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Do you have obsessions or rituals? (that you will admit to)
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David
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PostPosted: Wed 18 Nov, 2009 5:50 am    Post subject: Do you have obsessions or rituals? (that you will admit to) Reply with quote
The recent germ paranoia thread got me thinking about other obsessions. It was recent pointed out to me that I can't leave a classroom until I've not only made sure that all chairs are under desks but also the desks must be "correctly" arranged in a "proper" symmetrical pattern. The colleague who noticed this mentioned that he has to unplug every electrical appliance and close every internal door in his house before he can go to bed. Further discussions revealed that many colleagues count things, especially stairs and steps. My wife is a maths geek and has to count the number of rows and columns of theatre seats, ceiling tiles, car park spaces etc and then calculate the total number of items. Another thing I do, which is probably a sign of anxiety is to frequently touch my pockets to check whether I still have my keys and mobile phone. I have also noticed that I check my zipper several times a day. Oh, another thing I do is to arrange books on shelves by book height to that the top edge of the books makes as smooth a line as possible. This matters more to me than authour, subject or cover colour. Please tell me I'm not the only one.
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ejm
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PostPosted: Wed 18 Nov, 2009 9:39 am    Post subject: Re: Do you have obsessions or rituals? (that you will admit to) Reply with quote
It's not an obsession or ritual but I find myself counting bars when listening to music. Counting them as if I were counting bars of rest. I'm not thrilled when I discover it though (usually I've reached around bar 107 or so) and stop immediately. Only to find that a few phrases later, there I am counting bars again. stomp

David wrote:
Oh, another thing I do is to arrange books on shelves by book height to that the top edge of the books makes as smooth a line as possible. This matters more to me than authour, subject or cover colour. Please tell me I'm not the only one.


I fear that I cannot put you out of your misery. How do you find your books on the shelf if you arrange by book height rather than by subject or alphabetical order?
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David
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PostPosted: Wed 18 Nov, 2009 12:25 pm    Post subject: Re: Do you have obsessions or rituals? (that you will admit to) Reply with quote
ejm wrote:
How do you find your books on the shelf if you arrange by book height rather than by subject or alphabetical order?
I accept that my method is illogical but the ease of finding a book takes second place to the discomfort I feel when the books are not in the correct size order. Luckily I can remember the approximate size and colour of the spines of most of my books so I don't often "lose" them. I find this strange obsession annoying and I suspect I would have the same compulsion with CDs and DVDs if they weren't uniform heights.

I have just been advised of another quirk of mine - I have to always sit in the same seat at our dinner table no matter how many other diners there are.
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DataRyder
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PostPosted: Thu 19 Nov, 2009 11:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
There are so many things, both big and little....

But one thing I'm constantly aware of...... lip smear.

While drinking from a glass; whether it be water, milk, wine, soda, I constantly clean the rim of my glass with a napkin. Especially if I'm eating something at the same time.

I hate it when I see lip smear.



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PostPosted: Tue 15 Dec, 2009 1:10 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Here are some of the things I find myself doing, and try to stop.

If I step on a crack, I have to immediately step on another crack with the other foot lest I get out of balance.

If there are large tiles or panels on walls, I touch every one as I pass.

I calculate the number of letters in words used during a conversation. And I try to break them up into syllables where the number of letters in each syllable is a pattern like 1-2-3-4 or 4-3-2-1 or 1-2-3-2-1.
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David
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PostPosted: Tue 15 Dec, 2009 9:26 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Once I started typing this I realised what a mess of neuroses I am:

  • I hold a paperclip between my lips whilst using a computer.
  • I also twiddle a rubber band whilst typing, often attempting to type with most of my fingers bound together.
  • I shout at TV commercials when they don't use capital letters correctly.
  • I annoy other players during board games because I move their pieces to the centre of the square they have landed on if they put them down off-centre, or worse, touching the border of the square.
  • I have to leave the house at unpredictable times such as 7:53, 8:12 etc. because if I left on the hour or half hour *they* could predict my movements.
  • I cannot drink hot drinks from glass.
  • I cannot watch TV if the door of the room I'm in is open because *they* could sneak up on me whilst I was distracted.
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ejm
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PostPosted: Tue 15 Dec, 2009 10:13 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Barbara wrote:
I calculate the number of letters in words used during a conversation. And I try to break them up into syllables where the number of letters in each syllable is a pattern like 1-2-3-4 or 4-3-2-1 or 1-2-3-2-1.


Augh!! Lalalalalalalalala I'm not listening. I'm not listening. (I feel like I could fall easily into this trap.)

More obsessions:

- When I read ads on the subway, I try to make cryptic crossword clues out of the words. (I generally fail.)

- If my desk partner puts a marking into the music and it's ridiculously sloppy and large, I immediately erase it and rewrite it in small neat letters. If my desk partner puts a marking into the music and it's relatively tidy, I wait until after the rehearsal to erase it a rewrite it in small neat letters.

- I erase corrections and underlining in library books.

- I cannot stand knowing anything in advance about a movie or book - even if the movie is made from a book I've already read. If there is a trailer or review on TV, I shut my eyes, stick my fingers in my ears and rub them up and down to create annoying white noise AND murmur "lalalalalalala". In order to ascertain whether the offensive piece is finished, I open my eyes to a slit and focus on the top corner of the TV screen to make sure I don't see anything that might spoil the surprise.


David wrote:
I shout at TV commercials when they don't use capital letters correctly.


- I shout at TV commercials, no matter what they are doing.

Barbara wrote:
If there are large tiles or panels on walls, I touch every one as I pass.


Eeeeeeeeeeeeek!!! Wash your hands!! Wash your hands!!!!

- I cannot stop myself from washing my hands after I've been outside the house. This does not mean that our house is absolutely pristine. Far from it.
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MrsBrown
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PostPosted: Tue 15 Dec, 2009 10:16 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
David wrote:

[*]I annoy other players during board games because I move their pieces to the centre of the square they have landed on if they put them down off-centre, or worse, touching the border of the square.
How could this possibly annoy anyone? How can anyone put their piece anywhere EXCEPT right in the middle. When playing Scrabble, I make sure the pieces are all in the lines and squared up. I do the same in Carcassone.

I correct people in my head when they say things like "myself" when they mean "me". If I don't want to pay attention in a meeting and I want to look like I'm paying attention, I'll spell the words people are saying in my head.


stomp stomp stomp
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ejm
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PostPosted: Tue 15 Dec, 2009 6:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
MrsBrown wrote:
David wrote:

[*]I annoy other players during board games because I move their pieces to the centre of the square they have landed on if they put them down off-centre, or worse, touching the border of the square.
How could this possibly annoy anyone? How can anyone put their piece anywhere EXCEPT right in the middle.


When I play some board games, I have difficulty putting my piece in the middle of the square - but it could have something to do with the fact that I like to use the rather large china panther or stainless steel piggy bank as my playing piece.

- It really bothers me when people disallow rule alterations in board games. I only want to play if the rules are altered drastically.



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David
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PostPosted: Thu 17 Dec, 2009 11:58 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
ejm wrote:
- It really bothers me when people disallow rule alterations in board games. I only want to play if the rules are altered drastically.

I annoy other players when they insist on rule alterations by shouting "Cheat!", knocking over the board and stomping out in a huff. stomp
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ejm
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PostPosted: Thu 17 Dec, 2009 12:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
David wrote:
ejm wrote:
- It really bothers me when people disallow rule alterations in board games. I only want to play if the rules are altered drastically.

I annoy other players when they insist on rule alterations by shouting "Cheat!", knocking over the board and stomping out in a huff. stomp


Remind me not to play Scrabble with you. la la la

Here are our Scrabble rules. (I trust they won't cause you to knock over your monitor and stomp out in a huff, David. whoo hoo!)
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David
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PostPosted: Fri 18 Dec, 2009 4:27 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
ejm wrote:
Remind me not to play Scrabble with you. la la la

Here are our Scrabble rules. (I trust they won't cause you to knock over your monitor and stomp out in a huff, David. whoo hoo!)

Rule changes agreed beforehand are fine by me but when someone suddenly announces "we always collect money from the other players if we land on a station" or "You haven't won because I'm not bankrupt, I'm allowed to borrow from the bank", that is going to make me flip out.

The insane scrabble looks too complicated for me. If a rule change is longer that 20 words I'm sure to misunderstand and consequently "annoy the other players".

btw the Webster's Online Dictionary box is blocking part of the text in the Preview screen for me.
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ejm
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PostPosted: Fri 18 Dec, 2009 10:14 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
David wrote:
the Webster's Online Dictionary box is blocking part of the text in the Preview screen for me.


Rrrrrr. Sorry about that. Remind me to fix that.... la la la

(I never use the preview button so hadn't realized this was a problem)

David wrote:
when someone suddenly announces "we always collect money from the other players if we land on a station" or "You haven't won because I'm not bankrupt, I'm allowed to borrow from the bank", that is going to make me flip out.


But isn't that the only way (sudden announcements, not flipping out) to make playing Monopoly manageable?


edit: I am imagining that I might have fixed the placement of the Webster's Online Dictionary Box. At least, it looks right on my monitor.... skip

Normally, I'm obsessed with ensuring that things look relatively similar in all monitors. Paradoxically, I'm equally obsessed with not caring very much at all if things look like dog's breakfast in any version of IE.
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David
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PostPosted: Sat 19 Dec, 2009 1:50 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
ejm wrote:
But isn't that the only way (sudden announcements, not flipping out) to make playing Monopoly manageable?

The most popular way to make Monopoly manageable is forbid me from playing.
ejm wrote:

edit: I am imagining that I might have fixed the placement of the Webster's Online Dictionary Box. At least, it looks right on my monitor.... skip

Normally, I'm obsessed with ensuring that things look relatively similar in all monitors. Paradoxically, I'm equally obsessed with not caring very much at all if things look like dog's breakfast in any version of IE.

It looks good to me (Firefox 3.5.6, 1280x1024)
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ejm
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PostPosted: Sat 19 Dec, 2009 9:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
The ONLY way I'll agree to playing Monopoly is if I can use the Monopoly board that my great uncle (great great uncle???) hand-made. It has real hotels and houses instead of those ugly little plastic things.

David wrote:

ejm wrote:

edit: I am imagining that I might have fixed the placement of the Webster's Online Dictionary Box. [...]


It looks good to me (Firefox 3.5.6, 1280x1024)


Thanks for the confirmation, David. I was curious about IE and have started a new thread here: placement of the Webster's Online Dictionary Box
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