Being a roommate is hard. Follow these rules and hopefully you won't have as hard of a time being a good roommate. Also, make them follow these rules too. We're on our way to a happier place.
1. If you didn't buy it, don't use it. Period. If you request permission and you are granted it, then you can use it. But that permission doesn't apply to the rest of your life. Unless it is specifically stated that you can feel free to use or borrow or eat ____ whenever you want without needing to ask then DON'T. This applies especially to things like tampons. Also noteworthy: shampoo/conditioner, shoes, food, and cars.
2. Don't go through your roommate's things. Unless you have specific permission. And treat that permission as a one-time allowance. If you wear your roommate's shoes once, ask before wearing them again. Or if you drive your roommate's car once, ask before driving it again. And for heaven's sake, don't sneak around about it. If your roommate wanted you to see something or be privy to the details of what is in the bathroom drawer, your roommate wouldn't bother putting things in a drawer. Keep out.
3. For goodness sake, do your own dishes. And take out the trash once in awhile. If you have lived with the same people for more than two months and never taken out the garbage and/or emptied the dishwasher, you need to reevaluate. And when you do the dishes do them the right way. I can't figure out how grown women, in college, don't have this whole washing dishes thing down. They shouldn't have been allowed to leave the house. Your dishes shouldn't be greasy or have things stuck to them when you're done. It can be so simple. There are probably youtube videos showing a step by step process of how to correctly clean your dishes. Use the skill. Clean your own bleeping dishes. And treat others' dishes kindly. Don't use metal on metal or nonstick pans/pots.
4. Pitch in. Clean the bathroom once a month. Deep clean the kitchen twice a month. Vacuum every other week. If all roommates followed this code, the apartments and homes across college campuses everywhere would sing in gladness and glisten with cleanliness.
5. Don't be greedy. I understand if you get upset that your roommate only bought a 22 pack of toilet paper and you bought a 24 pack... But how much difference will that really make? On the flip side, if you are sharing an item with a roommate, treat it how you want them to treat it. Once I bought a jar of salsa and put it on two tacos, next time I reached for it it had been entirely used by my roommate. Now, admittedly, I just didn't use the salsa as often as my roommate. But also, I bought a jar of salsa and only got two spoonfuls. If there is something that you know you will devour quickly, don't offer to split it with someone. Be kind, be generous, someday you'll want someone to be kind back to you. Save up those karma points for when they really matter.
6. Do things with your roommates. I've never been a fan of the idea of roommate dates/nights/dinners/counsels/sweat lodges. But your roommates can be some great support. So invite them to go shopping with you or hang out one night at home. Don't be afraid to make the livingroom the common space and invite your roommates to study out there with you. Make them your friends.
7. Don't be passive aggressive. Ever. Treat your roommates like you want to be treated. If you get upset with something, talk it out before it blows up. If you are having a bad week and PMS-ing and then realize that your roommates used all of your tampons without permission and didn't tell you or replace them- keep in mind that you are prone to act out and then discuss it calmly. If you know that something in your house doesn't work, a lock for example, don't use it. Because then your roommate will be stuck outside calling you so he/she can get in and sleep. Don't try to get back at your roommates. And don't prank the people you live with, because eventually someone will get butthurt about it. And never write a blogpost with specific examples from your life on how to be a better roommate. We all have something to work on.
I love my roommates. I've been lucky this year.
But I can't wait to live on my own.
Can't.Wait.
Chanda C.
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Sunday, June 3, 2012
Lovely summer in Tucson, AZ
Well, the first month of summer is about over!
I have been working at the SALT Center on campus about 20 hours/week. I am supposed to be working with Mad Science too, but I haven't heard from my boss in a really long time. That is beginning to concern me.
I took my car in to get an oil change and was informed that I had several repairs needing to be done. The estimated cost of said repairs add up to over $2000. Ugh. That is as much as I paid for the car when I bought it so I got to thinking and decided that I may just buy a new car. But actually a newer car. One that I'll have to make payments on like an adult. And take good care of. One that is younger than me. And that has less than 125,000 miles on it. It's a pretty scary thought, but I'm really considering it. I'll need a car forever, right? And if we add up all of the money I have spent on cars in the past two years then I will get pretty depressed because it has been far too much and I have far too little to show for it.
Considering I only have one job right now (that I am anxiously engaged in, anyway) I decided that to buy a car I need to find a second (third?) source of income. So I applied for a third (second?) job. I applied at a movie theater here, and also at Blockbuster. I figure I can close up SALT everyday and then close up a movie theater/Blockbuster and get some extra hours in. And then next semester I can maybe keep the second/third job and quit Mad Science. I LOVE LOVE LOVE my job with Mad Science, but if I am going to be making car payments, I'm going to need a solid (and guaranteed) source of income. And unfortunately, Mad Science doesn't provide that. But we'll see if I even get a call back for either of the applied-for jobs. Who knows?
I went to Lakeside for my cousin Evan's graduation from Blue Ridge! I got to see a lot of my family AND my dad made me pancakes and I got tacos from Los Amigos and I got breadsticks from Pizza Factory. Mmm. It was a good trip. I rode with my Aunt Tammy and her four kids (including the brand new baby Elden). No one threw up (a miracle!) and we only had to stop twice each way for the baby. Success!
Yesterday, Roland and I went to his mom and stepdad's house to pick up a package. While we were there they fed us some delicious hamburgers and we played table tennis (on their kitchen table). I really enjoy spending time with his family. They're a crack up. His mom has a lot of Mickey Mouse objects. Seriously, a lot. And what I like most about her stuff is that it is very thorough. Its not like she has hundreds of keychains, she just has Mickey stuff. I'll name some of the neater pieces of her collection (in my opinion):
1. Thomas Kinkade Disney 50th Anniversary painting
2. Mickey in the grass (a cut out of Mickey's head in her grass)
3. Mickey head faucet turner on the hose thing
4. 100+ watches (all Mickey)
5. Customized STYX Mickey ears
6. Disneyland knocker
7. Haunted Mansion hitchhiking ghost statues
8. Large Mickey statues
9. Mickey china, everyday Mickey dishes, Mickey silverware, Mickey cookie jar, Mickey colander , all things Mickey in her kitchen really.
10. Mickey Mouse wedding ring
You get the idea, her house is a cesspool of Mickey Mouse. And I love it. Also they have a lot of Pez dispensers and some pinball machines (only one is on display though). What's NOT to love?
Roland and I also went and saw Battleship yesterday. It was a very entertaining movie. I had a good time watching it. Sure, it was pretty ridiculous, but it was still fun to watch. I love action movies. I can hardly wait for The Amazing Spider-Man to come out.
I was released from my calling today. I am pretty pleased about that. I was having a hard time with being in charge of FHE. I'll probably get called back to it because I still have so much to learn. But for now, I'm free of that responsibility (we disbanded group FHE for summer because our ward is so tiny). Hopefully I'll be getting another calling soon :)
I may be going to Mesa this week to go see Bryce Addison and go to the chiropractor (I've been getting terrible migraine headaches that I think are because my back is a little messed up, it is really tight and I can't seem to loosen it) and go to the credit union and chat with them about how to improve my credit so I can get a car in three or four months. That'll be nice if it happens, I'm a little afraid of driving my car all the way there and also I don't really want to spend the money in gas, but it will probably be worth it in the end. Roland and I are volunteering at the Community Food Bank on Wednesday, I am looking forward to that.
Those are the most recent occurrences in my life. I'll keep you updated.
Chanda C.
I have been working at the SALT Center on campus about 20 hours/week. I am supposed to be working with Mad Science too, but I haven't heard from my boss in a really long time. That is beginning to concern me.
I took my car in to get an oil change and was informed that I had several repairs needing to be done. The estimated cost of said repairs add up to over $2000. Ugh. That is as much as I paid for the car when I bought it so I got to thinking and decided that I may just buy a new car. But actually a newer car. One that I'll have to make payments on like an adult. And take good care of. One that is younger than me. And that has less than 125,000 miles on it. It's a pretty scary thought, but I'm really considering it. I'll need a car forever, right? And if we add up all of the money I have spent on cars in the past two years then I will get pretty depressed because it has been far too much and I have far too little to show for it.
Considering I only have one job right now (that I am anxiously engaged in, anyway) I decided that to buy a car I need to find a second (third?) source of income. So I applied for a third (second?) job. I applied at a movie theater here, and also at Blockbuster. I figure I can close up SALT everyday and then close up a movie theater/Blockbuster and get some extra hours in. And then next semester I can maybe keep the second/third job and quit Mad Science. I LOVE LOVE LOVE my job with Mad Science, but if I am going to be making car payments, I'm going to need a solid (and guaranteed) source of income. And unfortunately, Mad Science doesn't provide that. But we'll see if I even get a call back for either of the applied-for jobs. Who knows?
I went to Lakeside for my cousin Evan's graduation from Blue Ridge! I got to see a lot of my family AND my dad made me pancakes and I got tacos from Los Amigos and I got breadsticks from Pizza Factory. Mmm. It was a good trip. I rode with my Aunt Tammy and her four kids (including the brand new baby Elden). No one threw up (a miracle!) and we only had to stop twice each way for the baby. Success!
Yesterday, Roland and I went to his mom and stepdad's house to pick up a package. While we were there they fed us some delicious hamburgers and we played table tennis (on their kitchen table). I really enjoy spending time with his family. They're a crack up. His mom has a lot of Mickey Mouse objects. Seriously, a lot. And what I like most about her stuff is that it is very thorough. Its not like she has hundreds of keychains, she just has Mickey stuff. I'll name some of the neater pieces of her collection (in my opinion):
1. Thomas Kinkade Disney 50th Anniversary painting
2. Mickey in the grass (a cut out of Mickey's head in her grass)
3. Mickey head faucet turner on the hose thing
4. 100+ watches (all Mickey)
5. Customized STYX Mickey ears
6. Disneyland knocker
7. Haunted Mansion hitchhiking ghost statues
8. Large Mickey statues
9. Mickey china, everyday Mickey dishes, Mickey silverware, Mickey cookie jar, Mickey colander , all things Mickey in her kitchen really.
10. Mickey Mouse wedding ring
You get the idea, her house is a cesspool of Mickey Mouse. And I love it. Also they have a lot of Pez dispensers and some pinball machines (only one is on display though). What's NOT to love?
Roland and I also went and saw Battleship yesterday. It was a very entertaining movie. I had a good time watching it. Sure, it was pretty ridiculous, but it was still fun to watch. I love action movies. I can hardly wait for The Amazing Spider-Man to come out.
I was released from my calling today. I am pretty pleased about that. I was having a hard time with being in charge of FHE. I'll probably get called back to it because I still have so much to learn. But for now, I'm free of that responsibility (we disbanded group FHE for summer because our ward is so tiny). Hopefully I'll be getting another calling soon :)
I may be going to Mesa this week to go see Bryce Addison and go to the chiropractor (I've been getting terrible migraine headaches that I think are because my back is a little messed up, it is really tight and I can't seem to loosen it) and go to the credit union and chat with them about how to improve my credit so I can get a car in three or four months. That'll be nice if it happens, I'm a little afraid of driving my car all the way there and also I don't really want to spend the money in gas, but it will probably be worth it in the end. Roland and I are volunteering at the Community Food Bank on Wednesday, I am looking forward to that.
Those are the most recent occurrences in my life. I'll keep you updated.
Chanda C.
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