Well I had an interesting weekend!

Dad rocked up late on Friday night so we chatted for a bit before disappearing off to our beds.

Saturday we came into Lismore, collected some stuff from the Tender Centre and had breakfast.  We then spent a bit of time doing some odd jobs around the house and relaxing before draining the last of the petrol out of my housemate’s car and then installing half the roof in the ensuite.

Dad left early on Sunday morning to fly back to Melbourne.  Later on Sunday, one of my housemates turned up and let me know that they were moving out.  I’d kinda guessed this.  So while he packed some of their stuff I mowed the lawn and then being completely exhausted and dehydrated I collapsed on the couch.

For the coming week I’m planning on cleaning the house a bit more; the electrician is due tomorrow (Tuesday) to get some of the stuff done in the ensuite and robe area and then I’ll try and get soem more of the renovations done later in the week.

I think the current generation of late teens/early 20s has lost any understanding of respect and are too self-centred.

I’m sure I’ve hinted at this before; but this morning it was highlighted to me, and it got me thinking.

The case in point is that of my housemates.

When the mousemates moved into my house the deal was that they would cook and do the garden.  To date living at my house has effectively saved them $2,000; it has cost me money in increased electricity bills (they have the tv on all day, fail to turn off lights for days on end and are fond of running the airconditioner with the doors open), damage to property (cigarette burns in a couch, stains on another couch, damage to a water pump and jobs that have only been done by half and will require me to spend money to fix or complete the job).  To date they have not paid me any of the money they owe me for their fridge or washing machine (excluding the first payment shortly after purchasing the whitegoods) at the start of last year.  Additionally I have had to help them with moving stuff and collecting a drowned car from by a creek.  When the housemates decided to get a dog they asked about getting a specific dog that was small, I agreed to this but they did not end up getting that dog; instead they got Leylah, a border collie and as such a much larger dog.  I’m sure there are other things, but they obviously aren’t important enough to remember.

As I mentioned in a previous post my car window has also been left open, the first time resulted in oen housemate being banned from the car for a short period of time, the second occasion resulted in a more permanent ban.  These bans would have been avoided if said housemate has apologised for leaving the window open or had asked if any damage had been caused.  No damage was caused, but the lack of concern for my property is what annoys me.

Last night the issue was raised when the housemate who is banned from the car asked for a lift into town.  I told her I would not take her into town and that I was going to take my motorbike, I also reminded her that she was banned from the car.  Her response was “that’s just stupid”; I disagree, what is stupid is her lack of ability to think and her lack of respect and concern for other people and their property.

This morning when I got up this housemate was ready to go into town and asked for a lift again, once again I told said housemate that I was taking the bike, the ute costs a lot more to run and that there was a ban on the use for the car.  My housemate then tried offering to put $20 of fuel in the ute (it costs around $20 in fuel for the return trip, plus wear and tear on the car bringing the total cost of the trip to around $40), once again I reminded my housemate that they were banned from the car.  At this point my hosuemate started crying because “I can’t deal with spending another day in the house”.  A comment was made “well we’ll just have to move out then” as my housemate stormed off.  As if moving out is a threat to me; if they move out I’ll have to do the garden myself (it will most likely get done quicker without them anyway) and I will have to cook for myself; in return is will save several hundred dollars every quarter in power, I will have less stress about what they have done wrong or broken, I wont have to put up with a large dog running around the house and making a mess and I will have a house that once cleaned will stay clean for a long period of time.

If these housemates showed some respect, cleaned up after themselves, had some pride in the residence in which they live and stopped expecting everyone to do what they want, then their life would be a lot easier and people might be willing to help them.  If they do move out I am tempted to tell them the washing machine and fridge both stay as they have not been paid for; perhaps that will help teach them to pay their debts and to treat peoples property with respect.

What sort of an excuse is “I fucked up!”? Especially when the person using this excuse regularly fails to think or plan, so 99% of the time the fault is that he fucked up?

Why should I have to be put out because someone else fucked up?

Should I just accept it and move on, or should I take the issue up with the person using this excuse and say it isn’t good enough? If I say it isn’t good enough what action can I take to ensure it doesn’t happen again? Should I just stop helping this person out entirely?

All questions that I wish I had answers for!

So, I got home expecting to find the place still in a mess and having to go off at the housemates, but I got a pleasant surprise!  The laundry floor didn’t have clothes on it, neither did the bathroom floor, even the kitchen looks like it’s had a minor effort made in it (the bits of the bench that I could see have been cleaned).

So, basically I’m assuming my Facebook status of “Michael is somewhat annoyed with people who fail to show any respect for a person or their property!” was interpreted by my housemates as being about them.  I have banned one of them from the car, her response was “Oh, okay”, I didn’t really expect an apology, would have been nice if I got one though.

I elected not to go off at them tonight about the lack of cleanliness in the house.  I’ll see if they keep cleaning the house after today, and go off if they seem to stop.

My hope is that buy Friday when I get home from work the shared areas of the house will be clean; early next week I would like to see the storage room neatened up as when they moved in their boxes were just chucked on top of mine.  Once those things are done the challenge will be to keep the house that way.

Well this morning “the straw that broke the camel’s back” event happened.

Those I’ve chatted to online will no doubt have had to put up with me venting about my housemates who seem incapable of thinking and who fail to do anything overly useful.  Well I’ve given up on being nice, apparently it just doesn’t work on these people.

The event that has caused me to crack the shits was that one of them left my ute window open over night and as such I got a wet-ass on the way to work.  Thankfully we didn’t get any really heavy rain as I’m sure they would object to me demanding $300 to get the seat covers removed to allow the seat to dry properly.

Anyway, when I get home the law will be getting laid down (unless they happen to read this and realise they fucked up and do something about it).

Here’s a quick outline of what is going to be said: housemate who left the window down will be banned from the car, said housemate has been banned from the car for a couple of weeks in the past for this same offence, this is a permanent ban.  Additionally, both housemates will be told to keep the common areas of the house clean (common areas include the living room, kitchen, bathroom, laundry and outdoor entertaining area).  I will allow until Friday afternoon (upon my return home from work) for this to be completed or they will be given notice to vacate the premises.  Upon completion of the cleaning, the house will be kept in a reasonable state and any mess that is made will be cleaned in a reasonable time-frame (within a couple of hours) or notice to vacate will be issued.

Additionally, when the housemates moved in during November the deal was that they would stay until the end of February and they would have the garden completed in that time.  I am aware that the backyard could not be worked on as I have been trying to organise the installation of the waste-water system, but in the time they said they would complete the entire garden they have barely done any work on the front garden.  If I value their rent at $125 per week (they do not pay rent as they should be working on the garden), I have paid approximately $1750 to get a tea hedge planted, the lawn mown a couple of times and minimal work done on the front garden.  Due to the lack of work, I will be requiring them to complete the front garden within 2 weeks.

Housemates, if you read this, pull your finger out and do some work when I’m not at home.  I’m not your fucking father, and I don’t expect to have to treat you like children to keep my house in a reasonable state of cleanliness; additionally, I don’t expect to have to harrass you about doing a few hours work every week to cover your rent.  If you can’t keep the place clean, or if you have no intention of completing the work in the garden, I suggest you find yourself somewhere new to live and you go about it fairly quickly.

I’m heading up to Brisbane in the next hour or so to have a coffee with a friend.  She has told me she’s going to get her cousin to give me a haircut and get rid of my beard.

I’ll make sure there are some before and after shots, but this could be an interesting day!

We few of us went to the Bellowing Bull in Wollongbar for dinner tonight.  The Lamb Shanks are amazing, somehow I managed to eat an entire serve (and have dessert)!  If you’re in the area it’s definitely worth the night out.

My neighbor Steph has just come over and asked me for some driving lessons.  Being the sucker I am, of course I said yes.

Steph is going to drive me to Kyogle on Saturday when I go looking at the house and we’re contemplating a trip to the Gold Coast on the weekend just to get her city driving experience up.