Now I've been told...

[Mac66]

that cycling is a pursuit designed by obsessives for obsessives.

Now I know t'internet is not necessarily the best place to air ones personal foibles and that OCD can be a serious condition for some, but has anyone got any minor obsessive behaviours apart from cycling.

I've got one about books. When I buy them they have to be in perfect condition and I can't bear to break a book's spine.

There you have it.Probably a freak

 

[Fnaar]

but has anyone got any minor obsessive behaviours apart from cycling.

Mrs F says I deal better with deaths in the family than I do with losing a sock. Can't stand to lose a sock. So unneccessary. Family members, now you know they're going to go at some point...

 

[Twenty Inch]

Cycling, and its evil twin Triathlon, are definitely the sports of misfits.

Other minor obsessions? Citroen cars, up to the BX model.

 

[Maz]

Unicycling is clearly the work of the devil.

 

[Pecan]

Locking the front door. Did I do it? Didn't I? Fortunately I have to cycle past it on my way out, so I can easily check.

Have been known in the past to 'phone my son from on holiday and get him to check it.

Thought I was losing my marbles, but I think I'm just a day dreamer and don't concentrate on mundane stuff. Either way, I don't do it so much these days.

 

[ColinJ]

Locking the front door. Did I do it? Didn't I? Fortunately I have to cycle past it on my way out, so I can easily check.

I used to ride with someone who did that! One weekend, he came round to my house, and we were about to set off on a 30 mile ride over the local hills. Before we left he said there was something that he had to do first...

Him: I need to call home to check that I've locked the door.

Me: Well, did you lock it?

Him: Yes.

Me: Did you check that you locked it?

Him: Yes.

Me: Did you turn back, once you'd set off, and then check it again?

Him: Yes.

Me: And now you want to go back and check it another time?

Him: Yes.

So we went round to his house and he checked the door. Then he checked his checking. As we set off, he went back and checked it again...

Me: You locked your door, then you checked that you'd locked it. You then checked your checking in case you hadn't checked the checking properly. Then you had to check the checked checking, check the checked checked checking, check the checked checked checked checking?

Him: Yes.

Me: All okay now?

Him: Yes.

Me: Let's roll!

Him: WAIT - did you check that you locked your door?

Me: No.

Him: Let's go and check!

Me: Don't be silly...

Him: I mean it!

Me: Don't be silly...

Him: What if you left it unlocked?

Me: Don't be silly...

Him: You might have just thought that you were locking it...

Me: Don't be silly!!!

And at long last we went off on our ride. I waited until we were at the halfway point and asked him if he was sure that he'd turned all his taps off that morning...

 

[Pecan]

Blimey ColinJ, hope I never get that bad! You've got me thinking though - the family all take the p*55 out of me for my little obsessive foibles. Think I might try turning the tables on them. Something like these ought to do the trick:-

1. Is the cooker turned off?
2. Is the dog locked in or out?
3. Does your bum look big in that?

Somebody must have some others?

 

[summerdays]

I was asked to monitor bike usage at my kids school for a month... at first I couldn't work out how to do it... I used to try and write down the number of bikes and would forget. So instead I started taking photos of the bikes, and I even got to know which child rode which bike. I forgot to stop at the end of the month. At the end of the year I gave them a detailed breakdown of which school years used the cycle shed the most, and how many children for example had cycled 50% of the time.

This was 2 years ago.... I can't stop myself taking the photos even now... although I do nothing with the photos... its just reassuring to know I have the photos should I want to compile more statistics. And I think any parent who see me taking photos of bikes in a bike shed must think I'm upto no good. At least I don't panic when I miss a day now.

 

[Dayvo]

Funny I was thinking of posting a thread on this very subject!

I have a tendency to straighten/make tidy books or stationary in shops or libraries! Well, anything that doesn't seem to be in it's neat 'natural' state'. I like things to lie parallel or be symmetrical.
I worked on one of the tidiest building sites in London, and as for the golf course I used to work on . . . , well! .

My sister used to vacuum her house four or five times a day; my brother hates seeing stones/twigs/litter on the garden; anyone's garden!

Worrying!

 

[Haitch]

I've been told...

...that you've been bold,with Harry, Mark and John

 

[mr_hippo]

When I buy them they have to be in perfect condition and I can't bear to break a book's spine.

If it is a hardback book, you have to 'exercise' the spine first. Place the book upright on the table or desk with only the spine in contact with it. Allow one cover to fall onto the table and then the other so that you are holding the pages upright with the covers open on the table. Next, take a few pages and open them, do the same on the opposite side and continue with opposite sides until the whole book is open flat on the table. Close the book and repeat twice.

 

[Kirstie]

Excellent thread!
Cycling is a popular sport among academics and it really fits with our tendency to be obsessive introverts...

My concession to OCD is that I can't do anything without a list of what I'm going to do first. I have a special book for my lists. I have other colleagues who are similarly obsessed, and are cyclists too. I also am extremely organized, and like information to be categorised and set out in a really orderly way.

That makes me sound completely bonkers but it actually helps me do my job. I'm quite sane, really.

 

[User482]

Blimey, I should show this thread to the Mrs. She laughs at me for insisting that the venetian blind slats in 2 adjacent windows face the same way when they're closed.

 

[longers]

I straighten pictures in other peoples houses. If I don't know them that well, I ask if they mind. If they know me - they let me get on with it.

 

[surfgurl]

This is a great insight into the OCD tendencies that we all have. I have OCD and at times it is a blooming nightmare. Most of the time it is just annoying. I like to check things. I have been known to begin my commute and then come home to check the door is locked. And then have to go inside to check the cooker is off. And the taps etc.