I have recently been diagnosed with AAADD - Age Activated Attention Deficit Disorder. This is how it goes: I decide to do work on the car, start to the garage and notice the mail on the table. OK, I'm going to work on the car... BUT FIRST I'm going to go through the mail. Lay car keys down on desk. After discarding the junk mail, I notice the trash can is full. OK, I'll just put the bills on my desk.... BUT FIRST I'll take the trash out, but since I'm going to be near the mailbox, I'll address a few bills....Now, where is the checkbook? Oops.. there's only one check left. Where did I put the extra checks? Oh, there is my empty plastic cup from last night on my desk. I'm going to look for those checks... BUT FIRST I need to put the cup back in the kitchen. I head for the kitchen, look out the window, notice the flowers need a drink of water, I put the cup on the counter and there's my extra pair of glasses on the kitchen counter. What are they doing here? I'll just put them away... BUT FIRST need to water those plants. I head for the door and... Aaaagh! Someone left the TV remote on the wrong spot. Okay, I'll put the remote away and water the plants... BUT FIRST I need to find those checks. END OF DAY: Oil in car not changed, bills still unpaid, cup still in the sink, checkbook still has only one check left, lost my car keys ... And, when I try to figure out how come nothing got done today, I'm baffled because... I KNOW I WAS BUSY ALL DAY! I realize this condition is serious... I'd get help... BUT FIRST... I think I'll check my e-mail.

-- Sissy Sylvester-Barth (iblong2Him@ilovejesus.net), August 30, 2001

Answers

I understand what you mean. I used to think a one-track mind was a sign of simpleness. Now I find it would be a blessing to have one much of the time. What's really bad though is when you are in the middle of cooking something and cannot for the life of you remember WHAT you were cooking. I do that sometimes. And I'm not even 50 yet. Bah, humbug.

My sons heard a comedian on TV recently who had been listening to the health propaganda. Seems a study has decided that for each cigarette we smoke, we lose 7 minutes, and for each slice of bacon eaten, we lose 5. He proposed that by laying on the couch all day eating bacon and smoking cigarettes, we could go back in time. Do you suppose if I did that, I'd be 21 again? LOL Probably not. I'd probably still just be fat and short winded. Bah, humbug again.

-- Green (ratdogs10@yahoo.com), August 30, 2001.

You're not alone! Let's see, I started to load cement blocks to take out to the new place, 'then' I remembered gotta go to the lumber yard. I came in here to connect to the net, 'then' I remembered the hot pepper jelly was starting to boil. I ruined a batch of tea by letting the bags boil about 15 min. Stll haven't turned the t.v. off. Thanks for the reminder, I need to mail a vet bill. Add that to dyslexia, life is fun. Thank God for a sense of humor.

-- Cindy (S.E.IN) (atilrthehony_1@yahoo.com), August 30, 2001.

I understand what you're saying, but my problem goes more like this......I rise from my chair to perform a very important task, I take 5 steps, and whammo......blank, no idea where I was going or why.

-- Cathy in NY (hrnofplnty@yahoo.com), August 30, 2001.

Someone's been reading my mail!! Otherwise how would you know how I act!!

-- ruth in se Illinois (bobtravous@email.com), August 30, 2001.

Makes you wonder what they're putting in the water or air.

-- Cindy (S.E.IN) (atilrthehony_1@yahoo.com), August 30, 2001.

Boy does that sound familiar!! By the time I sit down at the end of the day it seems that I have been busy since morning doing a whole lot of nothing. But I do have good intentions.

-- Kathy (jubilant@ncweb.com), August 30, 2001.

That was great! I call it the perpetual spiral. I seem to go in circles all day getting little bits done everywhere, but not as much as I'd like to and unless you are very astute, you probably wouldn't notice that anything had been done at all.

Mine usually seems to focus on whatever task it is I set out to do, like mowing the lawn.....lawn mower won't start, check gas, oil, plug, battery, charge, clean, fill lube, inflate tires, lose key, look for key, can't find it. Arrrgh.Find it...the key that is. Still won't start. Run electrical checks....find wire lose fix that, and at last....too tired to mow, or time for chores, or some kind of life or death situation arises. Yippeeee. There's always tomorrow, maybe!

-- Doreen (bisquit@here.com), August 30, 2001.

You mean there is a name for it!!! I thought I was just procrastinating! I have to make a real effort to stick with one thing and finish it! Any how many times have I gone to the next room to get something and by the time I get there, forget what it was I was going after! Very frustrating and then of course in the next room, there is always something to distract your attention. Maybe we just try to do too much????

-- Barb (bjconthefarm@yahoo.com), August 31, 2001.

Okay, here is the ultimate AAADD! While quilting, having to re- thread the needle, I put the needle in my mouth while I get the thread ready, but then, I decide that I need an Advil, get up and get the Advil and water, sit back down and.......no needle! I looked for it at the counter where I took the Advil, I look for it on the floor, the chair, and finally have to decide that I swallowed it!! egads! I have done this lots of times. In His Grace, Sissy

-- Sissy Sylvester-Barth (iblong2Him@ilovejesus.net), September 01, 2001.

Why am I here?

-- Danny O'Hanlon (d.ohanlon@ntlworld.com), November 04, 2001.