A Day on Planet Earth

Last couple of days I've been experiencing excessive fatigue and light-headedness that could very well be Diabetes, so today was a day of not doing a lot and I'll call the doctor tomorrow.

Today was spent listening to music (John Denver) and watching films (Shark Tale, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen...). Tonight I will stay in bed and try and prepare for tomorrow. 

haha. Conversation like that one happen all the time.

I'm grateful for my friends too, they don't tell me there is this or that wrong with me, and I can tell them all kind of crazy stuff.

I have a similar thing with a friend of mine, except it goes more like:

Friend: Hey, how's it going?

Me: How much time do you have?

I'm not going to lie to him, and I'm happy enough to give him a generalised answer, rather than a specific one. But I need him to know that's what he's getting. I'm very grateful for him, he is incredibly tolerant of me and makes me feel so very loved for just being me.

On reflection, I'm not 100% sure that the above conversation has ever taken place in real life... But it definitely could 

That sounds like just the kind of place I'm looking for

Steven said:

After a few minutes, you’ll already start to hear your own heartbeat. A few minutes after that, you can hear your own bones grinding and blood flowing.

I already hear all of those things anyway almost all the time. I'd be curious to try it out to see if those sounds would stay the same or become overwhelming. When I did a mindfulness course I used to get overwhelmed with internal sounds and physical sensations during the body scan exercises.

I searched online for more info and found this:

https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/anechoic-chamber-worlds-quietest-room/index.html

"Orfield, who has done research on the impact of noise in people with degenerative diseases such as dementia, also noted that visitors who suffer from autism, ADHD and other disabilities of anxiety and hyper-sensitivity tend to find the chamber calming and peaceful."

Are they going to pay me if I manage to stay there for 2h?

No One Can Stay In The World's Quietest Room For More Than An Hour

'In 2015, Microsoft built what is now in the Guinness Book of World Records as the quietest place on the planet.

Known as the anechoic chamber at the company’s headquarters in Redmond, Washington, “ultra-sensitive tests” performed in 2015 gave an average background noise reading of -20.35 dBA (decibels A-weighted — a measurement of the sound pressure level).

Only very few people have been able to withstand being in the room for a long period of time — at most an hour.

After a few minutes, you’ll already start to hear your own heartbeat. A few minutes after that, you can hear your own bones grinding and blood flowing.

The point of the anechoic chamber isn’t that you will hear nothing, but that it will remove all other outside noise and allow you to hear the endless sounds of your own body.

Environments we think of as ultra-quiet are typically louder than the human hearing threshold, which is around 0 decibels. A library reading room, for instance, might chalk up around 40 decibels.

With no sound from the outside world coming in, the total and utter silence will gradually turn into an unbearable ringing in your ears. This will likely lead you to lose your balance due to the lack of reverberation in the room, which impairs your spatial awareness.

“When you turn your head, you can even hear that motion. You can hear yourself breathing and it sounds somewhat loud.” Hundraj Gopal, principal designer of the chamber at Microsoft, said.

It took two years to design the space. Made up of six layers of concrete and steel, it’s a bit disconnected from the surrounding building. An array of vibration-damping springs are situated below. Inside, fiberglass wedges are mounted on the floor, ceiling, and walls to break up sound waves before they have a chance to bounce back into the room.'

(New York Post)

--------------------

Meh, I'll move in tomorrow.

A NT's post on a message board:

'I once dated an autistic lady and we got on fine (up to a point), but I learnt a lot about autism from her and can now easily recognise the symptoms in other people in all walks of life who may not even know they have a touch of it. For example, one of her symptoms was an inability to think outside the box, but to prefer staying within her comfort zone of regular routines and mindset.'

I loved an autist's reply to that post's first sentence:

'And yet, astonishingly, this isn't one of the diagnostic criteria. I wonder why the NHS spends so much money on training clinicians when it's apparently all so simple?'

Today, getting on a bus: 

*places debit card on payment machine*

ME: "I'm sorry - this isn't working, or there's something wrong with my card."

DRIVER: "You're supposed to tell me where you want to go first..."

Back home, listening to the latest Suede album; the one I ordered on New Year's Eve night, but was sent to the Republic by accident.

Laundry on, but I accidentally put a Holland and Barrett lavender soap bar in with it. A reflection of how stressed I am. 

Sporadic Sparkly said:

I was impressed because my acquaintance seemed fairly knowledgeable about autism

Because, perhaps, that such familiarity with the facts is a rarity.

"You pile of pillocks" 

On a slightly (only slightly) serious note, I bumped into a man back in the summer, who I had been at school with. He had enquired how I had been keeping since the last time we had bumped into each other, and I told him about my autism. His response, which I couldn't argue with, was that a good percentage of the people that had been in our year group were most likely autistic too. I laughed because I felt he was probably right. 

I was impressed because my acquaintance seemed fairly knowledgeable about autism, and did not treat me any differently as a result of what I had told him. 

I'm here because I'm not entirely there.

As if I’d be the judge of it anyway

I’m not saying you’re deranged btw - it was the atmos and visuals! 

Love me some Bowie.

But, I'll play this track at Midnight; I'm on a US Zoom meeting from 11 pm to Midnight.

Being Culchie, I have to grin and bear it.

Desmond’s Wednesday drive 

https://youtu.be/aepBpZ3kXek

Night driving in rural spots is scary stuff even if rather intoxicating too - the deep dark. I was on an unlit road full of hidden dips (and no hard shoulder) one night a few years back, cars flying behind me at close quarters, when torrential rain started, I went to turn the wipers on, and… nothing. I’m surprised I’m still here. 

You named that tune in one.