AUTISTIC NICK’S WEEK

AUTISTIC NICK’S WEEK

My last Autistic Nick’s week, I was daydreaming of heading off to the sun-drenched shores of Lombardy in Italy which is a region in Northern Italy. Its capital, Milan, is a global hub of fashion and finance, with many high-end shops and restaurants. This had been triggered by me watching the movie Call me by your name. Sadly, according to the news no sun-drenched shores of Italy are likely to be visited until 2023 at least. And also, it’s hard to source local cheeses from the area like Robiola, Crescenza, Taleggio, Gorgonzola and Grana Padano. So, with that in mind here is what happened to me this week.

MONDAY

I wake up it’s a cold day and the birds aren’t even singing which means that they probably wanted to spend some extra time underneath their duvet covers, instead of feeling like they were being forcibly dragged out of bed to start the day. After a gym workout and a shower I print out my screen writing mentor’s notes and then set about meticulously going through each of her carefully crafted notes to see if I’ve managed to capture the dramatic tension that comes from making a sandwich where at a crucial point another character has to deliver some bad news and the person whose making the sandwich has to decide if they stop and abandon the sandwich or they place the top of the sandwich onto the bottom part of the sandwich and then as the bad news is being delivered they begin to eat said sandwich. Also, dialogue is slashed at this point I bring in famed dialogue master Aaron Sorkin to witness such bloody cuts.  He’s horrified and leaves the zoom meeting after 10 minutes unable to partake any longer in this massacre.  I record his tears and then send them in an attachment to my mentor for them to listen to a pay back if you will for making me discard unwanted dialogue.

TUESDAY

Oh joy! Oh joy! I am at the dentist and I am beyond thrilled! As you can attest by the number of exclamations that I’ve used to punctuate the beginning of this sentence with. I arrive and the work on my teeth can begin. I did advise beforehand with the receptionist that I was Autistic and that I would require a number of things to be put in place for me. The appointment was extended to an hour so that if I needed to take a break at any point I could. I leave and my teeth feel great, and I come back to my mentor’s homework. Which takes me into lunch time and a well-earned rest.  

WEDNESDAY

At the gym and it’s still mandatory to wear a mask here in WA. During my workout I inform my exercise physiologist Jake about the changes to international travel and we discuss in depth about the difficulties being faced with sourcing Robiola, Crescenza, Taleggio, Gorgonzola and Grana Padano. We hold a minutes silence and then before you know it our session is over and I’m back home working on my homework for my mentor.

THURSDAY

This is a busy day for me! On the one hand I have to brave the Aldi shoppers and do the food shopping for the week. (I can hear my sister now correcting me by saying that I don’t have to go on Thursday I chose to go which is correct), but I am NEVER going on the weekend and Friday I am at work! I foolishly check work emails and get caught up emailing people about work related articles which eats into my mentoring time! When will I ever learn Nick when? Never is the answer! This is the night when I prepare for work the next day.  make sure that I had packed my backpack the night before, this meant packing a lunch, shaving, washing, and ironing an outfit suitable for work, making sure my car had enough petrol in it, my shoes were polished, I had my word search puzzle book and a pen, my work notebook, and a water bottle as well as my noise cancelling headphones. I also made sure that my phone was fully charged before I leave home. Although I do take it with me in my backpack just in case my phone dies of a low battery. I watch the news that night and am informed that I will have to wear a mask on the train. I somehow foolishly agreed to go into the office instead of working from home! Too late now to change my mind! I now mentally prepare myself for the thought of wearing a mask on a train.

FRIDAY

I am on the train. I am controlling my breathing and attempting not to think about masks, wearing a mask, and attempt to distract myself with doing things on my phone. I am also currently writing notes on a rattling train heading into Perth underground. My scribblings look like notes my doctor writes. Ok, I should say he uses a computer but back in the old days, when you would visit the doctor, they hand wrote all of their patients notes. I’m glad by 2.30pm I’ve finished for the day and I can go home and rest. Although I do now have a train journey ahead of me, but I survived the first time so I can get through this a second, which I do.

SATURDAY & SUNDAY

I usually take Saturday as my rest day. I like to do nothing and unwind and relax and process what’s happened on Friday at work. Sunday is the day when I usually write/come up with blog ideas! Thus, my week ends!

Carry on the Conversation.

As always, I can be found on Twitter:@AutisticNickAU

Thank you for reading and I will see you next time for more thoughts from across the spectrum.