[geeks] RE: [rescue] OT: ADD - MOVING to geeks

[Kris Kirby]

On Wed, 10 Jul 2002, Geek wrote:
> > Bullshit.
> If that is the worst I see this year, I'll be lucky.

Would it kill you to add a space there? Some of us have very worn eyes..
:-)

> Have you not been reading this list? Or are most of the flames I get in
> private? I do get flamed, but not as much as I used to. I learnt early
> on in my net life that it is wise to watch and learn, before making an
> ass out of ones self. That's why I watched this list for nearly  a month
> before a friend I recommended outed me. I don't see posting here as a
> necessary sign of intelligence.

We're just trying to help you become a sane user of email. Heck, most of
the fluff in my .sig I'll probably be cutting away soon. And that whole
web log thing ... well... :-)

> > I went through more years than I could count listening to people tell
> me
> > I was dumb.  I'd never amount to anything.
>
> I still hear and feel this constantly

People never told me this.

> The last test of intelligence I took was one that told me I had ADD.
> That was in Grade 7, more then a decade ago. I have never taken an IQ
> test, nor any other form of test that qualitatively says I am or am not
> smart, intelligent or bright. I don't plan to. I know me, I know my
> limitations. I read the post  that led to my reply and checked off many
> things that had always been problems. For instance, I lie in bed, trying
> to get to sleep, for an average of 3 hours. Trying to stay up until dead
> tired doesn't help, as it still takes hours to fall asleep. The
> descriptions of mind racing when the head hits the pillow are entirely
> accurate.

Hey! Great! Join The Club! (wait... i think you already did.)

> I thought it was insomnia, as I have only noticed this a lot as of the
> last year or so, but my a couple ex's told me recently that this was a
> problem back then(2 and 4 years respectively) so I assume this was
> always happening. I try not to listen to the people who tell me that I
> cannot do what I want, which is to work with computers. I hear so many
> people tell me that the only thing I can do is menial shit that bores me
> and I quickly end up missing work and losing the job. I have gone
> through this pattern a dozen times before.

Sounds a little familiar. I found that menial work was hard to do because
I'd get and idea and be forced to write it down, right then. I got better
at this over time. I got even better at not thinking at all... and that as
even stranger... I'd think about doing something or something happening ..
not upper-level thought, but lower, like a feeling... shit would happen.
Seems to work best WRT going to the bathroom. :-)

> Ok, I will rephrase. I am not as intelligent and as knowledgeable as 95%
> of this list. Better?

But you can learn. :-)

> A: Very likely, or never given the time to learn the right way for me.
> B: I have tried to overcome my ADD without medication or outside
> assistance(indeed I was ashamed of it for a long time) and admit now
> that I have failed miserably.

Try caffiene. :) I'm a normally non-caffinated person, but when I'm
actually on it, it seems that thinking is easier.

> C: I find computers and the web fascinating, I like trying to figure out
> how to get computers to do what I want, but get easily frustrated when
> things do not work out.

That's going to take some work. Everyone gets frustrated sooner or later.
The more you learn, the easier to becomes to figure out what went wrong.
Go research `Diagnostic Method' as it applies to electronics.

> D: That is possible, but I would apply that to trying to learn other
> jobs other then those in my field of interest, though in school I was
> trying to learn something(Windows admin) that I did not want to learn.

I don't particularly want to learn Windows admin, but I will if I must. It
helps when hardware is provided for you to learn on. :)

> > 2) You have no special aptitude for anything because you haven't found
> > something "special" to you.
>
> I am rather fond of computers....

Specifically, is there any one thing about computing that you find
terribly fascinating? I'm all over the board, from networking, to
clustering, etc. It's all nifty to me, with the probably exception of
Windows.

> > 3) You _are_ smarter than most people - you just don't know it yet.
>
> Interesting theory, but I have yet to see it proven. I mean I guess it
> depends on the most people to which you refer. If you took a sampling of
> this list, then no. If you took a sampling of Windows users, then yeah,
> no doubt about it. Perspective is everything in that, I think.

Don't put yourself down because you're not the smartest. I mean, I don't
beat myself up over the fact that I know nothing about E10Ks and Bill and
Pete do. I'd love to learn about the machines and how to best use them,
but it's hard to run into such kit on the street. It's not exactly
affordable for your average home user. :)

> > Don't put yourself down or you'll end up stuck there.
>
> I try not to, but it has grown to become a habit, one I wish it were as
> easy to break, as it is to diagnose.

Bah. We all get depressed at one time or another. I've just been ass-raped
by a heartless corporation. You don't see me crying in my beer.

I wish I could tell you why I am so upbeat, but I truthfully don't even
know. It's not chemically induced, and I'm not religious.... :-?

--
Kris Kirby, KE4AHR          | TGIFreeBSD... 'Nuff said.
<kris at nospam.catonic.net>   | IM: KrisBSD | HSV, AL.
-------------------------------------------------------
"Fate, it seems, is not without a sense of irony."