Joys Of Share House Living

26 November - Tried to sleep in but couldn't, headed out to do some shopping and get some pancakes but the local place didn't open until 10. How can a place that does breakfast not open until 10am??? However, considering that I had to wait half an hour to get served at the local deli meant that I had ample time to kill until I could get my pancakes. Santa Barberas, a small grocery store/deli seems to be incredibly popular, especially amongst the Italian community near the Drive and i'm hoping that the cold meats and cheeses were worth the wait. Went into town and got my bike serviced (it rides like a dream again now, although one always has to be careful after a tuneup because the brakes are so sensisitve that you can quite easilysend yourself flying over the handlebars when you try to come to a gentle stop) and also saw the local ticker tape parade in celebration of The Grey Cup, the Canadian Football League's grand final that's on this Sunday. Lots of cheerleaders in short skirts (and tracksuits for the boys) trying to ignore the cold and lots of desperate fans in body paint pretending that it's summer. Also saw Anne Rice, writer of several great Vampire books and a whole heap of awful ones, having a book signing in town. I didn't feel it necessary to buy her latest nor hang around to get her to sign it. Not a super-eventful night, was planning on going out with some friends but best laid plans often fall through and ended up watching Conan The Destroyer with a couple of housemates. Also had a run-in with one of the guys over the issue of washing up the dishes. Now, he thinks everyone should wash up their own stuff every night without fail and (for the most part) he does this. I am of the opinion that a plate or a cup or two can survive in the sink for more than 24 hours. It's not as if there's leftover food growing penicillin or any other examples of evolution in action. So, I occasionally let a few plates stay there overnight and when I go to wash it I wash EVERYTHING in the sink because it seems to me a pretty f**king stupid and inconsiderate thing to spend 5m just washing my stuff when it could take 7m to wash up everything that's in there. But, apparently this is something that has been bothering him and he's spoken to others in the house and he feels it's become a concern. I told him what I thought and he got a bit narcy (and then bitched to a couple of other flatmates afterwards who were evenly split in his and my favour). I'm all for keeping the peace in the household and when you've got six people living under the same roof (only five at the moment) you’re going to get a couple of neurotics and usually its best to just avoid minor conflicts before they can become major hassles. It's been eight years since i've properly done share house living and i'm a bit rusty on the protocols - one or even two flatmates is a far cry from four or five - I think i''ll have to brush up on my John bimingham for some advice. Then again, I could be lucky and I might wake up and he might have died overnight with a felafal in his hand.
Disclaimer: I have no wish to wake up to a dead flatmate with any kind of Middle Eastern food whatsoever in his hand. If this happens it will be a complete coincidence.