Finally…

The benefit of having a military roommate has come! One month training course in Mississippi! Of course, he didn’t tell me he was leaving for a month. He told the landlord when she called to set an appointment for the quarterly inspection. I’m not exactly sure when he left for the training course, but he hasn’t been here all week.

Presumably sometime during last weekend, because Sunday night when I came home, he wasn’t here but my bedroom door was wide open. A few weeks after he first moved in, I would come home and my room door would be open. I always pull it shut. Then I noticed he was using my laundry detergent and sucking down my sparkling water like it was free flowing from the tap, I moved those items into my room and installed a keyed entry door knob. Being gone 3-4 days at a time kind of invites a roommie to snoop.

Because, I knew the inspection was coming up, I didn’t lock my room door last weekend just in case the landlord came to do the inspection at that time. The landlord didn’t come, but apparently the roommie was feeling lucky enough to test the knob! It’s annoying, yes, but disturbing. Why does he want in my room? I don’t have a flat screen tv, nor do I have video games…nothing that would entice a male to come in…I have shabby chic style bedding, so it’s a pretty girly room. It must be the foot bath LOL I have to remember, my roommate is a male who goes to the tanning salon, plucks his eyebrows, and uses Crest White Strips. He probably comes in to say a prayer over the foot bath.

Back to him leaving for a month: I’m very happy that I get to live in a clean place for at least a month…since I cleaned the floors last night and the counters and coffee table. But, he left for a month!…with dishes in the sink, the trash can filled to capacity…the run off of which he left on the kitchen table: 2 empty water bottles, 2 empty Emergen-C boxes, an empty wine bottle, 2 packages of tortilla wraps dated April ‘09, an empty canister of anabolic psychoactive protein powder, and a few empty grocery bags. Oh and he didn’t wipe out the microwave so there’s little-bits of god knows what plastered inside. He also left perishable items in the refrigerator…carrots, tomatoes, MILK.

But yes, I am very fortunate for a break! A well-needed break!

Wine, Wine…Whine

MR drinks wine daily…that’s not the problem. The problem lies in his lack of pouring prowess which leaves rings of wine on the porous counter tops and white kitchen table. So he’s a little messy when he pours his RED wine, because the boy don’t drink the white stuff…at least then it would only be a sticky ring and not a red one that seeps into the surface.

He just doesn’t wipe the rings away. He simply turns a blind eye to them and leaves them for me. Which I have scrubbed away because 1. I want my deposit back and having red wine rings on the counter tops kinda hinders that prospect and 2. It’s my kitchen table which I would prefer to not have to sand and re-paint due to a knuckle-dragging roommate!

Aside from the wine, he has monopolized the washer and dryer for the past four days. I came home Sunday night and he had 3 normal sized towels sitting in the washer that he had washed in HOT water on the LARGE load setting. Yesterday morning, he re-washed the towels. Those towels sat in the washer until yesterday evening when he come home from work and then put them in the dryer. Where are those towels today? Still in the dryer.

I would love to find my own place getting out of here, which would be especially funny since all the furnishings are mine except for his bedroom. No more wine glasses to drink his wine in, no more corkscrew to open his wine, no more microwave to explode things in and walk away, NO MORE washer and dryer to monopolize…

But my conscience would not allow me to deceive anyone into moving in with this Neanderthal. However, if I could fully disclose his behavior, and someone was still willing to take my place on the lease…Oh the dream sequence is starting

To take the trash can away or not to take the trash can away, that is the question…along with the continuing Thermostat War

My last post discussed how MR left for Memorial Day Weekend with the trash can full. He came home Monday. It is now Thursday, and the trash still hasn’t been taken out. Once again, the lid is no longer closing because it is piled too high. He has continued to add to the trash despite the fact that it is already full.

I refuse to take it out even though I can’t stand it. However, I am tempted to take the trash out and remove the can from the kitchen and let it become a free-for-all.

I came home early from a work trip today, only to find him home. Wow, what great hours the Navy has to have leave for the whole 3-day weekend and then an additional day during the week following!

He maintains his physique with boat loads of supplements…some questionable…like ones that say “DO NOT SHAKE, HIGHLY SENSITIVE,” “NO WAIT TIME, DRINK IMMEDIATELY AFTER MIXING,” and others that say “Contains TESTOSTERONE”.

Ingesting all of these things and then some on a daily basis makes him a Human Combustion Chamber. His hypothalamus is all jacked up and he continues to abuse it. Everything he takes not only throws off his internal thermostat, but makes him an insomniac. To have an exorbitant amount of energy with which to work out, his daily cocktail consists of anabolic psychoactive mix, amino-vital energy mix, Hydroxycut Advanced, Emergen-C packets, in addition to the over-the-counter allergy meds and 5-hour liquid energy shot he consumes. Is it a wonder that with all of these “energy” charged products that he needs sleeping pills and still CAN’T sleep?

No wonder he feels like he’s melting if the thermostat isn’t set to 63 degrees…because his hypothalamus is no longer functioning. It also explains why he jacks the thermostat up to 80 degrees in the winter so he’s not cold when he gets out of the shower. I think if you require such luxuries you should have your own place or at least another steroid addict as a roommate.

Memorial Day Weekend

About two weeks ago, I was actually home for a week…vacation but no money to actually go anywhere. To start my vacation, I took the trash out…because that’s what I always come home to…a full trash can and a lazy roommate. To end my vacation, I took the trash out. Because, it needed to be taken out and I knew if I didn’t, I would most definitely come home to it.

Well, I came home from my trip and spent a few days home before having another trip. Once again, before I left for my trip, I took the trash out. This time I was away for four days. When I came home, the trash was full. Since took the trash out before I left thus not contributing to the current state of the trash, I did not take the trash out. I only had two days off. My first day home, my roommate continued to pile trash in the can…the lid was no longer closing. My second and last day home, MR continued to pile the trash even more…the top attachment was now an inch away from the can. So now the lid itself is open and the whole top attachment is lifted from the can. I come home from running errands that last day, and there’s my roommate chilling on the couch watching tv.

I saw the trash can in its current state and said, “Gee, do you think the trash is full when the top is no longer attached to the can and the lid is stuck open?” MR: “I’m planning on taking the trash out.”

What I wanted to say next: “The trash was full yesterday morning, were you planning to take the trash out then or when the lid wasn’t closing yesterday evening, were you planning to take the trash out then?”

After MR took the trash out, which only happened after I said something to him, I went on a three day work trip which ended this past Friday night of Memorial Day Weekend.

I came home to a MESS. The trash can is FULL. Soiled paper towels were lying around the kitchen counters and the coffee table. Dirty dishes were left on the counter. There were three t-shirts strewn on the couch as well as the packaging materials in which they came. And, who went to visit his parents for the weekend?

Yep, my roommate went away for this long weekend leaving the trash full and garbage and other junk laying around common areas as well as not washing his dishes. And, I’ll actually be home this weekend to soak in the smells of the festering garbage, because it will be waiting for him when he gets back!

Discussing issues or sending e-mails to highlight issues doesn’t seem to work…although he has stopped starting auxiliary trash bags when the can is full, but I think that is probably of fear that if he does do that, I will put them in his room, which I have and I would do again. So he doesn’t! lol

So now the issue still remains, what’s a solution for when your roommate just doesn’t take the trash out? Playing chicken doesn’t work, because I always end up taking the trash out. Although, I’ve been working a lot lately, so I haven’t been home much…which has helped because I refuse to take the trash out, when I haven’t even contributed to adding trash to the can. When it’s all him, it’s on him!

I’ve thought about taking the trash can away. I don’t have a problem just taking a small bag of my own trash out daily…keeping in mind, I am only home a few days a week, even less if I pick-up more trips (which I do as much as possible).

A friend suggested that I get him an inexpensive trash can and put it in his room and tell him, since he has proven himself incapable of sharing in the responsibility of taking the trash out, he can have his own trash can to put trash in, and it can stay in his room so if he wants to over pile it and let it smell, it can stink up his own room instead of the rest of the condo. I think this sounds great, but how likely is it to uphold? Again, I am not home that often and I really hate coming home to a mess so I could only imagine what he’d leave around considering, we have a trash can in the kitchen now, and he still manages to leave trash laying around on the kitchen counters. So, I doubt the trash would ever make it to his room…that is without my helping hand

Has anyone else had this ongoing problem with a roommate? Anything work?

I’m almost ready to draw up a chart…like a cleaning schedule that tracks when the common areas are cleaned by each person. It sounds anal, but in college one of my roommates did it since there were three of us and although we all cleaned up after ourselves, she made a calender so that once a week it was one of our turns to put some elbow grease in either the bathroom, kitchen, or floors.

Trash, Trash, Trash

My roommate moved in February 1, 2009, and since then he has taken out the trash twice! Yes, 15 weeks ago he moved in and trash has been taken out once, sometimes twice each week, yet he has only taken the trash out twice!

Keep in mind, I am out of town at least 3-4 days each week, but I somehow take the trash out before I leave for work, and I come home to the trash overflowing and take the trash out again…when I haven’t even been around to contribute to the trash situation.

I have attempted to resolve this issue through communication. It is evident that he simply is paralyzed when it comes to removing the kitchen trash from the can and bringing it outside. Up until April, he would start an auxiliary trash bag (a grocery bag or other shopping bag) when the kitchen trash was full without taking either bag to the trash. I would come home take the trash out (but not his auxiliary bag). He would then come home and put his auxiliary bag of trash into the kitchen trash can!! Can you really believe the audacity? Am I the only one that sees an issue with this? He simply can’t walk anything back to the trash can. It’s not like he has to roll the trash can to the curb or anything. We live in a condo, we simply put the trash in one of the cans in the back. It’s NOT at all inconvenient. Enough is enough. After two weeks of one particular shopping bag sitting on the kitchen floor, I put it in his room after he left for the weekend without taking it the the trash. He was extremely angered by that and left me a note to “NEVER PUT TRASH IN MY ROOM AGAIN!!!!” To that I have to say, it was an effective method, because even though he hasn’t shared in the responsibility of taking the trash out, he has since stopped using extraneous bags for trash…he now just lets trash pile on the counter tops if the trash can is full. In response to his note, I sent him the following e-mail:

Aaron**(name has been changed),

I received the note you left on the counter for me stating to “…not ever put trash in my room again!! Stay out of my room!!”

I ask that you never leave trash in the kitchen in shopping bags!! If the trash can is full, just take out the trash. Don’t start a shopping/grocery bag instead of taking the trash out. Regardless of how busy your life is, there is no excuse for not sharing in the responsibilities of maintaining a cleanly apartment. Leaving for the weekend without taking the trash out is unacceptable. Taking the trash bag out of the can without taking the trash outside and starting a new bag while the tied-off bag remains on the kitchen floor is also unacceptable.

Stop using my laundry detergent! Integrity is doing the right thing when no one is looking…using my laundry detergent, helping yourself to my sparkling water, and taking my Emergen-C packets out of the closet without ever asking first, all of which you’ve done only when I’m not around shows that if you thought it wasn’t wrong to do, then you would have done it when I was around.

The Thermostat Talk

When my roommate emerged from his room, I said we need to talk about the temperature. I said 67 degrees is way too cold. He acted shocked as if 67 is a perfectly reasonable temperature for the AIR CONDITIONING to be set on.

Now I will say this…I am always cold and I realize that the temperature I am comfortable with is not the average temperature others are comfortable with. I am willing to compromise though, by being REASONABLE. i.e. Avoiding Extremes

Now back to the discussion with the roommate: He said that it’s too bad because he just can’t sleep if it’s not subzero. I reminded him that  it’s just not him living here, he has a roommate: me. He was like “yeah, I know, but I need my sleep and the AC needs to be cold.” I said, “I need my sleep too, and waking up at 4 a.m. because I’m FREEZING doesn’t exactly work for me!” So, he said, “ok, how about 70 degrees” Two degrees, are you f*ing kidding me? In his little narcissistic world, that is a compromise. He then told me to shut the vents in my room and the rest of the condo so all the AC would go to his room, because he really needs to be freezing in order to sleep. I was like how much sense does that make. We would be running the thermostat just for your room while the rest of the place isn’t getting any air…but still splitting utilities? I said if you only have a problem with the temperature at night and in your room, why don’t you get a fan or a portable A/C unit rather than jack up the thermostat just for your own room. He said, “No, that just won’t work for me, the thermostat has got to be set…how about 71 degrees?” How about you move out! J/K!

The Thermostat Wars

Waking up at 4 am, freezing!!!

My roommate (MR), apparently raised in a cave, has failed to acquire manners, respect, considerateness or even awareness. Earlier in the day, he changed the AC to 63 degrees and then LEFT, while I was still home. Obviously, I quickly changed the thermostat; I turned it off.

The temperature stayed in the low seventies. I was already in bed when he came home. I awoke at 4 am freezing. Keep in mind that I have jersey sheets and a fleece blanket still on my bed, normally, these would already be off with the onset of warmer weather, but right now, I’m coping with MR. I started feeling for my comforter to pull it over me, as well. But, fully awakening, I realized I shouldn’t be shivering uncontrollably in May. I jumped up and went to the Thermostat, which read: 67 degrees and still cooling!

I changed the Thermostat to 74 degrees and put a note for MR on it that read: (Name), Do Not Change the Thermostat. We need to talk! (Signed)

I guess we’ll see how the talk goes!

More to post later.

Welcome to my roommate drama!

I’m starting this blog because I want a way to vent about my roommate issues without keeping it inside or always turning to friends and family. I figure this blog will amuse some, maybe scare others, and because I know things could always be worse…there’s people out there who could say, “this is nothing.”

My current roommate has me plotting to move into a storage unit at the end of the lease. I’m just not brave enough to try to find a new roommate after so many failed attempts. Now, I’ve never tried to find “the perfect” roommate, but certainly, a compatible one. I guess if I had to continue to live with a roommate, I’d want the most anal retentive, clean freak, germ-a-phoebe, environmentally conscious person out there!…so for once, I could be the slovenly wasteful awful roommate. Not really, I’m pretty adaptable…so I’m sure I’d put myself on edge to keep up with someone like that. Pretty adaptable, yet I’m bothered by my current roommate…yes, it is true. There are things, I just can’t get down with…like not taking the trash out…especially when it’s starting to smell…BAD, not cleaning up spills, and not having respect for common areas by leaving your junk piled around in an apartment that’s 900 square feet to include acne wash and hair gel being left on the kitchen counter or leaving trash on counter tops because you’re just that lazy to 1. not take it to the dumpster or 2. not put it in the kitchen trash can.

Gosh, I think it's time to take out the trash...

Oh yeah, totally acceptable to start a grocery bag instead of taking the trash out...how many bags do we let pile up until we finally take the trash out?

What's that bag in the trash...