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17855. Magoseph - 12/16/2005 4:27:57 PM That’s not really it, Ali—I absolutely do not consider what the neighbors think of us because I know what they think and it’s what they thought ever since Flexy’s father founded this development. It’s true that I abhor unecessary waste, but my problem about the lights left on day and night is that I go around turning them off before I can stop myself. Even when I manage to think, “Oh, what the hell, who cares?, I still think they shouldn’t be on, so I turn them off.
Anyway, now that thoughtful gave me some ideas about how to minimize my involvement with the darn lights, I may be able to teach myself how to ignore them.
17856. alistairConnor - 12/17/2005 12:38:49 AM Yes, you think they shouldn't be on, so you turn them off. I understand that. It's perfectly normal to abhor unnecessary waste.
What I don't understand, is why would you want to stop yourself doing that? 17857. Ms. No - 12/17/2005 12:56:05 AM I think I understand. It's all well and good to wish to turn off lights to avoid waste. It's somewhat unnerving to feel one has an obsessive behavior no matter how well-intentioned. 17858. Magoseph - 12/17/2005 7:08:50 PM That’s definitely the crux of the matter, Ms. No, and it is obvious now that we cannot change. Flexy says he’s too old to change lifetime habits about whether or not lights should be on all the time and he wants to keep his energy learning how to keep alive and well.
It’s true that I’m reluctant to teach myself that it’s not necessary to be obsessive about turning the lights off. The reason is I feel I may also change other beneficial reactions to people or things that I know helped me survive unscathed as a teen-aged newcomer here. Of course, I feel these reactions could be eventually needed to keep alive and well.
In other words, we’re two selfish people who need to follow thoughtful ’s advice: As far as the light switches, I suggest putting in compact fluorescent bulbs in places where lights are burned for long periods of time or used infrequently so in case he leaves it on, it is at least far more energy efficient. In areas where there is more frequent use, go to home depot and replace the light switch with a motion-detector light switch. This way the lights will shut themselves off after so many minutes of undetected motion. 17859. wonkers2 - 12/17/2005 8:21:01 PM There are worse kinds of obsessive-compulsive behavior than turning off lights. Take the Cap'n for example. 17860. judithathome - 12/17/2005 8:56:02 PM I have a bit of that obsessiveness about lights, too. Keoni would leave every light in the house on if it were up to him...he likes LIGHT and I blame this on his growing up in paradise.
I like my house to be light, too, but with natural light from uncurtained windows. However, in wintertime, this isn't as possible as in summer. So I turn lights off when I leave a room and, in order to have a little bit of ambience, turn on small decorative lamps in rooms where it's darkest.
It slays me when I wake up late and walk into the garden room which has no curtains and has tall windows on three sides and see Keoni sitting there watching the morning news with the overhead light on and sunlight streaming through the east wall of windows....it's overkill, to me. 17861. wonkers2 - 12/17/2005 10:45:16 PM As long as you're not continually straightening the towels on the towel rack and scrubbing the bath tub, you're okay. 17862. judithathome - 12/17/2005 10:51:35 PM Whew...I guess I'm okay, then! 17863. wonkers2 - 12/17/2005 10:55:38 PM Remember the movie "Sleeping with the Enemy?" 17864. judithathome - 12/17/2005 10:58:55 PM Yes, I do...I'm nowhere NEAR as compulsive as that guy. But I realize I could easily become that way, with practice. ;-)
Seriously, I put things away so I know where they are next time I need them. Not so Keoni...we could have gone on a tour of Europe in the time we've wasted locating his keys... 17865. wonkers2 - 12/17/2005 11:01:13 PM We have the same problem at our house--my beloved spouse puts MY things away in places that would never occur to me to look. Then I go to the hardware store and buy more of the same--tools, supplies, etc. 17866. judithathome - 12/17/2005 11:07:37 PM Heh...I' m only responsible for MY things...Keoni leaves his shoes in the den for weeks and I won't budge. I am not a maid and he's a grownup. Eventually he gets tired of looking for a certain pair of shoes and makes a sweep of the house and grabs the six or seven pair he's left in various locations and deposits them in the closet where they belong.
I will put something of his away if it's obviously cluttering up the house for when guests arrive...a leather coat draped across the dining room chair; a pile of work papers left on the buffet...getting a picture here of where he first stops off? But shoes? No way...I'll kick them to the side or under a coffee table but he has to put them away because I hate those painful looking shoe trees and refuse to stuff them in the footwear. 17867. wonkers2 - 12/18/2005 1:15:23 AM Keoni and I have a lot in common. I leave shoes all over the house and every once in a while collect them ane take them upstairs to my closet. 17868. arkymalarky - 12/18/2005 4:52:43 AM I'm the cluttery one in my house, though Bob can be too. He gets irritated at me about it sometimes, but neither of us has been very good housekeepers for the last three or four years, when his dad first got sick and I started working on rural education issues. I really would like to get back to the way we were for a while after we built the house, and I'm hoping to get a lot of housework done while I'm on Christmas break. 17869. Magoseph - 12/18/2005 7:11:08 PM From Random International:
 17870. TheWizardOfWhimsy - 12/19/2005 5:34:17 AM The Joy of Christmas Excess . . .
17871. Magoseph - 12/19/2005 1:03:38 PM It is -1°F and it will be in the teens all day. The snow is packed and solidly frozen and there are ice blocks along the road. I was gallivanting most of the weekend, but I plan to stay here the whole week—no more shopping for me.
How's everything with you?
17872. Ms. No - 12/19/2005 6:02:07 PM I won't talk about our current weather for fear of flying shoes and vegetables, but I did have a nice weekend. I spent most of it working on Christmas presents, but I did get out to parties both Friday and Saturday night.
I'll be leaving either Thursday night or sometime around the butt-crack of dawn on Friday morning to head up north for the holiday. I'm staying with a friend in Sacramento most of that time but driving down to Danville in the Bay Area for Christmas day to be with family.
17873. Ulgine Barrows - 12/20/2005 8:50:05 AM I have a dandy new job as a stock room person. Yay me! 17874. wonkers2 - 12/20/2005 1:47:17 PM Cap'n Dirty sez, "Meet you in the stock room, where they keep the mattresses."
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