Oops… that’s one word for it. I just heard a sound from the lounge room which sounded a lot like my housemate knocking over a glass of red wine onto the carpet, and responding accordingly. Now she’s exclaiming at William, her kelpie. From what I can make out, he must have knocked it over with his tail.

Regardless of William’s level of involvement, going to hold Becky accountable. We literally just moved in, and we need the real estate on our side because it’s an ideal house. I, for one, plan to stay here for as long as possible. If that means making Becky shell out for the most professional stain removal , Melbourne resident have ever seen, then so be it. I’m not putting up with careless damage to the inbuilt furnishings like I have in the past.

The annoying fact is that I’ll have to have an awkward conversation with Becky about this, in which I inform her that I see it as her responsibility to wear the cost of the carpet cleaning. Past experience suggests that she won’t be readily forthcoming with an offer to do so (if she was, I might be more inclined to chip in, actually).

Well, maybe I drive a hard bargain as a housemate. But if you’re going to have a puppy, you can’t expect everyone else to take on responsibility for the havoc it wreaks. She should have known better than to leave her red wine on the coffee table, anyway – I mean, it’s precisely at tail-wagging height. Even I can see that, and I’m not a dog person. 

According to another friend I’ve shared with, it was good for his personal development that I forced him to pay for professional odour removal services. His indoor tobacco smoking habit, as he found out the expensive way, is not great for the whole bond retrieval situation. In any case, I’d prefer not to have to deal with that whole end-of-lease cleaning frenzy again.

I just want to get on with living in a clean, stain-free house. Is that so much to ask? The dog can stay.