I just informed Ray that he’s going to have to pay for the refinishing of his room. He’s obviously not pleased about it. (Reminder of the state of Ray’s walls here.)

I’ve yet to get a painter in for an estimate, but I’ve told Ray that the cost of filling the holes and painting the room will come out of his damage deposit.

Ray has argued back that the room will be in better condition than it was when he moved in, since it didn’t have fresh paint when he arrived. Therefore, while he has no problem with covering the cost of filling the holes, he doesn’t think he should pay for the entirety of the paint job.

My argument is that had he not punched hundreds of tiny holes in the walls, the room wouldn’t need to be painted at all. And I’m certainly not going to take on the financial responsibility of painting it after he leaves, because it will have to be done eventually. There’s no way of repairing that particular damage to the point it was at when he moved in. If there was a finish called “two year old paint job” then you can be sure I’d have that put on the walls.

But really, if he broke or damaged something concrete, such as a dish, and was asked to replace it, I wonder if he’d try to amortize how long I’ve had that dish, and what condition it was in, and just give me his perceived “actual value”, instead of buying a new one to replace it?

I’m so fed up, I’m about thisclose to starting in on a very politically incorrect “Cheap and Stingy Asian Person” tirade (though I won’t…).

So what I want to know is this: Would you give Ray a break on the cost of painting, since the room wasn’t freshly painted when he moved in? Or would you stick him with the whole cost, since it wouldn’t need to be fixed if he hadn’t ruined it in the first place?

Urge… to… KILL…..

I am not going to survive the next three weeks with Ray.

He asked me this morning to buy more coffee, since we were nearly out. I hadn’t caffeinated yet, so I just nodded.

After I left, I started thinking… uhm… I’ve made about 3 pots of coffee here since he bought the last tin (I usually hit $tarbux or Timmy’s on my way out), so he can buy more coffee if he wants it.

I get home, he’s here making more stinky food. So I say “Hey, you know, I haven’t actually made much of any coffee since you bought that one. You’re the coffee drinker – just so ya know.” I also asked what was up with him leaving the glasses out on the counter. Apparently he doesn’t want to put “my stuff” away. Uh huh.

So I lost it. And he lost it back. He thinks he’s been doing the lion’s share around here (because he’s “been buying all the paper towel and toilet paper.. but who’s keeping track”) and I think we’ve come to terms witht he fact that we do not like living with eachother.

I am seriously contemplating leaping on the “keeping track” bandwagon and calculating how much he owes of the $62 in overages due on the hydro since he moved in, or the tiny things he’s demanded get fixed or adjusted to his needs (the outlet in the bathroom for one), or how about some usage amortization on the cutlery, dishes, appliances, pots and pans of mine he uses, or maybe labour for cleaning the bathroom, since I’m the only one who does that too.

I can’t wait to tell him about having his room painted, just to see him blow up again!

Also, it’s been about 20 minutes since I originally posted this, and my heart is still all thumpity thumping with righteous indignation!

Update: I posted this around 5pm, and am re-reading at at 11:30pm. Holy Hannah I’m an uppity brat! Ah well. All the more reason not to inflict myself on others. And for the record, Ray did apologize to me after he came home from the gym. So I still win.

This is a picture of Ray’s room. Click on the photos for links to Flickr complete with notes explaining the bizarreness of it all.

Ray is obsessed with America.

If America were a woman, Ray would want her to tie him down, spank him, and call him her bitch. Or, as he likes to say it, he wants to be the next Tom Brokaw

And to Ray I say “good luck – and work on that stutter.” Then again, Ray also told me he voted Conservative in the last election, because the Liberals needed to be “punished” for the sponsorship scandal. I asked him why not vote NDP, and he looked like he might throw up at the mere mention of the word. So I’m sure American media will welcome him with open arms.

Ray’s manifesto is Brokaw’s autobiography. Since Brokaw claims boned up on politics by reading the biographies of every president, that’s what Ray’s doing. The pages you see lining the upper walls are tear-sheets of every American President in history. He’s also got multiple maps (all of the same country of course – because the rest of the world doesn’t actully matter) around his room with post-it flags on them denoting the locations of things he thinks are important, or newsworthy or whatever.

Of course, I’m not sure what newsworthy means in his world – because while he may know presidents, he’s not exactly up on politics. I uttered the phrase “fiscally conservative” and he asked me to explain it. fiscal = financial, conservative = conservative. His follow-up to that? But don’t the Conservatives want to cut taxes? Oy. conservative != Conservative there champ. Then again, it’s that kind of ignorance that keeps Fox News running, so again – bully for him!

So Ray spends his days sitting at his “Command Centre” (that’s what his calls his desk setup), reading his homework scripts, and flipping between Fox News, Bloomberg, MSNBC, BBC, and back to Fox News.

I thought his whole obsession was just odd, and didn’t really think much about it. But now that he’s leaving, it’s going to be a fiscal issue for him. Each piece of paper on his walls (go ahead, scroll up and take a look at it again… I’ll wait… finished? moving on…) is held there with four pushpins. You can see them pretty clearly in the full-size of the closet picture – he’s used black ones on the Clinton/Bush wall.

Now imagine, his 9×11 foot room is COVERED in these push-pin holes. One or two isn’t a big deal, but a whole room-worth? That’ll need to be filled and sanded before it can be painted over. And I’m sure as hell not doing it, or paying for it when it’s time for me to move out and reclaim my deposit. I’m guessing Ray might ask if he could do it himself, but he can’t operate dishwasher detergent, so I don’t think home renovation is a good step for him.

He already asked me how much he paid as a damage deposit, so I doubt he’ll be pleased to know he’s not getting all of it back. I wonder how much of a freakout I’ll have to endure over this one, or if my “unreasonable” status will be upgraded…

I present to you, yet another thing that drives me INSANE about Ray, which also proves that my intolerance is so inflated that I’m just not fit to live with other people in general.

Ray eats stinky food.

I don’t know if I ever mentioned (because it doesn’t really matter) but Ray’s Korean. When he first moved in, he asked if I cooked much, and what I ate. He then said that he’s not a very good cook (duh) and eats mostly western food.

And indeed he did. He subsisted through most of June, July and August on Pizza Pops, Mini Pizzas, Mr. Noodles, KD and Sandwiches. And the occasional container of takeout. There was even a point in time where Ray spent a few days at his parents house, and when he came back, he apologised for smelling like Korean Food, and promptly laundered and febreezed everything he had with him.

But now that Ray has been consumed with schoolwork since the beginning of September, his all-chemical diet has ceased to suffice. And since he still can’t cook for himself, this means his mom has started supplying him with her cooking, 3 days at a time.

And it’s all Korean Food.

Which means it smells like Garlic and Cabbage. That has been refrigerated for 3 days. Then microwaved.

Not that I’m opposed to Korean food in general (I love me a good bi bim bap) – however if I wanted to live in a Korean restaurant, I would. I don’t.

But what am I going to do? Say “dude, your food stinks – stop eating!” ? The fridge has pounds baking soda in it – still smells. The dishes are rinsed out and go in the dishwasher pretty much right away – still smells. I’m boiling lemon water in the microwave weekly – still smells.

Seriously, what would you do? I’ve waited this long – I’m tempted to just wait it out till he’s gone, and invest in a heavy steam cleaning and lots of febreeze. But if you’ve got any other suggestions, bring em on!