SO just seeing what you guys think, if you live a first floor apartment and he leaves the blinds open and door unlocked does that make him a fuckin idiot! Even AFTER I asked him to close them, but he still left them open with lights on!
Mine leave for work and/or go out partying and leave the doors unlocked all the time. The one with the room at the front of the house even leaves his bedroom window open a bit so he can climb in if I've locked the house up. ... As they have both lost their house keys. >___> How hard is it to keep them in your purse/wallet/pocket?
Definitely makes a person an idiot. Heck, when I am at home I still keep the doors locked.
I use to live in very VERY sparse "bush country" where neighbors are at the closest 300m away and I always locked doors and windows, hell even always locked my cars.
Living in an Apartment first floor I may add, down in Drunken Duncan I keep everything locked at all hours and our windows got jams in them so they cant be forced open. As for my main car its always locked and is has a club and pretty much all valuable are never kept in it. Me and Morrogh are both very keen on doing this.
There was a time while I still lived with my dad that we locked the door while not home but otherwise had it unlocked while home, until a certain incident at least.
At the time we happened to have a foam mattress thingy in our living room, my dad woke up one morning to some snoring and thought it was me (Which is odd because I don't snore to my knowledge), so he was a bit surprised when he left his room to find some random drunk guy sleeping on the earlier mentioned mattress. Apparently he got pretty mad and was yelling and threatening the guy and forced him out of the house, I guess I slept through the whole thing (I use to be such a heavy sleeper that it was joked a trainwreck or jet engine wouldn't wake me up).
Nothing was taken that I know of, guess he decided to pass out at our place after a wild night or something, but since then we've kept our door locked 24/7.
Leaving ones door unlocked is something that Canadians used to do all the time, because crime rates were so low. It was just one of those things that people didn't worry about. It doesn't mean that they are an idiot it means they either grew up in that time and still have vestiges from it or grew up with people that thought like that and picked it up from them.
Pff. I lived in Surrey until I was 9. Even when I moved to Qualicum (like... no crime) I always locked everything. I especially lock things now that I am in Nanaimo, which is bigger than Qualicum. I can't imagine leaving doors unlocked. Even when I am in the car, I lock all the doors.
Though, I guess it depends on where you grew up. My roommates grew up on Gabriola and no one locks doors there. Same with my friend that lives in French Creek.
I guess it really depends on your personal values of what you grew up with in terms of locking and unlocking doors. Even if my dorm is void of room mates except for myself, I always lock myself in whenever I leave my room.
Well I happen to know he grew up in Van so he didnt grow up in a place where you dont lock your doors. Really even if he did grow up in a town like the one I grew up in, he still should pick up on the fact that you ARENT in a small town anymore!! YOU ARE on the first floor in downtown! Your tire has been slashed and other friends in the same building have had windows broken! SO mayyybe you should lock the fuckin door! and close the blinds when you leave!
I always figured that a fire or smoke hazard would be more prominent then someone sneaking into your house at night. I don't live down town though. Most places I've lived have usually been right on the outskirts of dangerous areas. I don't even lock the door to bathroom because I figure a little bit of embarrassment is worth the risk of having a door kicked on my head wether I have a seizure or panic attack in the bathroom. Are you locking yourself from the world or are you locking the world out from you.
I live on the ground floor of an apartment in North surrey of all places. I rarely lock my doors. And when i do, it's usually to keep my 2 year old inside. It's just not that huge a deal to me. I dont have anything worth stealing anyway. Even the computer I'm typing this on is 10 or so years old. My toaster is worth more than it is.
It all seems like personal preference. I myself, no matter where i live. I lock the door. Some of the people i live with have had strangers just walk on in to their parents place before and that's creepy as shit. I always lock my doors. Its a safety precaution for not only your property, but your lives as well. You never know what fucked up person will walk through your door. Its also common courtesy to do it upon request from your roommates. you are there to help create a healthy living space and harmony (as much as you can) between the people living there. If you can't follow a simple request like locking the door, theres gunna be trouble i can assure you. its happened in previous places i've lived in. and even in my parents place. If someone asks you nicely, it really doesn't interrupt your day to just lock the door XD
With the lights on, normally is a deterrent to outsiders if it looks like people might be home. But its also an energy cost to the house hold. So, pick and choose. Leaving the blinds open is nice during the day, but leaving the door unlocked at the same time, is kind of like "hey look at all my stuff. come in and take it" XD
-shrugs- I'm with you on this at least, i hate when people don't lock the door. specially at night when people could be asleep and unaware of intruders. If all people in a house agree they dont care, cool. but if one person does care, just be kind and considerate to the person so they dont worry themselves to death or pull their hair out in frustration. Living with other people is about give and take. Compromise :3
Thanks Termin.
I pay for they hydro so maybe thats my problem with the lights and stuff, like I already pay enough lol.
: Icey Dominus December 13, 2011, 12:53:55 -07:00
Thanks Termin.
I pay for they hydro so maybe thats my problem with the lights and stuff, like I already pay enough lol.
I definitely know how that is. Though, When i was living with roommates, we were all splitting the expenses, so if they aren't paying you for their share, thats probably where a lot of the axiety would come from. If they are supposed to pay you but are flakey, thats also it there too. >.< Of course, conserving energy is a good thing :3 You might try energy saving bulbs perhaps?
I just have ocd when it comes to the lights are hyro shouldnt be to much, to be honest I still cant figure out how to pay it so I am just going to walk down to the BC hydro building and pay it there if I can or at least work it out properly so I can do a instant transfer from my bank.I tried called but I spent a hour on the phone listening to automated voice then it sent me back to the start menu rather than sending me to a rep that I could actually talk to!! Then i tryed online but my roommate fucked that up so ya lol
: zenia December 10, 2011, 11:20:29 -07:00
How hard is it to keep them in your purse/wallet/pocket?
Keeping your keys in a place that also has your home address in it isn't particularly smart.
: Ember December 13, 2011, 03:55:47 -07:00
Keeping your keys in a place that also has your home address in it isn't particularly smart.
Well then they could at least keep it in their pocket or on a necklace. It isn't acceptable to leave the house unlocked when nobody is home.
Re: Bills... I have the gas/hydro/cable in my name. Upstairs has gas heat. The hot water tank costs $46/mo to keep heated. I know this 'cause that is what it costs in the summer... only hot water and upstairs heat is gas. This month the bill came... the heat alone cost $150. My roommates like to wear shorts and t-shirts without socks/slippers and then complain they are cold (and blame it on being skinny) and turn up the heat. It pisses me off, 'cause my room is a broiler. I asked them to keep it around 15 at the most. If I catch them putting it higher, I will start making them pay more. Right now I split it 3 way equally. I can't afford to spend so much on heating. When I lived in my own apartment alone, the heating was electric. In summer, hydro cost $34... in winter it cost $50. I know how to wear sweaters.
: zenia December 13, 2011, 10:38:07 -07:00
It pisses me off, 'cause my room is a broiler. I asked them to keep it around 15 at the most.
15? As in 15 Celsius? That's very cold.
Room temp is 21C. I'm not surprised that they are saying that they are cold.
But yeah, I hear what you are saying :p
One of my room mates routinely puts the heat up (around the 25C range?) to the point that the upstairs of our house is physically HOT. I almost always have to have the window in my bedroom open in the dead of winter.
The same person then keeps the door wide open as they let dogs out, keeping themselves warm at the expense of reheating the house.
But hey, when you live with people then it just goes with the territory that some people will use some utilities more than others. If you start nit picking each case then it turns into this stupid argument of "well he uses more of the water!" "Well I never use the cable TV!" etc.
You should prob just suck it up, the conflict you'll come to to save ~$20 a month just isn't worth it.
Oh yeah.
You should know that you forcing your room mates to live at 15C is actually ILLEGAL in all of Canada.
They can sue you. They will win.
The minimum is 19C, 20C, or 21C depending on where you live.
On locking doors: we didn't worry that much about it when I was growing up in Chilliwack until my brother woke me up one morning and we spotted some guy trying to steal our motorbikes from the back of Dad's pickup. We got a big dog that week, fenced the yard and today the house there is fully alarmed. And Dad has various other painful ways of discouraging prowlers. Times have changed, unfortunately.
Me, I lock everything. The times I forgot to lock my car, people rifled the glove box. (and took nothing... Apparently my CDs weren't to their taste?)
: Tony Greyfox December 14, 2011, 12:25:17 -07:00
The times I forgot to lock my car, people rifled the glove box. (and took nothing... Apparently my CDs weren't to their taste?)
They rifle your glove box to steal your insurance information for the purpose of fraud and identity theft.
These days, sure. This was ten years ago when thieves hadn't figured that bit out yet. =P
: Ember December 14, 2011, 12:21:48 -07:00The minimum is 19C, 20C, or 21C depending on where you live.
Are you serious? That is insanely stupid. 15c is perfectly fine. 20c is way too hot. My boss keeps the shop at 21c and it is so uncomfortable that I sometimes have to turn the fan on me and I work in sleeveless tops.
At least my roommates don't know about that... or else I would not be happy. I don't see what is so hard about wearing pants, socks and a hoodie in the winter. Cheaper than heating the whole house.
Now, if we all had individual thermostats in our rooms, they could do whatever they wanted... but we only have one control for the whole house. Maybe the ducts going into their rooms are leaking or something, but I seem to get nearly all of the forced air and my room is so hot that when you walk into it you are smacked in the face with the temperature difference... which is at least 10 to 15 degrees warmer than the rest of the house.
Block the vent to your room. Problem solved.
As it stands, you are forcing your room mates to live in uncomfortable (and illegal) conditions, then forcing them to spend money to not do so. When people say that they are "cold because they are thin", what they really mean is that "you are overheating because you are overweight." (Confirmed via profile pic).
21C is called room temperature because it's the temperature that the greatest number of people are comfortable being at.
Sounds like you're the "fuckin roommate" in this scenario.
When my room is twice as hot as the rest of the house, it isn't fair to me. The damper box in my vent doesn't work, so I am trying to find out how else I can block it effectively. They actually don't have much of a problem keeping it between 12 and 15 now... last winter I was stingier and kept it lower. You'd really have to come into this house to see what it is like.
Once I got them to step into my bedroom, they totally understood. It is broiling in here, fat or skinny.
In my room I physically blocked the vent with a piece of cardboard. That's all it took.
Is it safe to do that? I always imagined blocking it with something flammable was a fire hazard. That is why my bed is in the only other place in the room it could possibly be.
Paper has a kindling point of over 200C. If your vent is putting out 200C of heat then you have bigger problems. It wont catch on fire.
Problem is I sleep in the living room there is no vent to cover lol so sadly that wont work for me
: Ember December 14, 2011, 09:24:01 -07:00
Paper has a kindling point of over 200C. If your vent is putting out 200C of heat then you have bigger problems. It wont catch on fire.
Ah ok. See, I've only ever had baseboard heaters before and those will catch things on fire. I guess I just assumed "hot+flammable=bad" XD
Zenia, the fact you find anything above 15 Celsius hot is very abnormal, there is a reason why 21 Celsius is considered to be room temperature: It's the temperature most people find to be comfortable.
The reason your bills were likely so low with the temperature set at 15 is because it doesn't take much heating to keep it there, especially if it's not winter.
The house I live in right now doesn't have much in the way of insulation and the heating is therefore kept a bit lower to keep the costs from going insanely high, so it's usually 16-17 and I find that to be cold. My computer keeps my room comfortable once it's been on for a bit, but even with wearing my house robe over top of my clothes when I leave my room I can feel how chilly it is.
I think I should buy a thermometer to put in my room. I know that my room is MUCH hotter than whatever the thermostat is set on. My workplace is set to 21 or 22 and it is much more comfortable than my room is when the thermostat here is set at 17. Maybe my room is just the best insulated? The front and back door all have drafts and the bathroom window has a draft and part of the living room window is broken (roommates broke it) so it has a draft as well. When I am outside in summer and the natural temperature is 20, I am fine.
our heaters are broken. They only work when they're turned on all the way. this leads to the heat being on full for about 34 hours, and heating the house to the point of a sauna, and then leaving it off for a few days until it's unbearably cold. I feel sorry for the lady on the 3rd floor, XD
And this is why I don't have "room mates" and never will.
: Purplexity December 19, 2011, 10:08:29 -07:00
And this is why I don't have "room mates" and never will.
Wish I could afford not to have them. T__T I used to be able to, then work tanked.
Having room mates is pretty god damned awesome if they are the right room mates. ;D