The culprit, it turned out, was my Vyvanse.  My dentist assured me [...]]]> About six months ago I wrote here and at AddaptAbilities about a very nasty shock I received at the dentist: a whopping SEVEN $#%^&@ING CAVITIES.  Twice as many cavities as I’d had in my adult life thus far.  All of them between my teeth.

The culprit, it turned out, was my Vyvanse.  My dentist assured me that he’d seen this kind of thing before, due to all types of medication, and if I followed his instructions — floss EVERY night, use a prescription-strength high-fluoride toothpaste, and chew high-strength xylitol gum and mints — my teeth would be fine.

And they are!  YAY!

Fortunately, I recently inherited a new [...]]]> I’m an artist in my offline life, so I have a ton of graphics files on my computer.  Every time I touch it I receive ominous warnings about how my start-up disk is is almost full, and I need to delete some files Right Now or everything will go boom.

Fortunately, I recently inherited a new computer.  My cunning plan is to use one computer for my online life — blogging, etc — and the other for my offline, artsy, graphic-intensive life.  That means transferring files and programs from one computer to another.

It’s times like this that I’m glad I have a Mac.  For most of my life, I was stuck using obsolete hand-me-down PCs.  They were slow, difficult to use, and I had to keep track of what I named, and where I stored, each and every file — this was hardly an ADD-friendly system.  I couldn’t even use YouTube on my last computer without crashing it.

In my experience, Macs are more searchable than PCs.  I don’t have to worry about exactly what my file name is, or where I put it, as long as I get one of the words right.  It’s also much easier to transfer files from various locations, because you can just click and drag.  It’s all visual, right there in front of you.

The downside, of course, is that Macs are expensive.  A new MacBook is $900 if you’re lucky.  A new PC laptop can be had for as low as $148.  Enter the Hackintosh.  This is a clever innovation, brought to you by geeks, which allows you to install MacOS on your PC.

I’m writing about this because, as I was working with my two computers, I realized how much easier my life is now that I have a Mac.  I don’t mean to come off all fan-girl, but I’m definitely one of those people who Macs are made for.  People with ADD are known for skipping the instruction manual.  I’m also artsy, I’m a visual person, and I like my technology to work for me without a lot of effort on my part.

Before I got my Mac, I checked my e-mail once a day if that.  I considered myself a grudging technology user.  I never would have considered myself competent to run a blog, for example.  Now I’m on my computer all the time.  I use it for all kinds of things, from photo editing to making comics to animation.  It’s like an extension of my brain.  The fact that I can store information on my computer, and access it quickly and easily, means that I don’t have to keep track of all kinds of papers in my offline life.  I don’t have an address book, phone lists, or a rolodex.  I don’t have stacks of business cards and papers.  There’s just my computer, where I can get whatever I need whenever I need it.  I’m a lot less stressed, and my house stays a lot cleaner.  I consider my Mac to be one of the most important pieces of adaptive technology I own.

For those who can’t shell out for a Mac, or who just don’t want to, the Hackintosh is worth a gander.   My husband, who is a geek, did this project for about $400.  If you’re not a geek yourself, you may need to find one to help you with it, but in my experience, geeks can be easily bribed with food.

Entryway Maintenance [...]]]> When I went to containerize my entryway last week, I noticed that things had slipped a bit. To the right of the front door, there was packing paper spilling out of the recycling bin, and my bike was still in the back corner because I hadn’t gotten around to selling it yet:

Entryway Maintenance is slipping a bit

To the left of the front door, there was a huge pile of cardboard on the floor from various mail orders. This is an ongoing problem with our entryway. We get a fair number of deliveries, and we never get around to breaking down the boxes and recycling them. Recycling gets taken out once a week, and since we usually forget to deal with it until the last minute, we inevitably forget to deal with the boxes. They can pile up for months, tucked in the corner where they soon become invisible.

Cardboard Fail

I got two containers to try as day pack solutions last week. The wider, shallower of the two was perfect for the packs. Since I still had the other one, I decided to try it as a “home” for cardboard boxes to be recycled. When we get a package, the box is broken down immediately and put in its new “home”.

So far, I’ve been pretty good about this; but M has been out of town since we implemented this system. He gets back tonight. We’ll see how it holds up with both of us here.

However, heading outside can be also [...]]]> A lot of people with ADHD find that they love being outside.  Personally, I feel like my ADD vanishes the minute I leave civilization.  I’m usually the first one to spot wildlife, catch birdsong, or to notice a change in the weather.  Maybe there’s something to that whole Hunter/Farmer thing.

However, heading outside can be also be intimidating if you have ADD.  We forget things a lot, and when we’re packing to go out into the wilderness, that can be a scary prospect.  If you’re traveling to Paris and you forget your water bottle, you can buy another one.  If you’re traveling the John Muir Trail and you forget your water bottle, you might be toast.

Well, my buddy Deb Lauman, aka Ramkitten, has just the thing for you.

Ramkitten befriended me when I was brand-new to the communities over at Squidoo.com and Tagfoot.com.  It turned out she’s an avid hiker (as serious as I would like to be, but am not) and had recently visited my favorite place on earth, the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.  She’s also a Search And Rescue volunteer.

Her SAR work made her realize how many rescue situations could be prevented if people set out with the proper equipment.  This led her to invent the 24-Hour Pack.  It’s a day pack that comes pre-packed with all the supplies to get you through a night in the wilderness if you find yourself unexpectedly stranded.

The keyword there is “unexpected”.  Nobody Ramkitten has ever rescued expected to be lost, hypothermic, dehydrated — or, in the most tragic cases, dead.   Fortunately, many of her missions end happily.  Deb blogs here about why she never feels silly carrying her 24-Hour Pack, even when she’s only expecting to be gone for a 20 minute walk.

I’ve got to admit, I’m not always as cautious as I should be, and I know better.   I’m an experienced backwoods canoe camper.  I’ve been a wilderness guide and a Girl Scout leader.  But I still take chances I shouldn’t.  Let’s be real; I have ADD.  I’m impulsive.  When I’m outside, I hate to sit still … which means I’m constantly fighting the inclination to head out farther and in worse weather than I really should.

Ramkitten’s writing has gotten me thinking deeply about the precautions I need to take next time I head out on a hike, even if it’s just up crowded Mt. Tam.  If you’re an ADHD hiker you should check out the following:

Hikers: Common Mistakes to Avoid If you think you know everything about hiking, you don’t.

The 24 Hour Pack: Hike Smart, Be Prepared, Be Safe If you’ve already got a day pack or three, read this article about what to put in it to make your own 24 Hour Pack.

The PRE-Pack: A Pre-Equipped Day Pack for Hikers New to hiking?  Lost your gear in a flash flood?  Let Deb do the work for you.  And remember to read Common Mistakes To Avoid before you head out!