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Lighthearted. What trivial stuff does your OH angst about?

93 replies

SpongeBobJudgeyPants · 09/01/2021 08:34

Disclaimer. Yes, I know there are worse things to think about. I have them too, but this is a distraction from them. So if anyone says, "I wish that's all I had to worry about". A. You haven't read the OP, let alone RTFT, and B. This is no thread for negativity! I'll start. We have a very beautiful, but temperamental wall clock. It's vair old, so can be forgiven I think. The clockmaker from whom we bought it handles it splendidly, and can make it go for about 3 days on a single wind. (pre covid). But us? No....if we can get 12 hrs out of it, that's a result. You have to do this manouvre that involves holding the clock to the wall whilst winding it, re setting it, and then making the pendulum swing again, and not upsetting it while you close the glass. If it moves on the wall by about a mm, it refuses to go properly. I know this because the man originally mounted it not on the level, and not being able to stand things on the wonk, I moved it about 2mm to level it up. All hell broke loose, the clock stopped and The Clock Man had to be chased down the road to intervene, while both men acted like I'd personally killed their kitten left to them by a dying relative... So, to avoid the angsting when the clock has stopped, I rush to attend to it before he notices. I cannot stand the wailing of "The man, the man must come" in a kind of reverse version of Waiting for Godot on steroids. He is otherwise a good husband, and I know he is worried about recent redundancy etc, but for the love of all that is holy! So, please tell me yours. Tia.

OP posts:
GettingThin2021 · 15/01/2021 11:27

So many things that have already been mentioned - loading the dishwasher, having to crush all recycling before it goes outside, randomly stirring things when I’m cooking.

We are moving in around a week. We set aside a weekend to paint furniture, list stuff for sale and pack. I packed 4 boxes in the time he packed half a suitcase as he was trying on all his clothes so he could donate any that no longer fit Hmm

He is also obsessed with having all packed boxes in one room ‘so they’re out of the way’ even though it isn’t practical due to stuff that was already in the room he wants to use

He has lists of everything - places we’ve travelled to, how much every holiday we’ve ever been on has cost (he loves comparing them), whiskeys he’s tried, content of his bookshelves etc. He also has a shared list of all food in the freezer which he updates obsessively 🙄

My little acts of rebellion are - not updating the freezer list when I eat something, packing all my stuff then leaving him to realise he’s running out of time to do his, filling the dishwasher in ways that mean it’s full and everything will be clean but I know will annoy him when I know he’ll be the one emptying it and sometimes rolling my eyes behind his back 😂

Oh, I also deliberately have books on my set of shelves in no order. Drives him a bit nuts but he can’t say anything because it doesn’t effect him - his are all separated by subject then each subject is organised by author.

Hoppinggreen · 15/01/2021 11:38

My DH is obsessed with peoples Bowel habits
It’s not unusual to be quizzed on time, frequency and consistency
He’s not a poo troll though, he sees it as an indicator of health. When the DC were in nappies he was in his element but the teenagers generally tell him to bugger off
He says it’s because where he comes from (Germany) it’s a thing and German toilets often have a sort of ledge bit for inspection purposes

Daftasabroom · 15/01/2021 11:43

I do most of the cooking but whenever DW cooks something new I guarantee, I promise, every time without fail, I'll peak at the recipe and have to point out it says to soak overnight, or slow cook for six hours etc. She never reads the actual recipe just looks at the picture and the ingredient list.

Pugliandreamer · 15/01/2021 11:58

He hates my pan cupboards. The man never cooks, I love to. But God forbid he ever goes within a meter of the pan cupboard. Just the aura of it sets him off, wailing about the mess and the chaos.

SpongeBobJudgeyPants · 15/01/2021 13:34

Oh gosh, so many of us. Perhaps we should form a support group? Yes, the cooking. DH has decided he is in charge of 'assembling' meals, and pinging stuff. I wouldn't actually call it 'cooking' apart from when we have a proper meal at the weekend. But how on God's earth does it take so long! Beans on toast I swear will take me 7-10 mins, and DH will take 20. What is he doing in there? It certainly isn't tidying up as he goes. I keep saying I'm not Johnny to his Fanny Craddock. Age related reference there....

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Deathraystare · 15/01/2021 13:44

Oh, and alphabetisation. When we were prepping to move house I would be frantically packing one box while trying to keep a toddler out of another, and DH would be carefully alphabetising CDs by band name. Then by release date. He nearly brought his doom upon him during the two weeks before we moved (books/authors, DVDs/titles...).

A lesser woman would have murder on her hands....

SpongeBobJudgeyPants · 15/01/2021 13:48

I'm thinking we could have some kind of deal. What's that Hitchcock film, where 2 strangers murder the partner of the other, so no link to the victim? This could have many more people in the mix. Cement mixers could be hired in names without even a facebook link to the victim's OH, if only this weren't a public forum. Perhaps if we were all on mobiles with different IP addresses?

OP posts:
mommybunny · 15/01/2021 13:58

My DH obsesses over which hand the DCs eat with. I’m American, and for us any cutlery is a sign of poshness, so I can never get too worked up about it, but apparently I am failing my DCs by letting them eat like oiks.

ShipshapeShore · 15/01/2021 13:58

@Therainisback yes, the bedroom curtains! Drives me loopy. He likes to block the top with towels and things in the summer so you can't open them without getting smacked in the head with the end of a towel Angry The walls are also ruined where he gorilla taped the sides to the wall once. He says he has "thin eyelids" but I think he might be a vampire!

OliviaKeeling · 15/01/2021 14:20

My DH obsesses over which hand the DCs eat with

I often will eat with my fork in my right hand if it's something like shepherds pie, this gets DH watching my hand while I eat. He has commented that he doesn't like it. I say don't watch.

Mind you he's currently over the moon because we've got scampi, chips and peas tonight and he’s dreaming of defrosting everything. I have locked the door to the freezer room. Wink

Bralessandfree · 15/01/2021 15:50

I don't know what they're bloody called but the things inside the oven you put the rack on...if I don't put them in the middle of the holders "where they are meant to be" I get a lecture on oven safety.

If the drying rack has been left on with... God forbid, dry washing on it!

Letsnotargue · 15/01/2021 15:56

My OH worries about things being too complicated.

Let’s not get a new boiler because it looks like it’ll be complicated. We paid the man, he fitted a boiler, we are now warm. No complications.

Let’s not put a sink in the utility room it’ll be complicated.

The best was when I came in from the garden and he was about to take the kitchen units off the wall. He was worried about how complicated it would be to take them down and put new ones up (we are in the v slow process of doing the kitchen). We have nowhere else for the contents of the wall cupboards to go so I suggested he leave them where they are and I’ll worry about how complicated it’ll be. I’ve not started yet.

HUCKMUCK · 15/01/2021 16:07

The fucking Tax Return!!

DH is not good with paperwork or online versions of paperwork. Which is pretty astonishing as he works in an industry that relies on robust paperwork to operate legally.

He has a side job that he is registered self employed for earning about £7000 a year max. From the start he asked if I would be willing to do his tax for him as he was nervous about getting it wrong. I'm happy to oblige as he does lots for me.

However, he cannot just let me get on with it! He sits with me while I am doing it and will suddenly say 'why have you put that in' to a random field which he hasn't even read. This year I told him I was going to do it while he was out and he nearly self combusted.

Thank goodness he's wound the business down and I'll never have to do it again!!!

Also, while I'm here - pre covid, if we were in the supermarket and I couldn't immediately lay my hands on what I was looking for he'd say 'oh well, we can always come back for it'. Why? Why would we come back?! (Not really the theme of the thread but you got me started!!!!)

Pugliandreamer · 15/01/2021 16:24

@Cedilla

it’s like being married to the Good Housekeeping reader award panel

This made me laugh rather a lot.

With my DH it’s the lawn. We have quite a big garden and a fairly big lawn and he is the one who cuts it. In the spring and summer I get a lot of loud I Am Going To Mow The Lawn!! announcements, followed by long disquisitions on the state of said lawn (always bad), the lumps and bumps he finds unacceptable, what should be done to it to get it into shape...on and on and bloody on.

I wouldn’t mind so much but the rest of the garden is completely left to me and he has zero interest in any of it nor in the hard work involved in any of the veg I grow etc, though he doesn’t seem to mind eating the fruits of my labours.

Ifnitbwasnt for the size of the lawn, I'd worry you were my mother Grin my DF is obsessed with his lawn. When I phone for a weekly chat I always get a lawn update. It's not even that big but is of MAJOR CONCERN.
Cedilla · 15/01/2021 16:47

Pugliandreamer I promise I’m not your mother Grin

DH’s other great hobbyhorse is the internet connection. I daren’t even whisper that it seems to be running a bit slow or else he’ll start going on about CONTENTION ISSUES for hours, until I want to rip his head off (figuratively speaking, you understand).

sheslittlebutfierce · 15/01/2021 17:02

Mine stresses if the microwave is not left on zero ... I deliberately leave it with 2 or 3 seconds on the clock lol

Lullaby88 · 15/01/2021 17:13

I get a mouthful if i lock him out as my key is in the door. Always by mistake and i open it as soon as i hear th knocks but hes still mega pissed off!
Also if i tickle him in the middle of the night whilst he is sleeping. Where is th fun lol.

SpongeBobJudgeyPants · 15/01/2021 17:17

@HUCKMUCK

The fucking Tax Return!!

DH is not good with paperwork or online versions of paperwork. Which is pretty astonishing as he works in an industry that relies on robust paperwork to operate legally.

He has a side job that he is registered self employed for earning about £7000 a year max. From the start he asked if I would be willing to do his tax for him as he was nervous about getting it wrong. I'm happy to oblige as he does lots for me.

However, he cannot just let me get on with it! He sits with me while I am doing it and will suddenly say 'why have you put that in' to a random field which he hasn't even read. This year I told him I was going to do it while he was out and he nearly self combusted.

Thank goodness he's wound the business down and I'll never have to do it again!!!

Also, while I'm here - pre covid, if we were in the supermarket and I couldn't immediately lay my hands on what I was looking for he'd say 'oh well, we can always come back for it'. Why? Why would we come back?! (Not really the theme of the thread but you got me started!!!!)

Oh goodness. The tax return... I hate it, and would outsource it, but as I have to do the books as we go along, as he would leave it in a dreadful mess, it just makes sense to do it. I have been promised a fab weekend away, as I am not on the payroll. Like that's going to happen any time soon Hmm
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