Diary of an ASD Squirrel. Day 494 , Wednesday 05/03/2025
Wednesday started just after 7am with breakfast & then reading my book with my coffee.
I read a little of my new book on computing - ‘But how do it know’ by J Clarke Scott - the start of a long journey to rediscover the basics of computing.
I did a little more work on the pond, I seem to have fixed the persistent leak, now it’s a case of cleaning the reed bed filter & getting the plants back in.
I had my talk therapy session with Sami just before the lunch which was hard but I guess necessary.
Played some ‘Ghost of Tsushima’ this afternoon & then we had the 3rd energy saving session in a row - pie & salad for tea just before it started. I am wholly sick of that now, if I never see another pie again it would be too soon, but Mrs S is relentless.
Watching a program about the UK’s offshore islands, I would love to live on one of the smaller ones, but Mrs S would never entertain the idea - it would be far too much effort for her.
Final Thoughts.
Chatting with folk like @UnclePJ & others about being ND & what that means I find helps me codify what I have learnt & gets me thinking about what it all means. The stuff that comes up in the therapy sessions has a similar effect.
I realise today that I have learnt a lot since this journey stated nearly 500 days ago, but I’m learning new stuff every day so this ASD journey is by no means over, there is so very much more to learn & understand.
Thank you to all those who are helping me on this journey, in a myriad different ways. I am thankful to each & every one of you! 
@actuallyautistic
#TimsASDjourney #ActuallyAutistic #Neurospicy #TheMammutMoves
@Tim_McTuffty @actuallyautistic I enjoyed our MH conversation immensely! Feel free to practice what you’ve learned at me anytime.
I have been meaning to ask about the “tea” that you mention often. Is that also a meal or an afternoon snack? I’m not sure what the proper place it holds in the day. Is it like a hobbit’s second breakfast but second lunch?
@UnclePJ @actuallyautistic I shall & thanks for the offer PJ 
Tea is a bit of a strange one, it can mean afternoon tea - so tea & sarnie & a bun around 4pm.
But where I grew up on the edge of Lancashire & Merseyside it means the evening meal, ‘dinner’ being seen as an alternative word for ‘lunch’ in those parts.
I suspect that it is also class based - I’ve never risen into the upper echelons of society so I’m not sure if they follow the same use of language.
@Tim_McTuffty @UnclePJ @actuallyautistic we have the same words for meals, breakfast dinner and tea. It's a northern thing I guess!
@sleepingexplorer @Tim_McTuffty @UnclePJ @actuallyautistic And here it's breakfast, lunch, and dinner--it's the U.S., so teatime doesn't exist unless specific individuals follow the practice.
@Tarrenvane @sleepingexplorer @Tim_McTuffty @actuallyautistic So, none of all of that is confusing at all! 
Ok, so it can be whatever it you want it to be, really. I suppose that’s fine, no rules!
I’m also US born and raised, so breakfast, lunch and dinner. Tea is what you have if you’re not feeling well. That’s not a joke. “Ma, I don’t feel good.” Mother, “Let me make you some tea and then you can go lie down.”
I’ve only recently started drinking tea when I want a hot beverage and it’s afternoon. Coffee would keep me awake at bedtime, so tea is a pleasant alternative.
@UnclePJ @Tarrenvane @sleepingexplorer @Tim_McTuffty @actuallyautistic in my part of Spain we have 5 words for meals: desayuno (breakfast, first meal of the day), almuerzo (you eat something between 11 am and noon), comida (lunch, usually between 1/3 pm), merienda (between 4:30/6 pm) and cena (dinner, usually between 8/11pm).
Antonius Marie 
@Cattz @UnclePJ @Tarrenvane @sleepingexplorer @Tim_McTuffty @actuallyautistic Here in Sweden we've got ... three main types of meals.
Frukost = Breakfast, Lunch (though pronounced differently) and either "middag" (midday) or "kvällsmål" (evening meal). Used to be frukost-middag-kvällsmål, but like the English dinner it ... shifted.
And then there's "fika" and "mellanmål". The latter is meal-between-meals, but fika is ... harder to quantify. It's *generally* either a hot drink (coffee, tea, hot chocolate) or cold drink (juice, soda), which might be served with sandwiches or something sweeter (like a bun, or cake, or the old favourite: seven types of cookies)
@melindrea @Cattz @Tarrenvane @sleepingexplorer @Tim_McTuffty @actuallyautistic
Now these are the kind of conversations that keep me coming back here!
Thanks to everyone that has shared. 
@UnclePJ @Tarrenvane @sleepingexplorer @actuallyautistic Well drinking tea is separate to eating tea - just to confuse you more
To really confuse you, if I’m feeling flamboyant then its:
Breakfast, 2nd breakfast, elevenses, lunch, afternoon tea, tea, supper! 
I drink tea after 2pm - decaffeinated after 3pm or I can’t sleep either.
@Tim_McTuffty @Tarrenvane @sleepingexplorer @actuallyautistic Well, we have brunch over here, but people usually only do that on Sundays. Don’t ask me why…
Yes, brunch. We just like to cram two words together, br-eakfast and l-unch. BrUnch! We’re sophisticatored.
@UnclePJ @Tarrenvane @sleepingexplorer @actuallyautistic Oooh I forgot about brunch - possibly have to squeeze that in in between elevenses & lunch!
@Tim_McTuffty @Tarrenvane @sleepingexplorer @actuallyautistic That sounds suspiciously like “elunch”…
@actuallyautistic @Tim_McTuffty @sleepingexplorer @UnclePJ I always just thought of brunch as basically the same thing as Elevenses. Though maybe a tad earlier.
@Tarrenvane @actuallyautistic @sleepingexplorer @UnclePJ Hey Tarren 
To be fair I was being a bit daft - in truth I would see brunch as just a really late breakfast.
Hope you’re well my friend & have a great Friday
@UnclePJ @Tarrenvane @sleepingexplorer @actuallyautistic Well I’m a naturalised Yorkshireman in deepest darkest Yorkshire so more likely ‘eee by gum lunch!’
@Tim_McTuffty @Tarrenvane @sleepingexplorer @actuallyautistic Does that make you a Yorky? Is there an actual short or nickname for those from York! 
I’m a long way from home, really. I was born and raised in California and just a transplant in my current home. I really don’t fit in with the locals. Some are nice enough, but most are Trumpy idiots. I stick out like a sore thumb!
@UnclePJ @Tarrenvane @sleepingexplorer @actuallyautistic I think the word you’re looking for is Tyke, & now I’m not one because I’m not a native Yorkshireman, merely a naturalised one.
I am in fact a Scouser, I stuck out with my accent when I first came here - also they have a habit of calling everyone love or duck!
@Tim_McTuffty @Tarrenvane @sleepingexplorer @actuallyautistic Auntie PJ loves when I call her love. I don’t do it often because it doesn’t come naturally and I have to think about it first, and we know how my memory is… I mostly call her baby doll. She flushes so prettily.
Considering my roots are in California, I default to Dude for a lot of things, even though it’s become a tired old expression for most folks.
If you don’t mind me asking, what are the roots behind “Scouser” and “Tyke”? I hope it’s not a rude thing…
@UnclePJ @Tarrenvane @sleepingexplorer @actuallyautistic Not sure about Tyke, I think Scouser probably links back to the stew like dish called ‘Scouse’ that is popular in the Liverpool area. Scouse is also the name of the dialect one finds in the heart of Liverpool - I can put it on really thickly when I try
‘Love’ is more naturally assigned to the fairer sex in Lancashire & Merseyside, but here in Yorkshire they apply it to pretty much anyone who’s breathing … kinda nice in these days of increasing hatred but it takes some getting used to!
@Tim_McTuffty @Tarrenvane @sleepingexplorer @actuallyautistic I think I could get used to that, I think. It does seem like it would be refreshing in today’s climate.
I’ll have to google scouse and see what that stew is all about. I do love a good stew… ok, now I’m hungry! 
@UnclePJ @Tarrenvane @sleepingexplorer @actuallyautistic Not had proper scouse for years - my mum made a killer scouse!
@UnclePJ @Tim_McTuffty @sleepingexplorer @actuallyautistic Yeah, I was raised Californian, moved to Alaska, then came to join my partner because she was still working at the time.