So today, I had made a bunch of brownies for a potluck at work. This was far and away the best potluck I've ever experienced. Anyway, the reason why I mention that is because the food was so splendidly good, that everyone ate so much of it that they didn't have any room left for any desserts. So I had a lot of brownies leftover. a full 9X9 try, and about 3/4 of a 13X9 tray. Mikey stopped by my room last night and asked if he could have any brownies. I told him he could help himself to the lasrger tray, and if he wanted, he could take them to work, and leave me the small tray. So Mikey took the large tray and said, "Thank you."
I went out to the kitchen later, after my nap, and Mikey, again, had left a mess. After the fiasco from yesterday, with the messy kitchen, I assumed that wa a one time thing. But I went out to the kitchen today, and he made another mess with just the brownie supplies. He took the aluminum foil off of the tray, and just placed it on the counter. Used two paper towels for something, and left those laying on the counter as well. The empty ziplock bag container was on the counter, as he used the last ziplock bag out of the pack to carry the brownies. Finally, the had placed the brownie tray in the sink and filled it up with water.
(In addition, like usual, the cabinets and drawers were left opened.)
It took me all of 5 minutes to clean up and wash the tray. Sure, not a huge deal, as it wasn't THAT much of an inconvenience to me. But being that it didn't take me that long, it wouldn't have taken him that long either.
At this point, he's just being flat out lazy. He's taking advantage of the fact that he knows I'll do it. How hard is it to throw a couple of napkins away and simply scrub a dish when you're done with it? Is this roommate setup really at the point where when he says, "I'll take care of my mess," it's really just code for "I'll consolidate it and let you clean it later"?
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Tornado
So I have been very jet-lagged this whole week so far, and haven't been able to do much in the way of housework. Well, certainly more than Mikey has ever done, but not much according to my own standards. This is why there is no post from Monday the 29th, my first day back. I slept all day until 6pm, and then tried to go to bed 6 hours later at midnight to reset my schedule.
Anyway, I did clean the house from the giant mess Mikey had made while I was gone. I haven't however, had the opportunity to clean my bathroom, my room, or vacuum.
So I did a bit more tidying up today when I came home from work. Mikey had a giant stack of his mail on the dining table. I gave him from Sunday (the day I got back) until today to do something with it. That's a 3 day grace period, and he still failed to do something with it. So I moved it to his room. Well, I just noticed that in the hour and a half he just spent here he moved half the stack back to the dining table. Why? I don't know. It's all mail that's addressed to him. When I get my mail, I take it to my room, read it right away, throw it away, or store it in my desk immediately. Why he has dozens of letters that he keeps moving everywhere, I have no idea. But I'm going to go buy some sort of decoration for the dining room table, and hopefully, that will prevent him from putting his mail there anymore.
Well, like I said, he was here for an hour and a half just now. And like I said before that, I came home from work and did a bit of further cleaning. And by a bit, I mean I spent nearly an hour in the kitchen emptying the dishwasher and cleaning everything spic and span. I went to my room and started watching some YouTube videos. In about 10 minutes, Mikey came home from...doing whatever he was doing.
I heard him in the kitchen for about 20 minutes or so, then I heard the XBOX 360 turn on in the living room. He played XBOX for about an hour, then he played drums for 20 minutes. He stopped by my room, told me he was going to work, and told me to water the backyard.
I emerged form my room and went to the kitchen. And I saw an absolutely horrendous mess in the kitchen. Nearly as bad as the initial mess I came home to upon my return form Tokyo. And I had JUST finished cleaning and shining the whole kitchen. Took me an hour, or close to it, to do it. And it took Mikey a matter of 20 minutes to destroy the whole thing again. It looks as if someone came in here and cooked all three of their daily meals and didn't clean any of it:
Opened peanut butter and jelly jars in the sink. An opened milk container on the counter. All the pots and pans, dirty, on the stove, a grocery bag on the counter. dirty utensils and about half a dozen napkins strewn about. A chair from the dining room all the way in the living room in front of the TV.
Using a plate and not putting it in the dishwasher is one thing. That's not a big deal at all. But you're telling me that he made THIS much of a mess, had time to play an hour of XBOX and 20 minutes of playing the drums, but he couldn't clean up any of this?
I can't fucking believe this...
Anyway, I did clean the house from the giant mess Mikey had made while I was gone. I haven't however, had the opportunity to clean my bathroom, my room, or vacuum.
So I did a bit more tidying up today when I came home from work. Mikey had a giant stack of his mail on the dining table. I gave him from Sunday (the day I got back) until today to do something with it. That's a 3 day grace period, and he still failed to do something with it. So I moved it to his room. Well, I just noticed that in the hour and a half he just spent here he moved half the stack back to the dining table. Why? I don't know. It's all mail that's addressed to him. When I get my mail, I take it to my room, read it right away, throw it away, or store it in my desk immediately. Why he has dozens of letters that he keeps moving everywhere, I have no idea. But I'm going to go buy some sort of decoration for the dining room table, and hopefully, that will prevent him from putting his mail there anymore.
Well, like I said, he was here for an hour and a half just now. And like I said before that, I came home from work and did a bit of further cleaning. And by a bit, I mean I spent nearly an hour in the kitchen emptying the dishwasher and cleaning everything spic and span. I went to my room and started watching some YouTube videos. In about 10 minutes, Mikey came home from...doing whatever he was doing.
I heard him in the kitchen for about 20 minutes or so, then I heard the XBOX 360 turn on in the living room. He played XBOX for about an hour, then he played drums for 20 minutes. He stopped by my room, told me he was going to work, and told me to water the backyard.
I emerged form my room and went to the kitchen. And I saw an absolutely horrendous mess in the kitchen. Nearly as bad as the initial mess I came home to upon my return form Tokyo. And I had JUST finished cleaning and shining the whole kitchen. Took me an hour, or close to it, to do it. And it took Mikey a matter of 20 minutes to destroy the whole thing again. It looks as if someone came in here and cooked all three of their daily meals and didn't clean any of it:
Opened peanut butter and jelly jars in the sink. An opened milk container on the counter. All the pots and pans, dirty, on the stove, a grocery bag on the counter. dirty utensils and about half a dozen napkins strewn about. A chair from the dining room all the way in the living room in front of the TV.
Using a plate and not putting it in the dishwasher is one thing. That's not a big deal at all. But you're telling me that he made THIS much of a mess, had time to play an hour of XBOX and 20 minutes of playing the drums, but he couldn't clean up any of this?
I can't fucking believe this...
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
The Return
Well, as I mentioned in the last blog, I went to Tokyo for a week. And as I expected, this house was an absolute wreck upon my return.
I won't post any pictures or anything, since I don't wish to post pictures of the house itself (minus the toilet pictures). But to draw a comparison, the mess in this house was just as bad, if not worse, than the mess that existed during the time when I did the first big clean which was a mess that had consisted of anything and everything the both of us failed to clean up that had collected for two months.
I will rephrase that just so that the severity of the actual mess sets in for you.
For two months after we first moved in, we both had messes we didn't clean up. Various things that had collected and not been picked up. It was a wretched mess. And it took me two weeks to clean up (of course, I had work, school, taekwondo, and guitar practices in between these cleans). It took the both of us and two months to create this mess.
Upon my return from my trip. The mess I encountered was just as bad. So the amount of mess and clutter that had previously taken the two of us two months to create took Mikey a week, alone in this house, to create on his own.
I am on my way to clean it up. He just left the house and I'm actually still afraid to do my cleaning while he's here. Because he actually will complain or make some sort of snide comment about it. But I've discovered that if I do my cleaning when he's not around, he no longer says anything about it when he comes home and finds things clean.
Perhaps that's improvement on our relationship as roommates.
I won't post any pictures or anything, since I don't wish to post pictures of the house itself (minus the toilet pictures). But to draw a comparison, the mess in this house was just as bad, if not worse, than the mess that existed during the time when I did the first big clean which was a mess that had consisted of anything and everything the both of us failed to clean up that had collected for two months.
I will rephrase that just so that the severity of the actual mess sets in for you.
For two months after we first moved in, we both had messes we didn't clean up. Various things that had collected and not been picked up. It was a wretched mess. And it took me two weeks to clean up (of course, I had work, school, taekwondo, and guitar practices in between these cleans). It took the both of us and two months to create this mess.
Upon my return from my trip. The mess I encountered was just as bad. So the amount of mess and clutter that had previously taken the two of us two months to create took Mikey a week, alone in this house, to create on his own.
I am on my way to clean it up. He just left the house and I'm actually still afraid to do my cleaning while he's here. Because he actually will complain or make some sort of snide comment about it. But I've discovered that if I do my cleaning when he's not around, he no longer says anything about it when he comes home and finds things clean.
Perhaps that's improvement on our relationship as roommates.
Friday, June 19, 2009
A Week Without Me
Well, I mentioned it a while back, but I'm going to Tokyo for a week. I leave tomorrow morning and I won't be back until Sunday June 28th. I have a week vacation form work so my friend and I are going. It should be tons of fun!
It will be interesting, though, to see what happens to the house. Mikey will be here alone for an entire week. I've thought this place got very messy in a matter of one day if I didn't do anything to clean. So we'll see the state of this place when I get back after a week. My prediction is that he'll either let the place go completely to hell, not do anything, and I'll come home to a complete pigsty; or he'll let his mess collect but clean a bit just before I get home.
Since I am a man who likes science, I'll put this house in as much of a "control" state as I can. I'll completely go through this house today and clean, polish, shine, vacuum, and do absolutely any cleaning thing you could imagine can be done on a house. Just so I know it's all perfectly clean when I leave and I can more easily determine how much of a mess he let me come home to.
Goodbye for a week!
Only time will tell. So this will break the chain of me updating this blog everyday. I'm sure I'll have a bit to say when I get back.
It will be interesting, though, to see what happens to the house. Mikey will be here alone for an entire week. I've thought this place got very messy in a matter of one day if I didn't do anything to clean. So we'll see the state of this place when I get back after a week. My prediction is that he'll either let the place go completely to hell, not do anything, and I'll come home to a complete pigsty; or he'll let his mess collect but clean a bit just before I get home.
Since I am a man who likes science, I'll put this house in as much of a "control" state as I can. I'll completely go through this house today and clean, polish, shine, vacuum, and do absolutely any cleaning thing you could imagine can be done on a house. Just so I know it's all perfectly clean when I leave and I can more easily determine how much of a mess he let me come home to.
Goodbye for a week!
Only time will tell. So this will break the chain of me updating this blog everyday. I'm sure I'll have a bit to say when I get back.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
A Simple Matter
If you've been reading this blog, you've noticed that what I've talked mostly about is me being very clean and Mikey, well, not being very clean. I find that is our biggest issue in living together.
When we first entertained the idea of moving in together, we both told each other the same thing. We were messy living at our parents' houses. Both of us wanted to turn that around. Start fresh. Make new habits, be clean, and take care of our house.
The reason why I wrote the blog was because after my whole depression, I took stock of myself. I realized was being messy, lazy, and becoming a slob. I came to terms with the fact that I wasn't being true to my word. I said I wanted to turn things around and I wasn't. It was time for a reality check. From that point forward, I've kept true to my own vow.
Mikey hasn't. From the very moment we moved in, his room has been an absolute mess. Even when he was first moving stuff in, he just kind of chucked it all into his room. He had the same piles of laundry (I'm not sure whether they're dirty or clean) on the floor of his room in this house that I would see whenever I went over to his mom's. I'm sure he told himself he'd clean it all later, but he still hasn't.
What he does with his room is fine. That's on him. If he wants to lock himself in there, shove potato chips up his ass and leave the crumbs on the bed, that's totally his decision. I don't care about the mess in his room. I only mention it as a reflection of him as a person. And because it's his mess that spills out to the rest of the house, which is problem for me.
He'll bring his headphones and iPod out to the front room when he's playing drums. Then he'll leave those items on the drums or on the table. He doesn't shut cabinets or drawers when he's done. Puts his dirty dishes in the sink or leaves them on the counter. He's had a mass of books spread out in the front room that he said he would take care of a month ago.
The other day, he even yelled at me because I was putting the frying pans in the same cabinet with the pots. He said to keep them in the oven, and we'll just take them out before we use the oven. However, when he cooks his copious amounts of eggs everyday, he'll leave the frying pan sitting on the stove instead of putting it in he oven where he specifically said it needs to go. Most of the time, too, he won't even wash the pan, but leave his egg residue in it.
He can be messy all he wants in his own room on his own time. But his mess becomes my mess. He teases me for being "gestapo" when it comes to this house being clean. But truth is, I'm not mad that he doesn't dust, vacuum, or scrub anything. What irritates me is the simple matter of not putting things in place, and not cleaning up after yourself when your done or putting stuff back when you're done with it. How hard is it to place the fan in the closet when you're done using it, instead of leaving it in front of the front door for someone to trip over? How hard is it to take an extra 10 seconds to place your dishes in the dishwasher instead of leaving them in the sink? Is it really so difficult to take your headphones back into your room when you're done?
What's really irritating about it is that he'll do other things. So I know he has the time. He'll spend an hour playing on the XBOX, but he'll suddenly have to leave to go to work or somewhere else and doesn't clean up. Apprently he has enough time to dick around and play video games for hours on end, but doesn't have enough time to take a maximum of 30 seconds to simply throw his trash away or clean up after himself.
These are skills we are supposed to learn as children. And in that regard, his parents failed him. I pity Mikey's future wife.
When we first entertained the idea of moving in together, we both told each other the same thing. We were messy living at our parents' houses. Both of us wanted to turn that around. Start fresh. Make new habits, be clean, and take care of our house.
The reason why I wrote the blog was because after my whole depression, I took stock of myself. I realized was being messy, lazy, and becoming a slob. I came to terms with the fact that I wasn't being true to my word. I said I wanted to turn things around and I wasn't. It was time for a reality check. From that point forward, I've kept true to my own vow.
Mikey hasn't. From the very moment we moved in, his room has been an absolute mess. Even when he was first moving stuff in, he just kind of chucked it all into his room. He had the same piles of laundry (I'm not sure whether they're dirty or clean) on the floor of his room in this house that I would see whenever I went over to his mom's. I'm sure he told himself he'd clean it all later, but he still hasn't.
What he does with his room is fine. That's on him. If he wants to lock himself in there, shove potato chips up his ass and leave the crumbs on the bed, that's totally his decision. I don't care about the mess in his room. I only mention it as a reflection of him as a person. And because it's his mess that spills out to the rest of the house, which is problem for me.
He'll bring his headphones and iPod out to the front room when he's playing drums. Then he'll leave those items on the drums or on the table. He doesn't shut cabinets or drawers when he's done. Puts his dirty dishes in the sink or leaves them on the counter. He's had a mass of books spread out in the front room that he said he would take care of a month ago.
The other day, he even yelled at me because I was putting the frying pans in the same cabinet with the pots. He said to keep them in the oven, and we'll just take them out before we use the oven. However, when he cooks his copious amounts of eggs everyday, he'll leave the frying pan sitting on the stove instead of putting it in he oven where he specifically said it needs to go. Most of the time, too, he won't even wash the pan, but leave his egg residue in it.
He can be messy all he wants in his own room on his own time. But his mess becomes my mess. He teases me for being "gestapo" when it comes to this house being clean. But truth is, I'm not mad that he doesn't dust, vacuum, or scrub anything. What irritates me is the simple matter of not putting things in place, and not cleaning up after yourself when your done or putting stuff back when you're done with it. How hard is it to place the fan in the closet when you're done using it, instead of leaving it in front of the front door for someone to trip over? How hard is it to take an extra 10 seconds to place your dishes in the dishwasher instead of leaving them in the sink? Is it really so difficult to take your headphones back into your room when you're done?
What's really irritating about it is that he'll do other things. So I know he has the time. He'll spend an hour playing on the XBOX, but he'll suddenly have to leave to go to work or somewhere else and doesn't clean up. Apprently he has enough time to dick around and play video games for hours on end, but doesn't have enough time to take a maximum of 30 seconds to simply throw his trash away or clean up after himself.
These are skills we are supposed to learn as children. And in that regard, his parents failed him. I pity Mikey's future wife.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
The Innernets
I nearly forgot to mention the first conflict that occurred in this house!
It happened probably two weeks after we moved in. We had finally gotten the internet set up in the house. We were both sitting in the living room watching a Carter Beauford (Drummer of the Dave Matthews Band) drumming video. We were both on our computers and I was talking to my friend online.
About 20 minutes into the video, Mikey paused it, turned to me and said, "Do you realize how fucking loud that typing is?"
"Not really, but okay", I replied as I continued to type.
Mikey sat there just looking at me for about 10 seconds while I continued to IM with my friend.
He said, "Seriously, that's fucking annoying."
"Well, I'll try to type quieter, and you try to deal with it. We both want to watch this and I need to continue this conversation."
Mikey started at me wide-eyed. Apparently in disbelief that I wasn't following his wishes. Mikey played the DVD again and turned back toward the TV and his computer.
About two minutes later, my web pages stopped loading, and I was suddenly signed of from AIM. I clicked around a bit on the computer and noticed I still had a full signal. So I asked Mikey, "Uhh...did the Internet go out? I got disconnected."
Mikey responded, "I know."
I was able to look at his laptop screen. He logged onto the wireless network and changed the password.
I yelled, "What the hell?!"
Mikey said, "I told you that typing was fucking annoying!"
"Yeah, and I told you I was in the middle of an important conversation. Grow the fuck up!"
I stormed out of the living room and into my room. At that point, Mikey changed the password back to what it was.
How immature is that? He can't deal with me typing on the computer while we were sitting in the same room watching the same DVD?
Mikey is an only child. And it was at this point that his only child syndrome began to show. He's accustomed to having his needs suited by his parents. Getting his way all the time and not having to deal with and compromise with people his own age. Growing up with two brothers, I learned this skill. You aren't always going to get your way. Deal with it.
If I was more of a bitch, I'd seek revenge. I'd do something he doesn't agree with to get my own way and punish him if he didn't obey my wishes. But guess what? I'm more mature than that. I have the ability cope with life without always getting my way.
It happened probably two weeks after we moved in. We had finally gotten the internet set up in the house. We were both sitting in the living room watching a Carter Beauford (Drummer of the Dave Matthews Band) drumming video. We were both on our computers and I was talking to my friend online.
About 20 minutes into the video, Mikey paused it, turned to me and said, "Do you realize how fucking loud that typing is?"
"Not really, but okay", I replied as I continued to type.
Mikey sat there just looking at me for about 10 seconds while I continued to IM with my friend.
He said, "Seriously, that's fucking annoying."
"Well, I'll try to type quieter, and you try to deal with it. We both want to watch this and I need to continue this conversation."
Mikey started at me wide-eyed. Apparently in disbelief that I wasn't following his wishes. Mikey played the DVD again and turned back toward the TV and his computer.
About two minutes later, my web pages stopped loading, and I was suddenly signed of from AIM. I clicked around a bit on the computer and noticed I still had a full signal. So I asked Mikey, "Uhh...did the Internet go out? I got disconnected."
Mikey responded, "I know."
I was able to look at his laptop screen. He logged onto the wireless network and changed the password.
I yelled, "What the hell?!"
Mikey said, "I told you that typing was fucking annoying!"
"Yeah, and I told you I was in the middle of an important conversation. Grow the fuck up!"
I stormed out of the living room and into my room. At that point, Mikey changed the password back to what it was.
How immature is that? He can't deal with me typing on the computer while we were sitting in the same room watching the same DVD?
Mikey is an only child. And it was at this point that his only child syndrome began to show. He's accustomed to having his needs suited by his parents. Getting his way all the time and not having to deal with and compromise with people his own age. Growing up with two brothers, I learned this skill. You aren't always going to get your way. Deal with it.
If I was more of a bitch, I'd seek revenge. I'd do something he doesn't agree with to get my own way and punish him if he didn't obey my wishes. But guess what? I'm more mature than that. I have the ability cope with life without always getting my way.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Maid
I made a reference to what this blog is about in the last entry. Actually, I've been mentioning it all along.
I clean everything. Literally everything. Everything in this house that is put away in it's place, I did it. Cleaned, tidied, dusted, organized: all me. This whole house is in a constant state of cleanliness because I've made a habit of cleaning everything twice a day.
At first, it was completely okay with me. And to an extent, it still is okay with me. I can't stand looking at any messes, so it's better for my own sanity to just clean it myself than to bitch at him about it. If he happened to use a dish or make a bit of a mess but wasn't able to clean it up, I was okay with picking up after him.
However, it's gotten to the point now that I'm rightly certain he does it on purpose. I'll come home or wake up to trash and beer bottles on the counter, rather than in the trash that is right underneath the sink. He'll put his dishes in the sink run some water over them instead of putting them in the empty dishwasher, or instead of washing them by hand. And, as I mentioned, he'll leave stuff that belongs in his room just laying around about the house when he could have easily just put it back in his room himself.
I'm not sure if he's now just used to me picking up after him, and he knows he doesn't HAVE to do it himself, and he's just being lazy. Or, since he's complained about me being too clean, if he's just doing it to get to me. To see how much I can take. To justify the claim he made on the night of the aluminum can incident. That I'm going to get burnt out if I keep cleaning as much as I have been.
Whatever the reason is, I know he's doing it intentionally. And it's disrespectful and inconsiderate for him to just do that on purpose.
I clean everything. Literally everything. Everything in this house that is put away in it's place, I did it. Cleaned, tidied, dusted, organized: all me. This whole house is in a constant state of cleanliness because I've made a habit of cleaning everything twice a day.
At first, it was completely okay with me. And to an extent, it still is okay with me. I can't stand looking at any messes, so it's better for my own sanity to just clean it myself than to bitch at him about it. If he happened to use a dish or make a bit of a mess but wasn't able to clean it up, I was okay with picking up after him.
However, it's gotten to the point now that I'm rightly certain he does it on purpose. I'll come home or wake up to trash and beer bottles on the counter, rather than in the trash that is right underneath the sink. He'll put his dishes in the sink run some water over them instead of putting them in the empty dishwasher, or instead of washing them by hand. And, as I mentioned, he'll leave stuff that belongs in his room just laying around about the house when he could have easily just put it back in his room himself.
I'm not sure if he's now just used to me picking up after him, and he knows he doesn't HAVE to do it himself, and he's just being lazy. Or, since he's complained about me being too clean, if he's just doing it to get to me. To see how much I can take. To justify the claim he made on the night of the aluminum can incident. That I'm going to get burnt out if I keep cleaning as much as I have been.
Whatever the reason is, I know he's doing it intentionally. And it's disrespectful and inconsiderate for him to just do that on purpose.
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