I meet and kill about 3 spiders daily. There have, inexplicably, been BEES in here lately.
The cell phone reception is dismal at best, even when I’m not in my basement room.
My stairs lead into the kitchen–and they basically funnel any noise directly into my room. When people are up there it sounds like they’re actually IN my room, moving furniture, cooking, walking around, clanging pots and pans, and talking about how I flooded the bathroom when I took a shower and how inconsiderate that makes me.
The dust in my room accumulates at an alarming pace. One day after I’ve swept, I have an entire army of dust bunnies gathering under my bed.
My housemates have decided that I’m not locking my door to the outside with enough consistency, so they’ve taken to OPENING MY DOOR FROM THE OUTSIDE to see if I’ve locked it, then calling out “Melissa? Can you please renember to lock this door?”
A note about that complaint: This has been an issue since the beginning of the year. Any rented basement space needs a door to the outside to pass inspection. I never use this door except to let Matt in. He always forgets to lock the door behind him, and frankly I don’t care. My housemates believe, understandably, that keeping that door unlocked is basically inviting intruders to walk right into the house. A valid concern. However. I AM LEAVING TOMORROW. MY HOUSEMATE DID THIS 1 HOUR AGO. I have been constantly opening and closing this door to pack my car up. Give. Me. A. Freaking. BREAK.
Also, excuse me, but this is my room and that’s my door. From my perspective, it’s not really their door to just open and close at will. I rent this space and I should be able to leave the door unlocked while I’m here. I always lock it when I leave, so I don’t see why I’m being chastised for this.
OKAY FROM ONE COMPLAINT TO THE NEXT.
Having your room directly connected to a noisy common area is total crap. If I need to go to the bathroom or check my laundry and someone’s up there, I basically feel trapped. I have to either go upstairs and be coralled into social hour, or stay down here until I hear everyone leave. Ever try to go to sleep early when two people are upstairs having a conversation about what happened last weekend at the disco club? It’s too late to invest in earplugs now.
My room is directly under housemate D’s room and she likes to have phone conversations with her mom and/or best friend that last well into the wee small hours of the morning.
Personalities are finally starting to clash after months of playing nice. Lately I’ve entertained fantasies of giving housemate J the verbal lashing she deserves. I’m sure everyone’s starting to get annoyed with me, too.
Which is why it’s just as well that I’m moving back home tomorrow. I thought it would be bittersweet, but given the litany of grievances I just doled out, I think we all know that’s not the case.
Sigh. When did I become a crotchety old lady?
Must be the diploma.