Work and my Aspie mind

It’s my first day back at work after my hol's, and my drops three bombshells on me. I say bombshells, but at the time they felt more like nuclear warheads. First, I have to continue doing overtime until around September because the colleague who lost some of his fingers isn’t back yet. Which is fair enough, he can’t help that; but it still came as something of a nasty surprise. I was after all told and expecting that I would be able to split my time again. It just seems like the date of my release from non-normality keeps getting pushed further and further back. I keep thinking “when will this end”? The second warhead was that we are doing an exhibition, which means that I am going to be under a lot of pressure from deadlines on top of doing extra time. The third and possibly the most serious was that we would be getting a ‘new guy’. To me that completely changes the entire nature of the workplace. Worse, he lives along my commute and can’t drive, so I was asked if I can give him a lift every day. Of course I didn’t really have a choice. My commute used to be time with just my thoughts, and now it is going to be small talk, at least at first. Being stuck in a car for an hour a day with a relative stranger is not my idea of fun.

Only time will tell if it turns out as badly as every bone in my body says it will. He seems alright, but I am worried that he won’t understand that I don’t ‘hang-out’ after work and am not interested in meeting his mates; even if he thinks that I will like them. I’ve been in that situation too many times before to be pleased. I think that I will disclose my ‘disorder’ at the first opportunity and hope that he understands that I am something of a loner. Besides, the average age of my friends is about in the late forties and he is a lot younger than that. I am more than happy to work with him, just don’t expect me to socialise after hours. 

                                            An accurate representation of how I feel right now!

Right now I’m just trying to enjoy the little things in order to cope with these changes. An early night with a good book, watching some good documentaries, a little consumer therapy (for gadgets, music etc. not clothes or shoes); these are ways to take my mind off of my problems and the depression that I can feel lurking in the shadows.