Dishwasher

When apartment/house-hunting, I had my own certain requirements that my new place had to have. Among these: at least 2 bedrooms, at least 1 and 1/2 baths, hardwood floors, a good location, and a dishwasher. To my boyfriend's dismay, I actually ranked having a dishwasher higher than a washer/dryer (just slightly, but higher nonetheless). Luckily, all of the places in our price range that we looked at DID have a dishwasher, so no argument there.

But again, I digress...

While having a dishwasher seems to also rank high in Stephanie's list of requirements, I'm not quite sure she knows how to use one yet.

I like to stock up on certain things whenever they are on sale (for example...toilet paper, paper towels, dish soap, etc.). The local grocery store had advertised dishwasher tablets as buy 1 get 1 free...so of course I had to indulge and get two boxes. The tablets didn't seem to QUITE fit in with the dishwasher...but they seemed to work fine once you just forced them in there.

I was usually the one in charge of running and emptying the dishwasher (side note: Stephanie and I seemed to have an unspoken agreement in that I was in charge of emptying the dishwasher and she was in charge of taking out the trash, as I did not mind the dishwasher chore, and she seemed to enjoy emptying the trash each day). But every once in awhile, I would notice that the dishwasher had been run, but the dishes didn't appear to be clean. Upon further inspection, it seemed that the dishwasher tablet was usually somewhere in the dishwasher, but still in its protective wrapping. When I would see this, I would run the dishwasher again, this time taking the tablet OUT of the plastic. This seemed to make the soap much more effective.

I never brought this up with Stephanie, but one day she decided to ask me about it.

Stephanie: "I don't think the dishwasher is working very well."

Me: "Oh?"

Stephanie: "Well, it just seems that the water isn't getting hot enough."

Me: "Oh. Well, I don't really have a way to check that. But it seems pretty hot, because whenever I take the dishes out of the dishwasher, they are super-hot."

Stephanie: "Maybe. But the water isn't even hot enough to melt the plastic that the dishwasher tablets come it."

Me: "Um...what?"

Stephanie: "Yeah. Sometimes I put a tab in, and run the dishwasher, and the tab is still in its plastic when it's finished running."

Me: "Um...I'm pretty sure that you're supposed to take it OUT of it's plastic before you put it in."

Stephanie: "Are you sure? They should probably put that on the label or something."

Um...they DO put that on the label. On the protective plastic wrapper on each tab it says "please remove plastic before use."

Stephanie doesn't need an automatic dishwasher...she needs a butler to actually wash her dishes for her. Perhaps she can dip into her 401k and hire one.

Celery

I bought some celery at the Farmer's Market the other day. Not the pre-cut kind, but a bunch (I think it's called a bunch) of celery for 99 cents. Sometimes celery is just cool, refreshing, and delicious. And when you dip it in blue cheese?! Get out of town...that is the joint right there!

But I digress...

I was cutting the celery up so I would have easier access to it; that is, I could just grab an already washed and cut piece of celery from the fridge, and enjoy it on the spot, rather than washing and cutting it to order. I was filling up a plastic container when Stephanie walked in.

Stephanie: (upon observing my celery-cutting action) "What are you going to do with all that celery?"

Me: "Um, probably eat it."

Stephanie: "Well that's a lot of celery. Are you really going to eat it all?"

Me: "Well, I might have a little bit now, and then save the rest. I just like having it cut and ready to go for when I want to eat it."

Stephanie: "Oh. I thought you were cutting it so you could eat it all right now."

Me: "Nope."

What I really wanted to say was...

"What am I going to do with all this celery? Well, I'm probably going to decorate a little bit with it, and probably glue some to the wall. I might take it to work and sell it. Or I might wear some on my head. I haven't really decided yet."

What else do you do with celery other than eat it? Well, in my world anyway...

It's too hot to get in the water to cool down!

Summer time is a time to take vacations. Luckily, Stephanie was able to take a mini-vacation to the beach this past week. I almost wanted to take time off of work to just enjoy her absence from our place (almost...).

What I find extremely considerate of her in general is her ability to do laundry. She seems to like to wash one or two items at a time (she is very environmentally conscious, as you can tell). She also likes to then LEAVE her items in the washer, sometimes for a day or two. Apparently she thinks that she is the only one who needs to wash her clothes. So I found it so nice that she decided to wash one dress before leaving on vacation...and then left that dress in the washer while she was gone. Didn't switch the laundry, didn't lay the dress out to dry...just left it in the washer. Perhaps while she was gone that dress may have fallen on the floor a few times....

But I digress...

Stephanie got back from her mini-vacay to the beach yesterday. Being the nice roommate that I am, I of course asked her how her family trip was.

Me: (seeing her just waking up from sleeping on the couch while her mom slept in her bed as I came down for breakfast) "Hey! Welcome back! How was your trip?"
Stephanie: "It was ok. It was just so hot!"
Me: "Yeah, it's been really hot here too. But at least you were at the beach."
Stephanie: "Oh, we were barely able to go outside. It was too hot to go to the beach!"

Um...it was too hot to go swimming? Maybe I'm wrong...but I thought that you go to the pool or the beach to cool down on a hot day. Hmmm...I will be going on a beach vacation next week. Apparently it's going to be pretty miserable if it's too hot to get in the water to cool down.

Ooops...wrong account...I think

One thing I really appreciate in a roommate is the ability to pay bills on time. Stephanie is actually...for the most part...pretty good about this.

All of the utilities are in my name, which I actually prefer (because then I KNOW that the bills are being paid). When I have paid the utilities for the month, Stephanie gives me cash or a check for her part. She usually gets me the money within a few days, or a week at the most. I've never really had to chase her down for it.

We did have an interesting conversation about this the other day. She had given me a check, and when I did my weekly deposit of my tips in the bank, I deposited the check along with it.

Stephanie: "I just wanted to let you know that I think you deposited the check I gave you into my account instead of yours."

Me: "Um...I don't think I have the ability to do that."

Stephanie: "Well, I think that somehow you did. When I was looking at my account on the computer, that check showed up. I clicked on it, and there was a picture of my check. So somehow I think it went back into my account."

Me: "Oh, that's just so you can keep track of the checks that you have written. That just means it's been cashed."

Stephanie: "I don't think so. Will you just check your account to see if it went into your account?"

I then proceed to give her a tutorial about how managing your account online works. I showed her my deposit (which included her check). I also clicked on a few checks that I had written, to show what happens when those checks have been cashed, and how you can get an image of what those checks look like.

Has she really gotten through 29 years of her life without writing a few checks? Or at lease understanding how the check writing/depositing/withdrawing process works. Oh...but I guess when you still get an allowance, it's something that you don't really need to worry about.

Today is Father's Day

Being a Sunday, I like to enjoy a nice, leisurely breakfast. I came downstairs at around 9:30 or so, surprised to find Stephanie already awake and ready for a run (or something). She was on the phone, so I lucked out by not having to make trivial small talk (i.e., "Good morning, how was your day yesterday," etc.). Rather, when she got off the phone, this is the conversation we got into:

Stephanie: (as I am milling about, getting my breakfast ready) "Today is Father's Day."

Me: "Yup, I know. "

Stephanie: "Oh. I just wanted to make sure you knew."

Me: "Yup, that's why I'm working tonight. I hope it will be a busy night."

Stephanie: "It just seems that a lot of people might not know it's Father's Day."

Um...I don't have any specific statistics...but I'm pretty sure Father's Day is a big holiday. Granted, it's not as big or popular as Mother's Day (a day that is feared by every restaurant server, as they get to encounter a variety of people who don't seem to know any restaurant etiquette), but I'm pretty sure that people at least know enough to send their dads a card or reach out and give a phone call to let them know that they are appreciated.

It was quite nice of her to make sure that I knew about the holiday, though. Perhaps she just learned that it was Father's Day this morning, and wanted to reach out and make sure others knew of this little-known holiday as well.

Sometimes I miss getting an allowance

When I was a young child (around 5, or so), I had a My Little Pony piggy bank. I just loved it! I think it was what helped me become a good saver (that, and the good values instilled in me by my parents), because I wanted to see it get full. I got an allowance ($5 a week or so), and I saved up as much as I could. I wanted to get to $100...not sure what I actually wanted to BUY with that money, but I just wanted to get to one hundred dollars. It seemed like a magical number.

And I got there! It took awhile...several one dollar bills, 5 dollar bills, and coins, but I eventually saved up a hundred bucks. And my piggy bank was heavy, and full, and I was just so excited.

My parents were proud of me for saving so much. And my dad exchanged my hard-earned cash for a hundred dollar bill. And I guess I was happy...but it just wasn't the same. I couldn't see all that I had saved in that one bill. It wasn't heavy like the small bills that had previously filled my piggy bank. But I guess it was still good. I must've spent it, because I no longer have that hundred dollar bill.

But I no longer have that My Little Pony piggy bank. Instead, I have a checking account in a real bank. And I no longer get an allowance...pretty sure that stopped around the time I started baby-sitting for money, when I was around 10 or so.

I asked Stephanie today if she had decided on a place to move. She told me that she wanted to wait until her mom came to visit, so she could help her look at some places. Seems like a good idea.

Stephanie: "Yeah, I'm hoping if my mom comes and looks at places with me, she'll get excited and offer to pay."

Me: "Well that sure would be nice of her."

Stephanie: "Yeah, they've been pretty supportive of me since I quit my job and want to try and start my own law practice."

(side note: that was over 6 months ago...pretty sure I haven't seen her take one step to try and open her own law practice. Especially because she told me that she's so good at being unemployed...but that's another story that will be told another time)

Me: "Well that's cool."

Stephanie: "Yeah, they still give me a weekly allowance."

Um....what?!?! Isn't allowance supposed to help kids learn how to handle and save money? And doesn't it stop once you get a REAL job and start earning REAL income? Even if that job is just being a cashier at a grocery store (did that), it still provides some money to help kids start to wean themselves off of their parents.

I guess that doesn't happen in Stephanie's world. But perhaps she doesn't live in the REAL world, seeing as she doesn't have a REAL job at the moment.

Does this mean the world is ending??

Have you ever woken up from a deep sleep, and been confused about what day it was? Or taken a nice, afternoon nap, only to wake up in the dark, and think that it is the next day (when it only, in fact, is later in the evening on that same day)? I have done both. More than once, actually. But I am usually able to shake off the cobwebs within seconds, possibly minutes at most, and get on with my day.

I got home from work one night, and found Stephanie awake (which is odd, as I work nights, and sometimes come home quite late).

Stephanie: "Guess what happened to me today!"

(side note: whenever she says this, I know a great story is about to follow)

Me: "What?"

Stephanie: "Well, when I woke up, it was just starting to get light out. I felt REALLY rested for some reason. I was just really excited for the day! I came downstairs, made some tea, and then did a really nice job on my makeup, because I was feeling really good. But as I was doing my makeup, I looked out the window, and it looked like the sky was starting to get darker!"

(dramatic pause; I think she is waiting for me to say something, but I continue to keep my mouth shut)

"I was really confused! I didn't understand why it was daytime, but it was starting to get dark! I thought maybe the world was ending!"

(yup...she really said that)

Stephanie, continued: "So I started to get scared, and I called my mom. I asked her why it was morning, but it was starting to get dark out. I asked her if she thought the world might be ending!"

Me: "Uh-huh."

Stephanie: (laughs) "She told me that it wasn't morning! The world wasn't ending...it wasn't 7 in the morning, but it was 7 at night! (laughs again) Can you believe that?"

Me: "Huh. That's pretty funny."

Stephanie: "Yeah, I was really starting to get so scared! I sure am glad that the world isn't ending!"

If I ever wake up and for some reason am confused about what time of day it is, I usually just turn on the TV. If "The Today Show" is on...probably morning. If "American Idol" is on...probably nighttime. But Stephanie doesn't watch TV. So...I guess that wouldn't help her very much.