Establishing first contact... hello WP!

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Feyokien
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17 Jan 2021, 3:33 pm

Hello :)

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it's like it hasn't been updated since the early 2000s, and I LOVE it!


:lol:

Yeah the forum is still pretty active, used to have a much larger younger crowd that I think is rebounding.



JohnFreeman
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17 Jan 2021, 5:29 pm

Double Retired wrote:
Welcome to WP! I think you will find some nice folk here.

I am in the U.S. and, at the age of 64, received a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder, Level 1 (Mild) (that's DSM-5 terminology--in much of the world my diagnosis would've been Asperger's Syndrome).

I retired when I was 56. So, it appears I stumbled my way to two retirements without even knowing I was on on the Spectrum. (However, Asperger's Syndrome wasn't an official diagnosis until 1994, the year I turned 40.)

From my vantage point, of having been there and not even knowing it, I can tell you there is unpleasantness but you can get past it. Don't give up. And, paraphrasing some quotes I think I've read: If you think you are in a bad place then don't stop!

I'm also a Science Fiction fan--since 1961. When I was in the second grade I did something (not absolutely sure what) that caused my parents to request a meeting with my teacher. They came home with Tom Swift and His Giant Robot and I've been a Sci-Fi fan since. I think reading and movies are escapism and Science Fiction is good escapism because I want to escape to someplace else, not to the same time and place where I already am. I used to read a lot of Sci-Fi but have difficulty finding time for that now so we (my bride and I) watch a lot of Sci-Fi. Oh, do you read or watch your Sci-Fi?

Take care. And don't give up!!

I totally agree with your point of sci-fi being good escapism for those reasons! I also prefer sci-fi over straight fantasy (for example, settings where magic is real) because many sci-fi scenarios tend to feel like they could be possible in reality someday, no matter how far-fetched, so I find it easier to believe in the world and the characters who inhabit it. I tend to watch most of the sci-fi I consume these days, but I want to get back into reading again soon. What are some of you and your wife's favourite sci-fi movies/series?



Double Retired
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17 Jan 2021, 5:41 pm

JohnFreeman wrote:
What are some of you and your wife's favourite sci-fi movies/series?
Right now we are working our way through The Expanse and Red Dwarf. We were also working our way through the Marvel Cinematic Universe but we paused after Iron Man 3 because the next thing would be Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and I think having three TV series in progress at the same time would be a bit much.

What are you currently watching?


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JohnFreeman
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17 Jan 2021, 7:14 pm

Double Retired wrote:
JohnFreeman wrote:
What are some of you and your wife's favourite sci-fi movies/series?
Right now we are working our way through The Expanse and Red Dwarf. We were also working our way through the Marvel Cinematic Universe but we paused after Iron Man 3 because the next thing would be Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and I think having three TV series in progress at the same time would be a bit much.

What are you currently watching?

I hear great things about The Expanse wherever I go, so I should probably check it out soon! It's funny you mentioned the MCU because the last thing I watched was the first two episodes of WandaVision (the latest MCU TV series) with my family. I also recently caught up with Doctor Who (although don't think the latest showrunner is all that good) and finished a rewatch of Fringe. Fringe is a sci-fi series with a similar premise to The X-Files, but with more of a focus on fringe science concepts like parallel universes and alternate timelines - really cool stuff. (I would link to the Wikipedia page, but it seems I can't post URLs as a new user. Oh well.)

If I were you, I would skip the MCU TV series like Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and continue on with the films for now. The reason for this is a bit complicated, but I'll explain.

Up until recently, all the MCU TV series were produced by Marvel Television rather than Marvel Studios (the studio that produces the films). Because the films and TV shows were created by different companies, each company often didn't know what the other was doing, leading to discrepancies in continuity. Although the TV series were given free reign to draw on the films for inspiration, and even secured some actors and characters from the films (such as Phil Coulson to headline Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.), the events of the TV series never affected the films directly because Marvel Studios didn't want their films to be beholden to whatever was happening on the TV side of the universe. There are some common elements between them, but for the most part the film universe and the TV universe each exist in their own continuity "bubble" separately from one another, and can be watched independently of one another.

This situation changed last year when the head honcho of Marvel Studios was promoted and given control over the TV side of things as well. Knowing that fans were disappointed about the lack of connectivity between the TV and film sides of Marvel, he announced that all future Marvel TV series will be produced by Marvel Studios and will be fully part of the MCU, with the events of the TV series affecting the films and vice versa. The first of these series is WandaVision, starring Wanda and Vision from the films.

So, in short - you can watch all of the MCU films on their own without having to worry about the TV series if you want. That's not to say the TV series aren't worth watching, they're just not mandatory to enjoy the films. My personal favourite of the TV series is Daredevil, even though it had little to no sci-fi elements at all, just because the writing and acting were just so good.



Double Retired
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18 Jan 2021, 11:50 am

We enjoyed Agent Carter and what we've previously seen of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.. On the other hand, Daredevil & Jessica Jones are definitely on probation; we've not seen any of them but have them on disc so they'll get at least one viewing.

Yeah. Disc. One of my retirements involved computer security. I am therefore very, very suspicious of computers and the Internet. I see no reason that my desktop, car, and my bride's phone should be chatting with each other. And I definitely see no reason our TV, thermostat, and robot vacuum cleaner need to chat with anyone. There are a few things we watch over-the-air but most of our viewing is on disc. And our living room shelves reflect this--we obviously have weak "shelf-control".

Ah. Doctor Who. Beware! It is addicting! My first "Doctor" is Tom Baker and I think we've got a copy of every currently available classic Who, plus the TV movie, plus current Who up to and including Matt Smith. Also the spinoff series. Like I said, weak "shelf-control".

I think it would be fair to say that our video collection is one of my Aspie "special interests".

P.S. The Expanse is very, very good! And it is pretty solid science fiction.


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autisticelders
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19 Jan 2021, 7:25 pm

welcome, I have an adult daughter who worries constantly whether every part of her (not just her face) is symmetrical or perfect enough. I do understand how hard such concerns are, no idea about how to help the anxiety and emotional stresses/ distress it brings with it. Daughter is always the first to console, comfort, reach out to others with hurts of any sort, but somehow she can't seem to give herself the same comfort and forgiveness of "being human" in any way. I ask her to give herself the same love and care that she would give another. Glad you are with us. You are definitely not alone.


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CockneyRebel
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20 Jan 2021, 12:14 am

Welcome to WP! :D


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uncertaingoblin
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21 Jan 2021, 11:36 am

JohnFreeman wrote:
uncertaingoblin wrote:
Hey, I like to be straightforward so before you go on to read my post keep in mind I'm not officially diagnosed and therefore may not actually be on the spectrum.

Being obsessed with my facial features, and to some degree, symmetry, in a very negative way, was a phase I also went through, I believe when I was 25, and in university. It started with a preoccupation as to the position of my eyes (being "too far apart, and not symmetrical) and instead of completing my university readings and assignments I went into a spiral trying to learn about the "meaning" of this odd positioning, and then trying to research as to whether or not it would be possible to re-arrange my skull. I felt deeply unhappy about my appearance and this led to obsessively looking in the mirror, often the rear-view mirror when driving instead of on the road as well. I just couldn't stop thinking about it. What happened was, when I finally concluded that there was nothing I could do, what followed were further obsessive insecurities about other aspects of my appearance: the length of my neck, the shape of my lips, and the shape of my skull as a whole. Through each of these, the same process was followed: I obsessively researched the possibilities of altering or compensating for each feature. Somehow, through obsessive research, some degree of peace was made. Ultimately, there isn't anything I can do about these things, but knowing that didn't help, I had to exhaust every piece of bizarre information I could find on the topic online. I went into a serious obsession with commercial DNA testing which lasted years (and still continues, but is much less prominent) and this gave me something about myself which I could obsess over to replace my fixation on physical appearance.. I think this was part of getting over it as well. I will tell you that this still lingers in me today, and every now and then I have a day where my lips, eyes, neck, or head shapes really bother me, but, I am mostly over it, and am fortunate to now have very prominent and pressing issues in my life that take my attention away whether I like it or not (raising a child.) The most tangible of the solutions, cosmetic surgery for the lips, still finds its way into my Google searches now and then, but I'm pretty practiced at shutting this down as it's around seven years after these thoughts began troubling me.
So, I do not know if this is similar to what you are experiencing, but in case it is, I decided to share this with you.

Regarding unemployment: A huge struggle in my life has been finding decent employment. From age 16 to age 30, I worked horrible minimum-wage customer service jobs where I suffered what could be considered abuse by the general public. The only time I ever got jobs was when I had some kind of connection within that job (although, I think this is pretty typical.) I knew all kinds of people who just seemed to find themselves in decent paying, respectable jobs as if by accident. In a relatively recent period of unemployment, I took a software course, and due to the fact that my favorite hobby for most of my life was PC gaming, I stood out in the class, and someone from a local business gave me a chance and hired me. Upon being hired for what was at first a simple job, my abilities to type quickly, use computers, and to write using formal English got me a promotion and my first "real grown-up" job. It turned out I had a lot of employable skills the whole time, but my absolutely atrocious verbal communication abilities held me back from getting anyone to give me a chance until I was in a situation where I really, really stood out.
The point of this story is that I believe it's better to be unemployed and perusing your interests and skills than it is to be thrown into a series of sh***y jobs. Self-esteem is really difficult to cultivate and I think entry level jobs where one is forced to deal with the general public is going to make you think you're less capable than you are. This is the first time in my life where I can remember believing that I may not be a complete idiot. So, if you don't have to get employment to survive, don't do it unless you can get something where some of your talents/skills/interests/capabilities can come into play. Maybe this isn't relevant advice for you, but I'm writing it out on the off-chance that it is. Just ignore it if not!

Regardless as to if this was relevant or even remotely helpful, I want to wish you "good luck!"

Thanks for sharing your story - your periodic fixation on random parts of your face sounds a lot like what I've been experiencing for some time. In my teenage years I was fixated on my skin due to acne, and when it went away the fixation turned to my eyesight, then weight, hairline, hearing, jawline, etc... now it's the asymmetry of my face itself. I know that everyone's face is asymmetrical to an extent but I feel like mine is too much now and it makes me anxious to think about. I've come to accept that I'm a hypochondriac, but I'll investigate these fears anyway just in case any of them have basis in reality. Usually some of them go away whenever I get a professional telling me that whatever I'm obsessing about at the time isn't that bad, but some of my anxieties tend to disappear over time as well. It varies, really.

In regards to work/occupation, I've done a lot of random courses at college but I haven't actually ever had a job yet, partially because I'd lose my ESA benefit if I did, so you could say I've fallen into the so-called "welfare trap". I would like to do a job that I'm interested in - I'm pretty decent with computers too - but it seems to be slim pickings out there at the moment, especially due to a certain virus going around.

NaturalEntity wrote:
Welcome friend. Fellow sci fi fan here! I mainly read books in the genre - try the Culture novels by Iain M Banks. They're really good.
I play video games too, though I prefer consoles, mostly Nintendo ones.

Thanks for the rec! I think I've heard of that series before but never fully looked into it. The premise definitely sounds interesting so I'll give them a shot.


Hey JF

It sounds like you’ve got a solid start on all this, you’ve overcome some physical fixations already.
And TBH I think it’s great that you have unemployment. I believe if I had the ability to pursue classes or skills without needing to work when I was younger it would’ve saved me from having to piece back together my self esteem today. I was thrown to the wolves in customer service jobs and I think some of my experiences could be described as traumatic. Not only did I not make any money, I was more or less taught to hate myself. It’s true that I learned a lot about how normal behaviour works but I never learned how to fully integrate and the more of my mistakes I memorize the more exhausting it feels trying to recall everything I know about how not to offend people, because it’s just so many goddamn rules.

So your story so far makes me happy. I’m personally glad that you get to access resources that keep you out of horrible low end jobs. I get the impression that you’ll have a good life ahead of you.



JohnFreeman
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21 Jan 2021, 8:47 pm

Double Retired wrote:
Yeah. Disc. One of my retirements involved computer security. I am therefore very, very suspicious of computers and the Internet. I see no reason that my desktop, car, and my bride's phone should be chatting with each other. And I definitely see no reason our TV, thermostat, and robot vacuum cleaner need to chat with anyone. There are a few things we watch over-the-air but most of our viewing is on disc. And our living room shelves reflect this--we obviously have weak "shelf-control".

A disc collector, I respect that! As convenient as it may be to have everything digital, there'll always be a need for physical media, especially in an age where people can lose access to their entire collections just by forgetting their log-in details or when the companies who host the servers go bankrupt and take everything with them (looking at you, UltraViolet). Plus, there's always a worst case scenario... what if an EMP goes off worldwide like in Blade Runner Black Out 2022 that completely wipes out the internet? I'm not saying it's likely, but I'd be doubly grateful for the discs I have then!

autisticelders wrote:
welcome, I have an adult daughter who worries constantly whether every part of her (not just her face) is symmetrical or perfect enough. I do understand how hard such concerns are, no idea about how to help the anxiety and emotional stresses/ distress it brings with it. Daughter is always the first to console, comfort, reach out to others with hurts of any sort, but somehow she can't seem to give herself the same comfort and forgiveness of "being human" in any way. I ask her to give herself the same love and care that she would give another. Glad you are with us. You are definitely not alone.

Thank you so much for posting this. It sounds like your daughter has much of the same characteristics as I do. I remember the mantra "You are your own worst critic"... I usually don't agree with it much, but sometimes I do, when I see a better side of myself in the mirror and it feels like my problems aren't as bad as I think. In one conversation I had with my therapist, I told him about my insecurities and the fact that I didn't understand why people still liked me despite the glaring issues that I thought I had. His response was very wise - I can't remember the exact words, but it was something along these lines: "If you can't trust your own opinion of yourself, you can trust your friends and family to be sure of how they see you - and they outnumber you". It's obvious in retrospect but I hadn't really thought about it that way before. Feel free to pass on that message to your daughter sometime if you think it might help her.

uncertaingoblin wrote:
Hey JF

It sounds like you’ve got a solid start on all this, you’ve overcome some physical fixations already.
And TBH I think it’s great that you have unemployment. I believe if I had the ability to pursue classes or skills without needing to work when I was younger it would’ve saved me from having to piece back together my self esteem today. I was thrown to the wolves in customer service jobs and I think some of my experiences could be described as traumatic. Not only did I not make any money, I was more or less taught to hate myself. It’s true that I learned a lot about how normal behaviour works but I never learned how to fully integrate and the more of my mistakes I memorize the more exhausting it feels trying to recall everything I know about how not to offend people, because it’s just so many goddamn rules.

So your story so far makes me happy. I’m personally glad that you get to access resources that keep you out of horrible low end jobs. I get the impression that you’ll have a good life ahead of you.

Yeah, I'm one of the lucky ones who managed to get onto a decent unemployment and disability benefit thanks to the help of my parents and a local support worker. If I wasn't still living with my family, the money each month would probably be enough to pay for food, rent, appliances, etc. but not a whole lot more. Even though I'd still like to be doing something outside of the house to earn a living, at least part-time, I am glad that I don't have to suffer through some of the experiences that my friends in work have had. I imagine that customer service jobs must be some of the most stressful kinds of jobs for people like us, especially ones where you're in constant communication with strangers and given a matter of seconds to correctly interpret a customer's vague meaning or intention, or risk offending someone.

I'm glad that you managed to find a job that better suited you in the end. I suspect I'll end up doing something similar to you one day, since I'm already known as the "tech guy" in my family and I always end up fixing their broken devices or teaching them how to use them. Hopefully I'll be able to skip over the soul-crushing jobs in the process - fingers crossed!



cyberdad
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21 Jan 2021, 8:50 pm

Welcome to WP



autisticelders
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22 Jan 2021, 7:21 am

welcome!


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