Am I the only one who......?

Absent - very logical, but I bet you don't fly into a rage if you OH puts them in the wrong way round! My SIL insisted that DD2 polished the tiny copper pipes which ran round the skirting boards for the central heating.
Not being a Stepford Wife, she rebelled, but sometimes had to give in because his tantrums would upset the children. (After 14 years and three children together, she found out he was gay - perhaps he needed to control as much of his life as possible).

I too go with the even numbers thing for radios and heaters

On another note, I see that someone who I thought had gone popped up on page1. (yuk emoticon)

baubles having a dedicated butter knife isnt obsessive just posh!

I put cans in the cupboard with the labels facing the same way – i.e. forwards. That way I can see what's in stock at a glance. I don't bother with cat food cans or cans of tomatoes as the former have a whole cupboard to themselves in the utility room and the latter have a shelf to themselves in a kitchen cupboard.

Private Eye, Bags, source of most of my information on corruption, insider dealings, etc.
Juragran is in England, so I could do the dirty deed before she gets back next week!
When my girls were toddlers, they had about 20 dolls and teddies and a number of doll's cots, prams and pushchairs. I used to put the 'right' doll or teddy into its own pram, etc. every night. They used to watch in amusement. It didn't rub off on both of them, although DD1 in NZ is exceptionally tidy and so is her husband. Like my former employer, he says that a sailor has to be neat because there just isn't room on board a ship for any untidiness.
My other daughter was married to a man with severe OCD - I am talking about Sleeping with the Enemy - tins of beans had to be lined up with the labels facing the same way. He would lay out her clothes for her and would not allow her to lock the bathroom door. In the end, he took the door off altogether. Needless to say, he is now an ex. Possibly in revolt against his military regimes, she became the untidiest woman I have ever known and it was very hard for me when I had to live with her and her equally untidy children. If I asked for help in tidying up, the reply would be 'We don't mind the mess', so I ended up doing all the housework, most of the cooking, all the shopping, all the laundry and most of the driving as she was often too ill to drive.

My sister is very clean, but she has piles of magazines and letters in many different places and her working surfaces are more than half full of various gadgets , which I would hide in cupboards. The only things on my very limited surfaces are toaster, kettle, knife block and microwave.
She is very happy with her home and I am very happy with mine!

Bez I think it may be a genetic thing. Mr baubles & daughter are alike in many ways and share a tendency to OCDness. Myself & son are more alike & react to stress in similar ways - we are a divided family

Mine goes Spoons, forks, knives then teaspoons in the front.If one slips over into other tray I have to move it.

Loo rolls, lets talk loo rolls, If I see a loo roll on its holder the 'wrong' way ie with paper hanging over the back I just HAVE to turn it around. I do it in friend's houses, hotels, b and bs and public loos.

Forgot to say I am a bit more laid back about not having everything matching now - plates and cutlery etc - I used to find it offensive if things were a mish- mash. I am a lot better about it now but am still a tad that way.

I have to admit to things like counting steps taken and tiles in the bathroom - I am not as bad as I used to be though. I had a phase where when I got to the front door I had to go and check to cooker was off!! I wonder if these things have anything to with the amount of stress in our lives at the time - I certainly had more of these traits when I had a lot of stress on my life.

I've been standing staring at the birds trying to think if I have any habits or compulsions and have come to the conclusion that I could do with having a ruthless streak that would make me throw things out! Books & shoes everywhere - my twin obsessions.

I do have a favourite butter knife, does that count?

I'm in the middle of a great book about autism, Aspergers and the empathy circuits of the brain, written by Simon Baron Cohen and his team at Cambridge uni. Many of us could place ourselves on that continuum because of certain habits and foibles we have developed, but it's only permanent traits that don't change when you have insight, and understand how they affect people around you, which can be assessed for autistic spectrum disorders. Mild, repetitive habits and preferences don't count Greatnan, not unless you're prepared to gaffer-tape Juragran to her fridge whilst you ruthlessly rearrange her cutlery to the sound of her protests!

PE?

Bags - have you been reading PE? So, madam bags, have you any fork stories to tell us?
I am torn between self-diagnosing myself with mild OCD or being some way along the Asperger's spectrum.
Not that it matters, my obsessions don't trouble me or anybody else.

I love this thread!

I have a favourite fork. Weaned myself off the favourite teaspoon only to adopt a fork

Can't think of any others though. I'm too busy just trying to keep up with what needs doing, and having time to stand and stare, to have time for unnecessaries.

Nellie you've made me feel much better about my little contretemps with the Uno
When I do that thing with the sitting room too - removing the previous day's newspaper and plumping the cushions. It just makes it feel nicer when, later in the day, you eventually go in and have a sit-down!

I have had to resist the temptation to reorganise Juragran's cutlery tray - she keeps the knives between the forks and spoons, and everybody knows it has to go knives, forks, spoons, teaspoons......

JaneA I had exactly the same problems with the hand brakes of 2 Fiat Unos of that era. When we went to Italy we noticed many of them seemed to have chocks under their front wheels.

I will confess to being fairly disorganised and untidy. I could do with improving this but not too far.

About the only ritual I have is a hot water bottle at night.
I only get clothes ready the night before if I need a quick getaway next morning.

I've got the odd routine, like coming downstairs in he morning and making sure the sitting room is tidy before I sit own with a cup of tea and iPad, but no compulsions. I could do with acquring the 'door-checking' one, though. I've lost count of the number of times I've gone out, or gone to bed, leaving the back door unlocked!

How revealing! The secret lives of grannies…

I can't think of any similar things that I do. I have no idea how many tiles there are in any of the bathrooms. I never even think that there are "best bits" on my plate, let alone eat them first or last and haven't laid out the morning's clothes the night before since leaving school. I do have routines but these exist to make life easier and I quite like to be well organised.

I can confess now that when I used to holiday in the Canaries where there were lots of Seat Ibiza cars like mine at home, I would not let myself turn back from a walk until I had seen one! Crazy I know, and if it didn't happen I did eventually laugh at myself and head back.
And I sometimes have to stop myself from tidying the trolleys in the supermarket car park! Also put the products on shelves in the correct date order if they are wrong.

I put my left sock on first thinking about it but think its more habit than compulsion with me. Hope so after reading back all my quirks. My DH has started to double check he has locked his car. Drives me mad.

I only noticed this about six months ago, but I realised that I always put on my left sock and shoe first and no matter how I try to start with the right foot, it just doesn't feel right. I think that's my only compulsion.

If stressed I find myself levelling edges of things such as knives and forks, pepper and salt pots. This is only when I am stressed I stress.

I have to do things in fives. First time I have gone public with this. If I have two sweets I then have to have 1 than another two. It's always fives, goodness knows why.

I had a work colleague who used to have to touch her BiLs pillar which stood in the middle of the kitchen on each side. She had to quickly do this before her relatives noticed.

When I am walking along the street and see an object out of, say, my left eye on the group (piece of paper, dog poo whatever) I have to also see it out of my right eye.

And one more: I am obsessed with picking up dropped clothes on shop floors. I have to stop myself picking up just one otherwise I have to pick up all clothes that have been dropped.

My dear very good friend on here will think I am absolutely bonkers. But hey, join the club.

Oh yes and one I share with my daughter, biting woollen gloves or jumpers. eeeek!

Promise I won't post this five times