Many new years wishes from AspieMind!
(Image from Wikimedia Commons)
All posts by erk
Cliff Hanger
Hi, I’m Cliff and I’m tired of hanging…
Process of elimination
It wasn’t easy but I finally managed to become president by process of elimination…
Seeing patterns
I’ve understood Aspies are good at seeing patterns (from a discussion group on the diagnosis criteria at Asperger center in Stockholm, among other sources).
The thing is I might be too good at it or seeing the wrong patterns.
The great watch conspiracy
…or what happens at 10 past 10?
…or a celebration of conformity in the PR-business?
Search for any image of watches… chances are 90-99% of them show the time 10:10.
Why is that? Conspiracy? (Illuminati?!) Brain washing? Lack of imagination? EU/US standards? Laws against unjust competition? Fear of competitor advantages? Fabric settings?
I have no clue… But I do have 50 images of watches, all set to somewhere from 10:05 to 10:15… most almost spot on 10:08 or 10:12.
There are a few “wild” ones out there going as far as 10:20… but that’s Nike… and look… Diesel also goes to 10:20… Both are digital… New conformity?
Then we have the (not so wild) wild ones, (Adrenaline) that set their watches to ten to two…
Searching the web (mentalfloss, Google Answers, and petapixel) gives the following bits of info:
- It was not the time of death of Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy or Martin Luther King
- It was not the time when the atom bombs were dropped, either on Hiroshima nor on Nagasaki
- It is about aesthetics; the hands are symmetrically placed, which makes the clock look nice (and not broken or unbalanced – something you’d probably not want from a clock)
- It is also about practicalities; the hands are not on top of each other, on top of the company logo, or on top of any date displays or other extra features (however the last one can be disproved by several of the above-depicted clocks – e.g. the Calvin Kline clock would show more extra features if it was set to 09:15.)
- It is also to make the clock look happier, you could achieve the above by setting it to 08:20, but then the clock would seem like it’s frowning
That’s all good and well… but… the digital clocks…? None of the above reasons are valid for them… other than the fact that setting them to 10:10 or similar follows some company policy. Timex sets their clocks to 10:09:36 exactly, just to mention one such company policy.
Unsettling
Unsettling, said the settler who had to move…
Cocktail Parxshrorichhheeeeiii – Or, what did you say?
Something very strange is going on when I hear several people talk at the same time.
I think the best way to describe it would be to say that I get a few tenth of a second of one conversation, then a few of the other, and then back to the first. It becomes a completely unintelligible noise. I don’t hear words… I guess doing it with text would be like:
John (whom I am talking to) and Peter (who’s talking to Bob on the other side of the 2×2-table island) at the same time: sdoi dwhyaotu’sk ntohwe tvheerysihoanv?e a new web site?
Me: what did you say?
John, a bit impatient, apparently not having any problem whatsoever that Peter and Bob are talking at the same time we are: what’s the version?
I’ve tested my hearing – it was perfect. Or at least good enough not to warrant any form of action.
My problem isn’t my hearing. I just can’t separate people’s voices.
At a cocktail party, this becomes an explosive and rather fantastic wall of incoherent sounds… almost like music.
That’s all fine, but when someone tries to talk to me… I am not able to say more than, “aha”, “okay” etc – I have no clue what they are talking about… I guess lip reading would be a way to go.
It does take small talk to a completely new level, though.
The thing is the thing
The thing is the thing… as they say in horror movies…
Inspiration expiration
Most results are achieved rather by expiration than inspiration…
I hear everything the guys in the other end of the room are saying…
Before I started medicating my ADHD I was unable to work or concentrate with other people around unless I wore headphones. The problem was two fold. I was unable to filter out sounds in my surrounding, and I kept wanting to answer people’s questions, even if they were having a conversation in the other end of the room.
The first one was a problem for me which I solved with an iPod before I started medicating. After that, I was soon able to get work done even without my iPod.
Continue reading I hear everything the guys in the other end of the room are saying…
Talkwards 