Playing the game

I've just returned from a reconnaissance mission from the lounge. In response to the notes left on the air con I've added my own post-it in the hopes of reducing our power bill and lessening our impact on the environment (and all that jazz). To the tv I have attached a bright yellow post-it saying:

Hey guys! I know we're all trying to keep the power bill down, so in the interests of saving energy make sure you turn the tv off when you leave the room!
<3 The TV

It's a blatant sarcastic note in response to her own and may seem petty BUT if she's going to start leaving notes about how she thinks things should be run, I'm going to play that same game. I haven't made any unreasonable demands with the note; it's merely saying that you should turn the tv off when nobody is in the room. A power strike for Claire in the war against marginalisation!

On the way back to my room I passed TLR's open door. She was at work and yet the pedestal fan in her room was on, all the lights were on...To me it just further brought to light her hypocrisy. She's trying to keep the power bill down yet will leave all her appliances on in her room to run when she's not in the house. I ducked in and switched them off but upon leaving considered popping bright yellow post its on her appliances. Something along these lines:

Of course, I'm not a sociopath and I'm not trying to exacerbate the situation so I didn't actually post these...but oh how I wish to be able to do things like that without regret or worry!

~C~

Trying to keep my cool

Our house has had air conditioning for a few years now but because we've just moved in nobody really knows how it works. The first month we had it, we went overboard and ended up with a humongous power bill! Since then it's been used on the basis of "if it's hot enough, whack it on for a couple hours".

However, recently TLR has decided (I'm not entirely sure if this is with the sanction of other roommates, but she certainly hasn't approached me about it) that we should keep it on in the lounge room so one room will always be cool. This idea has merit, I suppose, if any of us actually spent time in the lounge. At the moment, she's the only one that frequents that space (because that's where the tv is). Everyone else prefers hanging out in their own rooms where the internet is!

Anyway, it was particularly hot today so when I got home from university (and was the only one home) I decided to put the air conditioning on in my room (and turn it off in the lounge so as not to use excessive power) to cool down after walking 20 minutes home from the bus stop in the raging heat. When TLR arrived home I suggested going grocery shopping. I'm trying to suggest a whole bunch of things we can all do together, and inviting her shopping will, hopefully, mean that when she goes shopping she'll extend the same courtesy. But moving right along from that! I suggested going grocery shopping and as we both collected our things and made to leave the house I went to switch off the air con (there was nobody else home at this point). While doing so, she stopped me...

TLR: Why are you turning the air con off?
Me: Well, there's nobody else home so it's a waste of power to keep it on...
TLR: You should leave it on! That way, when the others get home it'll be nice and cool.
Me: But they're not going to be home for at least another hour?
TLR: Yeah, but the house will get all warm again if we turn it off! Just leave it on in this room.
Me (begrudgingly giving up on this skewed logic of hers): fine...

Later that afternoon I wandered out into the lounge on my way to the toilet and noticed several bright yellow labels stuck to the controls for the air con. They read as follows:

"Hi guys! I know how hot it's been and what has been working really well for everyone as a house whole is leaving the lounge room on and sometimes the kitchen. This provides a large room that is always cool for everyone and not just individuals! In order for this to work can you please leave the lounge on at all times and to not be selfish and put your own room on.
However, at night once everyone goes to bed you can put individual rooms on in order to sleep! So everyone please, don't be selfish and immature when it comes to the air con. And together we can keep our powerbill low and stay cool at the same time!
<3 The House"

Wow...well to make a list, these are the problems I have with the note!

what has been working really well for everyone
What? Really?? I doubt very much that she talked to anyone else about this schedule and considering I've complained about it several times it's obviously not working well for everyone.

leave the loungeroom on at all times
All times? I thought this was about saving power, not needlessly wasting it to keep the house at 20C when there's nobody home.

[don't] be selfish and put your own room on
You've gotta be shitting me. I'm thinking that this is a direct jab at me because I had my room on this afternoon. OH NO HOW SELFISH OF ME! Instead of leaving the air con on in the opposite end of the house to my room I turned it off and actually used the power to achieve something; cooling me down, not keeping the tv at perfect room temperature! How scandalous. I must stop being so selfish and "immature" in the future.

put individual rooms on in order to sleep
Seriously? Once you're asleep you don't need to keep the air cool. You're asleep. Unless it gets deathly hot, you won't even notice until morning. The last month I've been sleeping on top of my bed without blankets on and right next to the window so the breeze comes through. All the while she's been popping on the air con to keep herself cool and increase the size of our power bill in the process. A power bill which all of us are paying for.


<3 House
Really all this does is show that she doesn't have the balls to say that this letter is from her. This way it sounds that the household itself has agreed to the guidelines she's laid out in this little note. I've got half a mind to confront her and ask when all this was decided on.

We all pay the same rent and yet it seems like she gets more of a say in how the household is run. I'm not saying the others haven't had a say (they might have while I was away), but to me it feels like anything I say is instantly cast aside for the way she thinks things should be.

*sigh*


~C~

She strikes again!

My gosh, two posts in as many minutes!

I've just been out in the lounge watching tv with everyone and TLR decides she wants to play cards. So she asks everyone...oh wait...not everyone. Guess which little person was denied an invitation to the game? Luckily there was a knock on the front door and I escaped to open it before my temper got the better of me (although not without a little stomping, I might add...have I mentioned before how mature I am?).

At the door were 2 friends of everyone in the house carrying sixpacks of beer.

Me: Hey! Come in.
Friend: Hey C, are you excited for the party tonight?
Me: Um...I haven't been invited?
Friend: You didn't get invited to the tav?
Me: (getting a little angry now) No, apparently I don't get invited to anything in this house. Nobody has even mentioned it to me until now.
Friend: Oh...

Well, there you have it. Either there's something fundamentally unlikeable about me, I'm just not "cool" enough to warrant an invitation to the pub or I'm plain forgotten. Either way I'm annoyed and unfortunately for you, reader, this is my dedicated whinge spot.

Excluded

Today, after returning from a week long visit to the parents house I came home. Unfortunately it seems that very little has changed in my absence re: the dishes. But let bygones be bygones! I thought it'd be nice to have a little list of my roommates here (considering there are 6 of us!). In order to keep the anonymity I haven't used any real names.

The Lazy Roommate (TLR): Previously my best friend from university. I say previously because she attempted to befriend someone else last year and, in the process, began to completely shut me out hurting my feelings and inevitably leading me to completely ignore her (mature, I know). However, she failed to see that anything she'd done was wrong and that I was just being weird because of something else. So far, I'm not even sure if she considers me her best friend any more. I suppose you could say I've had that whole glass shattering of the illusion when it comes to her. She's a very fundamentally selfish person and relies on having a large group of friends to make her feel good about herself. I'm just not sure if I can be best mates with someone like that (however rude of me that may seem). Regardless, I try to stay on the bright side of things but I feel I'm always been let down by her behaviour.

The Fitness Freak (FF): is just that! A fitness nut who wakes up at 5.30 every morning in order to go for a run. She also loves to go clubbing at least twice a week and has a financial accountant as a boyfriend who spend just about every waking minute (and every night) at our house. I don't really mind this; he's a really nice guy, very easy to get along with!

Daniel: He is without a doubt one of the nicest people I have ever met. He'll politely ask if you need any washing thrown in for a load, send you flowers on your birthday...I'm only scraping the surface here because I can't think of a good example! Plain and simple, this guy will bend over backwards simply to make other people smile (I mean that in a strictly non-sexual sense, no matter how dirty the sentence sounds!). That said, this can be a downside as he's completely non-confrontational and TLR usually abuses his giving nature to make her life a little easier.

Spike: Somewhat of a recluse. Very shy, very odd sense of humour...he often doesn't get the jokes you make (or even worse thinks you're being serious when you say "Damn I'm cold" and it's 35C outside or make any sort of blatantly sarcastic comment). He's such a lovable fool though...and I mean that in the best sense of the word "fool".

 Leah: Headstrong and independent. Leah is not one to sit back and take any shit from anybody! She's brutally honest, which can be both a positive and negative thing. Positive because it gets any issues out in the open so they can be dealt with. Negative because sometimes her being blunt exacerbates the situation.


And onto today's escapades!
Anywho, towards the late morning TLR and the fitness freak left the house. Now, I'll briefly mention how those things usually work. My room is quite close to the front door and in order to get out of the house you have to walk past my (usually) open door. It's been a common courtesy of everyone to say "bye" or "I'm going _____, see you later" as you leave the house. Although so far, this hasn't been what TLR does. She just walks out without a word behind her.

Today was no different. The two walked out without a word returning around 4.30 in the afternoon with a myriad of shopping bags behind them. This left me a little hurt...for one, I wasn't invited or even considered to join them. The fact that I've been away for a week meant that I've been keen to spend time with my roommates and to be so blatantly ignored (intentionally or otherwise) was quite hurtful. I confronted TLR when they got home:
Me: Hey, how come I wasn't invited along?
TLR: Er...we planned it on Wednesday but didn't end up going then so we went today!

I'm not sure if she thought that I said something else, but I'm fairly certain it was quite audible. Although "we planned it earlier" is without a doubt the most pathetic excuse I've heard for a while....I mean even I can think up better things than that. Even a "Sorry! Totally forgot you were even home!" would've been better. Yet here I sit, without an apology and feeling excluded by the very people I live with. Currently I'm tossing up whether or not to confront them about it. Nothing mean (although believe me, petty behaviour has crept into my mind as a possibility!) just explaining something along the lines of:

"Hey, I just wanted to say that I felt quite left out today when you didn't think to invite me shopping. Whether it was just that you didn't think of me or, God forbid, didn't want me along I just wanted to let you know that it made me feel quite excluded..."

Man, typing that out now it just sounds so...guilt-trippy. Although I suppose that's what I'm after; the actual recognition of someone else's feelings by TLR.

My one regret is bringing in her washing today and folding it all neatly for her. A thankless task which has gone all but unnoticed. I suppose the laundry fairies are hard at work again!

*~C~*