky? Wait, do I need a nap!? I probably need a nap... Hang on, Why can I smell smoke?"

Why do I always assume I need a nap, even if I haven't eaten all day!? I have to basically run through a flow chart to figure out why my head hurts. Food, water, full bladder, sleep, eye strain? Why do I feel bad? Who knows?

It's a mystery only neurotypical people can solve!

Last winter I had two weeks off from work and I spent every day riding my bike down to the beach, I'd take my phone for safety but I'd turn it off and pretend I didn't have it. I'd pack a mandarin, a thermos with some tea, an empty grocery bag, and my one-hitter.

As a kid, I used to walk to the beach with my grandmother during the winter school holidays when we'd travel to her town for a vacation. We'd collect laver and kelp for dinner, and grandma would tell us we could bring home 1 shell, so as kids we'd hunt for the best shell. In addition to collecting firewood with grandpa, beach days with nan are some of my fondest family memories.

So last year, in my thirties, I'd ride my bike down, I'd put on my wellies and grab the bag from my pack, and I'd start combing the beach for plastic, rubbish and things that aren't supposed to be there. Along the way I'd stop to admire the nice shells, or spy a sea star or little crab in a rock pool. All while pleasantly stoned.

Nothing will ever recreate the innocence and mindfulness of those childhood memories, but damn if my memories of last winter don't come close.

I'd take my full bag of rubbish and walk my bike to the train station near the beach, about 800 metres away, munching on my fruit as I walked. I'd throw the rubbish in their bins, and because I was doing this at like 10am on a weekday I'd be able to jump on a near empty train with my bike, and I'd only have to wait maybe 5 minutes for the next train.

I'd walk my bike home and then go about the rest of my day in the absolute best mood!

I highly recommend doing wholesome activities in nature under the influence of drugs (if you are someone who already uses drugs that is - don't start doing drugs just to make nature more fun... Unless you want to, I'm not your mother)

Been using firm tofu in my saag paneer for years, the texture is near identical to dairy paneer, and the flavour in the curry is enough that a dairy paneer doesn't add anything that tofu doesn't.

It's the only vegan food I can easily get my non-vegan friends to eat, it took some convincing to have them try it (why are meat eaters so afraid to taste something without meat in it? They'd be scared of an apple if I dared to remind them it's vegan) even they agree tofu and paneer are virtually indistinguishable in dishes like palak and saag curry.

I would already be living in a vehicle, but I can't drive (low vision) so it's never going to be an option for me.

About 10 years ago I was looking into bike towed campers as a security plan for an unstable housing situation, only to learn they are illegal to tow in my country. You can own one, sleep in one, and tow it on private property, but to move it from one property to another legally I'd need to pay someone with a car to put it in a car trailer, then unload my camper at the destination.

I hope they roll this out to the proof of age cards too! I'm happy to carry my physical card when I know I'll need it, but sometimes I'm not expecting to need it and I just need to check the expiry or permit number for some quick process and it's a PITA.

I never got my pen license.

I remember starting highschool and my teacher questioning me for using greylead on all my assignments, I told them I never got my pen license and they laughed and told me to use pen.

They didn't explain that a pen license wasn't a real thing, it wasn't like you legally required a permit to use a pen.

But all through primary school "getting your pen licence" was such a big deal I genuinely thought it was some big formal process.

I had so much anxiety that first year of highschool thinking I was breaking the rules using pens without a licence until my mum explained that it's just a fun motivational tool for young kids learning to write and I'm an idiot.