living situation
The situation at home is not the greatest. I lived with a Japanese woman K, about 35 years old, who was unfortunately completely different to me. The owner-occupier F did not consult with me before deciding that K should be the second tenant. F was living with M, keeping it a secret from his family, and M decided to destroy F's reputation with his family when they broke up.
I remember how the relationship between me and K disintegrated. The main two incidents were: first she complained that some of my clothes were touching hers on the clothesline and her clothes might get damp! I couldn't believe I was hearing such rubbish: what did she expect in a share house situation? The second thing was she complained that a few drops of water were landing on the mat in her bathroom. Again I couldn't believe I was hearing such things but I acquiesced. What could I have done; she was being extremely neurotic but telling her that would not have accomplished anything. After that we never really talked to each other: I just tried to avoid her as much as possible.
Unfortunately a property of the townhouse is that the only air-conditioned room is the downstairs room, where she would come home after work every day and watch TV non-stop, sometimes from 5:30pm to 10:30pm. I think her record was six hours a day. Now, one of my favourite books is "Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television". I know I'm not balanced and flexible and tolerant about it. I know that myself, I should spend less time on the net and more time with my friends in real life. But it was just ridiculous. There was nothing I could do to get her to watch less. I even paid for a newspaper subscription to get the Australian six days a week in the hope she would watch less. (This was her idea, imposed on us; F didn't like her bossiness.) F also chipped in a third and didn't even read it! So the situation really became intolerable in summer. And honestly, in the long term I did not want to live with someone so boring with no friends, no interest in sport and no hobbies outside of crocheting in front of the idiot box. Anyone reading this is welcome to kill me if I ever get as boring as her. So one of us was going to leave, and it turned out to be her. Whew. But F thought it was my fault and would prefer if I left too.
The place is really nice, the location is close to the Moggill Rd (actually Walker St) bus stop, close to the shopping centre and the gym there, Coles etc. Also the street was quiet and the buses to uni and the city run along it. The downside is that F's rule is he doesn't want "parties" of any kind; no friends are to stay over; and I don't really have the option of, say, moving my digital piano there, or having a larger bed or anything like that. Also there is a psychological threshold of about $140 a week for me: I think over that limit (which this place is) and I should have an ensuite. The next place I live in, I think I do want flatmates, but they must be more like me! And it should not have stupid rules, because none of the other places I lived in had such rules. I am going to look at a place in Corinda this weekend - would prefer Indooroopilly but we will see.
posted by ahuramazda @ 14:29
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