Woes of a Two Bedroom

Okay so I'm posting today to try to figure out how to handle a pesky roommate situation. When the ex and I decided to move in together, which I now realize he agreed to because he had nowhere else to go and not actually because he wanted to live with me, I gave up a one bedroom apartment in the city that I absolutely loved. It was in a great location, was an actual one bedroom and I could walk everywhere I wanted to go in the city. The ex and I moved very nearby in a quite fabulous one bedroom that topped even the one I had before. Of course anyone who's read this blog knows what happened shortly after. In any case, I was forced to quickly find a roommate and move to a less desirable, though still pretty cool part of town. I gave up the luxury of walking around my apartment naked, not that I ever did that, I always had at least my heels on. I gave up walking to the grocery store nearby or to all of my friends' places or most importantly, to the bars. Now I cab it everywhere or drive or *gasp* metro. It sucks, but isn't unbearable.

I was also forced to get a new roommate because I could not really afford another one bedroom. The one I had was a terrific deal that was snatched up as soon as I said I was not renewing my lease there. I knew I'd never get a deal like that again. @#$%ing ex boyfriend. Grrr. So anyway, I found a roommate through craigslist and we met up and got along and so decided to move in together. For the last six months or so, things have been okay. We don't interact much, he stays in his room and I stay on the couch basically if I'm home. I don't have a television in my room, but he does. We split the cost for the cable. I typically pay it because it is in my name and he writes me a check. Well the last check he wrote was for two months, which of course I lost (or it oddly disappeared from the counter where it had been sitting) and so I mentioned to him I could not find it. I also brought up the fact that when he was cleaning this weekend, he used polish on my coffee table I bought with the ex. This coffee table is my favorite thing in my apartment. I paid $600 for it (before shipping) and love it. It was the one thing I demanded I keep in the divorce, though of course I kept everything (emotional distress and all that). Well you cannot use polish or Endust or anything like that on this coffee table b/c of the finish. Well he did and now its fucked up. So I brought that up in this email where I mentioned the lost rent check.

So last night, he mentions to me that he'll write another check if I cannot find it. Then he says, oh, since I don't really use the DVR (in the living room) and don't have it on my tv in my room, can you just pay for that? Okay let me just say that while I think its perfectly normal to ask to not pay for something you're not using, his not using it is in his own deal. I have never told him he cannot and we agreed to get it when we moved in together. That and the DVR service is FIVE DOLLARS a month. So I was a bit miffed and wanted to say, okay, but take that $2.50 you're saving every month and prepare to buy me a new coffee table with it. But being the sweetheart I am, I said fine and left it alone. I split the cost for him to have TV in his room and while he may see the living room tv as "my" tv since he never really watches it, it's in public space. If that's how its going to work, I'm going to move the damn tv into my bedroom so I can watch it there. This is why I hate roommate situation. I know I am not the cleanest bitch in the world. I leave dishes in the sink, I forget to load the dishwasher or take out the trash and I leave shit lying around. But he's never anywhere in the apartment but his room. And its been like that from the very beginning. Maybe he feels that because the living room furniture is mine and I'm always in there, it's "my" space but I don't think I've ever acted that way. I don't have a tv in my room. I watch a lot of TV when at home. So naturally I'm always in the living room. He gets home before me, if he wants to watch TiVoed shows, he's more than welcome to. He tapes Oprah every day and never watches it. Well last night, his Season Passes on TiVo were quickly removed. If you're not paying, you're not watching. I hate to be petty, but it annoyed the hell out of me that you ruin my coffee table but choose to complain about a $2.50 charge you pay for DVR service and then have the audacity to not even bring up the fact I mentioned you ruined my coffee table.

I have got to get myself together so that I can move out at the end of this lease and find another ONE BEDROOM. Or better yet, finally light a fire and buy a place so I NEVER have to MOVE or deal with a ROOMMATE again!

All in all, he's a nice guy. And maybe money is tighter for him than for me, I have no idea. Maybe I'm an annoying prick who dominates the apartment and I just don't realize it. But I have a feeling that even if I was as sweet as pie, always cooked and cleaned and did the chores, he'd still stay in his room.

Sorry - had to vent. Thoughts? Am I being irrational? Maybe I've just been without a roommate for too long to remember proper roommate protocol.