Anyone else notice the irony…?
While Previewing a post in another Thread, was reminded of something else that just HAS TO BE RIGHT - anytime there is a hyphenated word (it was “B-17” in this case, in the Veteran’s Day thread), or a date, or something like “St. Johns” (a river and a county 'round here), it all has to be on one line. In MSWord, I use the hard hyphen and hard space mucho in such words and phrases, in the above referenced thread, I changed the wording so it would work out right.
I am not nearly as neat as some of you are (although I would never leave a light on in an empty room). However:
I can’t not rewind a tape, rented or not. It’s just wrong. (The tape doesn’t want to be left unwound that way, you know.)
When ordering food for delivery, I often set the timer for whatever time they told me. The timer goes off. Whether the food has already arrived or not, what do I do with this information? Also, when the timer goes off, I have to hit Clear or it will keep flashing “End…End…End…” You can’t just ignore it that way! It’s wrong!
I worked as a cashier in a place that required us to keep the money in order so that the money counting machines could count it, so I got into the habit of keeping my own money turned around properly (and with the larger bills on the inside or at the back). I also have one of those change purses with the metal frame in it with which you can sort your change, and I’m really pleased when cashiers notice and admire how neat I am.
If I’m eating any candy like M&M’s, Jujyfruits, or Skittles, I often (but not always) arrange them in columns by color (sometimes Jujyfruits by color and shape) and eat them in order, so that no piece of candy feels left out. Uh huh.
I used to sort my books by original date of publication. I’d put a little orange sticker in the top left corner of the cover with the year and the first three letters of the author’s last name on it. So the Bible and Shakespeare and that stuff would be on the topmost shelf on the left and everything would follow from there. A couple of years ago, having found the means to buy more books more cheaply and having fallen behind on my labeling system, I abandoned that system in favor of putting all my books on the shelves in order by the height of the book…so they slope gracefully from left to right, larger to smaller, and with the smaller books on the top shelves and the large books at the bottom. But I haven’t re-organized my older books this way, so there’s still hope for me, I guess.
The weirdest thing I do, because it affects my appearance, is that I over-pluck my eyebrows in an attempt to get the hairs to be as uniform as possible. Sometimes I do the same thing with my eyelashes. Hairs have to be similar length, thickness, and curl and be pointing the same direction (I have some eyelashes that grow out almost sideways). Over course it doesn’t work and I’m never satisfied, and my naturally heavy eyebrows look too thin.
Ohmigod, don’t you find yourself wondering why we do this to ourselves?
Sheesh. All the pointless little essentials of life…
Toilet paper does have a right way. I change it, even at friends’ houses. Even when I try, very hard, not to.
Plastic clothes hangars are sorted by color(yes, coordinated) for each closet, and only the proper colors are used. I actually check these to be sure.
Clutter in the livingroom, dining room, or kitchen is absolutely unacceptable. I remove almost everything from the counters, tables, bookshelves, computer table, so that the rooms have a quiet, almost spartan look. It’s peaceful, and I need that, damnit.
Spelling errors drive me bonkers. Can I admit that I resist pulling my hair out only with the strongest possible self control when I see thread titles misspelled?
Driving and turning on/off the engine. My dad, an engineer, insisted that everything be shut off prior to starting/stopping the engine. My husband never learned this rule. I hate to get into his car and find the wipers at half mast. He knows it. Still happens.
House cleaning, the real thorough kind like scrubbing floors, washing windows, cleaning oven, etc., means I kick the family out. I refuse to clean with anyone around, and no, they can’t help. They don’t do it right. Naturally.
Boy, oh boy, I’m afraid I could keep going. This is so sad. Where are all the normal people? How did they get that way? Will this change when I get old(er)? Ahhh!
Yes! Yes! Toilet paper must be over the top. Nothing else is acceptable.
If I’m at a friend’s house, and they are demented enough to hang it backward, I’ll turn the roll around for them before using it.
The car must never run out of gas The Cavalier I used to drive had a digital dashboard that never worked properly; the only things that do work are the odometer and the outside temperature gauge. The gas gauge never reads accurately. The first time I drove the car, I was not aware of the inaccuracy of the gauge, and when the car stopped working while the meter still read half a tank, I became extremely upset at the thought of my car having died a day after I bought it… a cop came by (it was on a pretty deserted road) and said to put more gas in, just in case, and he took me to the station in his cruiser to buy a can. Turns out that was all it was, and I felt stupid and vowed never to let that happen again. So I worked out my gas mileage and know that I can go a minimum of 300 miles on a full tank of gas. Knowing this, I fill the tank every 200 miles, just to be safe. The furthest I’ll go without refueling is 250 miles.
Planning things I plan everything out way ahead of time. When the time comes, I might toss out the plan, but beforehand I still make one. I’ll think of things to do with Gunslinger a month and a half before our weekend visits, even though we never stick to the list. I’ve been planning the route I’m going to take to drive back to Mississippi after I go home to New York for Christmas and get my car back, even though it’s a month and a half away and my father will probably give me a better route to take that’s nothing like mine. I must plan everything out.
Spectacles, testicles, wallet and watch Obviously, I don’t have the second item on that list… But I’m constantly touching my left buttock to ensure my wallet is still in that pocket, my front right hip to ensure that my credentials holder and keychain are still there, etc. In the same vein, if I own tickets for travel on, say, the Greyhound to get to Gun’s place, or an airline ticket to fly back to New York or something, I check to make sure that the tickets are a) still in my possession and b) still properly labeled with my name and the correct date and time of travel. Every Day. Just in case, say, the Evil Ticket Gnomes come out of the woodwork overnight and change my tickets.
Wow, you people frighten me. Me? I’m about as easy going as easy going gets. Neatness? Hell no. Today I finally made myself clean my room, only because it was either do that, or real work (which I despise even more.) Hell, here are pictures of my room. I consider it’s current state clean, but I’m sure others will say it’s still messy. And I won’t show pictures of my dresser or desk, they are just too messy to let the public see, and they gotta stay that way (how else am I going to find things if they’re all put away?)
I don’t orginize my CD’s, or books, or movies. They’ll just get messed up again if I do. Wash my hands? Nah. After working in construction you learn what REAL dirty hands look like. I usually only wash after going to the bathroom, and after handling raw meat.
Plan things ahead of time? That takes away all the fun! I’m reminded of a coin-toss road trip I went on. A bunch of friends and I got into a car and made all decisions on where to go by flipping a coin. That was fun.
Keep the gas tank full? Keep the car clean? Make sure to not lock my keys in, Hell, even bother to lock it in the first place? Why would I do any of that?
I do have two small things, though. I agree with katiekilldare on sandwiches. You lay out the two slices of bread, spread nce equal amounts of condiment on each, then put one slice on everything in the sandwich on each slice of bread, in the same order. Eating a sandwich that is stacked improperly makes it taste bad. (Oh, and the correct order is lettuce, other vegtables, cheese, then meat in the center. There is NO other way to do it.)) As a result of this, I usually don’t get sandwiches or subs from deli’s and such places.
And I always turn off the lights if I’m the last to leave a room. It wastes electricity to keep them on, and makes the bulb not laste as long. It’s stupid not to turn them off. Why on earth would you not?
If it has NiCad batteries, they must be drained before recharging.
CD’s go back into a their case, or at least go into a sleeve of some sort.
The silverware goes in the drawer, properly grouped, on their sides (except knives).
I probably have a bunch of others, but I can’t think of them because everything’s packed up right now.