One of the benefits of having ADD is the extra personality quirks thrown in for free. With my ADD I’ve got milled OCD, the inability to stop making sarcastic comments and last but not least total disorganization.

I can deal with the OCD but some times it gets a little out of hand when it involves things that I can purchase. For instance I got into playing Star Wars Miniatures table top game (there not toys!!:)). It’s a fun game where you need to think a few moves ahead and pay attention to you opponent. Which is all good but the down side is that in order to play the game you must buy booster packs. The booster packs contain 7 random game figures ranging from a few common/uncommon and 1 rare or very rare. And of course the game figures you want are the Very Rares but at $15 dollars a pop this can become a very dangerous habit. So if you are a Star Wars fan and enjoy dorky games you can see that this could get expensive. Oh and to make it even easier to spend money eBay has a thriving community of people selling Star Wars Miniatures stuff.

In response to the article Planning Software For ADHD Adults on ADDitude.com.

In the article they recommend 3 different applications none of which are free.

So here are a few alternatives:

For an Organized ToDo List I recommend ToDoList from Abstractspoon or TaskCoach which is a little easier to use.

For Notes organization I use TreeDBNotes

I started this blog in November 2007 with the intention of helping others ADD.  After a few posts I either lost interest or quite possibly forgot about this blog.

And that is classic ADD in action.

On more that one occasion I have gotten my self ready for an appointment or a class or meeting and showed up on time only to find out I am exactly 1 hour late or  It’s the wrong day.

The first few times this happened I thought it was a fluke.  Then one day I showed up at my temp job only to find out that I was an hour late.  The whole time I was on my way to work I kept thing to my self, “gee the train is pretty empty for rush hour”.  I walked up to the receptionist desk at exactly 10AM egar to start my new temp job.  I introduced my self and handed her my temp information.  She gave me a funny look and said, “You were supposed to be here at 9AM.”  I looked at my watch it was 10AM.  She then informed me that they already got a replacement and my services were no longer needed.  So I went to the temp agency to get a new assignment and they informed me that they do not tolerate lateness and handed my my pay check.

This doesn’t happen as often now that I am aware of it but it still happens from time to time.

1. Do not have your stuff ready to go in the morning.
2. Walk around the house half dressed until the last possible moment.
3. While wandering around the house stroll to the kitchen and pour a big glass of OJ.
4. Wander off to the bathroom to comb your hair.
5. When exiting the bathroom stop at your desk to look for something that you were thing of while pouring the glass of OJ.
6. Trying to remember what you were thinking you remember the glass of OJ and head to the kitchen.
7. On the way your 3 y.o. asks for some breakfast.
8. After 5 minutes of naming off everything in the fridge you remember it’s time to leave.
9. Run through the house grabbing everything you need while getting dressed.
10. While putting your shoes on your spouse reminds you about your glass of OJ.
11. Now go back and repeat steps 3, 7 and 9.

You have now just missed the bus.

To add insult to injury repeat the list above to miss a second bus.

We (we as in wife and 2 kids) were leaving the house to run some errands at 4:30 PM. Sophia (3 y.o.) has packed a bag full of books. After many previous attempts to get her to leave the books I instead help her fill it up. Then it’s too heavy, “daddy will you carry my bag?” Yeah sure let’s just go.

I grab Sophia and Jane (10 month old) and head out to the car. My wife, Stephine, asks as I am going out the door, “do you have the bag?” I reply with a yes.

Fifteen minutes latter we pull into the parking lot and as I’m getting Sophia out of the car I ask my wife where the stuff to return is at, meaning “the bag”.

“What! I asked you if you had the bag! You said yes!” my wife say.

So its back in the car, speed home grab the bag and speed back to the store. This little episode made me go from perfectly fine to very annoyed with my self in a matter of nano-seconds.

Does this sound familiar?

It’s not easy to admit that you have ADD. When I tell people (and very few I might add) that I have ADD I get a mixed response. Some of the reactions are: “really but you seem normal”, “but you’re not hyperactive” or “ADD, that’s just some lame excuse for being lazy”.

For those of us with ADD these comments may be all too familiar as well as the embarrassment of having to explain what ADD and how it effects you. On of the biggest things holding me back is not wanting to tell my colleagues that I have ADD. My fear is that they will look down on me and not treat me as an equal. Which is a normal rear that all of had had or have at some point.

Why do I fear telling them? Because I am computer programmer and not just any programmer, I am the unofficial lead programmer and most of my colleagues come to me for help. My fear is that if I show them my deficiency they may not respect my opinion and may stop “looking up to me”.

Does any of this strike a bell? See everybody has fears of telling the world, I Have ADD!!