Top 5 signs you are anal-retentive

  1. You keep large redundant amounts of all your sundries such as laundry detergent so that you never risk running out.
  2. You don’t just sort the money in your wallet by $1, $5, $10, or $20, but also sort the bills by wear-and-tear so that you get rid of the bills in the worst shape first.
  3. You look up anal-retentive to see whether it needs a hyphen.
  4. You don’t just keep a grocery list, you micro-optimize order of the items on the grocery list so that you only make one pass through the grocery store.
  5. After a power outage or when Daylight Savings Time starts or ends, you feel the need to set all your clocks to the same minute and second.
  6. It really irritates you when someone says a list has 5 items and you count six.

How about you? What do you do that might be a tad anal-retentive?

137 Responses to Top 5 signs you are anal-retentive (Leave a comment)

  1. Let’s see…all I have is:

    1. Also use the flip side of post-it notes to guarantee maximum paper usage
    2. Always gas up on Thursday so I don’t have to waste my weekend time (which is usually open anyway)

  2. * not only do you check that every item in your credit card statement has a corresponding receipt of same amount, but you also add up all the amounts to double-check the bank’s math.

  3. Actually I set the clocks in my apartment in a cascade, each a few minutes faster than the next, so that I always have a little more time than I think in my morning routine. Not sure if that is better or worse.

  4. 7. When someone calls you anal-retentive, you tell them the preferred word is “meticulous.”

    8. You have a system for loading the dishwasher and don’t allow anyone else to load it (unless you’re out of town).

    By the way, #4 on your list isn’t anal-retentive … it’s smart! πŸ™‚

  5. 9. My brother in law will only use 1 color of pegs on each of the 4 sides of the clothes line. You are definitely not allowed to mix up the colors!!

  6. 9. You double proof read even your casual emails send to friends.
    (I hate it, but iI just can’t stop it… πŸ™‚ )

  7. You’re anal-retentive if you always think that things always belong to a specific category.

  8. Dave (original)

    I hate text message abbreviations.

  9. I look up anal-retentive to see the difference between calling someone anal-retentive and, you know, the other A word.

  10. All of my locker items at work are organized alphabetically and with symmetry by height on my shelf!

  11. -at dunkin donuts counter you order “iced-medium-2 sugars-1 cream” as opposed to “medium iced coffee, 1 cream and 2 sugars” because when the server hears medium he immediately reaches for the medium HOT cup and when he hears ICED next– it jars him for a sec as hes gotta backpeddle to put the cup back and restart. His next move is for the sugar so if you tell him cream first again it jars him. all to save saying 1 word “coffee” and maybe 2 seconds.

    -you write about your silly behavior on a blog, and edit and re–edit to get it right.

  12. You get pissed by OSS projects written by kids whose idea of documentation is a list of methods and or an trivial example showing 1+1 = 2 but totally ignoring the real world use.

    And yes I am talking about Joomla here though it’s not the only culprit or even the worse.

    I want proper documentation just like McCrackenβ€˜s book on FORTRAN.

  13. CRAP!!! I guess the fact that I fold up take-out food wrappers and neatly place them in the bag and THEN neatly fold the bad before throwing it in the trash is yet another example of this “anal-retentive” behavior of which you speak. (Oh, and I’ll bet that the fact that I CAN NOT bring myself to end a sentence in a preposition would be yet ANOTHER anal-retentive trait!)

    Matt – you’ve officially RUINED my day! πŸ™‚

  14. 7. You read other people’s “Top 5 Signs You Are Anal-Retentive” lists to get good ideas about how to be more “organized”. πŸ™‚

    -c

  15. Robert Konigsberg

    I like your suggestion about how to sort dollar bills! I usually sorted them by denomination and serial number.

  16. Happily, based on your list – I am oh so very NOT anal retentive. πŸ™‚

  17. When someone tells me they’ve sent me a mail, I’ll sit clicking send/receive until it arrives. Does this make me anal-retentive?

  18. I do 2, 3 and 5.

    Plus I organize my fast food tray into sixth divisions.

    I separate burger, drink, napkins, fries, disposed packets of condiments and unspoiled condiments respectively in a zigzag format.

    And no I do not apply this format to everything πŸ™‚

  19. Let’s face it: This list and most of our responses are a tad anal-retentive. (Really. How many people bother to capitalize the first word of a full sentence after a colon any more?)

    But one of the most anal-retentive actions I’ve ever heard of is showering at night (regardless of how inactive you’ve been) because it means you’ll be clean for six or seven hours before you start getting dirty again. Added bonus: It keeps the sheets cleaner.

  20. You intentionally lower your typing speed to avoid typos – and you actually derive certain twisted satisfaction from watching the words appearing slower than usual in MS Word.

    Based on that alone, I suspect I am an anal-retentive writer (by the way, I have done the shopping list thing, I kid you not!)

  21. I can think of some additional signs.
    -you arrange your personal CD collection alphabetically
    -you read while driving, so as not to miss an instant of productivity
    -even post-Ring, you continue buying Connells albums (don’t want a gap in the collection)
    -to be thrifty, you discover terrifying uses for excess condiments (mustard on bagels, e.g.)
    – I’ve never heard of anyone arranging the bills in their wallet. Brother, you’re gonna need TWO hyphens for your anal-retentative-ed-ness.

  22. From an engineering perspective, I believe it is more precise to refer to this modality as anal-captive. πŸ˜‰

    Great post Matt!

    And sigh, I’m guilty of #4 too.

  23. Oh my gosh, I thought I was the only freak in the world who did #4!

  24. When somebody is describing something inaccurately, with intent to hype the story further along while not necessarily being factual.

    This bugs me probably more than any other anal-retentive action.

  25. I have almost every non-spam piece of email sent to me since 1985. Some on 5 1/4″ floppy, for which I don’t even have a working drive anymore, and some on cartridge tape for which I also no longer have any working drives.

    Plus most of the rest of the stuff on your list and a lot more.

  26. 10. You pretty print any code that you touch.

  27. 11. When you have one sock drawer for colored socks and one for white socks and you do not let your significant other to put your clothes away. Same for neckties….( I am guilty of the dishwasher sin)

  28. WOW!!!

    Never thought there was a word to describe these activities.

    I am glad that I am not one πŸ™‚

  29. Worryingly, I’m worse than most of those things on the list…

    1 – yes… if world war 3 begins, I think I probably have enough toilet paper to last it out (I also usually buy lots in a sale at once)
    2 – even more so: I try to avoid using cash at all as it’s such a hassle. I also try and get rid of low denominational coins as much as possible.
    3 – I probably use more hyphens than most…
    4 – even more so: food is brought directly to my door (seriously, once you’ve got kids, you just don’t want to spent 4 hours in a supermarket every weekend or two)
    5 – even more so: yes I do, but I’ve also got a wall clock in my house which picks up the time from a radio signal – the source is an atomic clock so is only about 1 second out ever thousand years or so πŸ™‚ … I set everything to this. (not sure if you’ve got such a radio signal in the USA?)
    6 – I think the best answer to this is a similar blog post by Linux Torvalds – http://torvalds-family.blogspot.com/2009/02/25-things-about-me.html

  30. Gah, my muscle memory has typed “Linux Torvalds” rather than “Linus Torvalds”!

    (and I did it again when I typed this, even though I was consciously trying not to!)

  31. Hrm, other things I do:
    – I have a specific way of crossing a traffic-light-controlled junction I have to walk past on my way to work – if I can, I even cross diagonally in the middle in the middle of the traffic lights changing, so I can avoid crossing the road twice (hey, Pythagoras and all that! :))
    – Actually, I think I use Pythagoras when walking more than most… πŸ™‚
    – When I come in to work in the morning, I do things (make toast, boil kettle, turn on PC, load programs) in a certain order to minimize the amount of time I’m waiting for something.
    – I might have the world’s most sorted NAS file system. Software organised by platform, type, product, and other sub-bits
    – I use the back door to the office because it saves around 5 seconds on the way in.
    – I hang laundry in a certain way, with the things that are wettest in the areas I know dry faster, and re-arrange things if my wife lays them out differently
    – I’ve bought a big bundle of socks (well, one white set and one black set) and gotten rid of my old ones – that way, I never have to match odd socks.
    – I’d say “anally-retentive” not “anal-retentive” (maybe it’s an Americanism?)
    – I reply to a Matt Cutts post about signs of being anal-retentive

    With regards to the others people have listed… definitely guilty of #10 (oh, so much lost time!), used to do #11 ’till I re-organised things again.

  32. You are so annoyed at a person who always mixes “you’re” and “your,” and when you hear him speak, you cringe because you know he’s SAYING the wrong spelling as well! πŸ™‚

  33. I had the dishwasher affliction and didn’t even realize it was a problem until I read Matt McGee’s comment. All this time, I thought I experimenting with different ways of loading the dishwasher to maximize the amount of dishes washed while allowing enough space between the dishes so that everything will be washed cleanly. And, I swear, my way of loading the dishwasher is better …

  34. himynameis john

    I do; 1, 2, 4, 5 & 6… so does that make me a full blown anal-intentive person? I hope not, my OCD won’t take it. πŸ˜€

  35. Dave- I hear you on the “you’re” and “your”! Don’t forget “there”, “their”, and “they’re”, aaaannnnd…”two”, “to”, and “too”. Yeah, I’m really anal-retentive when it comes to correct spelling and grammar! Hehehehe.

    • Anne Luczkowski

      My brain explodes every time I hear people say “jewlery” instead of “jewelry, or “chimeny” instead of “chimney”, and also the words you posted. I have to have the light switches in right position of on and off in a room where there are two sets of switches. I will not push the switch down to turn on a light, I will walk across the room to the other switch to turn on the light. Now that is anal!

  36. @Eee PC Blogger: LOL, maybe it would make sense if you could proof read.

  37. Top 5 signs you are anal-retentive, and then you list 6??? I hate it when people get teh basics wrong πŸ˜€

  38. 12. You can’t start working until your desktop is clean of unwanted icons. But what about the folders on the desktop? Are those organized?

  39. I have a particular way that clothes have to be folded for maximum wrinkle reduction. My husband just took over doing the laundry, but before I would let him, he had to promise to do it MY way.

  40. I can’t sleep with dirty dishes in the sink.
    I wash my coffee carafe/filter bucket after each use.
    I always, always put two ice cubes in my glass of water – not one, not three or more. But in glasses of iced tea/soda etc. I don’t mind if there are more than two ice cubes.
    I often find myself re-folding tee shirts for no real reason…I just thought of this, because I did it yesterday…and I had folded and put laundry away the day before.
    I do not abbreviate in text messages or emails, either. It’s annoying!!
    I clean out/organize my wallet weekly, often every day.

    ….Yikes.

  41. @Maurice – McKracken on FORTRAN? How many of us are old enough to understand *that* reference?

    @Ian M – We Americans tend to insert unnecessary words and syllables, as in “off of” and “preventative”, so I’d say it would be more American to say “anally-retentative-modality”. Clocks sync-ed to atomic time do exist in the US. I sync to GPS time. The satellites have to compensate for relativistic time-dilation in order to geo-locate, so it’s got to be pretty accurate, no?

    Re: #5 The anal-retentive in me says it’s “Daylight Saving Time”, not “Daylight SavingS Time”.

    This comment is of course anally-retentive.

  42. When I eat trail mix, I separate all of the pieces into their own categories (1 pile of raisins, 1 pile of peanuts, 1 pile of coconut shavings, etc)

  43. I just did # 4 this past weekend. I went through that store in no time. It was great!

    7. Keep only two color of thumb tacks at my desk.
    8. Separate white socks from black socks in the drawer.
    9. Hang all clothes on one type of hanger. In my case, black plastic.
    10. Separate “work clothes” from “weekend clothes”
    11. Keep pants of like color together.
    12. C.D.O…. it’s O.C.D. in alpha order πŸ˜›

  44. I just did # 4 this past weekend. I went through that store in no time. It was great!

    7. Keep only two color of thumb tacks at my desk.
    8. Separate white socks from black socks in the drawer.
    9. Hang all clothes on one type of hanger. In my case, black plastic.
    10. Separate “work clothes” from “weekend clothes”
    11. Keep pants of like color together.
    12. C.D.O…. it’s O.C.D. in alpha order πŸ˜›

  45. I just did # 4 this past weekend. I went through that store in no time. It was great!

    7. Keep only two color of thumb tacks at my desk.
    8. Separate white socks from black socks in the drawer.
    9. Hang all clothes on one type of hanger. In my case, black plastic.
    10. Separate “work clothes” from “weekend clothes”
    11. Keep pants of like color together.
    12. C.D.O…. it’s O.C.D. in alpha order πŸ˜›

  46. Damnit. I guess I’m anal-retentive.

  47. new york escort, I totally optimize my order at Starbucks to avoid that.

    Blake Newton, someday those Connells albums will be worth a lot more, because who else has them all? ’74-’75 FTW! Besides, you don’t want to get rid of those messed up, crumpled Taco Bill dollar bills before the fancy-schmancy singles that the grocery store has?

    Nathan, you hate a messy desktop too? Thought it was just me.

  48. I was(am) a OCD patient, but I’m in none of them! Maybe I should be more anal-retentive if I want to be a better webmaster.

  49. I never discard a sliver of soap. I bond it to its replacement.

    I not only hate text-message abbreviations, I hate contractions.

    I continually correct my wife’s grammar, to her dismay.

  50. Dave (original)

    My Grandma used to iron all her pound notes.

  51. I spell check a post on my blog, then individually spell check words that I think the spell checker might have missed. Or is it spellcheck? Where is your spell checker? I am uncomfortable leaving a comment without spell checking it. Call me if I misspelled anything on this comment.

  52. 13. After eating at a restaurant you put all your used dishes and napkins on one plate. Ofcourse, this isn’t to help the server, it’s just because you hate to see a mess on a table.

  53. With regards to ‘pretty print’ as Jonathan Hochman has mentioned, I am guilty of that. Nothing wrong with legible code.

    As far as the rest of the stuff goes, I’d have to say that many of you people have some serious issues to contend with.

  54. For the record #4 shouldn’t be on this list – it’s sensible shopping although I have to admit when the local supermarket recently changed the layout of the hop it did put me off going there again.

    • When the Krogers I shop at re-arranged all of the food items in all of the aisles, I personally “escorted” the store manager through all of the store, citing logical reasons (to me) why this was not a good arrangement. He did not agree with me and avoids me whenever possible now.

  55. Not sure if this is “anal,” but I get up at 4am every morning… on purpose!

  56. Well i do 1,2,4,5 and 6.

    Loads of stuff bugs me.

    For example, driving 100% in the centre of road markings, whats the point in been of course.

    Aiming for a pass mark when you can get 100%

    Creating pointless content so you get in google, and then p**S people off as your not offering what you say you are.

    List goes on and on, think some may be more gripes though.

  57. I have “meetings” in my sleep, during which I compile to-do lists/action item plan, then wake up too early in the morning and type them out then send to myself. It’s a fine, fine line between anal and crazy.

  58. Damn, I have all of them.

  59. Hahaha, number three got me. Dang.

    #13. You prepare for a pre-meeting for a post meeting, meeting.

  60. rachelle king

    A lot of these sound more like obsessive compulsive disorders. I recommend taking a break often and going for walks in nature! :o)

  61. #2: I’m so glad I’m not the only one!
    πŸ™‚

  62. 6. Opening all of your software in a specific order to reduce overall loading time
    7. get really annoyed when you load a unix based file on a windows machine and it doesnt display perfectly
    8. spend hours ensuring a website displays correctly on Internet Explorer 6,7, Firefox and chrome, when analytics shows the site receives 99.9% traffic from IE 7 Just in case!
    9. finding 8-9 alternative routes to work and home from work to maximise your options in case of bad traffic
    10. Intentionally numbering your response to align with the title and not the post numbering
    11. Put minimal fuel in to increase mpg through not having the additional weight of a full tank of fuel
    12. Get annoyed at the american spellings of the english language.

    I follow pretty print! and ensure my staff do! I guess I am anal-retentive

  63. Guilty on 1, 2, 4 and 5. With the money each note also has to be facing the right way round and right way up.

    Also, I don’t have a dishwasher, but I am just anal-retentive about the order I do the washing up. I have to wash the cleaner things first and work through to the dirtiest, in size order.

    Glasses, mugs, cutlery, utensils, dishes (smallest to largest so they stack best on the draining board), plates (again with smallest at the front, largest at the back of the drainer), pans, baking trays, and cat bowls last if the water is still clean enough, otherwise wash in clean water.

    I put my clothes away in the wardrobe with ‘play’ clothes on the left and work clothes on the right, with the most recently ironed items in the center, and I pick out items to wear from the outside in. I’m sure there was a Dilbert cartoon about wearing things in rotation too…

    Scott Adams controls my webcam.

  64. I would be guilty of No. 4, but I use Splashshopper for all my lists and it alphabetizes them. Speaking of lists, I have one for Travel, so I always check that I’m taking what I should; one for Hurricane, so I take what I need if I need to evacuate (can you tell I live in Florida?); Books I’ve Read; Books I Want to Read; Shopping (for household and sundry items, not to be confused with Groceries); Gifts (to keep track of what I want to buy for whom); and several others. Oh, and these lists sync to my Blackberry, of course. I like to keep lists online because I have such horrible handwriting (another A-R solution).

  65. Some of these sound more like OCD actions not anal-retentive behaviours.

    E.g. folding food wrappers neatly, placing in bag neatly, folding bag and then throwing away is OCD. Re-folding T-Shirts is OCD.

    Some of these are definitely common sense, economic with regards to time and money, and make for an easier life.

    E.g. buying only the same style black (and white) socks. E.g. finding the quickest way to drive or walk somewhere, and sticking to it. E.g. washing dishes cleanest to dirtiest, smallest to largest.

    Those that get annoyed at someone that is precise, thorough, pedantic, accurate, or shows attention to detail are likely to call that person an anal-retentive. If by being any of the above it negatively affects your life then you may be an anal-retentive.

    For those that do the same thing the same way every time… well most people do; studies have been done that show that although we think we operate by choice/randomness every day, the majority of what we do is just routine. E.g. I dry myself exactly the same way after every shower. Big deal… I do it on auto pilot, I don’t β€œforget” a bit, and it is the optimal way of drying.

    Correct spelling and punctuation is still a must in this day an age of text messaging; it shows laziness and a lack of intelligence / education to not spell and use punctuation correctly. Insisting on the correct usage of spelling, punctuation and grammar is more pedantic than anal-retentive, although by continually correcting others, people could validly call you anally retentive.

    By me spending time writing this response, and it annoys you, you could also call me an anal-retentive!

  66. 1) Check the locks on your house not just once but at least two times before calling it a night. Sometimes, three of four times are not enough and will sometimes mean getting back out of bed because you’re not sure you did it the first two times.
    2) Cut open bottles of lotion to obtain every last drop of your purchase.
    3) Follow a recipe exactly, meaning you DO level off your flour, sugar, etc. with a knife – drives my husband nuts! Otherwise, you start over.
    4) Organize your pantry based on can height and group items together according to the meals you are planning to prepare because you’ve already sat down with the sales ad, planned meals based on the sales in that week’s ad, and written the grocery list in the order that they can be picked up without traveling through the aisles more than once.
    5) Cut wood siding to fit house. Paint siding leaving ends unpainted to be completed at a later date. Nail siding to house using pre-made tool that will insure that each siding panel is the exact same distance from the previous panel. Do not nail siding all the way into house because it will need to be removed and the ends painted. Why? Just in case the first time was not perfect enough.

  67. I think most Americans are somewhat anal-retentive.
    They go beserk whey they see someone pick their nose (when the other person thinks
    there is privacy)
    They dont let dogs into pubs
    When people fart —come off it Yanks, farting while mildly disgusting is not a terrible
    morally disgusting thing.
    They arrest people while driving with far less than .08 alcohol rather than just giving them a stiff ticket.
    And most of their yards look like the front of a funeral home.

  68. I thought I had a problem – I was listening to a radio show in Atlanta that was talking aobut how you need to check your balance in your online brokerage accounts. Appranelty somebody had cracked his assitants code and chagned the address in the account and started selling her trades. Because she checked everyday she saw this and put a stop to it. She could have lost over $200,000 and the brokerages are not liable. Their advice was to check it everyday. Anal retentive is always bad I guess. The problem is when you can’t be retentive and you are just anal! ha

  69. first time caller

    You know you’re anal retentive if 1.) you’ve driven at least one spouse completely off the edge with your fixations, 2.) You can’t maintain a serious relationship with a rational human being not in a work situation (in other words paid to be with you) for more than 3 encounters, and these 3 include saying “excuse me” while on public transportation, 4.) You love your children/grandchildren only when they are cute/handsome and successful…to your standards.

    Sounds like a pretty lonely life, Why don’t you stop laughing and seek professional help? It’s really not that funny after a while.

  70. linda terbush

    My ex-boyfriend put me in charge of his personal life. On the top edges of each dresser drawer were tiny labels: v-neck/ turtleneck/ crew-neck/ long-sleeve…etc. On the tiny edges of the glass shelves in the medicine chest: iodine/ deodorant/ razor-blades/ mouthwash, etc.
    In the closet, areas for play/ formal/ business/ etc. separated by shirts/ jackets/ pants…etc. and then by color! You notice I say EX-BOYFRIEND! I, personally, never throw away ANYTHING…AND there is so much new coming in everyday that I have stacks everywhere BUT I can find just about anything no matter what or how old within 5 minutes! I have a sign over my desk…”A cluttered desk is a sign of genius” Please, who is sicker, me or him?

  71. I am guilty of 1, 2, 3 and 4 !
    I am also guilty of organising clothes including underwear and shoes by order of importance-
    special occasions, office, casual…for my clothes the hangers are colour coded….LOL
    Years ago I thought I was crazy…now… I just laugh at myself…I AM ORGANISED !!

  72. I match 3 of the 5, but I also do many more things like order my clothes by color and type. I also like all of my drinks in the fridge facing label out. I think some of this could be Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

  73. I love all Ya’ll!! (That is Southeastern drawl for all you Yanks)

    I also eat the broken chips in the bowl first so the bowl only has whole chips in it.
    Same for mixed nuts, same reason.

    MY truck is pin neat with no odors/smells; think that one is (OCD) Obessive compulsive

    I am training myself to abbreviate in texting, still cannot use numbers for words.

    I use the same hangers for my clothes, no one else in the house uses any of them.

    Fold my wrappers of fast food, very neatly before throwing away. ( Had a friend who tells he and his wife fold their dirty clothes to put them in the hamper)

    I work in a grocery store, so I separate the tags that hang in front of the food by location in the department as to alleviate wasted time hanging them all.

    I have difficulty discarding anything that has percieved value, when others say not to keep it.
    I eat around my plate, one item at a time until finished, unless I get “wild ” and allow the corn to mix in the mashed potatoes and let them go down together. (fun times)

    Another “fun” thing to do is set clocks to different times to keep me doing the math to stay on track: Stove is accurate, alarm clock is 20 minutes fast, truck is 15 minutes fast, watch is 10 minutes fast. Keeps a soul hopping mentally.

    I also love my wife, kids, parents, family and friends from church who put up with me.

  74. Wow. I ALWAYS do #’s 1, 2, 5 & 6. I thought it was just me lol.

  75. I think this anal-rententive thing is ridiculous!!! It is a bunch of crap…. We alll have the way we do things and we all have issues, of course unless someone thinks they are GOD!!!!!!!!!!!

  76. I hang all my clothes according to size. I colour code the close pegs. I place all my friends in different categories and my relationships with my gilfriends change when they get pregnant. I make a budget that includes everything and all my bills are organised in separate areas. I label everthing thats mine and I’m very possessive of things that are mine. I hate to abbreviate when texting.

  77. You’re bothered by inaccurate precision.

  78. Yes, I’m anal retentive …….. but in a good way …….. LOL

  79. Everything on my desk is arrange neatly into a grid like pattern and when something gets moved, it has to be fixed…immediately.

  80. Eee PC Blogger on March 1, 2009 at 11:39 pm:
    9. You double proof read even your casual emails send to friends. “SENT” Dammit!!! it is a Verb!

    Nice List! Is it available as an organised reference somewhere?

    Fortan IV was it not??

  81. 1. I HATE wrong use of terms MASS and WEIGHT – i.e. a Truck has a mass of 7.5 tons, not weight – to the point I want to write letters to TV / radio stations using “weight” instead of “mass” in traffic reports.
    2. Most of my clocks are radio controlled (DCF77). I set all other clocks & watches to EXACT second on DST change. Luckily the computers have SNTP.
    2a: I hate cell phones without automatic clock setting (received from network).
    2b: I am annoyed by a local TV station with 1 second time lag on their Teletext
    2c: I never again listened to a radio station with 2 hours time lag on RDS system (which messed my car radio’s time setting).
    3. I have a reminder set in my smartphone in 3 month intervals to add salt to dishwasher – in that time, the salt does not run out completely yet (I decide when I want to add salt, not the dishwasher warning message, thank you), but there is enough room left in the dispenser to add a complete 1kg package of salt.

  82. I do NOT own anything unless it’s black, white, silver, grey or midnight blue. Even if any items, toiletries, groceries, come in packaging of any other color, I remove the item from the original packaging and put it into something that works. LOL…

    IE: lotion in a green cosmetic bottle definately gets put into a CLEAR bottle

  83. All I want to know is how in the heck do you live with someone that is anal retentive? My husband is and it drives me crazy. Everything has to be a certain way, if it is not he gets aggravated and loud. If we are in a discussion, he does all the talking, I can’t get a word in edge wise and then when I tell him that after he has made me made he will be quiet for a long time then say he gave me plenty of time to talk, well by then I am mad and don’t want to say anything. I am really going crazy trying to figure this out. HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  84. I think I’m afflicted.
    I posted on my facebook status the following:
    “To denote the plural, we don’t say deers, mooses, sheeps, bisons, salmons. pikes, trouts or swines, so why, oh why oh WHY… do people still persist in USING FISHES?????????? It’s just ****** WRONG!”
    Incidentally, I am fully aware of the unnecessary multiple question marks, but I decided to leave them in – after all, it is only facebook…

  85. When I make electronic lists on the computer (e.g., Word; e-mails; etc.), I try to make sure the decimal points are aligned. That’s not always possible, as you can see below, and that just drives me nuts.

    1.
    2.
    3.
    4.
    5.
    6.
    7.
    8.
    9.
    10.

    I, too, organize my grocery shopping list by aisle. I just hate going back and forth, from one end of the store to the other, trying to get everything on my grocery list. What a time suck that is. I think the grocery stores should publish a list of their items by aisle so I could use that list to make MY list.

    I refuse to play the same set of numbers in Powerball, because that would obligate me to play every drawing. (What if I didn’t play and those numbers were drawn? I would just DIE.) Instead, I just choose the “Quick Pick” option and let the numbers get selected randomly for me. (But then I look at the random numbers on my ticket and think what a lousy job the computer did selecting the numbers.)

    I use parentheses WAY too often. (Is that anal-retentive?)

  86. yes to 1, 3 and 6…I will now start doing 2 and 4

    I don’t arrange my bills, but I do scramble try to get rid of the bills In the worst shape 1st when paying for things…..I will now organize them that way, thank you for making me a better anal-retentive person πŸ™‚

    I always provide a nickname for unofficial online stuff out of fear that someone I know will see what I’ve posted

    I hate when people put apostrophes in the wrong place…I also correct grammatical mistakes, I do it under my breath if said person is speaking pubically, I don’t like when people say ‘good’ when they should say ‘well’….I’m not grammatically perfect though

    The volume level on my TV has to be rounded to the nearest 5; not 23, but 25

    the shirts In my closet are color coordinated

    when I eat crackers and potato chips I put the whole chip In my mouth at once, I do not bite them to avoid crumbs, I don’t do crumbs!!!!!

    Definitely #1 and I always thought I inherited that ‘habit’ from my mother.

    I keep EVERYTHING in my purse; band-aids, alcohol wipes, every store member discount card, a stack of business cards, lotion, chapstick, lip gloss, 2 planners(1 to write my daily activities before & after they happen and 1 to keep track of my daily spending), a checkbook, a notebook, 4 pens, 2 pencils, a post-it pad (just incase the notebook isn’t working, Idk), gas-x, lactaid pills, a hair clip, a comb, all my receipts from the last 3 months, an umbrella, coupons, gum, sanitary napkins, a nail clipper, deodorant(for those days when I oversleep & forget because I’m rushing, there’s one at my desk at work too), Tylenol, eye drops, neosporin, Tums, at least 2 free standing lists (there are so many more IN the notebook), my camera (incase there’s a Kodak moment) and all my photos on 2 flash drives…sigh, that was a lot. Needless to say my mother constantly warns me that I’m hurting my shoulder with my heavy purse.

    PS I love 2 abbreviate, im part of the text message generation, i tried my best 2 spare u all tho, @ least b4 now, didn’t want to bother any1 lol πŸ™‚ That alone might save me from this whole anal-retentative stereotype thingy

  87. thought of more, couldn’t possibly leave these out;

    I only comb my hair in the bathroom only to avoid getting hair on the carpet and therefore wrapped around the brush on the vacuum, and THEN clean up any strands of hair that fell out with a dustbuster so they don’t stick to my wet feet after a shower (although there are terrycloth slippers for that), or to my socks in passing…I don’t do hair that is no longer attached to a head!!!!

    Toilet paper must roll from over the top

  88. How can I not be so anal retentive?

  89. Every two days I have to clear my web based Email folders though the space available is sufficient to last for an year!

  90. How about the way a shirt goes on the hanger so when you are deciding on what to wear you are looking at the front of the shirt?

    I have aquired a new one recently. I have Onstar with my new GM vehicle. One of its “conveniences” is a report containing the status of my veihcle to me via e-mail (oil life etc.). The status report also displays the individual tire pressure for each wheel so when I have a low tire there is a yellow symbol next to the low tire in the graphic. Great! Now I have to check my tire pressure frequently to make sure I don’t get a bad report.

    I reset the trip odometer at each fillup and verify I am getting roughly the same gas mileage out of my vehicle (that I have had for more than 10 years).

    The way the toilet paper (and paper towel roll) is hung on the holder! Making sure it comes off the top for ease of use.

    Making sure everything is level such as pictures on the wall. It drives me crazy when something is hung permanently unlevel.

  91. No hair can be left on the bar of soap and no hair can be left on the shower wall or floor.

    Lids to all shampoos, conditioners, and soaps must be closed (even the ones belonging to other family members).

  92. ~ I don’t just categorize: I sub-categorize. Trying to decide how to sort my books on the shelf – alphabetically by title, categorically by genre, or aesthetically by size – makes me so frustrated. I currently have them organized by category, but within the categories there are sub-categories based on either title, size, or sub-genre, depending on what best suits the needs of the category. And do not get me started on my DVD collection. I currently have it alphabetical by category, but when I run into movies that fit in more than one category I get frustrated. And then I want to organize it based on whether or not it’s a movie I want other people to know that I own.

    ~ I make lists entitled: THINGS I NEED TO MAKE LISTS FOR, I kid you not.

    ~ My life is one system of organization on top of another.

    But I think the epitome of anal-retentiveness for me is the fact that I’m going through all of these comments, copying the ones that apply to me, coming up with my own, and consolidating them into my own list entitled: THINGS THAT MAKE ME ANAL-RETENTIVE.

  93. 1. I can only have the tv volume on odd numbers aside from 12 and 22.

    2. Everything, and I mean absolutely EVERYTHING, is done in routine. I have a morning routine, a before bed routine, I take the same roads, routes, etc. They’ve proven efficient for me before, thus I continue to use them. I’m also terrified of change, so I keep it in routine.

    3. Grammar. My oh my, where to begin here.. To leave it short and sweet: I am beyond meticulous with my grammar.

    4. I sort my money from largest bill to smallest, and I make sure all the president’s heads are facing in the same order.

    5. It bothers me if something is out of its place.. leading to.. everything has its place! I’m an organizational freak, to say the least

    6. All the songs I download to my computer must be done in this exact way: Augustana – Boston. Nothing like augustana – boston (full song here!), or boston- augustana. The artist, then the song. Everything is capitalized, one space, then hyphen, then one space, and no excess words.

    7. I’ve been told my phone book is very neat and organized, although I never thought anything of it before.

    8. I find grammatical mistakes in books that have already been published. Such as The Twilight Saga. I’ve found at least 5 mistakes.

    9. When I see a clock, I have to last look at it before the colon re-appears in between the numbers. such as 3:24. I have to look away at 3 24

    That’s all I’ll state for now.. it’s pretty much all I can think of.

  94. Ahhh this is brilliant. I actually googled “anal retentive” to find out whether it’s the right way to describe my roommate, and discovered that I fall under the category too!!

    Curious about whether being obsessed with efficiency (e.g. sorting the grocery list, crossing the street diagonally, doing your morning routine in a specific order) is the same as being anal retentive or if it’s a separate issue?? I thought anal-retentive was more about attention to detail than about efficiency. Thoughts?

    Also, I appreciate Shane’s post from April 15 ’09. Important to remember that these habits are really only something to be concerned about if they negatively interfere with your life. Otherwise, they’re just a great way to stay organized! πŸ™‚

  95. mohamed nazeel

    After reading this and the comments posted by a lot of people I’ve come to a conclusion if all the reasons given here leads to anal-retentiveness, there are exactly no human being who is NOT an anal-retentive

  96. My husband has driven me crazy for years with his annality. Examples are-
    toilet paper can only be over on roll, not under. Dishwasher gets re-loaded by him before turning it on. He saves ketchup and other sauces from fast food places, then worries about using them up. Empty bottles get turned upside down to get everything out. He will pull them out of the trash if I throw them away. Old soap gets molded to new soap. After emptying the trash cans he makes us throw all trash into a paper bag overnight so that the trash cans are empty until the trash actually goes out in the morning. He keeps a towel behind the faucet in bathroom to soak up water that splashes on counter, which must be kept clean. Bills kept going same way in wallet. Brooms must be stored with brush side up so as to not wear them down. Leftovers must be eaten, nothing gets thrown away. All Mastercard receipts must be checked off bill each month. Clothes can only be hung on certain hangers. He has taken over doing his laundry and most cooking because he does it properly (a plus to me). Everything gets alphabetized-including spices and cd’s, but he has a peculiar system – A band like Jefferson Starship gets filed under Starship which is confusing for everyone else. He’s picky about everything and it must be done his way-because he’s thought it out and it makes more sense. Right. He gets mad over the slightest thing if it isn’t done his way. Although, I have to say he’s trying to lighten up after years of this. These people can drive others crazy. I think the reason they do all this controlling of their surroundings is to keep their emotional vulnerability under control- but they end up taking anger out on everyone around them.

  97. ok, 1st, sry about using my username… i have a obsessive fear of someone finding me on the internet… i have to say, Shane (the guy who posted the grammatically perfect thingy on how some of these behavior are just common sense) are you anally retentive or do you have OCD? also, i am a grammar & sentence structure freak in real life… online, not so much =) i still remember in grade 6 one of my classmates wrote on a blurb for his short story-
    this is a story about a boy called john stuck on a desert island with landsharks does he survive i wonder read to find out
    I almost strangled him…

  98. I clean up my messes as I make them.

    For instance I’ll cook dinner and by the time I’m done the counter is cleaner than it was before I started.

  99. I have books and movies in their series order. If Ice Age 1 is not with Ice Age 2, I MUST put them next to each other.

  100. I want everything to be in multiples of 5. If that’s not possible, I will accept even numbers. I will stray to prime numbers above 5 but I will do so grudgingly.

    And yes, this rule even applies to the number of dumplings I will eat for dinner. (10 is too few, 15 too many, if 14 then might as well 15. Thus 12 is the most acceptable.)

  101. I have found a home here. Many of us are the same in our daily activities or at least similar. I find organization efficient but when it gets out of hand allow a slap from someone who cares that will give you perspective again. Yes, one good slap! and remember to say, “Thank You.”

  102. 1. I change my car’s speed alert to the posted speed at exactly the time the sign is level with my front bumper. On my road near home there are 3 different speeds so my finger is constanly ready to push the buttons on the speed alert as I approach the signs. I drive one handed driving most of the time and I hate that, yet I have to change the speed alert.

    2. After eating every scrap of food on my plate at a pub or restaurant I arrange the cutlery back on the plate to be pointing inwards towards the centre of the table. I arrange other’s used cutlery also.

    3. I used to use just 1 sheet of toilet paper at a time to maximise usage but gave that up as I didn’t want to be like my father.

    4. Everything must be symmetrical. For example VCR on the bottom, DVD on top of that cause its a bit narrower, small set-top box on the top of the DVD player and the spare space either side used up with identical small flower vases etc etc etc.

    5. I only shower in the morning to prepare for getting dirty. I consider it a waste of time at night before bed. She can wash the dirty sheets.

    6. Don’t change my car’s seat position or mirrors woman..take your own car to the supermarket and if i’m blocking you I’ll move my car so you can get yours out to avoid moving my seat or mirror positions!

    7. I have my email set to check every 60 seconds, but I check 4 times before that every 15 seconds, even when I’m not expecting email.

    8. I have 3 working XP computers in case either one breaks down, because I couldnt spend a day without coming to places like this.

    9. My bought DVD’s are filed in a text file on my computer and updated on every purchase with specs like NTSCPAL, movie duration, and of course alphabetically.

    10. Notice my #10. lines up with the rest as I put an extra space from 1-9. (or it did before I posted..lol)

    Anal retentitive Aussie I reckon. Bonza.

  103. I am not OCD, I am CDO (that is OCD with the letters in alphabetical order.)

  104. I think #7 is anal retentive.

  105. I have never been all that good at spelling, but bad grammar often irks me. and i have strange habits, for example; i scrolled almost all the way to the top of the screen, just to find this: “Top 5 signs you are anal-retentive, and then you list 6??? I hate it when people get teh basics wrong :D”…I mean, look at the spelling, it is incorrect, that irritated me. (also i almost ended the sentence at ‘look at the spelling’ but then extended it).
    but I don’t know if I am anal-retentive, i think i am just…I’m trying to think of better word than crazy :). Also i seem to change my perceptions on things after interacting with a group of people, reading a book or watching a film. An example of this is that now i feel very anal-retentive, whereas i did not feel it as strongly before…I appologise for the length by the way. (oh and yes, i do over-hyphenate and include more semi-colons than i should too).

  106. I must be the winner. i do most of the above….
    -Organize coins by kind (dimes, quarters, pennies…) in separate jars
    -Have all my underwear (bras and all) organized by type, use, fabric in zip lock bags. Ex everyday cotton, satin, lace. thongs, g’s. for whatever and for the special whenever….
    -used to have labels on all the dressers till it drove my husband and kids mad.
    -have all the socks initialed at the toes so we all know which belongs to who (they don’t like that either)
    -I wanted a safety pin on all socks so when they took them off they would attached each sock, but they wouldn’t have it
    -Have all papers filed by year and type (Home repair, Clothes, Restaurants/food, Movies/Entertainment, gas, ……) I have receipts from 1991
    -My closet is color/style/length organized.
    and by the way we are not rich. we live month to month. I just like being organized and knowing where everything is at all time.

  107. Leading on from the original #4, making a list is not one of my things (woo-hoo!). I shop in a small supermarket (Aldi) and methodically go up and down each aisle and look at everything. I can’t shop in the big shops llike Tesco – takes forever, especially as I have to read all the packaging to make a choice between items. (it annoys me greatly that one supermarket that I use has an odd number of aisles so I have to go up and down the same one). I pack my shopping in the bags according to where they will be going when I get home: fridge and freezer stuff in one bag, inc fridge veg; store cupboard biscuits, cakes and pack lunch items plus fruit as all get stored on THAT side of the kitchen so go into the same bag; other store cupboard like pasta, tins, eggs and non fridge veg live near each other; loo paper, shampoo and stuff that goes into the bathroom goes with the undersink items like dishwasher tabs because they might contaminate food. I also put them into my trolley in this order. My 9 year old gets her own small trolley and shopping bag so that she doesn’t mess up my system.

    My dishwasher method is the only way to load the machine….

  108. Also I’m itching to start a list of every AR point that people have made. Why didn’t people keep up with the numbering system? You lot of all people should have known the right thing to do!

  109. Anal retentive things you can do:

    #1 Save all your receipts for EVERYTHING that you buy and categorize them by type of purchase. ie. grocery strore, clothing, gas, convenience store, gift, etc.

    #2 Read what you just wrote over and over until you find the best possible way to both write it and say it. This may or may not include writing it over again (including this sentence).

    Btw… I’m not anal, I’m detail-oriented

  110. 1. I brush my hair in the corridor of my appartment to avoid hair falling in my home, I place all bottles, cans, etc… facing front and centered in catagories, I place my tank tops, then short sleeves, then long, then sweather etc… so it flows.
    I have 3 laundry baskets… white, colors and dirty…meaning I won’t wash gardening clothes with my work clothes.
    I eat one food at a time on my plate leaving the best for last (p.s. I don’t like it when food is touching on my plate). I don’t like people doing the dishes because they mess up my sink, I at least wash it and leave it dry and clean.
    I always ALWAYS pass behind people in my home because it is not done right and/or my way!!!
    I place money by coins and amount. I make lists of what is in a bag or a drawer and I make lists of lists!
    I make lists of things I do automatically or just when I feel like it (ex: I write brush teeth although I do it all the time when I am suppose to without looking at the list (I feel like I can’t believe I write it (weirdo) because I would never forget anyways) also I write in my agenda to have sex. Not that I have to have it right then but to force me to think about when was the last time and to not forget my womanly duties! I make a list of friends and family to make sure I stay in contact and call people)
    I have a song I sing before I leave the house to make sure I am ready to leave.
    It freaks me out that I am like this ….especially since I am the first to throw a party invite lots of people and let them have fun and I always forgive them, never freak out and tell them not to worry about it when accidents happen like spills, broken glasses, etc…It is a secret reaction that I don’t really show.
    I will make excuses to cover up my true weirdness. Ex: Leave the dishes there, my hands are full dirty so I will wash them at the same time I wash my hands. or …I have to fold this like that (my way, almost measured) because it does not belong to me and it means alot to the person and they might pass by later to pick it up.
    Everyone knows I am stiff a bit or strict….but they have no ideal to what point. I am able to relax and laugh when I drink, party, play a game or watch/read an engrossing story. Most people compliment me and say I am organized but it is more that that!
    I think I try to control the outside to feel safe inside!!
    I need to relax!!!

  111. I hate it when men cross their legs like a woman.

  112. – I don’t just sort the money in my wallet by $1, $5, $10, or $20, but also sort the bills by wear-and-tear so that I get rid of the bills in the worst shape first.

    – I look up words online to see whether I’ve spelled them correctly.

    – Yes, grammar and spelling errors irk me, too.

    – I clean my room twice a month and I have to make sure that everything matches. Like right now, my sheets are purple and green stripes, the color of my towel is the same shade of green as my sheets, my desktop wallpaper is purple and green flowers, my browser theme is the same shade of green as my sheets, etc.

    – My desktop icons are placed only on top of the screen and they have to be in the center; and the recycle bin icon has to be at the bottom right corner of the screen.

    – Messages in my phone have to be constantly deleted. I go insane if my inbox and sent items reach 50! The recycle bin on my desktop has to be constantly cleaned also; I like hearing the sound of an empty bin and not seeing the paper image in the bin.

    – Yes, I open software programs in a specific order. The tabs on my browser have to be arranged in a specific order, too.

    – Yes, I don’t just categorize, I sub-categorize. Everything has to have a sub-folder! Even my browser bookmarks have sub-folders! This goes for all the files in my computer and my notes! Even my thoughts!

    – Everything must be labelled/named correctly. Folders in my computer have to be correctly titled as well as their sub-folders. And my mp3 files have to be named, Artist – Title of Song. Movies have to have their specific year [e.g. Inception (2010)].

    – My iTunes has to be clean. I make sure that each song has its correct title, artist, album artist, year, genre, rating, and ALBUM ARTWORK. It irks me when songs don’t have album artworks.

    – Also, I make playlists for every feeling/emotion (e.g. Happy Playlist).

    – Yes, toilet paper must roll from over the top!

    – I make to-do lists.

    – I copy notes on a scratch paper then re-write them on my notebook when I reach home. All notes must be written in black ink.

    – I own different sized sanitizers for different sized bags. A mini one for my 4-inch purse, a small one for small bags, a medium-sized one for medium-sized bags, a big one for bigger bags.

    – Yes, my closet is organized. Clothes are arranged according to color and length.

    – I bullet and sub-bullet notes/lists.

    – My watch, phone clock, pc clock, etc. should be synchronized and must be set 10 minutes ahead of the current time so I’d have more than enough time than I actually do.

    – Yeah, I have a daily routine as well.

    – It excites me when I visit the supply store.

    – After eating at a restaurant, I put all my used dishes and napkins on one plate. I hate to see mess on the table.

    – Toothpaste must be clean.

    – My shampoo and conditioner bottles have to be facing the same direction in the shower.

    These are what I can think of so far. Lol!

  113. Here are mine.
    1) my pockets are organized. In my front right keys, wallet, and my pill case. In my front left, my cell phone and only my cell phone. If I advertly put something in with my cell I remove it.
    2) when I get home my keys, wallet, pill case, and watch go in the exact same place. If my mife moves them I am completely lost.
    3) when I watch TV the remote control is in my pocket & goes with me through the hous so no one changes the channel
    4) my diet is on a time schedule, I eat every 3 hours without fail and on time.
    5) my vehicle is the same way as my home, every thing has a place & everything must be in its place.
    My wife is completely the opposite. But I’m a little parnoid on top of it. I think she does things knowing I am like this just to get a good laugh.

  114. There is an app for #4. (Grocery IQ) I love it!

  115. I have not read all responses so I may be repeating something already said.

    1. when paying bills online on payday, my general savings account must have a balance with
    no cents and dollars to the nearest 10.. ie Balance $480.00 Usually the credit card
    gets the odd bits and pieces.

    2. all my remote controls ( tv,dvd,video,foxtel ) have to be placed in a specific neat manner
    on table pointing towards big screen tv.

    3.I must wash my short hair every 3 days and shave my face every 5 days ( no earlier/no later )
    ( yes ) maybe it should be more often and ( no ) I don’t have a girlfriend

    Most likely several more but I won’t hog the limelight.

  116. That is not a hypen. It is an en-dash between anal and retentive.

  117. When I have a long report or task to accomplish, I cannot start unless all my papers and pencils and desk are perfectly organized! what a loss of time, I could have finished the report instead!!!

  118. To Lotus21: No, you’re not alone with doing Number 4. I always arrange the items on the list in the order I will encounter them in the supermarket. Since I take the same route through the aisles every time, nothing gets missed and there is no need to repetitively walk back and forth throughout the store. It’s a time-saver.

    As Matt states, it isn’t anal-retentive; it’s smart.

  119. I do all of the things you listed! Also, if I write out a grocery list and make a mistake or cross something out, I have to make out a new list so that the handwriting is neat.

  120. You sort your M&M’s by color and make sure to eat certain colors until you have an even number of all. At that time, you proceed to eat one color at a time until they have all disappeared.

    #2 is a definite yes

    You organize all your clothes in the closet by color in rainbow formation (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet).

    You make certain that all the food labels face the same way in the fridge and pantry.

    When you take eggs out of the carton, they cannot both come from one side. They must be evenly distributed until the very last egg remains.

    I didn’t realize that texting while driving (for the sole purpose of not losing a moment of productivity once I have stopped driving) was an anal-retentive trait! Oh wow…

  121. Too fun! As someone who was ‘potty trained at gunpoint,’ commenters may enjoy:

    5 Great Gifts for the Analy Retentive

    morebettersmarts.com/2011/07/five-great-gifts-for-the-anal-retentive/

  122. Observation: Anal retentives have more insight and are more able to laugh at themselves than the opposite – anal expulsive… I found so many webpages with people describing themselves as anal retentive, not so with the anal expulsive… me? I am anal-expansive… need to get off my butt and workout!

  123. Not only do I save e.mails sent by friends (every single one since learning about e.mail), I also save every notification Facebook sends to me at Yahoo alerting me to something a friend posted on my wall. And I tape and save all voice mails left by friends before deleting them from my phone.

  124. Avo’s post that “not only do you check that every item in your credit card statement has a corresponding receipt of same amount, but you also add up all the amounts to double-check the bank’s math.”

    reminds me of the clerical employee who checked the addition of figures on a photopy to make sure it had the same correct total as the original.

    .

  125. I was unaware that this is what.anal retentive Intels.

  126. Don
    I must have all light switches down when lights are off. With three-way switches I am often required to go up or down stairs in the dark to get it right. It also requires me to take extra trips when they are wrongly used by my wife. I once sneaked into our church to remove and turn over one of the three-way light switches so both would be down when the lights were off.
    Does three-way need a hyphen?

  127. Being anal-retentive is like my wife saying, “The cabinet drawer doesn’t close right” : And now I’m taking the cabinet/cupboard down, off, apart, re-shim, re-align, including knobs, handles, etc. Then I need to put it all back together, Only to discover that the butter knife was in the way ! AHHHH LOL

  128. I have a “Movie List” in my computer. I have listed, in double columns, ALL of the movies that I really, really liked and would enjoy seeing for a second time, or more. Of course, they are in alphabetical order, with my “star ratings” along side of the titles. As of this day, there are 897 movies on that list.
    Also, I have my annual movie list of all movies seen, in a monthly order, with “star” ratings. Been doing this since ’97.
    Why do I do this? My wife has asked that frequently. She doesn’t ask anymore. It’s futile.

  129. You know you’re anal…
    when you write blogs like this.

  130. I had to read this entire thread. Please stop adding lol

  131. In #4, I put my list in shopping order where refrigerator & frozen items are last, as they should be. The brand labels in my kitchen cabinet and fridge must be facing forward. All my CD’s are in alphabetical order by artist, and within an artist, they’re in alphabetical order by ‘album’ name. Yes, I’m old lol.

  132. > All clothes in the closet must face the same way, especially shirts so the collars fit into each other better and cause less wrinkles.
    > Yes on all brand labels facing forward.
    > Irritated when there are not two spaces after colons. That’s the way it’s supposed to be, and it greatly helps reading something. But Microsoft programs have always put one space after colons – a serious violation and effect on the world.
    > Make corrections and clean up spaces in e-mail chains below my message.

  133. > Even worse than not having two spaces after colons is not having two spaces after periods!
    > I organize everything on the table when we are at a restaurant (including with friends, but I have to be careful).
    > While shopping with my wife (I hate shopping), I’ll straighten out or organize things in the store.
    > I’ve done the movie spreadsheet
    > Someone needs to make a list of all of the anal items on this blog, how often they occur, and allow people to checkmark which ones they do, then receive an overall rating…

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