I owe the IRS.

So I got a notice in the mail yesterday…seems they think I owe $175 or something stupid like that for NC state tax. It’s just not possible. I mean, the USMC does our taxes and they use computers and there. should. be. no. errors. So I dig out my 2003 (yes, 2003!) taxes and of course, that was the year I had to have the state portion refigured because Staples screwed up my withholding (they said my entire salary was in NC, when half was in NC and half was in VA). So Tom takes the stuff into the base tax office today and…the good news? Are you ready? WE OWE $146!! They screwed up!! I sort of lost my mind at that point in Tom’s retelling of the story, so I’m not entirely sure what the exact details are, but it was something to the effect of they input the wrong numbers or gave me a NC tax credit for the entire salary amount instead of half the salary. Regardless, it took the IRS TWO YEARS to figure it out. After they already paid me the $200+ in refund bucks in 2003. ARGH! So Tom got a form from the tax office that I have to fill out saying this was our first notice of money due (so we don’t have to pay the $20 in interest). Or something like that.

Like I want to give the stupid IRS $146. That comes out of our honeymoon budget, dammit.

TWENTY-SIX CENTS! NO! FORTY CENTS!

Last night on my way home, gas at the cheap station was $2.49. It’s been $2.49 for a good week or more. Of course, I didn’t stop because I still had over half a tank. So this morning on my way to work, I see that the price has gone up to $2.75! What happened to price increases of 5c or 10c? What’s up with a quarter jump?

EDITED TO ADD: At 5pm, it had jumped to $2.89.

The driveway saga continues!

2005.08.25driveway-01

So when we last visited the driveway saga on Thursday, the concrete guys (while tearing everything up) had completely ripped out the cable line under the driveway. (Luckily, the cable company was able to come out that night and reconnect it.) Tom was told the guys would be back “first thing Monday morning” to pour the new driveway. Well, as luck would have it, Tom was (finally) going back to work Monday, so he really couldn’t take that day off…so I had to take it off. (We normally wouldn’t have to be there for them to pour the driveway, but the garage doors had to be open to get close enough, and we just weren’t comfortable leaving them open with all the workers there.) Of course it rained off and on all weekend, so we had a huge mud pit…and since we were missing our “step” up onto the porch, it was interesting gymnastics to get into the house bypassing the front porch steps (which were no longer there).

Monday morning about 7:30, I see a van of guys arrive and start walking around. I think “Great, things are on schedule.” Then they got back in their van and parked at the house next door. Okay, I thought, they are moving their vehicle so the cement truck can get in. And I wait. And wait. And don’t see the guys anymore. Come to find out, they are working on the house next door—they are NOT there to work on my driveway. Well, I had hoped to just take the morning off, but come 9:30 NOTHING had been done and no one was there so there was NO WAY the driveway was going to be poured in the next two hours. I called the builder’s office and she said maybe they were waiting on the weather (it was overcast). I explained that I was missing work waiting for them, and if she could find out what was going on, it would be appreciated. She called back about 10 minutes later to say they were waiting for a load of dirt, but of course she had no idea how long it would take. Well, amazingly, the dirt arrived about 10am…

2005.08.28driveway-04

followed by….nothing. No one showed up. ARGH! So I wait. And wait. And wait. At about 11:30 some guys show up to start spreading the dirt. I went out to ask if they knew when/if the driveway was going to be poured since I really had to get to work…and of course they barely speak English so all I got out of them was “uh, maybe…don’t know.” So I made sure they knew my phone number was on a note (I had taped to the door) and that someone would call me if they were going to pour the driveway and they needed the garage doors open. Fine. So off to work I went.

Now, about work. You wouldn’t think it would be a big deal for me to take a day off now and again. Yes, I’m taking a ton of time for our upcoming honeymoon, but I’m not the type of person to call in sick all the time or ask for days off out of nowhere or abuse my boss’ good nature—it’s RARE that I need an unplanned day off. So I didn’t think anything of it when I told my boss I’d need the morning off (and possibly the whole day). I had to leave a message on Sunday, but she called Monday morning after I told her I would be out all day…and it was the grand inquisition! She had a litany of questions for me—she wasn’t pissed, per se, but you could tell she was not happy. Of course, she had a project that she wanted me to do (I can count on one hand the number of “projects” I’ve had in the last few months, but of course the day I need off last-minute is the day she has one for me).

So I’m at work for literally one hour when I get the call that they’re pouring the cement. The guy who called (Kevin) was very nice and I said I would be home within a half hour. I quick finished my stack of work and headed home. I get there, open the doors, and busy myself with stuff around the house.

2005.08.29driveway-05

I go up to send Tom an email update and…no internet. Hmmm. Reboot. Nothing. Check the TV. No cable. At this point, I have an idea and look out the window and—yep—the cable was just laying there. THEY HAD RIPPED IT APART A SECOND TIME! Needless to say I called Tom immediately and we were both just livid. There was absolutely NO reason it should have happened. The cable was simply laying on top of the driveway—all they had to do was dig a little trench and bury it, then pour the driveway! We couldn’t tell what happened and no one spoke good english, so it was extremely frustrating. As the cement is being poured closer and closer to where the cable line is supposed to go, I finally got through to one of the workers and he understood that the cable needed to be buried and he told me it would be. Okay. So as I’m watching from the second floor, I see the cable in the grass and I see them pouring cement completely past the area. WHAT!?!?! I call Tom again, totally freaking out. In the meantime, he has called the cable company and they say they can come our tomorrow, but if we’re not there, it will be a week or two. A WEEK OR TWO?! I wanted to scream. There was no way either of us could be there for the cable guy. So I went outside again, and Kevin just happened to be pulling up.

Okay, Kevin was NOT what I was expecting. He looked like a total backwoods redneck and smelled like he’d been drinking all day. And you know what his first words to me were after saying hello? He told me how he’d been drinking for the past hour or so and how that probably wasn’t a good idea and that he had to meet someone soon but he didn’t think he should be driving. OH. MY. GOD. So, trying to get any usable information out of him was impossible. He tried to explain about the cable…he said they accidentally ripped it up again. (Okay, I wanted to ask, just HOW could you do this? It was laying across the driveway in plain view!!) So they had installed some plastic tubing so the cables could be strung underneath. Whatever. I could barely stand to talk to him since the alcohol on his breath was bowling me over. But the interesting thing he told me was that his crew had poured the driveway to begin with and when they saw how it turned out, they were going to redo it BUT THE BUILDER TOLD THEM NOT TO! So apparently the builder was hoping whoever bought the house wouldn’t notice it or ask to have it fixed! So, we think even less of our builder at this point.

So I went back inside and tried to keep my mind off everything. When Tom came home and heard the full story and saw what had been done, he was furious. He called Kevin and let him know we were NOT happy. When he got off the phone, he said he could barely understand him because he was totally plastered and I said he’d probably continued to drink all afternoon! The only upside is that when we called the cable company again, they said we wouldn’t have to be there…so hopefully we will have cable when we get home tonight.

Stay tuned.

I am ready to scream!

UPDATE: We’re on coat #2 of Palomino From Hell and we can already tell we’ll have to do another coat. THIS ROYALLY SUCKS. We’ve never had this much trouble with paint—ever. Our last house had light peach, dark peach, turquoise, light green, hunter green, tan, wine, butterscotch, and lilac—and we had NO issues with ANY of them EASILY covering in two coats. This house, we started off well enough with orange, blue, four colors of sage green, and plum…but the deep red dining room and now this deep orange living room are killing us. I’ve heard that reds are hard to cover…but orange isn’t even a red (it’s a brown, I believe). This is RIDICULOUS. And add to that all the paint we’re getting on the carpet (even with the stupid canvas) I am ready to scream. SCREAM, I tell you. It’s not been a good morning. And now we have to go to Lowe’s for Gallons 3 AND 4 (if we have to do coat #3, we will need another gallon). GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR.

WE’RE BACK ONLINE!

FINALLY! We’re back online! It was touch-and-go today, however… We’ve had our appointment scheduled for about a week now—sometime between 1pm and 5pm today. So Tom made sure he was home (he has lots of errands to do now that he’s home—that honey do list, you know). He called me at 4:58 to say “THEY HAVEN’T COME YET. And guess what? They were at our neighbor’s house earlier today!” Oh, we were FURIOUS. If our neighbors got their cable a day after moving in and we’ve been calling and waiting for two weeks and didn’t get ours… But by the time I got home at 5:20, the cable guy was here…and by about 6:30 we had our six cable outlets hooked up! We had to make a trip to town to get the necessary connector for the Tivo ethernet cable (high importance, believe me!) and now we’re back to normal…we’re both sitting in front of our respective computers. (Now we just have to clean the office and add more conducive light for working.)

Pet peeve for the day!

We bought a new commercial stainless steel rack system thingy at Sam’s club (since we need more counter space in our small kitchen, in addition to the other new island we bought earlier this week) but it only comes with one shelf. I go to the site to see about ordering another shelf and I can—it’s $24.99, not too bad. But guess how much S/H was? Cheapest route, via UPS Ground, was $29.00!! MORE THAN THE ITEM ITSELF! I’m sorry, that shelf CANNOT cost that much to ship and/or handle. So if we get it, our cheap $109 unit turns into $150+. UNACCEPTABLE.

More (minor) Frustrations

USPS

So I turned in our change-of-address/forwarding information about a week ago, thinking that was plenty of time. Nowhere did I read how long it would take, so I assumed a week would be appropriate. Not so. You know what happens when you assume. So it’s been three business days and we haven’t received any mail…and I was getting worried. So Tom just called and guess what? It can take UP TO 10 DAYS for the mail to start forwarding (stopping starts immediately, however). Not a big deal in the grand scheme of things (it seems I’m saying this a lot lately) but it would have been nice to know—somewhere along the lines of filling out forms!

DISHWASHER

Man oh man, our new dishwasher is SMALLER than the last one! I didn’t think they could get any smaller except for teeny tiny apartment ones, maybe. We can only fit maybe (MAYBE!) one day’s worth of dishes in there. It’s awful!

ARGH! Golf clinic.

So, if you recall, it had been tentatively rescheduled for August 2-3, but they said they would call ahead of time to make sure you still wanted to attend. So I waited. And waited. And waited. And no call came. So today is the day and I wondered about it, but didn’t call because I’m really busy at work. Tom just called to say it’s on—he called them to check and it’s today and tomorrow and this is the only clinic this year!! He said they called people yesterday (and of course our phone is disconnected)—BUT WHAT THE HELL GOOD IS CALLING THE DAY PRIOR?! That’s not a lot of notice. UGH.

So now I have to decide if I want to take an hour lunch to go home and get a change of clothes and my clubs…or if I just bag it and wait for a clinic next year? I really want to golf, but this timing is for the birds.

Wow. Just, wow!

Long story short, we’re moved in to the new house. Long story long, it wasn’t without some annoyances and trauma. As you know, it started with our power being turned off Friday morning and it only got better from there.

Not house-related, but we had an appointment at lunch Friday to go visit a cat that we were considering adopting…a fully declawed Tabby that we were REALLY excited about (I really really want a Tabby). However, he is almost 20# (not a problem) and unfortunately as we discovered while visiting him, a nipper (a problem). We did not want to bring home an alpha male that bites/nips. So that was disappointing—it’s rare to find a fully declawed cat. Now on to house stuff.

I had called last week to find out about switching our water service. They told me it had to be done in person. Fine. Annoying to have to make the trip, but fine. So Tom had been meaning to get to it while he was home packing and moving, but never made it. So Friday afternoon, after closing (4pm), I went. So I get there and wait in line for about 15 minutes, and…they tell me they don’t service the new address (ARGH!) so I had to go halfway across town at 4:30 on a Friday to start service! (Yes, it was my fault for not asking and merely assuming the new house TWO miles away would be the same water…but annoying.) Anyway, before I left, I asked for a letter of recommendation for the new water place so I could hopefully avoid a deposit. She said “just have them call us” — okay. So I get to the new place and ask about avoiding the deposit and she said they need a letter. I said “They said just to call them to get the reference” and she said “Yeah, we don’t do that. We need a letter. And they will charge you $5 for it.” I said “You have GOT to be kidding me.” She assured me she wasn’t. I told them “You two water companies should really talk to each other. I can’t be the only one this happens to.” Then I wrote out a $45 deposit check. ARGH. (I will be getting the other water deposit back, but still.) Oh, and I asked about when I might be able to get my deposit back… “Once you have lived here for five years…” OMG! FIVE YEARS!? I was not a happy camper. Not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but stuff like this just rattles my cage.

So I get home, still fuming, and run into Tom on the road, taking a trailer of stuff to the new house. I tell him what happened with the water. So I was getting dinner ready and Tom seemed to be taking forever but I really didn’t think much about it. He finally comes in and says “I can top your water story” and proceeds to hold up the plastic tray from our grill and says “This is all that’s left of the grill.” Our $600 grill. I literally said (pardon my French): “You are fucking kidding me.” Apparently the strap broke and the grill went FLYING off the trailer doing 40mph. Luckily no one was in the opposite lane where it landed (although he did have to stop traffic to gather the pieces). And of course we can’t afford another $600 grill and I don’t want a cheapie grill now that we’ve had the best. UGH. We’re laughing about it now, but man, that just sucked hard core. (Actually, the grill really isn’t in pieces…but the smokestacks are crushed, the lid is buckled so it doesn’t close, and the knobs and such are missing. Apparently the gas line survived, along with the gas tank, so Tom and Roger think they can try fixing it.)

More utility fun. Tom called LAST WEEK to switch cable service (internet/tv). It was supposed to be turned off on Saturday at the old house and ON on Friday at the new house. Saturday morning…neither had happened. I called and…oh, wait, I didn’t call from our home phone because they turned that off Saturday morning, apparently at the crack of dawn (I scheduled it for Saturday, and they tell you “sometime Saturday” but it’s apparently first thing). So I had to waste my TracFone minutes ON HOLD forever while they told me…they didn’t have a disconnect order OR a connect order for either residence! YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME. And it gets better. Apparently the lines haven’t even been run to the house yet (“Are there painted lines on your lawn? No?? Hmmm.”), so it could be UP TO TWO WEEKS to get service. No one told Tom this when he called to switch service A WEEK AGO. ARGH!!!!

And did I mention that the A/C was NOT WORKING at all on the second floor (we have two units, one for each floor)? We discovered this Friday after closing when Tom first walked in, about 5pm. Like you could get anyone to come fix A/C at all this time of year, let alone a Friday afternoon! But Roger came to the rescue and managed to find our contractor (who he happened to see in the neighborhood) who called the A/C guy…who, of course, happened to show up Saturday morning WHILE WE WERE GONE. Another call and the guy was scheduled to come back out Sunday! Phew! (So, this is jumping ahead, but our first night in the new house was spent on the air matress on the first floor where the A/C was working.) Apparently what had happened was the builder had the A/C set SO low that it froze the line.

Then we had been running late on packing, what with the 4-hour Friday power outage when Tom couldn’t get into the house (no keys, garage door opener didn’t work), but we were still aiming on being done by 3pm when the carpet guy came. But in the meantime, we were still loading stuff into the new house. (Actually, Roger and Tom were loading and hauling stuff to the new house, Dick [my bosses partner/myold Staples manager] and I were hauling boxes into the new house.) Anyway, around 2 we went back to the old house to get the last of the little things, still trying to beat the carpet cleaner and, of course…he was EARLY! In retrospect, we should have said “Sorry, you’re going to have to wait until 3!” But instead, we just piled all that was left into the garage, kitchen, and back porch (all areas he didn’t need to clean). Technically the house was ours until midnight, but we wanted to be DONE by 3. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out quite like that. Anyway, by this time we’re just exhausted but we have to finish. So it was power washing the garage floor and loading last-minute outside stuff like hose reels and hanging plants.

So around 5:30 we were back at the new house to shower to go have dinner at Roger and Ursula’s (which was fine, since we didn’t have much food available). So I have to find the shower curtain and liner and I get it all together and hang it up and…it’s too short. There was a good 6″ of space between the bottom of the curtain and the bottom of the shower. (We have a shower now, with just a little lip on the bottom.) I was about ready to cry. Not that it was a big deal…I was just exhausted and my entire body hurt and we were upstairs without A/C and all I wanted was a simple shower! Luckily the rod wasn’t screwed in—it was just a tension mount—so we could move it. Well, actually it wasn’t a tension mount because we couldn’t change the width—all we could do was slide it down the wall…which worked, but now it’s out about 4″ too far so the curtains are at an angle. And I still managed to get a huge puddle of water on the floor. And we had the crappy showerhead because we didn’t have the plumber’s tape to install our own showerhead. OH YEAH—I forgot—we also didn’t have hot water since no one had turned the hot water heater on—but luckily it was SO hot upstairs that we didn’t want a hot shower—cool was just fine.

This isn’t directly related to us, but just an update: we talked to the buyers on Saturday afternoon (they showed up while we were there), and he was asking us THEN where he had to go to turn on water and power. This was after I already told his agent THREE WEEKS AGO and she told him, plus I told him personally about the water because I had to give him directions, plus the messages she left about the power issue on Friday. He is a nice guy, but totally clueless.

So Sunday Tom had to go back again to take out the laundry sink…and stuff we forgot in the kitchen like my purse and the vacuum (I thought Tom was loading everything into the car and Tom thought I would at least grab my purse). Hoo boy. I’m glad we at least know the buyers a little and they’re nice enough to not destroy or steal anything!

The A/C guy came and fixed the A/C. Now it’s working like a charm. I painted the office…I didn’t really want to paint so soon, but we wanted to get that room set up, and once all the computer stuff is in and all the cords are all over, it’s IMPOSSIBLE to paint, and we didn’t want to have to set the room up twice…so I painted it. It wasn’t too bad—the painter’s tape I used this time did its job wonderfully…but we somehow ended up with a dime-sized blotch of paint on the carpet. OH MY GOD. I wanted to scream! I blame it on Tom, LOL, because I had everything covered with a drop cloth (because I was PARANOID about not getting paint on the carpet)…and at the very end, he came in to help fold up the tarp and… later when we’re setting up the office, I noticed the paint. Hoo boy. It never fails.

Sunday dinner I start making something…and realize the plastic utensils we’d been using are just not going to cut it for this meal…so we go on a 20-minute hunt for silverware. Of course it’s not with all the other kitchen stuff because I totally forgot about it, so it’s in an unlabeled “last-minute item” box. Or so I thought. Turns out it was in a “kitchen” box—actually in the kitchen that I’d already opened—I just hadn’t fully unpacked it.

Oh, and the cats. OH MY. They are soooooooo confused. They didn’t like being in the carriers of course, but we only let them out in one room (with their litterbox) while we went to dinner at Roger’s. We let them out when we came home and oh my, the crying and meowing… They freaked out whenever we left them and they couldn’t understand the upstairs and downstairs and got especially confused with the balcony. They would be downstairs crying and we’d call them from the balcony and they just meowed louder and louder, never looking up. It was like they were crying for us to come get them and lead the way. It was so funny. It’s better now after a day, but the first night, Fuzzy started crying in the middle of the night and Tom had to go find him and he carried him upstairs to the litterbox—that was what he wanted. He apparently got lost or couldn’t find it or didn’t remember… now, a day later, that’s been okay, too. It’s been an adventure.

So that’s where we are. Now we just have a ton of unpacking and painting to do….

Stressed out and pissed off

So we’re in the process of moving. We closed on our old house Wednesday and are closing on our new house this afternoon. We are “renting back” our old house for a few days so we could move all our stuff to the new house.

In preparing utility switches, I had the power set to be turned off today, figuring since the new owners would be moving in over the weekend, they would have the power turned on today. (You can only have this done on weekdays.) I honestly had forgotten all about it, until Tom called me saying the power was off.

Long story short, new owner obviously hasn’t had power turned on in his name (nice guy, but he thought he was going to get his EMD back, so he’s a few bricks short of a load). We still have tons of stuff to move, painting touchup to do, appliances RUNNING, yada yada yada. You cannot move out of a house without having the power on. Oh, and did I mention NO AIR CONDITIONING???? Luckily it’s only 80 right now, but with the temps like they’ve been lately??

Granted, we were renting from them, so the power should still be on in our name. But I figured since they were moving in over the weekend, they’d put it in their name. It sounds logical.

To make matters more annoying, I tell my boss about it, and she says “Well, just live at the new house!” Um, yeah, think about it…we’re still MOVING OUT. It’s not like we’re CHOOSING to still live there for the hell of it. UGH.

It’s not like $25 is a great deal of money in the grand scheme of things, but we don’t need to spend an additional $25 to turn the power BACK on when, in my opinion, it should be on. So, I’m pissed off that I didn’t keep it on until Monday (just to be safe) and I’m pissed off that the new owner didn’t have it turned on already. (And don’t get me started how every utility charges about $25 just to flip a freakin’ switch to turn something on and off.)

Clearance center, my ass!

So we were out gallivanting and decided to look at some headboards—mostly for ideas (since headboards are outrageously expensive) but also just in case we saw anything in a decent price range. All furniture places have clearance sections/rooms/areas so we always go there—you never know what you will find. So we went to a new furnture store we’d never been to, looked around, and got REALLY excited because there was a gorgeous headboard set that we loved—but of course it had no price on it. So we had to actually hunt down an employee (exasperating, since at our usual furniture store, there’s always someone within sight that offers help or you can go to for help). We told him we were interested in a piece in the clearance room but it wasn’t priced—and guess what he told us? “Oh, it might be a new piece. That’s where we unload freight.” I looked at him like he had three heads: “So you’re telling me you unpack ALL your NEW items in a room specifically marked CLEARANCE? That’s not very customer-friendly.” He said they didn’t have anywhere else to do it. Of course, the headboard we had noticed was indeed a new piece. We asked him to point out what items were indeed clearance, and there were about four couches in the 14×60 room. Clearance room, my ass. We will never step foot in that store again.

Stupid Passport Photo

I hate it when I plan ahead, but don’t THINK ahead. I wanted to get a passport for our cruise, just so I don’t have to carry my license, birth certificate, and marriage license. I pre-printed all the forms and had them all filled out, so it hopefully wouldn’t take too long at the post office. So the day I had planned to go in (hair looked good, wearing a color I looked good in, LOL) I ended up having to take my car in—so I was stuck at the office. So I planned to do it the following day. I went in, turned in my paperwork and money, then had my photo taken. I didn’t even think about what I was wearing—and what the background color would be. ARGH! I was wearing a white shirt in front of a white background. Not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but definitely not what I would have chosen for something I’ll have for 10 years.

That time of year!

Yes, folks, it’s that glorious time of year again…when all you do is jump from the air-conditioned house to the air-conditioned car to the air-conditioned office back to the air-conditioned car back to the air-conditioned house! Once in a while you throw in a trip to an air-conditioned restaurant or air-conditioned store!

I think it’s also time to lower the temp in the house, too. It’s been at 76 for a week or so now, which has been just about right. However, this morning, I was actually SWEATING while just standing in the bathroom getting ready. That’s crazy!

Online poker sucks!

I’ve been playing a little online poker but I really don’t like it because people bid stupid (not like you’re supposed to, according to the rules) and I can’t play with that. Why? I’m still learning, and it’s so much harder to learn when people don’t play according to the rules. Of course, I just had a horrible experience on a hand…

I was last to bet.

Pre-flop (before any cards are shown, so you’re just bidding on the strength of your two cards)—Everyone checked, I raised 200, then everyone called. O-kay. In a real game, it’s unlikely everyone would check then the same people would all call.

Flop (the first three community cards are turned over)—Check, check, a guy bets 600, then everyone calls (including the checkers). O-kay. Again, in a real game, it’s unlikely everyone would check then the same people would all call 600.

Turn (the next community card is turned over)—Check, check, a guy bets 10 – 10! So after having just bet 600, he drops to 10. What the hell kind of bidding is that? Everyone calls his measly 10 and I raise 200. Then everyone calls my 200. WHAT? So no one has a hand good enough to raise themselves (the past three rounds) but again they will call my 200?

River (the last of the community cards)—Check, check, check, checks all around of course, so I go all-in for almost 1300 with 2-pair and…guess what? Everyone calls! ARGH!! THIS ISN’T HOW YOU PLAY POKER!!!

I ended up losing to 3-kind, which I don’t care, but I CANNOT PLAY WITH PEOPLE WHO BID LIKE THAT! IT MAKES ME NUTS!

Staples: A Visit

I had to go to Staples today to mail a package and drop off something for a friend. I always like going, because I really miss my friends that still work there and I enjoy talking with them for the few minutes that I’m there. But I am SO glad I no longer work there.

Here’s what happened: I was in front of the ship center counter, which is NOT a register and is AT LEAST 10 feet away from a register (which you can tell is a register because there is a light on that says “check out lane” or something equally as obvious and there are bags and the debit machine on the counter). So a guy walks up, throws his labels on the counter (in front of me, no less), and pulls out his wallet—obviously wanting to check out. I sighed and politely said “Sir, this isn’t a checkout. The register is down there—” and pointed to where the light was on. He says snottily “But everyone is down here.”

INSTANTLY, all my retail issues with stupid customers came RAGING back and I think I actually felt my blood pressure rising. Savannah, who was shipping my package and KNOWS how irritated I get with stupid customers, shared a knowing look with me. I had to refrain from snapping “So, just because everyone is down here, you think that means you can check out here? Can’t you read the sign?” But I took a breath and said “But this isn’t a checkout. The register is there. It’s a common mistake.” So he walks over to the register and then snots “But there’s no one here!”

Well, asshat, if you opened your eyes, you would see that there are two people in the copy center. One girl is helping ME and the manager is helping another customer. Did you ever hear of waiting your turn? But, you know, if you REALLY open your eyes, you will see a fully-staffed register a few lanes down. Oh how I wish I could say those things…which, I technically could now that I no longer work there, but still.

So the manager, having heard our exchange, looked at the customer and said “Sir, I will be with you in a minute—when I’m done with this customer.” I told Savannah that even though I’d been gone six months, all it took was one idiot customer in my presence to make me nuts. I pray that I will never have to go back to retail…

Stupidity, Instead of…

So I was just in the kitchen frying some sausage to have for ready for breakfasts this week.

Instead of the cake pan or jelly roll pan that I typically use to drain the sausage, I decided to use one of my new white porcelain platters because it was more convenient to retrieve.

Instead of putting the platter on the counter like I typically do, I put it on the stovetop.

Instead of just having green beans with our salmon for dinner, I decided to make instant miso soup.

Instead of making it in a soup pan like I normally do, I decided instead to use the tea pot to heat the water.

A minute or so later, I hear a loud and distinct POP and in that instant I was totally baffled…until I looked at the stovetop and my brand new, never-been-used, platter was in pieces!

^#(@$!!*%#$”!@*%#$

I had (as I’ve done too many times to count) turned on the wrong damn burner. Generally, about 95% of the time I cook on the stove, I use the front burners. The remaining 5% is split between having to use the front burner and using two burners at a time. Needless to say I really hate electric stoves. I love my smooth top, but I love the INSTANT GRATIFICATION of flames. Of course, Tom had come running when he heard me swearing, and he was trying to get the pieces picked up. And instead of waiting for the pieces to cool, he grabbed one that was still hot and burned his fingers.

^#(@$!!*%#$”!@*%#$

I was so mad at myself because, as I’ve said, this is not the first time I’ve done this. But typically there’s nothing on the burner. So, there was $10 down the toilet…ugh! But, the platter was apparently a fairly decent conductor of heat because the paper towels that had been sitting on it were brown. Anyway, I guess I was only meant to have one platter, because I bought two to have a set. Good thing they’re at Target so I could get another…if I dare.

Noisy New Shoes

So I bought a pair of sandals recently and I’m wearing them today for the first time. And they make noise! Annoyingly so! With every step, I get an AUDIBLE *poof* of air…what’s up with that? Of course, I didn’t hear the noise when I was walking around the store before buying them… It’s almost embarassing. I hope it goes away with some wear, otherwise these won’t be work shoes any more!

I HATE FEDEX TODAY!

I HATE FEDEX. But I also hate certain online companies.

So we ordered something that (unbeknownst to us) required a signature for delivery. Okay, had I known that, I would have had it delivered to the office. But I didn’t, so it came to our house. Of course, FedEx came before 5, so we missed them. I called to change the address and guess what? They can’t do that. Only the SHIPPER can do that. Oh, wonderful. So I asked if we could reschedule the delivery for after 5pm and she said she would do that. Fine, I can live with that. So come 5pm today (actually 4:35 when Tom got home) and guess what? FedEx had been there at 3pm! THREE! Are you kidding me? Tom called FedEx and was told there was NO WAY it could have been scheduled to be delivered after 5 since they have to be back at the loading dock by 5 (and we’re about an hour away). So the woman I talked to apparently didn’t know what the hell she was talking about. Wonderful. So now I call the SHIPPER to request they change the delivery address and…of course, they can’t do that. YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME. And the guy I talked to wasn’t very nice at all. Tom and I were FURIOUS. So at this point, our options are:

  1. Take a day off work to be there when the package arrives.
  2. Let the package return to the sender, place another order with the new address, and wait two more weeks.
  3. Drive three hours round-trip to get to the closest FedEx facility.
  4. Buy the item locally for $50 more.

I’m sorry, but NONE OF THOSE ARE ACCEPTABLE.

My last nerve.

So, when Tom was heading home, he told me the good news…he’d have two “free” weeks of vacation after he got home (i.e it wouldn’t come off his earned days). Everyone gets it after being deployed, he said. He talked to a bunch of his friends who confirmed it. Cool, I thought. He said he could take it whenever he wanted (i.e. it didn’t have to be the first two weeks he was home) so we planned for him to wait and use it when my dad and Linda come down at the end of the month.

But.

He just called me to say “Guess what?” Turns out the “free vacation” isn’t free after all. Apparently it’s for tax purposes only (not quite sure why or how that works) and if you want to take it, the days come straight from your banked days. WHAT? Again, something EVERY SINGLE PERSON TOM TALKED TO apparently forgot or never knew themselves. I just don’t see how that’s possible…

So, the gist of all this is that Tom can’t take the full two weeks off like he planned.

And my overall happiness with the marine corps right now?? They’re on my last nerve. Granted, it’s not technically their fault, but it seems odd how TIME AFTER TIME AFTER TIME AFTER TIME we are “assured” that certain things will happen, but when push comes to shove, it’s all a load of crap. (I’m specifically thinking back to the very beginning when Tom was promised that the USMC would help pay back his student loans. What a big load of BS that was. And saying they will pay for 75% of college classes. But oh, only if you give us more time. There are more, but I don’t feel like getting into it.) It just seems there are always hidden things…

Stupid credit card fees

I didn’t lose my credit card and I don’t think I’ve used it anywhere unsafe. However, there was an unauthorized charge for $80 recently so I called to cancel the card and have another reissued. Imagine my surprise when I was told there would be a $10 fee for new cards. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? I have never heard of a fee for reissued cards before and I think it’s just asinine. But I was so flabbergasted that I couldn’t even think or respond—I just said fine. For a split second, I did consider just cancelling the card but it’s the one with our photo on the front that I love…

UPDATE

I wrote an email to customer service complaining about the fee and they said they will credit it as a one-time courtesy. I guess sometimes it pays to complain…

Non-Support Support Rant

Long story short, I used to use this program I loved for making DVD slideshows. I say USED TO USE because I can no longer use it. Why? No idea! My best guess is that upgrading XP to SP2 screwed something up—that’s the only thing I can possibly think of (my computer crashed so when I reinstalled Windows, I upgraded to SP2—that’s the ONLY difference).

So I do what any normal person would do, and check the site to see if they mention anything (most sites will tell you if their program has issues with SP2). Nope, no mention. So I email tech support. They tell me it shouldn’t be an issue, but to check umpteen million other things on my system. So I check ALL umpteen million:

  • DVD writer software is current
  • slideshow program is current
  • slideshow CD/DVD support is current
  • all Windows updates are done
  • no other CD/DVD writing programs are running
  • slideshow software recognizes my DVD writer
  • slideshow software says on their site that my specific DVD writer is recognized
  • test DVD burn with another program

Everything checks out. I take detailed notes of what exactly happens during the creation/burn process (right up until the software fails) and send that info in. What response do I get? “Make sure everything is updated.” ARE YOU KIDDING ME? That’s what we started with before I spent an hour messing with it to give you all the gory details.

Okay, granted. I am not a paying customer—I am only using the trial version—but you’d think they’d want to help me so I would BECOME a paying customer, right? In the meantime, I think “Maybe I should purchase the software officially on the OFF chance that might make a difference” but then if it doesn’t, I’m out $70.

The most frustrating thing is that this program worked perfectly before. PERFECTLY. And now it doesn’t and I don’t have any idea why. And I love this program!!!

Sometimes I hate computers.

Support hose are evil!

As I’m sure most women will agree, one of the most uncomfortable things we have to wear is pantyhose. Now, just imagine (if you will) the need to wear support hose. And we’re not just talking the suck-in-your-gut-and-smooth-out-your-cellulite variety, but the actual medically-necessary support hose…which are like support hose to the Nth degree. Otherwise known as the type I am supposed to wear.

Now, if you will, imagine wearing a pair of these support hose…and imagine that they are just a bit too small for you. So they pull. And they rub. And they chafe. And what ever else they’re doing (or not doing) under there that I can’t even begin to describe—other than to say it’s actually almost PAINFUL. Let me just say the grass is NOT greener… Before, I was whining about my other pair that was a tad too big so they constantly gathered at the knees ALL DAY LONG and I spent all day pulling them up. But at least those aren’t painful.

So I have been suffering with these since 7am and I am seriously ready to peel them off, doctors orders be damned… except I have dinner plans tonight and am stuck in town (and in public!) until probably 8pm…and I don’t think I want to go stockingless in a dress and boots…although, honestly, it’s sounding VERY tempting!

US Airways–what can I say?

So you all know the trouble I had trying to get home AFTER Christmas…but I’m not sure how many of you know the trouble I had trying to get home FOR Christmas. But let’s rewind to October, when I was on my way back to Jacksonville after my grandfather’s funeral.

I took a bump in Charlotte and got a free round-trip ticket. Cool! I thought, what could be more perfect—I now had a free ticket to go see Tom in California when he comes home…or, when I realized I could go home for Christmas (when I wouldn’t be working at Staples), I could use the ticket to fly home! So, I called the first part of December to get my free ticket to Michigan. I didn’t worry about calling last-minute because the ticket was free—I didn’t care how much it cost! So imagine my complete and utter shock when the rep told me my ticket wasn’t good for that flight! WHAT? It’s a free round-trip ticket on US Airways?! How can it not be good? Long story short, she told me that since I took the bump on a US Airways Express leg, the free ticket was only good for a US Airways Express leg. WHAT? I tried to clarify, and she assured me that was protocol. So it was a mad rush to find a cheap ticket to Michigan!

Fast forward two months, when I find out Tom is coming home. I want to go to see him in California if at all possible, but not if I have to pay for a ticket (unless he’s going to be there a month, then I might cough up the dough)! So I research online to see about any Express flights…and of course, there are none. So, I figure I will just fly to Chicago for the weekend to see my girlfriend because I was pretty sure that was an Express flight. But just for the hell of it, I decided to call again, just to check ONE MORE TIME. And you know what the rep tells me? That my voucher is good for ANY US Airways flight!! I said “Are you sure? The last time I called, the rep said it was only good for an Express flight since that’s what I took the bump on?!” And he assured me that was not the case, and in his nine years of working there, he’d never heard that. He did say I might have trouble getting a ticket since it’s Easter and Spring Break travel times, but that my voucher was perfectly good!

OORAH! So it looks like I will be heading to California when he comes home! (I’m getting goosebumps just thinking about it!!!)

PITA New Home Buyers

Wow. Having worked in real estate for just over two months (just over one if you don’t count my vacations!), I have to say that certain new home buyers are a TOTAL pain in the ass! We have one lady in particular…her file is about 1″ thick with all her correspondence about what she wants and doesn’t want and things she wants changed and added and deleted and things that don’t meet her approval. Oh. My. God. Every time she calls you know it’s going to be another problem. Nothing can be simple.

You want upgraded carpet padding? Fine. But not her…she only wants it on the second floor. Which necessitates a call to the builder to see if we can even do that and how much it is. Then she wants to buy her own windows. No. How about just the one picture window? No. Can you take this wall out? Yes. Can you change this wall to include an arch so we can put a window there? No. Where are those windows that are supposed to be there? You didn’t ask for them in time. Well I want them now. We’ll they are $250 each since they have to be reframed. I’m not paying $500 for two windows. Well then you’re not getting two windows. And I could go on and on and on.

You know what? If you have THIS many specifications, why don’t you build your own house from SCRATCH. Don’t come in to a pre-designed house and make 42 million changes. It annoys us AND it annoys the builder.

Granted not everyone is like this… but I certainly hope WE weren’t this bad!

FINAL NOTICE MY ASS!

Tonight I received a notice from our credit union’s insurance department telling me they hadn’t yet received the insurance policy that covers the collateral [on Tom’s new car]. Specifically:

FINAL NOTICE BEFORE PREMIUM IS ADDED TO YOUR LOAN BALANCE AND LOAN PAYMENT IS INCREASED.

HUH? Could someone please tell me how on earth I could receive a FINAL NOTICE without ever having received any PRIOR NOTICES?

Also, have they never received ANY insurance information? Since November when we bought the car? Or do they just mean the renewal (since it’s due this month)? Of course, it’s after 5 so I can’t call (and I can’t email since no email address was given—even though it SAID to email)…so I faxed it.

Of course I had all the necessary information, but what the hell? I want to know who is slacking—Marine Federal Credit Union or USAA—because it sure as hell wasn’t me.

Good news…and bad news.

So I get a call at work today from one of the managers at the Jacksonville Staples. He basically just called to say hello, let me know they were excited to get me, and let me know he got the paperwork—and to see if I had any questions for him. I asked about the letter for the mortgage company and he had no idea. Lovely. I said all the information was faxed at the same time as the transfer paperwork…but he didn’t get that part. Okaaaay. So I explained to him what I needed and said I’d refax the info to him and he said it shouldn’t be a problem. Then I explained about my start date—why it would probaly be July 1 and he was okay with it. He did tell me that they really need someone now, but they will hold the position for me until I get there. So, that’s good. But then he says “So, did Todd talk to you about salary at all?” and I said no. He said “I see here on your paperwork that you make $9.25 an hour. Unfortunately, the highest I can start you at is $8.00—which is $2/hour more than I normally start people at.” My heart almost stopped. I mean, I had known in the very back of my mind that it was possible, but I honestly didn’t think it would happen. He went on to tell me that the Specialists there make about that much (as I make now), so he couldn’t give me that. Then he said “How does that sit with you?” And I told him I didn’t really have much choice as I really needed the job. But man, that’s a huge pay cut for me. It’s like starting all over—back to when I was hired. And that really sucks. He gave me the song and dance about how the cost of living is cheaper down there and all, but still. That’s a huge pay cut for me. But what can you do? At least I can be thankful I have a job.

Stupid Driver Gripes

Give me a license to pull people over and write tickets and you don’t even have to pay me.

I SWEAR THIS ACTUALLY HAPPENED: In the left lane, a slow-moving garbage truck. In the right lane, a slower-moving semi. I was in the left lane, behind the truck and another car. As us two left-lane travellers are approaching the point where we can merge in front of the semi, the car in front of me moves into the left turn lane. Cool, I think, he is getting out of my way and I will be able to pass the truck and semi sooner. So, as I merge into the right lane (in front of the semi) and then go to move back into the left lane (in front of the truck), GUESS WHO IS ALSO MOVING BACK INTO THE LEFT LANE IN FRONT OF THE GARBAGE TRUCK?? The guy who had gone into the left turn lane!! YES, FOLKS, THE @*$!% USED THE LEFT TURN LANE TO PASS!! Had I been paying less attention, or had I moved just a hair quicker, he would have smacked right into me. WHERE ARE THE COPS WHEN YOU NEED THEM?? Needless to say I flipped the guy off.

I SWEAR THIS ACTUALLY HAPPENED: I’m in the left lane behind a slow-moving car. There’s no one in the right lane, but there’s not really enough distance for me to worry about passing because I NEED to be in the left lane to make a left turn two lights up (a short distance). So we come to a stop at a red light, and there’s STILL no one in the right lane. The light turns and off we go, still moving slow. Well, about 2 car lengths before the light (which is two lane/left and right turn only), the car decided to get in the right lane, which is now, of course, packed with cars turning right. So the car stops, with his blinker on, waiting for someone to let him in, which isn’t going to happen because there’s about 10 cars in line waiting to turn right, so he will never get over—let alone through the light—before it turns red. HELLO? Can we say planning ahead? In the meantime, about 8 cars—including me—are backed up behind this idiot in the left turn lane. So I broke the law, crossed the double yellow center line, and passed the fool. Everyone after me followed suit, and I didn’t bother to look behind me to see what happened to the idiot in the car.

I HATE PEOPLE WHO:

Leave their blinker on FOREVER when they’re obviously not changing lanes. It’s even MORE annoying when you hang back to let them in and they don’t merge.

Slow down before getting into the left or right turn lane (when there’s obviously NOTHING in their way TO slow them down), thereby causing you to slow down as well.

Slow down on the expressway BEFORE getting into the exit lane (duh, that’s what the lane is there for—so you don’t interrupt normal traffic flow).

Think they’re SOOOOO cool and sit leaning WAAAAY back in their seat (so you can barely see their eyes over the door frame) and drive with one arm; this is generally a young man in a muscle car. (See next item.)

Can barely see over the steering wheel, for whatever reason. THIS JUST CAN’T BE SAFE! Get over your insecurities and sit on a book or something—no one else other than your occupants will know, and the rest of us will feel a lot safer knowing you can see your surroundings!!

Aren’t paying attention (or don’t know the rules of the road) and don’t turn right on a red light.

Keep inching forward at a red light and then don’t go when it turns green.

Pull out RIGHT in front of you when there’s NO ONE behind you…and then don’t speed up.

Dart in and out of heavy [generally rush-hour] traffic to get ahead—when it’s obviously pointless since you end up stopped at the light together. (See next item.)

Cut in front of you (with barely a foot to spare) just because you’re not tailgating like everyone else.

Fly by you going at least 75mph in a 55mph zone, and then slow down to 70mph on the expressway, so you pass them doing 75.

Refuse to approach actual highway speed while on the expressway on-ramp, interfering with your own merge onto the highway.

Live in Michigan (or northern states in general) and don’t know how to drive in inclement weather or on snowy/icy roads. They either drive way slower or faster than conditions warrant, or think that they can blast through anything just because they are driving a 4×4 (FYI: 4x4s really have no effect on ice—they slip just like the rest of us).

Wait for you to pull out of a “good” parking spot instead of parking 5 spaces farther away.

Don’t go the speed limit. This is especially annoying on a rural highway (55mph) when it’s impossible to pass and you’re stuck doing 45-50mph because they’re out joyriding.

Drive in the left lane at the EXACT pace as the right lane—instead of using it for passing, which, of course, is what YOU want to do. This can happen either on the highway or a 4-lane thoroughfare.

Are driving slow for miles and miles…until you get to a passing lane (or a passing area) and suddenly they’re moving at the speed of light—so you can’t pass—and then after the passing area is over, they slow back down to their previous speed.

Don’t use cruise control…they pass you and then you pass them and then they pass you and then you pass them—all the while not changing YOUR speed at all.

Force you to pass them on the right. They stay in the passing lane regardless of their (your) speed, and then look at you like they’re pissed that you passed them on the right…and then they STILL don’t get over in the right lane.

Stay (or get) right on your ass, so, thinking they really want to pass, you move over to let them, and then they drop in right behind you.

Are going a bit slower than you, so you pass them, then they get on your ass, so you move over to let them pass, and they stay in the left lane going your same speed…which causes you to nudge your speed up a bit (because, of course, you’re quickly approaching another slow-moving car), and you cut in front of them to pass [the second car] bceause they didn’t keep up their passing speed. (I just did this recently and I LOVE it. Serves them right for not having the balls to pass.) BUT THEN, they have to get right on your ass again, and then fly by you doing 90, only to slow down again 2 miles later. Whatever.

Have waited too long to pass and then DART in front of you, causing you to hit the brakes. (See next item.)

Cut in front of you to pass and then don’t get out of your way when they see you quickly coming up behind them.

Turn their blinker on RIGHT AS they’re making the turn.

Don’t use their blinker when cutting directly in front of you.

Dart in front of semis as they’re coming to a stop—as if semis can stop on a dime.

Come to a complete stop before merging onto the highway. TWH

Have been waiting in the “left-turn-only” lane and THEN decide to go straight—pulling right out in front of you and cutting you off (since you were in the correct lane). This actually happened to my boyfriend, and he almost got into an accident because of the asshole. TWH

Wait and wait and wait to pull out into traffic and then pull out RIGHT in front of you—when if they would have gone right away, there wouldn’t have been any problem.

Don’t know when to honk the horn.

  • This actually happened…A mini-van almost causes an accident with an Explorer, the Explorer screeches to a (sliding) halt to avoid the collision, and then comes to a stop behind the mini-van, which is now stopped at a red light. The Explorer then sits behind the mini-van at the light for at least a minute, and then, as traffic starts moving again, decides to start honking the horn. So, may I ask, what is the point of honking so long after the fact?? That’s just it—THERE IS NO POINT—it’s a stupid driver. Honk at the time or don’t honk at all.

AND JUST WHEN I START TO THINK I CAN’T COME UP WITH ANY MORE GRIPES, WE TAKE A WEEKEND TRIP…

Can’t maintain a constant speed (in a no-passing zone, of course) and consequently travel at 65mph, then 50…55…60…55…50…65, etc. I’d much rather follow someone going a constant 60mph than some idiot going all speeds.

Don’t give it extra gas to maintain speed going up a hill, so they slow down to 45 or 50mph, and then reach 70-75mph going down the hill.

When I’m the third car in line and the idiot in front of me refuses to pass the slowpoke in front of him—even when there’s PLENTY of time, which means I never (okay, rarely) have enough room to pass both cars at once.(See next item.)

When someone then comes up behind me and, since they’re obviously so much more studly than anyone else in line, they attempt to pass all three of us, and then have to cut in the middle somewhere because they ran out of time. I’d like to NOT let those people back in and force them to run off the road—it’s the price they would pay for their stupidity.

Don’t turn their brights off after you pass them.

Get on your tail like they want to pass at a faster rate than you’re currently going, so you speed up to finish passing, and then they drop way behind you and never pass.

Have to fly by you to pass, and then pull RIGHT IN FRONT of you. (OR…see next item.)

Have to fly by you to pass, and then pull RIGHT IN FRONT of you…ONLY to slow down so you have to pass them 10 seconds later.

Pull out directly in front of you when you’re doing 70—causing you to practically slam on the brakes—only to turn off a half mile down the road. Generally these are old people.

Make like they’re going to turn into a drive, so you go to drive around them, and then they suddenly pull back into the stream of traffic and you have to slam your brakes to avoid hitting them.

People who cut in front of you to make it onto the exit at the last minute because they either weren’t paying attention or they have no idea where they’re going (on ramp or off ramp, it’s the same story).

Brake at every intersection (major or minor) because they apparently have no idea where they need/want to turn.

Drive down the middle of the highway for more than 50-75 yards or so. Are they drunk? Do they realize what they’re doing? Don’t they care? Do they think they own the road?

Are driving in the left lane (of a city thoroughfare) and are partially hanging over into the left turn lane—forever.

VISITOR SUBMISSIONS

Courtesy of Chuck Johnson, who had this to say:

“I just read your driver thing, and I done woke up my roommate laughing my bollocks off…I think I have experienced every one of those on my journey to California.”

  • How about the motorhome towing a Geo Tracker in the slow lane and then pulls in front of me when I’m doing Mach 5 to get around a semi who is going 3 miles an hour slower then he [the motorhome] is … So [the motorhome] goes back to [the slow lane in front of
    the semi] … and now that they are going the same speed, they both approach the small incline and the motorhome is now going slower and the semi is going a constant speed [so the semi passes] and now the motorhome is behind the semi again. The motorhome driver is
    usually this little Mr. Magoo type of person who is white-knuckled and confused.
  • Or the old Honda Civic Hitler Mobile that you get stuck behind at a stop light, just so it can just totally smoke you out during the whole process.
  • Or the people who are too scared to pass the cop car that is from a whole different county.
  • Commuting to college is one thing when you’re doing it during rush hour, but when you add stupid drivers you are essentially adding another half hour to the commute. I approached Hwy 18 off of I-5 which has a steep hill with a passing lane. I decided to just punch it in the “Hammer” lane and get ahead of the Semi. Well half way up was the guy who was at the end of a pack of cars and is now in the lead and doesn’t want to committ to the 15MPH+ over the speed limit rule and realizes that he doesn’t want any of that and tries to get over……when there’s a semi right next to him. So he just coasts with his signal now in the off position. Now I am getting passed by everyone changing lanes and the exit is coming up. So now I am signaling, trying to get over, and all I get is the finger. I just laugh and realize this is just another moment of a “Stupid Drivers” episode.

Courtesy of Jim, who had this to say:

“Great list! Had road rage till I started commuting 120 miles daily – now just watch and wonder.”

  • The person who pulls out of a side road onto a busy 2-lane in front of of a long string of traffic traveling at 50mph.. which is alright..(esp in Boston, where everyone expects it) EXCEPT, unlike in Boston, the idiot takes 1/2 mile to accelerate to speed “because it saves gas”!!! Never mind that everyone else had to slow down behind the moron and used up more gas total than if he’d floored it. AND (!!!) if he has a late model car with port EFI, he aint saving any gas anyway.. Saab proved it. (slow vs accelerating Briskly, not flooring it)
  • You leave your house and as you pull onto a street a block down from the stop sign at the intersection, you see someone facing you, waiting to turn left .. you stop at the sign – the traffic clears and HE NOW WAITS ON YOU TO CROSS!!!! Of course you hesitate to pull in front of him, because he MIGHT be dozing and realize he has the right-of-way and smack you on principle… and the BEST variant.. You wait for 2 minutes at a sign for the traffic to clear so you can turn left onto a thru street; Just as a small gap in the traffic appears—some yo-yo comes screaming up to the sign opposite yours and flips on his right turn signal.. Now do you go or not??? I GO and see the guy mouthing Expletives at me.. You know, you cant even get a cop to define the right-of-way in these situations!!! I think they really dont know… Keep it up but keep smiling—life’s too short.

PEEVES I SNAGGED

Todd is bellyaching about…WHAT is the deal with jackasses who INSIST on BACKING into parking spaces?!? There is NO reason for this AT ALL!!! I’m driving through a parking lot. There’s someone in front of me. I see them pass an empty spot. “Oh, boy,” I cheerfully think. “I’ll get to park there my very own self!” But, before I can even begin to turn my wheels in the direction of the spot, that car’s back-up lights spring to life, and the chowderhead is now BACKING INTO THE SPOT!!! And he can’t do it quickly, either. Or correctly. He’s got to shift into D again, so he can straighten out, then back into R so he can get in the space. HELLO?!? Does the entire world have to stop and wait for your precious vehicle to get itself situated? Why the he** can’t you just pull into the spot facing FRONT?!? Do you honestly think that you’re impressing anyone? Has it not occurred to you in that peabrain of yours that any time you think you’re saving by being able to pull out of the spot going forwards is taken away by your inablility to back into the space in the first place? You people make me SICK!!!

And Misty says…It’s not really a peeve just a comment on the guys with low rider cars. It’s funny how they will buy a $4,000 – $5,000 car and spend $2,000 having it lowered so it’s about one inch off the ground, another $1,500 on reverse wheels, and at least $1,000 on the stereo, and of course, the big tailpipe extension that looks like a chrome funnel. I know they must think they have the hottest babe magnet vehicles around, but what they really have is a funny looking car, that can’t go over a speed bump at more than 0.25 MPH, a stereo that does nothing but blare out “THUMPA THUMPA THUMPA” to be heard for miles around, forget trying to have a conversation while the stereo is playing, and a tailpipe that makes their car sound like its blowing farts as they drive. Get a clue guys, the ladies aren’t impressed.

And an AOLer says…We have a lot of construction on our highways and especially the Interstate. My peeve is when one of the lanes is closed ahead, people have plenty of time to merge but they continue to fly around me and then want to merge into traffic right when the closed lane ends. Someone will always let them in line but you can bet it won’t be me.

And Grandnet says…One of my peeves is parents who carelessly drive around with small children not in car seats. I’m always seeing people with their little ones standing on the seat next to them. Why do these people think that there is a law concerning small children and car seats? So the kid fusses, give him a sucker, but don’t put his life in danger. Accidents can happen in the blink of an eye and the kid can be airborne and through the windshield before you know what’s happened. Maybe these parents just don’t care.

Roommate Rules

Extenuating circumstances will, of course, be taken into consideration regarding all the following rules.

KITCHEN RULES

Preferably, dishes should be taken care of right after eating/cooking or within the same day. If someone else wants to use the pan you just used, they shouldn’t have to wash it OR wait for you to wash it. They should also not have to move your dishes to use the sink to wash their own dishes. If not at all possible, they should stay in ONE side of the sink only…no fair taking up BOTH sides of the sink (see next item).

NO STACKING DISHES TWO FEET HIGH ON ONE SIDE OF THE SINK.

No dirty dishes in the sink longer than two days if they’re just dishes. This means nothing that holds water and can start smelling.

No dirty dishes in the sink longer than one day if they’re icky, really-need-to-be-washed-and-you’re-just-feeling-lazy-I’ll-get-around-to-it-whenever dishes.

No dirty dishes/pots/pans left sitting on the stove or counter longer than a day.

If you drop or spill something, or something leaks a) on the floor, b) in the frig, c) anywhere, clean it up. This means wipe up your toast crumbs, flour dust, cooking spatters, etc.

Keep the microwave wiped out. If something explodes or spatters, it’s much easier to clean then instead of later when it’s hard and crusty and caked on.

If something boils over, wash the metal plate under the burner. Don’t keep cooking on it, letting it burn and stick more.

If something falls onto the burner, clean it off—don’t just let it sit there and burn and stick more.

When washing the pots/pans, wash the outside of it, too. And make sure it’s clean. Once it’s dry, if you notice it’s still dirty, DON’T PUT IT AWAY. Wash it again.

Don’t leave the dishes in the drainboard for more than a day or two. Put them away as soon as they’re dry, if possible, if you haven’t dried them individually.

Don’t leave food on the counter/take care of leftovers. (Sure, this may sound obvious, but I’ve seen cornbread in the pan on the counter for two weeks. This is just plain ridiculous.)

NO STACKING THE GARBAGE TWO FEET HIGH. Empty it when it needs to be emptied.

Clean out the frig on a regular basis. Meaning, go through your shit, and if you’re not going to eat something, toss it—and if it’s bad, toss it. Don’t let it sit there (in the way) until it starts smelling or your roommate takes it upon herself to throw it away because you won’t.

Don’t leave jars/containers/pitchers/etc. in the frig with only smidgeons of stuff or three sips of juice. Finish, empty, or toss it.

Become a Tupperware Mistress. Meaning, get used to putting stuff in Tupperware!! Don’t just cover a huge plate (or whatever) in tinfoil and leave it. Don’t leave something in the soup pot for a week after you’ve made it. When portions get smaller, transfer it to a smaller container. Yes, I realize this one is somewhat personal choice, but…if I want to use the soup pot, it better not be in the frig with 3-day-old soup. And I don’t want to have to worry about knocking your stupid corn-on-the-cob off the plate when I have to move it to get to something else you’ve conveniently blocked. (Yes, I’ve seen corn-on-the-cob on a dinner plate, barely/loosely covered in foil—FOR A WEEK AND A HALF!! Like the foil was helping anything. You might as well just throw the corn in there by itself.)

DISHWASHER RULES

Run it when it needs to be run (i.e. when we’ve run out of something). Don’t wait to fill it to the brim if we’re out of glasses or silverware.

If there’s room, ask your roommate if she has any dishes in her room she’d like to add.

When the dishes are clean, EMPTY THEM. Don’t stack dishes throughout the kitchen just to avoid emptying it and don’t use dishes out of the dishwasher in hopes that someone else will empty it. If you’re the first person there, empty it. Try to keep things equal.

Don’t put in big Tupperware—especially if it’s not that dirty (i.e. bread crumbs/chopped veggies, etc.). Take the 30 seconds and wash it by hand so we can fit REAL dishes in to be washed.

When loading the dishwasher, load all the dishes that are around in the kitchen, don’t just load your own.

Learn how to load it correctly. (There’s nothing more irritating than a bowl in the wrong place taking up the space of 4 dishes.)

MISCELLANEOUS RULES

No fair clogging up the kitchen table with stupid miscellaneous shit for more than the time you might be working on something (i.e. balancing a checkbook/working on a scrapbook/something similar where you need the use of the entire table). It doesn’t matter that no one immediately needs to use it—it looks tacky.

You can do whatever you want—create whatever mess you want—when the roommate is gone for the weekend, but everything better be somewhat picked up by the time the roommate gets back. This goes for the kitchen (dishes especially) and the living room/dining area. No one likes to come home to a disgusting house when they left it in a decent condition.

Try to pay bills ahead of when they’re due—and mail it in time. Whoever is responsible for the bill being late pays the late fee.

If the bill is in your name, you take the higher half and you mail it. (It sounds petty since “the higher half” is only a penny more, but it’s the principle of the thing and it’s only fair.)

If any form of a rebate is given to the apartment on a bill, it will be split 50/50, regardless of who spends more. (Yeah, I know it sounds logical, but one of my roommates split a long-distance phone rebate about 20/80 in her favor because, as she said, she spent more.)

“IT GOES WITHOUT SAYING” RULES

Long-distance calls take precedence unless it’s important or an emergency.

You must answer call-waiting beeps if at all possible, unless you’re in the middle of a crisis phone call.

Leave roommate’s messages on the machine. Meaning don’t just write it down for them, since we all know we can’t take as detailed a message as people usually leave.

If you need to use some food of your roommate’s, ask first if possible.

Always replace food items if you finish it or use a lot of it. Don’t use all but 1 teaspoon of the butter and then leave it just so you won’t have to replace it. (This was done to me a number of times.)

Roommates will agree (this might include compromising) on some sort of cleaning schedule for common areas, whether it be duties-per-person-per-week or duties split between who hates/likes doing something.

Roommates will inform, if/when possible, when guests will be arriving/around.

Be considerate—if your roommate is watching TV/listening to the radio, ask if it’s okay if you do the other—don’t just do it. If it’s okay, keep the volume down.

Roommates will agree on use of air conditioning. It should not be running when it’s cool outside and you just don’t feel like opening a window or turning on a fan.

Roommates will be considerate of the other’s schedule, re: “quiet hours.”

No having sex in your roommate’s bed. 🙂

SUGGESTIONS BY NELL

Don’t read your roommate’s diary. (I have had no less than three roomies read my diary. I should publish the thing!)

Don’t leave face mask remnants or removed fake nails lying on the end tables or TV stand.

Make sure your boyfriend doesn’t use my bath products or towels.

Compromise on TV viewing – especially if you’re not paying the bill. Don’t sigh when I watch an episode of “The Real World” or “The Daily Show” then grab the remote and force me to watch 3 hours of the French Open or a day of football.

If you say you’re going to do a chore—DO IT!!! Don’t wait for a week and then bitch about how much harder that chore has become. (ie – dishes, mowing the lawn, cleaning the bathroom.)

Don’t lend MY STUFF to YOUR friends without asking first.

Don’t slam doors when I’m in bed and expect me to be quiet as a mouse when you’re sleeping.

SUGGESTIONS BY D

When dirty dishes, including left-overs are left for more than 48 hrs, they are to be removed to the offending roommates room. If said dishes are returned to the kitchen without being washed, they may be returned to the offending roomates room, and turned upside down on the offending roommate’s bed! (We had to do the upside down thing with a roommate’s leftover french onion soup once. Gross!)

My roommate from hell.

READ ON ABOUT THE PSYCHOTIC, MENTALLY UNSTABLE, HORMONALLY IMBALANCED, DEMON BITCH FROM HELL!

WARNING: I am not exaggerating when it comes to the vulgar language.

FIGHTING OVER A FLOWERPOT? Only with Terrie. She hung this basket from the porch corner and I almost ran into it like three times so I asked if it could be moved to one of the other three hangers. She asks why and when I told her, she says “Well it was there last year and you didn’t have a problem with it then” and I said “Well, maybe not, but I do this year” and she asks what the problem is and I told her it hung too low and I kept almost hitting my head on it and she’s like “Well just move around it.” I tell her I shouldn’t have to when it could easily be moved. So then she says “Well—it doesn’t bother me” and I said “Well I’m taller and it bothers me.” She gives me this look like I’m asking for the world and then says “We’ll see” and I was like “What’s the big deal? Just move the damn plant.” Then she gave me some lame excuse about having it in that specific spot so when it rained it would get wet. I told her she could move the damn thing when it rained, I just didn’t want it there all the time. Well, about four days later she finally moved it.

FIGHTING OVER A BREADMAKER? Yep. This was a BIG one that happened when Wayne (her man) was there. We had previously talked about all the delicious breads we would like to make so I thought she’d be thrilled when I got a breadmaker for my birthday. Well, I figured the best place for it would be on this one shelf of hers— where there was plenty of room and it would be totally out of the way (because I knew she’d have a fit if it disrupted the look of the room). So I put it there and she had a total f***ing fit over it. So she starts yelling at me, and soon we’re screaming and swearing at one another. She basically told me if I wanted to put anything anywhere I’d have to f***ing buy it myself (i.e. shelves, cupboards) because she had to buy all her stuff herself. I said I hadn’t thought it would be a problem since there was plenty of room and it would be out of the way—which I knew she would like—and she went off on how it was HER space and she had no goddamn use for a bread machine anyway and what ever made me think she’d think that she’d want one at all? I told her how we had talked about it before and I thought she would be cool about it and she just rolls her eyes and was like “I never said any such thing.” Fine, so I said “Well where will you LET me put it? Let’s talk about it” and she says something like “If I had my choice it wouldn’t go anywhere—we don’t need it and there’s nowhere to put it.” I say “Well I want it and it’s going to go somewhere, so what about here?” and she rolls her eyes like How can you even suggest that? and says “Well, it doesn’t look very nice there.” I shrugged my shoulders and walked away. The next day she berated me for the whole scenario taking place in front of Wayne. I basically said Oh well, sorry, but I was pissed and I needed to talk about it right then. She didn’t care and she was pissed. Oh well.

ME BEING SARCASTIC. She basically told me that I couldn’t be sarcastic with her because she just didn’t like it and she thought I was being mean. I told her it wasn’t meant to be mean, and that I was sorry, but it was really too bad because it was part of me (my personality) and it was just a fact of life. She basically said tough shit, don’t do it around me, I don’t appreciate it.

FIGHTING OVER KLEENEX. Can I kill Terrie now?? Jesus, just when I think things are going okay with her, she does something f***ed up to piss me off. One night when I got home, I saw that she had written me a note saying it was my turn to get kleenex. Okay, fine. But there was already some in the bathroom so I didn’t think much abut it—I just knew that I had to get kleenex the next time I went to the store. I thought it was a little bizarre that the box of kleenex in the bathroom felt quite empty, but I didn’t think much about it—I thought maybe she was trying to get out of buying her box and just put the remainder of her own personal box in there. I wasn’t going to argue about it because I didn’t really care. So the next morning the note is on my trunk and I think she just wanted me to be sure to see it. Okay, fine. (Yes, I’m almost to the major point here. You just needed all the background info for the full effect of the story.) So the next day when I got home, I was looking for something else in my closet and I found two boxes of kleenex. Cool, I thought, now I don’t have to go out and buy any. Melissa (a neighbor kid who was basically my “little sis”) came over and she was doing that braided floss wrapping thing on a piece of my hair and, for whatever reason, I happened to look over on my bedside shelf—and guess what? MY F***ING KLEENEX BOX WAS GONE. Then it hit me like a brick—the tissues in the bathroom were mine—that’s why the box felt so empty. So, she obviously came into my room and took my own personal box of kleenex because, apparently, it was my turn NOW to get the kleenex and she felt she had the f***ing right to do it. Can you believe she took it upon herself to take my something out of my f***ing room? That would be like her owing me money and me seeing some on her dresser and just taking it! Well, since Melissa was there I didn’t want to confront her with it right away—besides, I was so pissed I wasn’t sure what would happen. Well, later she was watching a movie and I didn’t want to interrupt that (although, thinking back, I should have) and then I just didn’t want to deal with it the next morning. So tonight’s the night. I still can’t believe she had the f***ing nerve to do that. She slays me, she really does. And the thing that gets me is that I KNOW she THINKS she DOES have the right to do whatever the f*** she wants around there—even with my stuff! Why she has that belief is beyond me.

TERRIE AND I HAD IT OUT LAST NIGHT. And, of course, she totally turned the whole thing against me. I told her I appreciated her leaving me the note about the kleenex, but she really had no right to go into my room and take my box. To which she basically said “Well if you would remember that it’s your turn I wouldn’t have to” and then asked what the problem was. I told her the problem was that she just took it upon herself to go into my room and that was not suitable. She said she wouldn’t have had to do it had I had a box of kleenex there already. So we fought like cats and dogs for like 20 minutes. Of course she thought she was in the right to take them out of my room (since it was my turn) and maybe that would teach me a lesson. I told her it really wasn’t her place to teach me a lesson like that. She kept asking me what the big deal was (about her scamming my kleenexes) and I told her that it felt like an intrusion and she had no right to go into my space like that. I must have said something like that about six times and I still don’t think she got it. To her, she had the perfect reason to do what she did (as I told you she would). She always reverses it and blamed it all on me (as I told you she would). Then, of course, she gives me the lecture on responsibility and how I’m an adult and should be able to remember to get tissues. I told her what it really boiled down to was that I just don’t notice stuff like that. So, in the course of our argument, I told her that she was controlling and asked why she was always right and I was always wrong. She brushed that off, of course, and went right on ragging on me. I gave her this example: If you had money on your dresser and you owed me money and I just went in there and took it—you would have an absolute FIT over it. And, of course, she said she wouldn’t. (I know DAMN WELL she would.) Now I can’t wait to see what we argue about next…

I swear Terrie abuses state aid programs—and thinks she deserves it. Her attitude (which she stated to me once): F*** it, I’ve paid so many goddamn taxes I deserve to get some money back when I’m not working. But if she’s so goddamn worried about money—she could easily go out and find a job. But no, she won’t accept anything beneath her standards. State aid is a good thing for those people who really need it, but definitely NOT for someone like her—someone with a college degree who could easily work a number of jobs—but just refuses to—who seems to have enough money to buy sports equipment, whose brother was footing the rent bill because she couldn’t afford it, etc. But she thinks she’s entitled to absolutely everything. I might grant her something like the food stamps—but, you know, some things you just go without when you don’t have money—like a dermatologist’s appointment! She got a red blotch and it was like OH NO—rush to the dermatologist so my face clears up and my self-esteem doesn’t drop. Christ, get real. A dermatologist’s appointment when there are people who really need to see doctors for serious problems? I think that’s a bit self-indulgent.

She started an argument over whose bike was going to go where. She got her spot on the porch (protected from the elements under the roof and able to lock to the posts) because, in her words, that’s where she had it last year (before I moved in). We talked about different options FOR ME—but compromise on her part was NOT an option. She told me I could put my bike on the front porch, but gee, thanks, it’s in full view of a VERY busy main avenue, and with no good way to lock it, anyone happening by could steal it. So I decided to put it on the other porch (away from the street) and cover it with a tarp. (See next topic.)

Since she had 90% of the porch covered with flowers/flowerpots, they needed to be moved to put my bike there. I figured she would have an absolute FIT if I moved them (god forbid I do it wrong) so I left her a message about it. When I got home, nothing was moved and she had left me a note saying that 1) she NEVER said SHE would move the flowers, she said they COULD be moved, 2) What happened to putting my bike on the front porch? and 3) Here she said some stupid thing about if I put my bike against the house whoever said I was going to do that? I’d have to take my handlebars or pedals off because they’d be in the way of our neighbor’s flowers. Okay, like where the hell did THAT come from? It doesn’t even make any sense. But that was Terrie. So I moved the flowers and that was that.

After my boyfriend came up for the second weekend, Terrie says that if he’s going to be showering here frequently, I’m going to have to clean the shower more often because it’s getting dirtier quicker. Yeah, right—those extra two showers every other week are getting it THAT much dirtier. Give me a break. I ignored her and never did it.

She told me—in no uncertain terms and with no compromise in her voice—that my boyfriend would have to be out of the apartment before she got up in the morning (when he left Monday mornings) because she felt very uncomfortable not knowing when he might be coming downstairs and she liked to leave the door open after she showered. Fine, I could understand that, but it meant he would have to leave before 6am and I knew that would never happen, so I told her that I didn’t think that would work and how about if he wanted to come downstairs, I would come down first to make sure she was dressed (or whatever). She said we could TRY it once. (Like it’s only up to her and she’s LETTING me do this. It wasn’t at all like we were discussing it. It felt like I was a child asking to stay up late if I did the dishes.)

I knew she didn’t like the drainboard we had so I told her I would bring mine to use. She thought that was cool. Well, it turned out to be smaller than the one we had (but the pieces fit better) and WE said WE’D think about it. So two days later she tells me “I don’t think I’M going to use it—you can take it home.” Excuse me? I was just flabbergasted at how she said it: I don’t think I’m going to use it. Sorry, but last I checked there were two of us living here to make decisions. It wasn’t like she said “I don’t think we should use it because of XYZ,” but it was like she made the decision and that was that.

FIGHTING OVER CLEANING—AGAIN. About 10pm, she came up and asked when I was going to vacuum and I told her I already did. Well, she tells me, it certainly doesn’t look like it. I shrug my shoulders and tell her I did it this morning. Then she asks if I shook the rugs—and I was like HELLO? I just told you I did the floors—but she keeps on me. Then she asked if I did the stairs and I said no, and that I really didn’t think they needed to be done four times a month anyway—every other week was enough. So, she bitched about it and then said Fine, you do it now and I’ll skip my turn. I wanted to smack her. Then I asked why everything, it seemed, had to be done her way and she tells me in this annoying tone WE AGREED ON EVERYTHING AT THE BEGINNING. (I should have responded—No, you stated what was to be done and I had no choice but to agree. But of course, it didn’t come out that way.) I said something more like I agreed to your standards and she says “Yeah, we agreed.” It was a no-win situation. (She always thinks she’s right and no one is going to change her mind, regardless of the facts.) So we went around and around on other issues (one being that damn hanging flower pot again) and it just got ridiculous. So the next morning I thought, well, we’ve had a night to sleep on it and get over any harsh feelings so I’ll be nice and say good morning (which I never do anyway, except when she says it first). And I totally got the cold shoulder. The microwave door slamming shut was basically her response. Fine, I thought. F*** her, I don’t need that shit in the morning.

I “finished” cleaning (everything but the stairs) and I was going to apologize for the debacle the night before, and then I was going to get into how I still thought everything was done “her way or no way” and I was going to tell her the examples of (1) her mom always giving her more cups/mugs and they always end up hanging in the kitchen (where there isn’t a lot of room), but when I want to bring one damn appliance—my electric can opener—I get hassled about it and (2) she told me I could put some of my stuff in her cupboard and when I did, she moved it and told me there was no room (there was). So, then I fell asleep and heard her come home but I just didn’t feel like getting up quite yet. Then she was on the phone—forever. By that time I had decided f*** it, I don’t feel like I should have to be the one to apologize—so I didn’t. I went to talk to Michelle (next “apartment” neighbor), who was out planting flowers, and Terrie walks out and says a few words to Michelle, looks right by me, and leaves. Michelle asked about it, so I proceeded to tell her. She told me the Nixon’s (the landlords) don’t like her or the dog and that she doesn’t either (good—it’s not just me). Michelle told me she’s been worried about me ever since I moved in because she knows what Terrie’s like. She told me this (which sounds like everything I’ve been dealing with): Last year Terrie planted flowers in Michelle’s “area” (the flowerbeds along her part of the house)—without asking. Michelle had been planning on putting stuff there, but she figured it was nice of Terrie to do it, but as long as they were in her area, she was going to put them where she wanted—so she moved them. And guess what Terrie did? MOVED THEM BACK! So Michelle called her and said the flowers were beautiful and thanks for planting them, but as long as they were by her place, she was going to have them where she wanted them—and Terrie had a fit about it.

TAKING OUT THE GARBAGE? She was always bitching at me about the garbage—telling me it was my turn—even though she was the one who just crammed it totally full and I had just taken it out the day before. It wasn’t a big deal overall, but it’s like she was just trying to find something—anything—to bitch about.

NOVEMBER 15, 1996

AND THEN THE 3 MAJOR FIGHTS OVER 3 DAYS THAT FINALLY CAUSED ME TO MOVE OUT… (Yes, these deserve their own paragraphs.)

FIGHT #1
Terrie went total-ballistic-ape shit on me. I had been talking to Michelle (our donwstairs neighbor) on the phone and broke off with her to talk to my cousin who beeped in long-distance. Terrie came home and I told her Wayne had called and I would be another 10 minutes or so. Fine, no problem she says. She also told me her disk had a virus blah blah blah so she needed my help on her resume/cover letter. Fine, no problem. So after I finished talking to my cousin, I quick called my friend back just to touch base and finish our conversation (no longer than two minutes). So I go downstairs and ask Terrie if she wants to do her resume thing now and she says sure so I sit down and work on it—for like 10-15 minutes. Fine, no problem (although I could have cared less about helping her, since we had been getting along lately, I figured why not?). So as we’re both sitting there, we hear this weird noise, and as we come to realize it’s Michelle singing to her music, we both look up at each other, smile, and laugh. She’s reading over her resume still, so I reach over and call the neighbor (to tease her about her singing). I’m not on for more than 20 seconds when Terrie is suddenly hovering over me telling me she needs to use the phone. Over and over. Well, fine, but give me a damn minute to finish my call. So I tell Michelle I have to go, but she has to tell me this one last thing that will take a minute. No problem, right? Wrong. In the meantime, Terrie has gotten verbally abusive and is practically screaming at me: “Get off the phone. I told you to get off the phone. I told you I needed to use the phone so get off the phone. F***ing go downstairs and talk to her.” Etc. I tell her to chill a minute because I’m almost done. She continues to bitch. So I take the phone away from my ear and say “Terrie, if you’d quit bitching at me, I would have been finished with this conversation two minutes ago and this wouldn’t be a problem.”

Well, of course that means nothing to her and she continues to bitch at me, now escalating her banalities into “I can’t believe you’re so f***ing rude, I told you I needed to use the phone before and you told me you would be off in 10 minutes and then I HEARD YOU CALL MICHELLE AGAIN” and I was just staring at her in disbelief—since I had been off the phone for a few minutes because that’s when I asked if she wanted my help with her resume!! Apparently her call was THAT important, right, that she had to wait until I was on the phone to make her call?? So I finished my call and she picked it up to call Wayne and I was not about to go down without a fight. So I started in on her, saying how immature she is and it was just a damn two-minute phone call and where does she get off getting ballistic on me and she’s like “I can’t believe you just f***ing picked it up and made another call.” I tell her because it was funny—we both laughed at Michelle’s singing so I thought I would just call her to be funny and she’s like “I didn’t think it was so funny.” (Okay, so she apparently smiles and laughs when she’s pissed?) So I tell her that if HER call was so damn important she should’ve called BEFORE we sat down to do her resume thing. So then she makes it sound like it’s my fault—she says “Well you were on with your cousin and then you called Michelle back and then you came down here”—and I told her her resume could have certainly waited and she said well that was important, too. (And obviously more important than this supposed all-important phone call to Wayne that she was ripping me a new one over.) I mean, she could have even called him while I was reading over her shit—she wasn’t sitting there the whole time—only about the last five minutes. So we’re going around and around and we’re swearing at each other like you wouldn’t believe and she’s telling me how f***ing rude and inconsiderate I am. So I tell her I can’t believe her attitude—here I am helping her with her damn resume that I could care less about but that she asked for help with—and she’s ripping on me for making a two-minute phone call when she wanted to use the phone? That’s immature. So she tells me “If you don’t f***ng like it you can move the f*** out.” I kept telling her I couldn’t believe she was getting this upset over such a little thing—and she kept telling me how f***ing rude and inconsiderate I was for just blowing her off.

So I told her how rude and inconsiderate I thought SHE was—the night before when I was having a major crisis (when my boyfriend broke up with me), I told her my friend would be calling and I really really needed to talk to her. Well, her mom called (at 11:10, and my friend was calling at 11:15) and I reminded her that my friend would be calling and that it was extremely important I talk to her. She said fine. (And do I need to mention that 10 minutes earlier she was being the extremely caring roommate [about the breakup thing] and giving me a hug and talking to me about it?) So I’m sitting up in my room, a total basket-case, waiting for my friend to beep in. And when she did, what did I hear? “Angi, I’m talking to my mom, can you call back in about 10 minutes?” EXCUSE ME? So I brought that up in our fight over the phone—that that was rude and inconsiderate of her and—get this—she tells me I’m lucky she LET me talk to my friend—she didn’t HAVE to. (Isn’t that a nice roommate to have? She didn’t “have to” let me talk on our phone.) I said she wasn’t even talking about anything important and here I was devastated about my boyfriend breaking up with me—and she tells me not to change the f***ing subject, that has nothing to do with [the current fight] and I said something like “It sure as hell does—I’m supposed to bend to your every whim and demand about the phone, but when I really need to use it and call you on something rude YOU did, you pitch a fit?” Well, of course she didn’t want to hear that, so she bitches again that it has nothing to do with anything. Right, whatever. So this went on for like a good 15 minutes—totally screaming and bitching at each other. Towards the end, she tells me that she “can’t wait until I need to use the phone and she gets to repay me for this bullshit because what goes around comes around” blah blah blah. So I go upstairs and I hear her call Wayne and tell him all about our fight—all calm like it’s really no big deal and it’s all my fault, of course.

FIGHT #2
It was my weekend to clean. I took out the garbage/recyclables, shook the rugs, vacuumed, swept the floor, and cleaned the bathroom (tub, toilet, sink, and mirror)—like always. When I got home around 10 there’s a NOTE for me saying the tub is still dirty, the mirror hasn’t been cleaned, the floors haven’t been swept, and the toilet is still gross. I marched right upstairs and told her I did everything and she proceeds to tell me “No, you didn’t—and everything is still filthy.” Well, this starts another fight. She bitches that I shouldn’t try to “buffalo her” and I should just be mature about it—and I’m going to have to reclean everything. I tell her I am NOT doing that and she tells me I am. I tell her again that I’m not and that’s the end of it. She tells me if I can’t clean it right, I can’t use it (pretty logical for a bathroom, eh?). She tells me that when I moved in I agreed to clean and I said “Yes, I agreed to clean, but not to your standards.” She says “No, you agreed to clean every other week” and I told her yes I did, although I didn’t have much of a choice and she tells me I didn’t have to move in. So then she’s telling me that I have to clean the bathroom her way and if I don’t, I have to move out. Please. She threatened that she was going to raise my rent (something she obviously can’t do), kick me out (another thing she obviously can’t do), or make my life a living hell. I said “Why should you stop now, you’ve only been doing it for the last year” and she says “Oh, and I suppose you’ve made my life a joy?” and I said no, not at all. She kept referring to it as HER place because she moved in first—so I’d have to move out. (She’s so delusional it’s not funny.)

THEN she brings up the (friend/her mom) phone call again—saying again how she didn’t have to let me talk (and she almost didn’t) because she was talking first and I said “Even though I had an urgent/important call?” and she basically told me she didn’t care what she was talking about with her mother and that she didn’t care about my problems and I was just damn lucky I got to talk to my friend at all.

FIGHT #3
I moved some things around on my shelf (the one thing she LET me have in the kitchen) and when I got back Sunday, I see she has moved the stuff! Well, the one thing I didn’t care about, but the others I did, so I moved it back (some Tupperware containers). So I get home from work Monday and they’re moved again!!—so I move them back. I get home from my parents’ Monday night and she’s moved them again!!—so I move them back. I got up the following morning and SHE HAD MOVED THEM AGAIN! And this time, they’re nowhere to be found. Of course, she’s been staying in the bathroom in the morning past her allotted time, trying, I assume, to piss me off (considering the whole cleaning fight the night before), so when she gets out, I ask where she put my Tupperware because I wanted it out because I was going to try to find the missing tops and organize it and find a good place to put the set (which I had been wanting to do, that’s why it was setting out to remind me!). She tells me she put it away. I tell her it’s MY stuff and I had it on MY shelf (“that you ALLOWED me to have”)—she didn’t get the sarcasm of that statement—and that’s where it should stay and she should keep her hands off it. She tells me it looks like total crap there and she’s not about to let the rest of the house look like my room. CAN YOU BELIEVE HER? Like my room has anything to do with anything?? Besides that it’s my damn room and I should be able to keep it however I want it. So, I didn’t even have a response for her pointless and irritating comment so I just told her I wanted the Tupperware back, which it was when I got out of the shower. I believe I gave notice to my landlords that day.

AND THE ARGUING AFTER I MOVED OUT!!
The landlord and I arranged to meet Monday morning to go through the place—just so she could “make sure” everything of mine was taken care of and so Terrie couldn’t hold anything over my head, you know. So I called Terrie about 10 minutes before I was coming over—just to make sure the chain wasn’t latched. I waited for the landlord in the parking lot so we could walk in together. So I let us in and was talking to the landlord at the same time and Terrie got all defensive right away: “IS SOMEONE WITH YOU? WHO’S WITH YOU?” So I told her the landlord was here to “check me out of the apartment” and make sure everything I needed to have done was done. Fine. So right away Terrie starts bitching and “tattles” that I didn’t clean the carpet in my room and the landlord says “Terrie, we’ve already worked that out with the security deposit and you know about it.” Terrie claimed ignorance and asks how much and the landlord says “IT’S BEEN TAKEN CARE OF, Terrie.” Then Terrie turns all sweet for a moment like “Oh, okay, I was just making sure.”

So then I ask Terrie for my Tupperware and—JUST GET THIS—she says I can’t have it because I haven’t done what I was supposed to—I didn’t clean [this, that, and whatever]. “EXCUSE ME?” I say, “But what the hell does that have to do with you keeping my Tupperware? And besides that, I most certainly DID clean [this, that, and whatever].” So then she totally goes off on me about how I’m so lazy and I didn’t clean anything I agreed to clean and I’m so irresponsible and the refrigerator is still a mess and there’s no way in hell she’s going to be charged to clean it because I didn’t do my part blah blah blah blah blah blah blah. As she said to the landlord about me, “She hasn’t done anything the entire year she’s been here. I’ve cleaned the oven and she agreed to do the frig…” I said I never agreed to do any such thing upon moving out and Terrie just rolls her eyes at me and says “Oh Jennifer, you know you’re lying” or some such idiocy.

The landlord and I were just looking at her like she’s psycho so the landlord opens the frig and says “This is fine, the $15 cleaning fee in the lease is like if there’s dried syrup or crusty eggs or something major we have to clean out” so then Terrie calmed down a bit but you could tell she was still pissed because the landlord took my side (who WOULDN’T take my side?). Then the landlord noticed that part of the frig was broken (that they had tried to fix once already) and she asked Terrie about it and Terrie gets all snotty and says “ASK JENNIFER ABOUT IT—IT’S HER FAULT” and then stands there like TAKE THAT and I said “Yes, Claire, nothing is EVER Terrie’s fault—of course it’s my fault because it happened to break when the heavy stuff was on my side and not hers.” The landlord said it wasn’t a problem.

So then I tell Terrie I want my Tupperware and she says “We’ll wait to see what the landlord says” meaning if my room is “acceptable” to move out. Give me a break—she was holding my Tupperware RANSOM! Is that not one of the most childish things you’ve heard? Fine, I say, knowing full well there won’t be any problems. So I go upstairs with the landlord and by this time, Terrie had moved/condensed most of her boxes and they aren’t covering up NEARLY as much space so I show the landlord where the boxes were beforehand and tell her that’s why I didn’t vacuum the whole thing. (Bit of background: I went over the night before to clean my area and vacuum my room. But when I got to my bedroom, the ENTIRE floor was covered in HER boxes. There was about a one-foot space around the edge of the room where I could actually vacuum. So I did and that was that.) She deemed everything okay so back downstairs we go. The landlord said my room is fine, so I tell Terrie to go get my Tupperware, and off she goes in a huff. So she comes back and practically throws it at me, I give my keys to the landlord, I tell Terrie I hadn’t vacuumed the whole room because her stuff was in my way and she bitches again how god**** lazy I am and tells me I should have moved it—“it’s just empty boxes”—and I tell her I was not about to move HER god**** stuff out of my way to clean—especially when she knew I was going to be there to clean—and that she shouldn’t have had anything in there anyway since I was still paying rent and it was still my room. She says “You move, you lose” and I said, “Well, you have your stuff in there, it doesn’t get cleaned.” (The landlord is witnessing all this, mind you.) Then I told Terrie I didn’t wipe out certain cupboards, either, because her crap was now in there and she just keeps giving me the OH PLEASE, GIVE ME A BREAK look. So we are screaming and swearing at one another and I finally said “You know what Terrie? I don’t need your shit anymore. Goodbye.” And I just walked right out the door. She didn’t like that at all.

So I waited for the landlord to come out and we talked for another half hour, bitching about Terrie. Apparently the landlord had asked her about the missing rent again and all of a sudden Terrie “doesn’t have time to deal with this”—claiming she had to shower and get ready for an appointment at 11. Yeah, right, she’s wrapping Christmas presents in her robe and PJs at 10:45 but she still has to shower and get to this appointment in 15 minutes? Right. So that was the end of Terrie—THANK GOD.

COMMENTS FROM 2 COOL READERS

Jane says: I was waiting and hoping for the part where you “kicked butt.” What about the Jerry Springer show? (Subject: Roommates from Hell.) You could invite her then stuff the Tupperware up her jumper??

Terry says: OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Why aren’t you in jail? I sure as heck would have been, they would have found her hanging in that dirty shower with tupperware crammed in her nose if she were my roommate!! I can’t believe you took that for a whole year (or more). You must be easy going or something…Anyway, that was a hell of a story. I haven’t been glued to a web page like that in I dont know how long. You need to write a book on roommate etiquette or something. Jolly good story!!!!