O.C.D. What's YOURS?

[fittobethaied]

Too many things to list here. I would be all day doing that, but here are just a few. Symmetry is very important. Everything has to be aligned. Bank notes have to be in order of value in my wallet. I can't stand chaos and disorder, or putting off things for another time. That's why it's extremely difficult for me to adjust to living in Thailand. After 12 years I'm still trying to adapt, but I've come to the realization that will never happen because of my OCD. This place is terribly toxic to me because there is no order to anything and chaos rules the day. It is also a land where Murphy's Law is preeminent....if anything can go wrong....it will. Nothing ever goes as I expect it to, so that alone frustrates me to no end. Being prompt is essential. If someone is late for an appointment, it drives me crazy. Again, that is normal in Thailand, and nobody is ever on time. Years ago I had a Persian rug under my coffee table that had beautiful tassels along the edges. I couldn't walk out the door in the mornings without taking a hair brush to the tassels and combing them all out straight. Clothes have to be ironed and shoes have to be cleaned or polished before I can leave the house. Nails have to be properly cut and aligned, and for goodness sakes, no dirt under the nails. I know....I'm a basket case. My wife things I'm crazy, but she's learned to live with it.....thank God!

[Stocky]

2 hours ago, chickenslegs said:

Bank notes in my wallet have to be in order of value, which is probably not unusual. However, they are also sorted by condition - crisper notes get a higher ranking than the tattier ones.

So I'm not the only one!

I also sort by monarch.

 

My nephew as a 4 year old had all his toy cars arranged by size and colour. So it's clearly genetic.

 

.

 

 

[Stocky]

6 hours ago, 2long said:

At home I like my furniture parallel with the walls or tile gaps on the floor

Ditto

[nikmar]

38 minutes ago, fittobethaied said:

Being prompt is essential. If someone is late for an appointment, it drives me crazy.

yep, i relate to that as well. Not so much my wife but more her parents - i once - in a rare good mood - offered to buy the entire family lunch the following day. Everyone agreed on Shabu. We all arranged to meet at 1pm the next day.

 

At 1.15 , i got the wife to call and see where they were. ........

 

"Still at home - Mother is just going to get a shower."

 

My resulting moody put the mockers on that day.

 

Im not so bad about punctuality now. I cannot bear to be late myself but ive learned not to expect anyone else to be the same.

[allanos]

I see tardiness in others as a form of abuse.

 

If one is kept waiting when others are late, you are being robbed of one of the most precious

things in life - your time!

 

It is the height of bad manners, and totally disrespectful!

[Bert got kinky]

27 minutes ago, allanos said:

I see tardiness in others as a form of abuse.

 

If one is kept waiting when others are late, you are being robbed of one of the most precious

things in life - your time!

 

It is the height of bad manners, and totally disrespectful!

 

If this is a symptom, I definitely am O.C.D.C. ????

 

[ThailandRyan]

47 minutes ago, nikmar said:

yep, i relate to that as well. Not so much my wife but more her parents - i once - in a rare good mood - offered to buy the entire family lunch the following day. Everyone agreed on Shabu. We all arranged to meet at 1pm the next day.

 

At 1.15 , i got the wife to call and see where they were. ........

 

"Still at home - Mother is just going to get a shower."

 

My resulting moody put the mockers on that day.

 

Im not so bad about punctuality now. I cannot bear to be late myself but ive learned not to expect anyone else to be the same.

In my book being on time is akin to being late, I am always arriving 15 to 20 minutes before appointments, and sometimes I get taken in early.  Thai time drives me nuts......Yes that's a form of OCD, the same with first thing in the morning is heading to the kitchen, grinding the coffee and getting it going before I do anything else.  If something puts a kink in that morning ritual the day is flummoxed.....

[Jai Dee]

All the beer in my fridge must have their labels facing the door... 

[Troy Tempest]

7 hours ago, Will B Good said:

Insects.....not allowed in the house.

Get an old air-con unit and stick it on the wall....No need for power.....Soon you will have a small family of Geckos move in!

 

Hey-Presto....Insect problem solved!

 

N.B.  You have to put up with Gecko Sh*t.....

 

You win some, you lose some?

[Eff1n2ret]

I can't share a tube of toothpaste with my wife. She squeezes it any old how, I have to squeeze it carefully from the end, not a drop must be wasted.

[Troy Tempest]

1 hour ago, allanos said:

I see tardiness in others as a form of abuse.

 

If one is kept waiting when others are late, you are being robbed of one of the most precious

things in life - your time!

 

It is the height of bad manners, and totally disrespectful!

This is Thailand Mate!......Thais are Rarely on time for an appointment!

 

Ironically, everything is mañana!

[Troy Tempest]

15 minutes ago, Eff1n2ret said:

I can't share a tube of toothpaste with my wife. She squeezes it any old how, I have to squeeze it carefully from the end, not a drop must be wasted.

She squeezes the toothpaste from the middle of the tube????

 

Oh My Buddha?

 

 

[scorecard]

My Thai wife and I always prefer that the volume on the TV is very low.

 

When her family came the LG 50 inch was always quickly turned up to yelling level.

 

Immediately turned down by wife or me but as soon as she or me leave the room yelling level again.

 

Now as soon as they appear (or in advance if know they're coming) the remote is hidden. Her family quickly realised that they can't find the remote so they all sit around the house with their smartphones, leaving the TV to wife and myself. Wife quickly told them to not make the sofa etc., untidy so now they sit outside.

 

They don't now touch any of the furniture because they know my wife will quickly move it back to it's original position, even 1 cm, and they know she will quickly say mai jub (don't touch).

[scorecard]

17 minutes ago, Troy Tempest said:

This is Thailand Mate!......Thais are Rarely on time for an appointment!

 

Ironically, everything is mañana!

Sons 2 buddies booked/paid for airline tickets to fly Bkk to CM and retrn for new year break. Both are hopeless with being on time.

 

They arrived at Suvarnabhumi 1 hr after departure time and were shicked their flight had already left, on time. Luckily th airline changed their booking to the next flight (2 hrs later) and they were warned 'don't leave the airport, be on time back here at the check-in desk'. One guy responds 'but can't you come any find us? NO!

 

They get the next flight, arrive in CM, walk out of the arrivals area and both instantly proclaim 'this is so strange, they don't wait!' 

 

Son tries to explain why the airline must try to depart on time but gives up.  Son made sure they were at the check-in desk at the correct time for their return flight. When son told them he would take them to airport one of his buddies says but can't we tell them in advance to wait for us. 

 

I could see my son's face the 'I give up look'.

[scorecard]

8 hours ago, Will B Good said:

Insects.....not allowed in the house.

Did you inform the insects in writing?

[jvs]

4 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

I don't think I have any of that. Do I miss something?

 

This quote is so wrong.

"Never do anything today that some one else can do tomorrow!"

[Troy Tempest]

3 minutes ago, scorecard said:

Did you inform the insects in writing?

One of my mates at school got a comment from his English teacher about his bad handwriting.

 

She said it looked like a spider had fallen in the ink well on the desk and come out and walked across the page!

 

Maybe I could ask him to write them a note?

[jvs]

I did not think i had anything like that except i have to park exactly between the lines and straight of course!

Since a few days i have a new one ,all of my joints have to be the same size and neatly in a row!

[Stevemercer]

I can't relax in a restuarant until we have ordered. Once the order is in I can relax and enjoy. But I get impatient, to the point of rudeness, with people who can't decide holding up the order. Sometimes I will even order for them whether they want it or not.

[Troy Tempest]

8 hours ago, nikmar said:

i can relate to that. 

 

I am a little OCD - i cant stand empty plates or cups standing idle on the table - i have to put them in the sink - and then wash them as i dont like dirty dishes in the sink.

 

My wife plays on this. she thinks it's sport but i call it torture!!

 

i also have a thing whereby i can't relax if i have a job - no matter how menial - is done. I am very uncomfortable if someone says - "I ll do it later".

 

 

[mrbojangles]

5 hours ago, chickenslegs said:

Bank notes in my wallet have to be in order of value, which is probably not unusual.

Ditto that and with all the faces the same way. A mate of mine used to (probably still does) get notes in his change and scrumple them up in his pocket. Used to do my head in

[473geo]

I enjoy a liberal smattering of randomness in my life so no OCD I can think of ???? yes I like to finish a job when I start it but only where possible 

[scorecard]

33 minutes ago, 473geo said:

I enjoy a liberal smattering of randomness in my life so no OCD I can think of ???? yes I like to finish a job when I start it but only where possible 

I like the word randomness. My Thai son tried to get his wife to put the washed and air dried plates cups, mugs knives, forks, spoons, cooking pots and bowls in their correct stacks in the cupboards (not in perfect lines, just in the correct piles).

 

He eventually gave up, after some discussion with his wife and with her sisters and her work colleagues he realized that her randomness re putting things away comes from her mother who kept a clean but extremely untidy house, including kitchen stuff, sofa chairs moved to every room, TV's moved and sitting precariosly on old beer boxes and everybody had to be carful to not trip over the electric cords stretched above floor level across various rooms.

 

That's what his wife grew up with. She wants the same. If it's like her mum's house everything everywhere and changing continuously then 'it's a house'. 

 

All neat and tidy is, for her, not a house, it's boring and intimidating.

[geisha]

9 hours ago, sqwakvfr said:

Constantly looking behind while at ATM machines(I am American, grew up in Los Angeles and just can’t let this habit go, even though I am in LOS).  Also, double checking to see if my wallet is there and double  checking to make sure my door is locked.  Again, as an American who grew up in Los Angeles this was considered normal.  

I have the same although I live in a quite safe place. 

[Will B Good]

7 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

Have you found the geckos around your toaster yet? I've found one inside and one hiding underneath

They seem to loiter around the aircon for some reason!

[Will B Good]

2 hours ago, scorecard said:

Did you inform the insects in writing?

Little notice by the front door....but they are rude....just ignore it.

[Tropposurfer]

8 hours ago, captainjackS said:

What do you do when the grout lines are not parallel to the walls?  The tiles are manufactured with great precision and accuracy, but the concrete structure and walls are often made by hand with less accuracy.

Tear the entire tiles off the wall and start again at 11 p.m at night because you can't sleep with them like that.

[Tropposurfer]

Now look what you've gone and done posting this question. I had to stop counting the floor tiles and read your post, and now need to start counting the darn things again now. Oh wait! I've been doing that since 1 p.m.!!! ????????

[captainjackS]

20 minutes ago, Tropposurfer said:

Now look what you've gone and done posting this question. I had to stop counting the floor tiles and read your post, and now need to start counting the darn things again now. Oh wait! I've been doing that since 1 p.m.!!! ????????

I'm going to post some pictures of my house tomorrow that will make you lose sleep.  The builder who did the tile and finishing work brought laser tools and did a great quality job despite the lack of an accurate 90 degree angle to start with in the concrete / brick walls where they meet the floor.

[Mutt Daeng]

Not OCD, but I check that outside water taps are correctly turned off (twice) after using them, following a couple of incidents where I got distracted while watering the garden, resulting in the water tanks being completely drained, leaving us without running water.