My ADHD Hyperfixations: Pressure Washing Obsession

My love of pressure washing snuck up on me — the way most of my ADHD hyperfixations do. It started when the rectangular planter bins on my deck remaining a parting reward right after I moved them — brown geometric shapes where their concrete posteriors experienced rested. I wanted people unattractive rectangles long gone.

My to start with believed was to consider to sand and oil the deck to get the stains out. It took many journeys to the shop – initially for the reason that I hadn’t compensated attention to the grade of sandpaper, and then simply because I acquired the completely wrong decking oil – right before I acquired to do the job. But after several hours of inexpert, inefficient function, my outcomes have been underwhelming.

It was definitely time to obtain a stress washer. Although I had by no means utilised a person, I was certain it was just what I needed to get the occupation carried out.

Tests the Waters

The environmentally friendly, compact tension washing device came to existence with a groan. My to start with tentative squeeze of her trigger launched a gratifying, effective jet of drinking water that designed me feel like a ghostbuster. This was going to be a whole lot much more pleasurable than sanding.

I stopped soon after a couple minutes of spraying to evaluate the hose’s impact. Vibrant, uneven stripes lined components of the deck in which the nozzle had dipped nearer to the boards. I panicked, thinking that I now experienced a stripey deck to offer with on major of the planter box rectangles. (It’s what I get for skipping above the owner’s handbook.) I crouched nearer to the boards to examine. Those people weren’t negative stripes. They ended up stripes of pure cleanse! It worked! This was the matter I needed.

[Read: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Hyperfocus]

I retraced my ways and positioned the nozzle nearer to the boards to get an even clear. Just about every wave of the wand stripped away layers of grey, age, and grime. It was like reverse painting, only as a substitute of adding colour I was taking away age and revealing timber. It was so speedy! So satisfying! So effortless! I was in a trance.

How had I lived so extended without the need of figuring out the glory of pressure hosing? There was nowhere I would fairly be and nothing at all I would fairly do. The blessings of the environment were being mine. I was a female with a potent hose, and I was comprehensive.

I at some point achieved the finish of the deck. Then, I looked close to. Why experienced I by no means observed just how filthy those people concrete ways ended up? Spray. Spray. Spray. And what about the out of doors desk? I couldn’t set that back again on the deck like that. Spray. Spray. Spray.

Then I spied our cedar incredibly hot tub. I experienced formerly sanded and oiled it but had never ever absolutely succeeded in taking away the ingrained grime. Absolutely the hose would operate with that, far too? I gave it a blast. Where the moment there was grime now remained only unstained splendor. I had the electricity of purest clean up in my fingers, and there was nothing at all that I could not make cleaner!

[Read: When Hobbies Turn Into Obsessions — Diaries of ADHD Hyperfocus]

The Hyperfixation Pipeline

I commenced to film my adventures on working day a few of hosing. I needed to seize the bliss of the “after” next an impossibly dirty “before.” Certainly everyone would be into superior-stress hosing like I was if only they understood about it? I sent video clips to my partner and my pals. Appear! Look at this! Dirty… thoroughly clean! Ugly… stunning! This actually may well be the best matter in the background of the entire world!

1 night time I was waxing lyrical about the elegance of the hose with my husband and a pal (and long-time hose admirer) and we arrived up with the plan of guerilla hosing. Alternatively of spray paint, we would go to previous, dirty properties and draw lovely photos on them utilizing the ability of water. We started talking logistics of pumps on vans and no matter whether guerrilla hosing could possibly consequence in arrest.

One of my buddies obtained caught up in my enthusiasm and bought herself the very same pressure hose model I had. And she fully got into it. Of study course. Since it is all the excellent matters! Painting without the need of the mess. Stripping absent grime. Acquiring slippery stuff off rocks. Almost everything is cleaner and brighter with a large-power hose!

Each and every day, for a 7 days, I woke up early, charged with an inexhaustible urge to use my hose. It is wonderful how quite a few factors you can find to clean up. But eventually, like all my hyperfixations, my obsession with superior-electricity hosing light as the nervousness of do the job, e-mails, and deadlines I had been ignoring took about.

I am not declaring that this superior-stress hosing hyperfixation is concluded forever. (I would however fully be up for setting up a hose-primarily based art movement). But I know, after a life span of so many fleeting enthusiasms, that there often will be additional. And I will like them just as fiercely and passionately as I did this one, for on the other hand very long they very last. I coronary heart my ADHD hyperfixations.

ADHD Hyperfixations: Following Ways

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