smorg

Funny article by Rands about people with a low grade OCD or simple idiosyncrasies. I do several of these and have my own little weird quirks.
:(

A few excerpts, although it is recommended that you read the entire article.

¤  aquarium I hate to be on the left side when going somewhere

¤  bobthecow i check my zipper every time i walk out of a bathroom. even if i only went in to wash my hands.

¤  bonsai 1 cup of coffee in the morning. Always. Even when camping in the middle of nowhere.

¤  borkware I like light switches to be up when on, and down when off.

¤  brentsimmons I always sit on the right side of the plane, where it’s safe.

¤  ckolderup volume levels on TV/stereo/etc must be even or divisible by 5

¤  decafbad Toilet paper rolls go on with paper rolling OVER the roll, not under. Geez, people. ;)

¤  dreid I make code fit in 80 columns, I delete trailing whitespace, spaces never tabs.

¤  dstringf Weird quirk - I drop the last word off sentences a lot, especially if I am nervous.

¤  elaptics putting my hand in my pocket to check that my keys are still there - even if I have just put them in there

¤  epochblue M&Ms must be eaten in even numbers. You wouldn’t want one side of your mouth to get jealous while the other eats an M&M, would you?

¤  ergelo always click my pen open twice before writing, it certainly won’t write as well if i don’t

¤  gooddoug Also, whenever I get a paper coffee cup sleeve, I _HAVE_ to line up the fold with the join in the paper cup. Always.

¤  hmfullen I can’t resist stacking things, basically any time I’m waiting for anything.

¤  isaacschlueter I avoid white cars.

¤  janl Use the right spoon size for the food (complex); when in doubt, a fork. Shoes off or laces lose when coding or sitting comfortably.

¤  jaredg I always sort the jelly and jam by flavor when eating at restaurants that put the carrier on the table.

¤  jexner same here - right shoe first. I also try not to step onto broken parts of pavement.

¤  jtradke must use phone on right ear. even if right hand is needed elsewhere.

¤  kissane My closet door must be closed at night so nothing can eat my shoes. (We keep neither dogs nor raccoons.)

¤  kmcg selected eating utensil must be right weight/heft for the moment. (utensils obviously not a matched set.)

¤  KuraFire car stereo volume in increments of 5; aligning cutlery in restaurants; aligning stacks of things; OH GOD THE LIST GOES ON.

¤  lfmoliveira must untangle tire air hoses at gas stations (and phone cords anywhere).

¤  luomat Realized one of my oddities tonight - I will *often* NOT click on the first result in Google until I’ve checked out some of the others

¤  maczter I always put my pants on both legs at the same time.

¤  mdhughes All gadgets/tools must go in pockets in the exact right order before leaving home, come out onto desk when I get to work/back home.

¤  meeju I can’t sleep if not having a mouthful of water before lay down

¤  melle Browser tabs and task bars have to have their items in specific order, or else they’ve gotta be closed up and re-started.

¤  nathansmonk When parking my car, I have to have a corner spot.

¤  naturallygeeky Always push the walk button at crosswalks 10x. That way it knows I’m in a hurry.

¤  nebulous If one of my feet stumbles/stutters on the ground while walking, I try to replicate it with my other foot.

¤  nevenmrgan every device light - MacBook, USB hub, TV, clock - must be covered at night. Ambient light is ok, small lights are NOT

¤  OcelotPotPie I always set my alarm clock in odd numbers. For example, waking up at 8:00AM is an alarm set to 8:01AM. Or 8:59.

¤  pburleson I don’t get up unless the clock is on a multiple of 5 ( i.e. 5, 10, 15, 20 )

¤  popthestack I constantly clear my clipboard by copying a single space. I accidentally pasted sensitive things in IM chats one too many times…

¤  robertpalmer I always wet the toothbrush before putting toothpaste on it. (We started a book of these where I used to work: “The Quirkbook”)

¤  ryanmears firefox and textmate windows must always be in the same upper left hand corner of my screen, and be the exact same dimensions.

¤  rynosoft I never realized it until a friend pointed it out, but I tend to sort my fries when eating fast food.

¤  sandrift Even after I *know* I’ve put my keys into my bag, I must double-check that they’re there before closing car door or trunk. Total OCD.

¤  simplepixels Checking my pockets repeatedly to make sure nothing fell out. I once had my pocketknife fall out in a pediatrician’s office…

¤  spotthehall It’s that 1-2-1, 2-4-2, 1-2-1 algorithm - applied to gaps between the pavement slabs…

¤  ssanchez I knock on subway / Tube doors to ask them to let me on / off, but only if they are the automatic, not push button to open ones

¤  studlycaps Whenever I see an open cupboard or drawer, I have to close it. I can’t bring myself to leave the room with it open

¤  tjeremy I have to chew the same number of things on the left side of my mouth as I do on the right side. Even down to color and #, eg: M&M

¤  zanshin Stairs have to be counted in groups of four.

¤  ZooFood The join in the paper coffee cup must align with the drinking hole on the lid. Must turn lights off when leave room, close cupboards.