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(no subject)
Nov. 1st, 2005 09:09 amOh. My. God.
It turns out that writing a bunch of things and getting them out of my head did NOT free up mental space for me to focus on productive things. Instead, it freed up space for even more stuff to assault me. I'm not sure if I should write those down, too, or if that will just open the door for yet another wave afterward. (Doesn't matter right now, I have running around to do first. I did get all the 1st of the month bills out yesterday, so I don't have to spend much time at the office, but I forgot to pick up the pop cans and the list of stuff to buy so I still have to go in for a couple of minutes. I hate doing the Hurricane Amanda routine, it always means that I could have saved myself a lot of time if I'd just thought ahead.)
However, one of the things that did pop up in last night's sleeplessness was the next item in the "people who live in my house" rant:
Tenth, consider the abilities of the other people in the house relative to your own. If you drive a large car, do not leave the empty garbage cans at the end of the driveway for the person who drives the smallest car to have to haul in one at a time. Do not place items on the top-most shelf if you're pretty certain the person who will want them next is the person who is 5'4". Show some consideration.
It turns out that writing a bunch of things and getting them out of my head did NOT free up mental space for me to focus on productive things. Instead, it freed up space for even more stuff to assault me. I'm not sure if I should write those down, too, or if that will just open the door for yet another wave afterward. (Doesn't matter right now, I have running around to do first. I did get all the 1st of the month bills out yesterday, so I don't have to spend much time at the office, but I forgot to pick up the pop cans and the list of stuff to buy so I still have to go in for a couple of minutes. I hate doing the Hurricane Amanda routine, it always means that I could have saved myself a lot of time if I'd just thought ahead.)
However, one of the things that did pop up in last night's sleeplessness was the next item in the "people who live in my house" rant:
Tenth, consider the abilities of the other people in the house relative to your own. If you drive a large car, do not leave the empty garbage cans at the end of the driveway for the person who drives the smallest car to have to haul in one at a time. Do not place items on the top-most shelf if you're pretty certain the person who will want them next is the person who is 5'4". Show some consideration.
(no subject)
Nov. 1st, 2005 09:09 amOh. My. God.
It turns out that writing a bunch of things and getting them out of my head did NOT free up mental space for me to focus on productive things. Instead, it freed up space for even more stuff to assault me. I'm not sure if I should write those down, too, or if that will just open the door for yet another wave afterward. (Doesn't matter right now, I have running around to do first. I did get all the 1st of the month bills out yesterday, so I don't have to spend much time at the office, but I forgot to pick up the pop cans and the list of stuff to buy so I still have to go in for a couple of minutes. I hate doing the Hurricane Amanda routine, it always means that I could have saved myself a lot of time if I'd just thought ahead.)
However, one of the things that did pop up in last night's sleeplessness was the next item in the "people who live in my house" rant:
Tenth, consider the abilities of the other people in the house relative to your own. If you drive a large car, do not leave the empty garbage cans at the end of the driveway for the person who drives the smallest car to have to haul in one at a time. Do not place items on the top-most shelf if you're pretty certain the person who will want them next is the person who is 5'4". Show some consideration.
It turns out that writing a bunch of things and getting them out of my head did NOT free up mental space for me to focus on productive things. Instead, it freed up space for even more stuff to assault me. I'm not sure if I should write those down, too, or if that will just open the door for yet another wave afterward. (Doesn't matter right now, I have running around to do first. I did get all the 1st of the month bills out yesterday, so I don't have to spend much time at the office, but I forgot to pick up the pop cans and the list of stuff to buy so I still have to go in for a couple of minutes. I hate doing the Hurricane Amanda routine, it always means that I could have saved myself a lot of time if I'd just thought ahead.)
However, one of the things that did pop up in last night's sleeplessness was the next item in the "people who live in my house" rant:
Tenth, consider the abilities of the other people in the house relative to your own. If you drive a large car, do not leave the empty garbage cans at the end of the driveway for the person who drives the smallest car to have to haul in one at a time. Do not place items on the top-most shelf if you're pretty certain the person who will want them next is the person who is 5'4". Show some consideration.
(no subject)
Oct. 23rd, 2005 06:03 pmAn open letter to the people who live in my house:
[Not really "open" since it was posted in a non-publicized journal, but you get the idea.]
(First draft)
I freely admit that this is a rant. I also freely admit that most of the items in the rant should have been said earlier. Some of them were, some of them weren't-- but I'm saying them now, and I expect to be listened to.
Oh, and don't assume that this applies only to those OTHER people in the house, even if you're the person who pays the mortgage. Especially if you're the person who pays the mortgage.
First, I am not the maid. Clean up after yourself. It would be nice if you'd actually contribute to the routine cleaning of the house too, but the absolute minimum level of effort that I will accept is for you to clean up what you mess up.
Second, if there is a routine task that you do, either officially or just usually, and you know that you will not be able to complete it at the appointed time, let the rest of us know so that someone else can do it. A very specific example is if you normally take the trash out on Sunday night, and you know that you will not be home until Tuesday, pick up a freaking phone and call so that the garbage doesn't sit around for three *censored* weeks until we run out of garbage cans to put it into.
Third, clean up after yourself. I can't stress this one enough.
Fourth, if there's a sign or a label on something, it's there for a reason. Read it. Namely, the sign above the container for pop cans does NOT say "cans | bottles". It says "national brands | store brands" and gives examples of what both would be. I do not care if the bottles and the cans are mixed together, because the places that they ultimately go to at the store are approximately 5 feet apart. However, it's extremely irritating to return the pop cans to Farmer Jack and find that underneath a dozen Coke bottles is a Kroger brand bottle.
Fifth, if you can figure out where to get it from, you can figure out where to put it back to. You are welcome to use whatever you need to use in the house, but put it back when you're done. And make "done" reasonably quick-- if you borrow a laundry basket, fold your clothes sometime in the same week, not months later.
On a related note, if you use something and make it dirty, do not leave it where it is and go get a clean one-- ideally, you should clean the dirty one, but if that's not feasible, at a minimum you should take the dirty one to the appropriate place (i.e. laundry to the clothes chute or laundry sorter in the basement, dishes to the kitchen, etc). For example, if you use my pool towels after your shower, there should be exactly one towel in your bathroom, not six.
Sixth, if you're planning on having a party, ask if there a date conflict *before* sending out the invitations. It's not that I care so much about the party, but it is an issue of showing basic respect. Oh, and don't claim that the invitation was "tentative"-- if you know enough information to send out a tentative invitation, you know enough information to ask us about the party in the first place. And about those tentative invitations-- do not, under any circumstances, phrase them in a way that makes us look like dictatorial assholes from whom you must beg for permission. If you do, I will become one.
Seventh, clean up after your guests. You invited them, you're responsible for them.
Eighth, we have mice and ants. We've had them since we moved in, so this shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone. We continue to have mice and ants because (and I realize, I'm harping on this point) we don't clean up after ourselves well enough. Specifically, the following items may NOT be left in a bedroom overnight:
1. Dirty dishes.
2. Empty candy wrappers, pizza boxes, soup cans, or other open food containers.
3. Full food containers/wrappers/boxes, unless they are in a pest-proof container (which can be found in Meijer, Target, most dollar stores, and a plastic box in the pantry in the basement-- look on the shelf behind the door, about halfway down. It's labeled; see "Fourth").
4. Empty pop cans. Take them downstairs (and rinse them out, ideally). For consistency's sake, it would be nice if we all put unrinsed pop cans to the left of the sink or on the counter across from it, and rinsed-but-not-dry pop cans to the right of the sink.
Ninth, clean up your areas before they affect other people. If you want your bedroom or bathroom to look like a tornado hit it, fine. I don't care. When your bathroom stinks to the point that I can smell it in the next room, I care. There's plenty of toilet bowl cleaner; use it. And mop occasionally. Cleaning the shower once in a while before it gets moldy would be good, too.
[Not really "open" since it was posted in a non-publicized journal, but you get the idea.]
(First draft)
I freely admit that this is a rant. I also freely admit that most of the items in the rant should have been said earlier. Some of them were, some of them weren't-- but I'm saying them now, and I expect to be listened to.
Oh, and don't assume that this applies only to those OTHER people in the house, even if you're the person who pays the mortgage. Especially if you're the person who pays the mortgage.
First, I am not the maid. Clean up after yourself. It would be nice if you'd actually contribute to the routine cleaning of the house too, but the absolute minimum level of effort that I will accept is for you to clean up what you mess up.
Second, if there is a routine task that you do, either officially or just usually, and you know that you will not be able to complete it at the appointed time, let the rest of us know so that someone else can do it. A very specific example is if you normally take the trash out on Sunday night, and you know that you will not be home until Tuesday, pick up a freaking phone and call so that the garbage doesn't sit around for three *censored* weeks until we run out of garbage cans to put it into.
Third, clean up after yourself. I can't stress this one enough.
Fourth, if there's a sign or a label on something, it's there for a reason. Read it. Namely, the sign above the container for pop cans does NOT say "cans | bottles". It says "national brands | store brands" and gives examples of what both would be. I do not care if the bottles and the cans are mixed together, because the places that they ultimately go to at the store are approximately 5 feet apart. However, it's extremely irritating to return the pop cans to Farmer Jack and find that underneath a dozen Coke bottles is a Kroger brand bottle.
Fifth, if you can figure out where to get it from, you can figure out where to put it back to. You are welcome to use whatever you need to use in the house, but put it back when you're done. And make "done" reasonably quick-- if you borrow a laundry basket, fold your clothes sometime in the same week, not months later.
On a related note, if you use something and make it dirty, do not leave it where it is and go get a clean one-- ideally, you should clean the dirty one, but if that's not feasible, at a minimum you should take the dirty one to the appropriate place (i.e. laundry to the clothes chute or laundry sorter in the basement, dishes to the kitchen, etc). For example, if you use my pool towels after your shower, there should be exactly one towel in your bathroom, not six.
Sixth, if you're planning on having a party, ask if there a date conflict *before* sending out the invitations. It's not that I care so much about the party, but it is an issue of showing basic respect. Oh, and don't claim that the invitation was "tentative"-- if you know enough information to send out a tentative invitation, you know enough information to ask us about the party in the first place. And about those tentative invitations-- do not, under any circumstances, phrase them in a way that makes us look like dictatorial assholes from whom you must beg for permission. If you do, I will become one.
Seventh, clean up after your guests. You invited them, you're responsible for them.
Eighth, we have mice and ants. We've had them since we moved in, so this shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone. We continue to have mice and ants because (and I realize, I'm harping on this point) we don't clean up after ourselves well enough. Specifically, the following items may NOT be left in a bedroom overnight:
1. Dirty dishes.
2. Empty candy wrappers, pizza boxes, soup cans, or other open food containers.
3. Full food containers/wrappers/boxes, unless they are in a pest-proof container (which can be found in Meijer, Target, most dollar stores, and a plastic box in the pantry in the basement-- look on the shelf behind the door, about halfway down. It's labeled; see "Fourth").
4. Empty pop cans. Take them downstairs (and rinse them out, ideally). For consistency's sake, it would be nice if we all put unrinsed pop cans to the left of the sink or on the counter across from it, and rinsed-but-not-dry pop cans to the right of the sink.
Ninth, clean up your areas before they affect other people. If you want your bedroom or bathroom to look like a tornado hit it, fine. I don't care. When your bathroom stinks to the point that I can smell it in the next room, I care. There's plenty of toilet bowl cleaner; use it. And mop occasionally. Cleaning the shower once in a while before it gets moldy would be good, too.
(no subject)
Oct. 23rd, 2005 06:03 pmAn open letter to the people who live in my house:
[Not really "open" since it was posted in a non-publicized journal, but you get the idea.]
(First draft)
I freely admit that this is a rant. I also freely admit that most of the items in the rant should have been said earlier. Some of them were, some of them weren't-- but I'm saying them now, and I expect to be listened to.
Oh, and don't assume that this applies only to those OTHER people in the house, even if you're the person who pays the mortgage. Especially if you're the person who pays the mortgage.
First, I am not the maid. Clean up after yourself. It would be nice if you'd actually contribute to the routine cleaning of the house too, but the absolute minimum level of effort that I will accept is for you to clean up what you mess up.
Second, if there is a routine task that you do, either officially or just usually, and you know that you will not be able to complete it at the appointed time, let the rest of us know so that someone else can do it. A very specific example is if you normally take the trash out on Sunday night, and you know that you will not be home until Tuesday, pick up a freaking phone and call so that the garbage doesn't sit around for three *censored* weeks until we run out of garbage cans to put it into.
Third, clean up after yourself. I can't stress this one enough.
Fourth, if there's a sign or a label on something, it's there for a reason. Read it. Namely, the sign above the container for pop cans does NOT say "cans | bottles". It says "national brands | store brands" and gives examples of what both would be. I do not care if the bottles and the cans are mixed together, because the places that they ultimately go to at the store are approximately 5 feet apart. However, it's extremely irritating to return the pop cans to Farmer Jack and find that underneath a dozen Coke bottles is a Kroger brand bottle.
Fifth, if you can figure out where to get it from, you can figure out where to put it back to. You are welcome to use whatever you need to use in the house, but put it back when you're done. And make "done" reasonably quick-- if you borrow a laundry basket, fold your clothes sometime in the same week, not months later.
On a related note, if you use something and make it dirty, do not leave it where it is and go get a clean one-- ideally, you should clean the dirty one, but if that's not feasible, at a minimum you should take the dirty one to the appropriate place (i.e. laundry to the clothes chute or laundry sorter in the basement, dishes to the kitchen, etc). For example, if you use my pool towels after your shower, there should be exactly one towel in your bathroom, not six.
Sixth, if you're planning on having a party, ask if there a date conflict *before* sending out the invitations. It's not that I care so much about the party, but it is an issue of showing basic respect. Oh, and don't claim that the invitation was "tentative"-- if you know enough information to send out a tentative invitation, you know enough information to ask us about the party in the first place. And about those tentative invitations-- do not, under any circumstances, phrase them in a way that makes us look like dictatorial assholes from whom you must beg for permission. If you do, I will become one.
Seventh, clean up after your guests. You invited them, you're responsible for them.
Eighth, we have mice and ants. We've had them since we moved in, so this shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone. We continue to have mice and ants because (and I realize, I'm harping on this point) we don't clean up after ourselves well enough. Specifically, the following items may NOT be left in a bedroom overnight:
1. Dirty dishes.
2. Empty candy wrappers, pizza boxes, soup cans, or other open food containers.
3. Full food containers/wrappers/boxes, unless they are in a pest-proof container (which can be found in Meijer, Target, most dollar stores, and a plastic box in the pantry in the basement-- look on the shelf behind the door, about halfway down. It's labeled; see "Fourth").
4. Empty pop cans. Take them downstairs (and rinse them out, ideally). For consistency's sake, it would be nice if we all put unrinsed pop cans to the left of the sink or on the counter across from it, and rinsed-but-not-dry pop cans to the right of the sink.
Ninth, clean up your areas before they affect other people. If you want your bedroom or bathroom to look like a tornado hit it, fine. I don't care. When your bathroom stinks to the point that I can smell it in the next room, I care. There's plenty of toilet bowl cleaner; use it. And mop occasionally. Cleaning the shower once in a while before it gets moldy would be good, too.
[Not really "open" since it was posted in a non-publicized journal, but you get the idea.]
(First draft)
I freely admit that this is a rant. I also freely admit that most of the items in the rant should have been said earlier. Some of them were, some of them weren't-- but I'm saying them now, and I expect to be listened to.
Oh, and don't assume that this applies only to those OTHER people in the house, even if you're the person who pays the mortgage. Especially if you're the person who pays the mortgage.
First, I am not the maid. Clean up after yourself. It would be nice if you'd actually contribute to the routine cleaning of the house too, but the absolute minimum level of effort that I will accept is for you to clean up what you mess up.
Second, if there is a routine task that you do, either officially or just usually, and you know that you will not be able to complete it at the appointed time, let the rest of us know so that someone else can do it. A very specific example is if you normally take the trash out on Sunday night, and you know that you will not be home until Tuesday, pick up a freaking phone and call so that the garbage doesn't sit around for three *censored* weeks until we run out of garbage cans to put it into.
Third, clean up after yourself. I can't stress this one enough.
Fourth, if there's a sign or a label on something, it's there for a reason. Read it. Namely, the sign above the container for pop cans does NOT say "cans | bottles". It says "national brands | store brands" and gives examples of what both would be. I do not care if the bottles and the cans are mixed together, because the places that they ultimately go to at the store are approximately 5 feet apart. However, it's extremely irritating to return the pop cans to Farmer Jack and find that underneath a dozen Coke bottles is a Kroger brand bottle.
Fifth, if you can figure out where to get it from, you can figure out where to put it back to. You are welcome to use whatever you need to use in the house, but put it back when you're done. And make "done" reasonably quick-- if you borrow a laundry basket, fold your clothes sometime in the same week, not months later.
On a related note, if you use something and make it dirty, do not leave it where it is and go get a clean one-- ideally, you should clean the dirty one, but if that's not feasible, at a minimum you should take the dirty one to the appropriate place (i.e. laundry to the clothes chute or laundry sorter in the basement, dishes to the kitchen, etc). For example, if you use my pool towels after your shower, there should be exactly one towel in your bathroom, not six.
Sixth, if you're planning on having a party, ask if there a date conflict *before* sending out the invitations. It's not that I care so much about the party, but it is an issue of showing basic respect. Oh, and don't claim that the invitation was "tentative"-- if you know enough information to send out a tentative invitation, you know enough information to ask us about the party in the first place. And about those tentative invitations-- do not, under any circumstances, phrase them in a way that makes us look like dictatorial assholes from whom you must beg for permission. If you do, I will become one.
Seventh, clean up after your guests. You invited them, you're responsible for them.
Eighth, we have mice and ants. We've had them since we moved in, so this shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone. We continue to have mice and ants because (and I realize, I'm harping on this point) we don't clean up after ourselves well enough. Specifically, the following items may NOT be left in a bedroom overnight:
1. Dirty dishes.
2. Empty candy wrappers, pizza boxes, soup cans, or other open food containers.
3. Full food containers/wrappers/boxes, unless they are in a pest-proof container (which can be found in Meijer, Target, most dollar stores, and a plastic box in the pantry in the basement-- look on the shelf behind the door, about halfway down. It's labeled; see "Fourth").
4. Empty pop cans. Take them downstairs (and rinse them out, ideally). For consistency's sake, it would be nice if we all put unrinsed pop cans to the left of the sink or on the counter across from it, and rinsed-but-not-dry pop cans to the right of the sink.
Ninth, clean up your areas before they affect other people. If you want your bedroom or bathroom to look like a tornado hit it, fine. I don't care. When your bathroom stinks to the point that I can smell it in the next room, I care. There's plenty of toilet bowl cleaner; use it. And mop occasionally. Cleaning the shower once in a while before it gets moldy would be good, too.
