Are you the type that things have to be perfect

[street]

At one time in my early life I was more concerned about my home, cars and earthly things. I bothered me to see a scratch and to see some wear form being used.

My vehicles i wouldn't drive on gravel and they were spotless all the time.

If there was a mark on the wall in my home I would get the paint and touch it up. Not a fanatic but in time I would get it fixed hated to see it.

When I got to my 30's things like that didn't bother me any more. I have learned that those things are very minor and in most cases I have no control over what happens. I had better things to do and other concerns that were more important.

I see many people I know that are like I was early in life. I wonder if they will see it different as they age.

You can spend all your life worrying about keeping things in order and being afraid to use it because it will get a scratch etc.. LOL

 

[brett]

No. Life is too short for that.

On the plus side, we purchased a home from someone like that. It was wonderful to move into. Absolutely spotless, everything in top working order, no surprises.

 

[97guns]

I try to use everything and not care about keeping anything pristine, I take care of my car and guns but really could care less about putting a scratch on it.

My brother is a guy that NEEDS everything pristine, he has 2 Harley’s that he rarely rides but just put a new paint job on one of them and to my eyes didn’t need it.

He has a 2002 Silverado with less than 15k on the odometer, keeps it in his hot garage, tires are original and 16 years old, I’m sure there’s some rot in them.

It doesn’t make sense for me to buy things and not use them, it’s dead money in my eyes

 

[street]

Exactly life is to short. I believe being poor and the way I was raised to save and take care of things because it costs money was part of my thinking. I also ways take care of things and fix things eventually because that is important to do.

I have a neighbor that has to have the best and everything is spotless at all times. Nothing is out of place not even one leave that comes off the tree is out there picking it up. LOL

Not me I don't stress out on things like that and spend my time enjoying life not fretting over things like that. LOL

 

[Bamaman]

Our friend's mother is such a neat freak that she gets out the broom and sweeps the yard after the grass is cut and bagged. She won't eat anywhere that is not surgical room clean. And her husband ran out local mental hospital--where he must have found her.

My wife worked a regular job and came home to a house she thought had to be immaculate. Up at 5:30 am and bed at 10:30 pm was too much when she seldom sat down. When spinal stenosis kicked in, one leg would quit working and she fell twice down a set of steps. Filing for social security disability was another battle that lasted almost 3 years, as they try to starve you into submission. She has finally accepted that our house is cleaner than most, and she has mobility limitations--especially after a knee replacement 7 weeks ago. ER sometimes requires teamwork to make things reasonably close enough to perfect.

 

[kaneohe]

When I was working , one of my manager's philosophies was that at work

it was more important to do the right things than to do things right.........

I think he meant that there too many things to do and it was impossible to do everything perfectly so it was critical to prioritize your time and effort to focus on the critical tasks first.

 

[Nemo2]

Perfect? At our house one of us might say "We really should get around to.....", and the other will respond by saying "Perfect".

 

[marko]

My since-deceased neighbor was so fastidious (he was elderly and didn't have a lot else to do) that he would vacuum the cracks on the sidewalk in front of his house. Everything inside and out of that house was like it came from a Disney photo shoot.

We're not quite that bad but we do like things neat and tidy. It's not so much cleanliness as being organized.

We don't like clutter and tend to put things away after use. DW insists on having NOTHING on the kitchen counters; no coffee pot, soap dish, dish towels etc. and we both have rags in our driver's side door so that we can dust the dash when at a red light.

Some of this goes back to my first job where my boss graded us on how neat we left our desks upon leaving--a habit I continued since then--and being boat people, where everything is in place by necessity and safety.

 

[pb4uski]

.... It doesn’t make sense for me to buy things and not use them, it’s dead money in my eyes

+1 A friend of a friend is like that.

He co-owns a house in Florida with his brother... they bought it during the great recession, fixed it up but it has sat there empty for 10 years... they don't rent it or use it... just pay property taxes on it an maintain it.. are not even trying to sell it. He also has a building lot that he has owned for 10-15 years that he does nothing with other than occasionally bush-hog and pay property taxes.

Same guy has a new truck that he keep under cover and puts very little miles on it... not a collectible or anything.. a basic but nice truck... just sitting there depreciating.

Both my friend and I don't get it at all.

 

[pb4uski]

I prefer things neat and tidy.... DW could care less but is a bit of a clean freak.

Forget perfect.... decent is good enough for us.

 

[Scrapr]

My since-deceased neighbor was so fastidious (he was elderly and didn't have a lot else to do) that he would vacuum the cracks on the sidewalk in front of his house. Everything inside and out of that house was like it came from a Disney photo shoot.

We lived next to 2 retirement communities for over 20 years. Besides getting yelled at for walking on the golf course we would notice that a lot of seniors would vacuum the garage. With our busy life ours would get a quick sweep in the "bad" areas.

Now that I have a bit more time while cleaning Mrs Scrapr's car the vac will hit the high spots on the garage floor. Is this how it starts? I had no idea that the sidewalk needed help. I'm going to have to up my game, BRB

 

[COcheesehead]

There are somethings were good is good enough.

 

[audreyh1]

We have a distant neighbor who, first thing every morning, blows the stuff that’s fallen on her driveway into the street, then sweeps the street in front of her house into a dustbin to put in the trash. The inside of her house must be immaculate!

 

[CaliKid]

I am pretty ocd in this area. I try hard to defeat my perfectionist mindset though.

 

[97guns]

We have a distant neighbor who, first thing every morning, blows the stuff that’s fallen on her driveway into the street, then sweeps the street in front of her house into a dustbin to put in the trash. The inside of her house must be immaculate!

Some of these types might have some kind of behavioral disorder. I have a guy in my city that lives somewhere close to my dads old house, he likes to sweep gutters but I see him all over the city, ive seen him miles away from the neighborhood sweeping and I’ve even seen him walking to destinations unknown with his broom on his shoulder like he’s carrying a rifle, just wish he would hit my house up once in a while

 

[Jerry1]

Not too concerned about the little things. House stays clean but there is clutter. Bathrooms and kitchen matter most. Dings and scratches on cars and walls, not too concerned. May fix a wall, but cars get scratched and dings. OTOH, I am a bit crazy about things working properly. If a faucet drips or a door doesn’t shut properly, it drives me nuts until I fix it. If my car has vibration in the steering, it’s in the shop. Tires get changed before they fully wear out. But the cosmetic things, not too concerned.

 

[folivier]

There is a small town near where we live that the old-timers will mop their carports. Not every day but at least once a month.

 

[Teacher Terry]

We like our house reasonably neat and clean but are not obsessive. One funny thing is we put in AstroTurf because we live in a high desert area with lots of drought. We never imagined that stuff would stick to it and have to be picked up. So twice a year it is a 2 person job. One person rakesand the other blows all the leaves etc in a pile and throws it away. Never had to do that with real grass as the leaves would break down by themselves. Now we are vacuuming our grass)

 

[COcheesehead]

We like our house reasonably neat and clean but are not obsessive. One funny thing is we put in AstroTurf because we live in a high desert area with lots of drought. We never imagined that stuff would stick to it and have to be picked up. So twice a year it is a 2 person job. One person rakesand the other blows all the leaves etc in a pile and throws it away. Never had to do that with real grass as the leaves would break down by themselves. Now we are vacuuming our grass)

We are moving to a desert environment soon and look forward to just being able to rake our sand every once in awhile.

 

[Teacher Terry]

Many people do xero- scaping but we don’t because of the dogs. However, fake grass gets hotter than real grass. Also growing up in Wisconsin I like green. We actually love where we live with 4 mild seasons.

 

[CaliKid]

There is a small town near where we live that the old-timers will mop their carports. Not every day but at least once a month.

Funny because there is a small town near where we live that the youngsters never clean their carports. Not ever and not even at least once a month.

 

[COcheesehead]

Many people do xero- scaping but we don’t because of the dogs. However, fake grass gets hotter than real grass. Also growing up in Wisconsin I like green. We actually love where we live with 4 mild seasons.

I get the dog thing. We had a dog potty built (think big cat litter box with fake grass on top) that we used. Keeping the grass from smelling in the sun was always a problem. I think in the new house we are going to go with some kind of crushed stone that just blends into the surrounding landscape. Our dog doesn't seem to mind that surface.

 

[Chuckanut]

As I have aged, I have come to realize that it is all to easy to make perfection the enemy of the good.

So, now, 'good enough' is usually my goal with the exception of a few things where near perfection brings me much joy. Otherwise perfection just gets in the way of enjoying life.

 

[jollystomper]

I do not need things to be perfect, but I do want things to be neat. Our house inside does not need to look like a museum, but I do not like clutter.

DW and I differ somewhat on this. The best example is a clean table top. I will look at it and think "great, that is nice and neat". DW will look at it and think "great, more space to put things".

I try not to let mail pile up in the house for more than a week. I figure if no one has looked at their mail by that time, it is not important. Again an area of difference between DW and I.

We try to sweep/vacuum our high traffic areas on a consistent basis... but in truth that is driven more by us getting visitors.

I do not do much landscaping. I cut the grass once a week (with a riding mower this also doubles as "meditation/therapy time"), trim hedges and bushes about once a month, and sweep (or have any kids who are home sweep) our porch, patio, and steps once every 2 weeks or so.

Don't care about car dings/scratches, but will wash them (or have them washed) once a month.

 

[Hyper]

Yes! But it was more the fact that I didn't want anything to happen to anything because I was the one that would have to fix it which just meant more work. Living in boom / bust areas many times means fly by nighters only out for a buck. Actually same with some retirement areas. I didn't want to deal with trying to get things fixed as I would just have to fix it again!

Not like that now but still won't pay to have anything done. Easier to just do it yourself.