Janice, I am compulsive about correct spelling and using proper English in my posts. I am also compulsive about the same things when I send emails, both personal and work emails. Also, I am compulsive about making sure there are
"spaces" between pictures and the text above the pictures when I post on GW. A perfect example of this is when I recently updated "My Page" and I had to ask how to get spaces in between paragraphs and pictures. Everything has to be "just so" before I submit it. This does take extra time, but it drives me nuts to go back and read a post or email later and find a word missing or misspelled. I am definitely not one to claim I'm a perfect speller or always use proper English, but I do the best I can...

Oh, and I am also compulsive about opening each and every piece of junk mail that arrives at my house. I know by looking at the envelope what is junk mail and what isn't, but I have to open each one and rip the contents to shreds. Maybe I'm paranoid about throwing them away in-tact, and the possibility an identity thief could find them and get credit in my name...

Buff

.... " .... " .... ken

LOL--Buff, I'm the same way about the spellings, etc.! I just thought if I admitted that
along with the other factor, I'd be really "scary"! Oh, and not that you ARE--at least,
not to me, since I "understand"! LOL

I'm also compulsive about having to have my home in nearly "perfect" order
when we leave for a trip, including all the dirty laundry done and nothing left
behind in the hamper.

I suspect, it's because if "something" were to happen and someone had to come in
and "deal with" my stuff and household, I wouldn't want them to think too badly
of me! Groan--I think that's called "pride"--and I'm guilty of it in that area, for sure!!!

In fact, my home has to be "nearly" perfect when folks pay a visit, especially a "first" visit.
Fifteen mins. after they are here, I don't care!! I guess I just want folks to know that there
is "potential" and that I CAN get it together on "occasion", at least!!! Otherwise, my home
can be a tad untidy, since I'm doing so many "other things" such as this, and playing in the
garden, visiting sick friends, going out to lunch with "well" friends, dropping in on hosta-buddies,
scouting for cheap whiskey barrels, looking for rock sources, doing various "studies" etc.! LOL

And, here was an "occasion" where I HAD TO open up my Outlook Express and "create
a message" page to type the word "occassion" and make sure it was correctly spelled, which
it wasn't! Is that how you make sure of your spellings? :o)

Now, who else???

OMG! Ken - I don't think I've seen you post on this side yet!

Glad to have you and remember ............ no swearing! :-)

T

LOL--ken--so good to see you posting! Took me a minute--but I got it, finally!

janice

i never swear ... just talk about rats with gills .... aka... carp ... if you make something else about it .... well then maybe you are dyslexic .... or would that be cixelsyd ????

ken

PS: in person is another thing.. lol ...

Yes, I too am compulsive about having the house in order before folks come to visit. I am convinced I inherited that trait from my mother, who is the exact same way... It drives my husband nuts. He could care less if the house is clean or not when people come to visit. I guess my thought is the cleanliness (or lack thereof) of a person's house is a reflection of the person themselves...

Buff

Oh, and Ken, I love using periods when I write too...

My husband feels the same way, Buff! But, I always counter with:

"But, when people see things not at their best, they woouldn't think, 'gee,
Steve sure is a poor house-keeper', now would they!" Case closed! LOL

Funny though, I NEVER feel critical of other people if their place is not at it's best.
I guess I just feel more "comfortable"! Sometimes, a "sterile" environment
can feel so "cold" and uninviting, don't you think? Something between "disaster"
and "sterile" suits me best!

janice

Ooops! I missed out on that misspelling!!! Oh, noooooo (hands wringing)!

I do "misspell" on purpose for "drama" at times, but not that one!!!!

janice

Gosh, Ken, try not to be so long winded next time! lol :)

Compulsive, I'm sure I'm compulsive about something, I just haven't figured out what yet.

Diann

I am also compulsive about spelling,mainly because I've always been able to spell correctly,(one of my very few talents),but if you see me spell a word incorrectly,it's because I don't type well! If I had ever known I would be typing someday,I would have taken it in high school! In my day,only girls took typing class!lol! I really don't have OCD,but I know some people who do,and it drives me nuts! Phil

OK Janice and Buff - you're scaring me. For one thing I can't spell though I consider myself well educated and above average in intellignece. I read continually but don't absorbe the spelling. I can check this on email etc. but not here. Oh well.... I am also far from compulsive about the house being tidy. I like it that way but can't seem to accomplish it. If I were to swing my camera in a slightly different direction when I'm taking pictures of the garden you would all be shocked. My husband is a pack rat who has filled a 3 car garage, barn, open storage area and things are flowing out to the driveway. That DOES drive me nuts but he's so busy I'll likely be dead by the time he does anything about it. The easiest solution is to turn my back on it. As far as a compulsion - I realize it's to put a picture with just about everything I do. I love taking the pictures for one thing, but like to see what I'm reading about and hope you do too.

OCD I'm familiar with, indirectly, rather than personally, thank God--for real--not said flippantly!

It's a terrible thing to have such a thing! I know wonderful folk who suffer so much
because of this disorder!

We're having fun with something that really isn't a chemical disorder and I hope
I don't make anyone feel badly in this jesting about our "idiosyncrasies" (do you think
I had to look that one up?)!!!

janice

LOL McT--don't be scared!! It happens--we all do it, the spelling thing! Sometimes, it's
even more funny that way!!!

And "pack rat"--I know about that one, too!! Thankfully, it's mostly confined to our detached
garage--two-stories worth! Sigh!

And hey, Phil--you haven't "lost it" yet--you spelled OCD correctly!(smile)

janice

I am a compulsive procrastinator.
I will clean the house today...
I will bake today...
I will not garden today...
and for the record my 11 year old has OCD (my husband too, imagine how he likes it in my life LOL!!)
and I am not offended, this is a fun thread.

Is it compulsive, when I write my posts first in Microsoft Word, so I can use 'spell checker', then copy and paste them here? LOL! Yep, for the longer ones, that's exactly what I do!

As long as we're telling all our secrets, I have this real compulsion about using the correct, "to/too" in my writing.

For example: I'm "too" crazy about working in the hosta garden, "to" worry about keeping a 'white glove test' house! Do you feel that way, "too"?

Janice, I'm not sure what you mean about 'lining up your posts'. Don't they do that automatically? I've never had to do that. In fact, the only time I've had to scroll across a page is when someone has posted a very large picture along with their post. Then, the text seems to go as far across the page as the picture. Am I missing something?

Micke, what a nice post! You are a very strong person. Down to earth. I have no "posting on GW" compulsions besides spelling, but it is for me only. I don't care if anyone misspells anything, if I can figure out what they are saying. If I do it, overlook it.

No, you're right megaul...it automatically lines up. LOL Janice, bless your heart - you're working awfully hard for nothing! ;)

It actually probably has something to do with the resolution your monitor is set to. If it's a low resolution, ie 800x600, you may have to scroll. I have mine on 1280x1024 so don't scroll for nuttin'. hehe

As for compulsions....hmmmmm...not really "hard core". I don't like cabinet doors open, that bugs me.

Once I decide on a place for a decorative item, it has to stay in that spot. Ok...yes, I do....as I'm writing this I realize I do. LOL It makes me nuts if pictures are crooked on the wall. I also like my items to stay where I put them. Don't confuse that for a "neat freak" by any stretch of the imagination. LOL It takes me a little longer to figure out how to arrange a room or decorative space but once I do, it stays that way forEVER. I'm not a room changer. If someone picks up an item, looks at it and sets it down off of its "spot"....when they walk away I have to scoot it over to where it belongs so things aren't off balance.

Great, I'm a balance obsessor. lol

Okay, maybe I need to better explain my "lining up" issues! When I construct my messages, I will usually type all the way through it, and then go back and break the sentences where they will come out the same, or close on the margins! In this instance, with this paragraph, I have let the words fall where they may and have not done any editing!! Isn't it longer across your screen?

Now this one, I will allow to fill up the page but I will go back and break (break)
the sentence and when the thought continues to the next line or two they will(break)
all line up, hopefully, fairly evenly as a paragraph of sentences with even margins!(no break needed)

Okay, another way of showing what I do--I will reproduce the first paragraph,
word for word but this time I will edit it and make it look "right" to me!
Forget the content, just notice the configuration of the whole of it:

Okay, maybe I need to better explain my "lining up" issues! When I construct my message,
I will usually type all the way through it, and then go back and break the sentences where
they will come out the same, or close on the margins! In this instance, with this paragraph,
I have let the words fall where they may and have not done any editing!!(Isn't it shorter this
time, across your screen and more of the look of a "block" of words?)

My other "compulsion" is when the sentence structure breaks at a point where the sentence wouldn't read right, like a continued thought broken up by having to drop down to the next line to get it out right! Does that make any sense? For instance in the paragraph before this one, in parenthesis I have "Isn't it shorter this (break) time.." I can't stand it that I broke before the word "time" with a comma rather than breaking after the comma!!! But, if I did do that, the sentence would have stuck out too far and wouldn't have lined up with all the others! Sigh!! This paragraph, I let configure as it would without my painstaking "editing"!

Please don't tell me, that I have been working so hard to make things "look" better
and then they don't afterall??? Just shoot me, okay!!!

Janice

I can see the difference but still have 3" of space at the end of each of your "long" lines before the end of my 17" screen. LOL

Wow! Well, although I think I can spell OK, I tend to type 'sloppy' and don't go back to correct typing errors. Not a compulsion for me!

But....the clean house? Not just when company is coming. But always. We joke that when our house is dirty, it looks better than many when theirs is clean. My DH is also that way. When we vacuum our living room, there has to be a certain pattern of stripes in the carpet. People actually comment on it - I think it makes them afraid to step in the room. Just our little hang up!

Although I'm not OCD I frequently joke that I have a little bit of that in me. I never do anything half way. I'm known at work for being detailed orientated - if something requires a lot of detail give it to me.

Interesting reading about all your compulsions.....

I don't have any......I'm perfect.......Just kidding!!

I'm with Ademink on the crooked picture thing...can't stand to see crooked pictures....anywhere......my fingers just itch to straighten them and quite often I do.

I also have a compulsion to finish things right away ......drives my hubby nuts.

This forum is tricky 'cause I can't finish reading all the posts 'cause I really do have to go to bed sometime! It's usually late when I check in here.

June

I had to think about this for a bit....I am sure I have a lot of compulsions....here are a couple.

Whenever I see someone's tag hanging out the back of their shirt or sweater, I want to tuck it in. Of course, when it's people I don't know, I don't do it, but I have a hard time focusing on a conversation with someone when I know the tag is hanging out!

I always turn the toilet paper roll so that the paper is coming off over the top. If I'm staying in a hotel room I have to change it, and if I'm visiting someone for several days and have a bathroom to myself, same thing.

~Angie

When I get up for the day, not just a bathroom run, I HAVE to make the bed before leaving the bedroom.

Unmade beds are totally beyond my tolerance.

I know. It's a compulsion :-)

I have to say that after reading through this thread, what I thought were just personal quirks with me, others have them too, lol.

I don't consider myself a neat freak, but I do like things in their place, and like Andrea, if someone moves something, it bugs me until I can get it set back in just the right spot. My husband teases me and tells eveyone that when I'm away, he can move something a fraction of an inch and when I get home I'll know it's been moved, lol.

I'm that way in my garden too. I think I've moved every plant that I have at least twice, trying to get it in just the right place, lol.

I also try to have the spelling in my postings correct, but I don't criticize others if their spelling isn't perfect. Typos happen, lol.

I'm glad I'm in good company here :-))

Janet

Ha! I have a friend that is REALLY bad about things being a certain way, her mother went over to her house with this awesome new cleaner wiped down a small portion of the wall with it (my friend is a smoker, so you know the smoke build up) hollered at her daughter to come see how the new cleaner worked, then took off with the cleaner! She came out of the bathroom and you should of seen the look on her face, she moved a picture to cover the 'clean' spot. couldn't stand it and ten minutes later she ran down to her moms house and demanded the cleaner and spent 2 days cleaning her walls, plus had to go back to the store for 3 bottles of the stuff 'cause then she had to clean every wall in her house.

I'm afraid I'm a compulsive "locker." I seem to automatically lock the house doors without thinking whenever I go past and notice one unlocked. I can't tell you how many times I've accidentally locked my hubby out of the house. Poor guy!! But hey, at least I don't set the alarm system every time.... LOL

The other day I got up at 5 am to go for a leak....when I came back in the bedroom, my wife had make the bed. How about that for efficiency?????
Marsha: my wife beats you....LOL

Papou