Actions or Goals: More Housemate Complaints

Stealing from AI summary slop for a moment...

Action-oriented refers to being willing or likely to take practical action to deal with a problem or situation. It involves focusing on taking action rather than just planning or deliberating.

Being goal-oriented means focusing on reaching or completing specific tasks to achieve a planned outcome. People who are goal-oriented are driven and motivated by purpose, often referred to as being task-driven or results-driven.

I put these definitions here to acknowledge and immediately discard them. I am here to complain about my housemates. For the purpose of this post we're talking about actions being "doing a thing" and goals being "accomplishing a task." You'll get it in a second.

So, yes, housemates. I'm so fucking tired of the two of these ~40 year old men not understanding that there is a goal at the end of every action. For a simple example, take turning on the light. The goal is to, say, illuminate a room. The action one might take is flipping a light switch. For the both of them that's where it ends. Some synapse says "I've flipped the switch" and they're done. They've checked out. They have completed the action they wanted to do - it doesn't matter if the goal was accomplished. "What if the light bulb has burned out?" or "what if the breaker has popped?" might come to your mind, but it does not enter theirs; they have flipped the switch and therefore are done. They'll sit in the dark - metaphorically appropriate to this post - happy in the knowledge that they've performed an action.

"Certainly you're not getting angry about light switches!" you might think, and you're correct. I don't know how best to lay out my annoyances, so here's three.

• "Feed the cat" = put cat food on a plate. Don't check if the cat actually eats it. Don't smash the pâté like the cat likes. Merely placing the food on the plate is the action necessary. This certainly does not also include picking up the dish afterward so ants don't crawl into the house.
• "Wash the dishes" = rub a sponge on the dishes. Don't check if the dishes are actually clean. God forbid we have clean dishes. No, just move a sponge around a bit. This certainly doesn't include making sure the drying rack is clean - no, put the "clean" dishes on a moldy drying surface. If they cleaned the drying rack it might cut two minutes out of the time they could be watching wrestling reruns.
• "Clean the living room" = push the vacuum around. Don't move any furniture. Don't tidy anything. CERTAINLY don't dust anything. Just push the vacuum for five minutes. Oh, and don't worry about emptying the vacuum container - why would you care about maintaining your tools? Weird that the last two vacuums have burnt out (not that they noticed, of course, they have both pushed vacuums around that weren't actually running).

I really don't know what to do here. I've laid out three scenarios, but it's everything. I've mentioned things where they underdo it, but it's also shit like overdoing it on soap and laundry. WON'T uses a bar of soap every week. He sits in a chair 16 hours a day and screams at the TV - he's not a coal miner or anything that might get him actually dirty. But the action of taking a shower includes using a significant portion of a bar of soap. CAN'T uses a month's worth of detergent in every load of laundry. I bought a five-year supply thinking I'd save money buying in bulk. Five months later and we've run out. He's also not a coal miner - the laundry he's doing is moderately sweaty clothes. But he knows the action of doing laundry includes adding powder, so he just dumps it in. Honestly, I'm not sure how he hasn't developed rashes from all that detergent on his skin.

This is all without mentioning that these two ~40 year old men still work on the "I didn't use the last of it" principle as if they were children. Toilet paper, towels, tissues, coffee, creamer, milk, and more. That's a separate complaint - a wonderful life hack where they don't have to contribute to the house if they didn't physically use the last bit of a thing. It just "magically" appears because - this is crazy - I want to wipe my ass when I'm done taking a shit.

Again, I'm not really sure how to end this post. I suppose I'll indulge in their logic - I've engaged the action of typing up a post, but it's unlikely I've accomplished the goal of putting something interesting up on the blog. Sorry?

Mortgage Mumbling

So, it's 1am and I'm sitting in a bar.

A couple firetrucks zip by, full lights & sirens.

The handful of folks at the bar meet eyes and silently acknowledge "that's a bit weird."

We all go back to our drinks.

A few minutes later, a guy walks in and sits next to me. I greet him politely, but he's a bit grumpy. Apparently his apartment building is on fire. Naturally curious, I ask which one. Turns out he lives in the building I used to live in, on the floor I used to live on, two doors down from my old apartment.

Well, it's fuckin' one in the morning and I'm lubricated, so this turns into a whole nostalgia conversation.

We chat about how garbage the management is, about the changes I've seen, and all that dumb stuff.

Turns out he's saving up to buy a house - oh shit, I know something about that!

He makes a comment about how "once I've saved up enough for a down payment, the amount needed for a down payment has gone up."

I'm like "you only need to put down 5%; 3.5% if you sit through a homebuying course."

It was more of a conversation than this, of course. The conversation, however, gets him agitated. Apparently I'm mansplaining how to buy a house. Maybe I am - I'm actively closing a bar and he's here sober, apartment on fire.

The conversation still nibbles at my brain all these months later. You see, his complaint was about reaching the brass ring - something always slightly out of reach. My contention was that it was well within reach. He wanted to put 20% down and make minimum monthly payments. As mentioned, every time he hit 20% on a place (over several years) he was priced out. The solution is to put down a lower amount and then - crazy idea - he owns a house. Once you have it you can refinance with equity counting toward the mortgage (after a few years). Or you can pay extra on the principal. Or you can pocket the difference between rent and mortgage and just fuckin' fly to Fiji.

I thought it was a no-brainer. If the complaint is "I don't own a house" then the solution is "buy a house" - especially if you already have enough saved up for a lower percentage down payment! What do I know though?

I don't know what happened with the guy. I do know the apartment building didn't burn down. Maybe he's still paying rent on a shitty apartment instead of paying a mortgage on a shitty house.

I'll be here doling out drunk advice all the same.