h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I'm the only guy in a house of four, and it generally goes quite well- we have the main chores split between us- Jenny's realm is the kitchen, Bex scours the bathroom and I vacuum. I'm shore Cat has a job too, I'm just not sure what it is... We don't have a set time when we have to do it, we just sort of... do. I generally do my bit when everyone's out, and the others are pretty much the same.

Bills are shared out similarly- one of us pays each bill, and the others give whoever a cheque for however much...

We're pretty calm about most things, and there aren't many gripes, except for the washing up... the girls all refuse to do anyone's but their own, and by the end of the week there will be a pile of crockery and cutlery that no- one owns up to... I end up doing it to avoid arguments.

The only problem I have is a relatively small (and fairly unavoidable, I suppose) one- the girls all have their respective significant others who visit from time to time. Bex room is the one directly above mine. During the day its fine, as I'm not usually in my room, but at night, when all is quiet, I get woken up by her rather noisy bedsprings. The door used to bang too, but I fixed that with half of a cork from a wine bottle and some blu- tak (The door, that is, not Bex).

yeah, what is the etiquette for having sex in a multi-person apartment/house with thin walls?

Don't give a running commentary on what state of arousal you are now at.

The, er, etiquette seems to be "Tom won't mind, and it's funny to keep him awake. After all he probably doesn't even know what it is..."

TK

I think the only etiquette is avoiding 4:AM and anything too embarassing - if your flatmates are regularly hearing the crack of a whip and the clank of chains they are going to be the next day for sure.

You can't spend the whole time 'on the job' thinking about whether your flatmate is listening in though. It's inevitably going to detract from the experience.

I lived in a halls of residence once where the rooms were designed in an interlocking L shape with the bed in the tail of the L. This meant when we were sleeping, the head of my neighbour was literally six inches away, the other side of a paper thin wall. Fortunately he was a timid chap and didn't have lasses over for the night. He never complained about any of my nocturnal activities, but across the corridor was a lad from Guadeloupe who was much less discrete and he would happily take the mickey on occasions With a bit of mutual tolerance it needn't be a big deal.

Washing-up, that's an old chesnut.

A former housemate of my girlfriend's once asked her if she wouldn't mind doing her share of the washing up as it was really starting to mount up.

This was however the first time she had ventured out of her room in almost two weeks as she'd had terrible food-poisoning and a kidney infection. All she'd had was a few slices of toast and bottled water, all of which were up in her room. Pointing at a mouldy plate of beef curry and accusing a vegetarian of having produced it is beyond idiocy.

Try living with someone who convinces themselves that their s**t is your s**t, it's hell on earth!

My 3:1 is the other way round - I live with 3 guys!

Mumsy was a bit worried but it's great! I think guys are more chilled out than girls, so it's much more easy going. Plus they only take 10 minutes in the shower and catch for me! Fab!!

Q

I don't really mind that much- when I moan about it, it's a jovial type of moan. I'd just like the chance to get my own back every now and then

TK

It's amazing how the dirty dishes can accumulate without anyone having used them...

I have also noticed this.

Is there any rational scientific explanation for all this?

TK

Yes, I believe the phenomenom is known as "tunneling" - the responsibility magically disappears from one person, and appears to be anothers.

...and when this happens to everyone at the same time, the result is huge piles of dirty dishes and much (seemingly) righteous wrath...

In fact, the best thing is risking doing a bit of other people's dishes once in a while. If everyone does this, the problem goes away!

Personally, I couldn't be bothered (I'm not petty enough) with searching through the mountain of dirty plates to find only the stuff I've used.

The way I do it is I just wash whatever's there until I finish, the water gets cold, or the draining board's full (whichever comes first). The downside of this is by the end of the month there is invariably a pile of 'my' stuff which hasn't been washed up becaus the others don't follow with my washing philosophy, and only wash 'their' stuff. But there are more important things to moan about, so I just smile and carry on with it. Only when (and if) they moan at me for not doing my share do I argue, as is my inalienable right

TK