Dealing with a problematic roommate...

Skeith

Okay, a little background on this guy, let's call him John. He's 60 years old, and works down at the landlord's restaurant in exchange for a place to live, plus some money. Since he opted to live in a tent on the property, and this property has two units on it, he has permission to use the bathroom and kitchen of the unit I'm sharing with two other people. He's also one hell of a drinker, puts away four of those budweiser tallboys a day at least. I'd like to think of myself as a forgiving person, but he's a mess. Like, one night I get home from work at close to midnight and the toilet seat has shit stains pretty much coating it. My other two roommates have been at the landlords restaurant for most of the day (roomie #1 actually manages and bartends the place, #2 tries to pick up women there), and it's clear that they're not more than a few hours old. On top of that, I can catch maybe one word of every four that John says after 7 PM and he's forgetting to turn off the stove when he finishes cooking. Roomie #1 used to live with this guy, and says that he's way worse than before.

Like I said, I think I'm a forgiving person, but he crossed the line today. My car just had a problem with the cooling system fixed, and he was curious about the details, since he likes working on cars. I point out what was wrong, all that stuff, and he sees corrosion on one of my battery terminals, and assures me that hitting it with a little water will clear it up. So he hits the fucking thing with the garden hose while I pretty much dive at the spigot to turn it off, because it's pretty ingrained in me that water+electric device=BAD. I went to pick up some dinner, car takes a bit longer to start than usual, I think nothing of it. I leave the place and I get that annoying click that happens when the battery's drained. I have one of those portable battery tester/jumper things, so I hook it up and the charge is normal. I try starting it, same behavior. Turn on the jumper, give it a few seconds to get some charge, engine turns right over. When I got home I went through this same thing, with the exact same outcome. I deliver pizza for a living, if my car needs a jump every time I have to start it I'm in trouble.

So, what this boils down to is, did he kill my three month old car battery which would leave me justified in blowing up in his face (at least, in my opinion it would), or should I approach this situation as a concerned roommate like I was originally going to do? Moving out of here really isn't an option.

ceres

I'm trying to think of some good that could come out of blowing up at somebody in this situation, but not having any luck. Are people just laughing and saying "Yeah, that's John for you" or do they react with any concern at all for either you or him?

Skeith

I've talked with the other two about his behavior, and they see it, acknowledge it, but haven't called him on it. Talked with one of 'em tonight about the battery (not the manager). He's a few steps away from being a luddite, and can't say one way or the other whether the water would've ruined my battery. I've had bad enough luck with car batteries that I'd believe that I've made a mistake and just got another dud. I doubt I'll blow up, since I can't really confront him about it until the morning (he's pretty much dead to the world when he sleeps), but I'm still seething since my car is one of two things I don't like people fucking with without qualification. That and I just paid $200 to get it fixed.

ceres

Unfortunately I don't know anything about car batteries, but the timing is definitely suspicious.

It sounds like kind of a delicate situation, and you probably aren't really going to change his drinking habits or whether or not he can use the bathroom. If moving out isn't an option, I think the only thing you can really do is talk to the manager and see if he has any advice. He might at least have advice for how to approach the landlord, because this really doesn't sound like acceptable living conditions if you regularly come home to find human waste in places it doesn't belong.

Skeith

Yeah, figure I'll do that once he gets off his shift, assuming he isn't too tired (high school graduations tonight). Probably should've mentioned he's the landlord's brother so he should have some ideas for how to approach the guy .

edit- Speak of the devil, the manager just got home. He's not much better with cars, but apparently he's been arguing with his brother about John. I'll take to the landlord in the morning, see what he's got to say.

Spam

Regarding the car battery, I doubt spraying it with water will have helped matters, but it won't have damaged the battery either aside from making the corrosion on the terminals slightly worse.

It sounds like your battery is fine, it's just making bad contact because of the corroded terminals - best way to sort it would be to disconnect the battery then use either a file or some sandpaper to scrape of the worst of the rust on the terminals and the connector leads till you get to bare metal, give it a spray with some wd40, then reconnect it all up.

Sipex

If it was water the battery would've completely burnt out (unless it has two cells, then one cell could've burnt out and the other would be fine, doubt it though). Try the recommendations in the post above mine.

Deebaser

Spam wrote: »

It sounds like your battery is fine, it's just making bad contact because of the corroded terminals - best way to sort it would be to disconnect the battery then use either a file or some sandpaper to scrape of the worst of the rust on the terminals and the connector leads till you get to bare metal, give it a spray with some wd40, then reconnect it all up.

I think the hose idea was to knock the build up off the terminals and while it is the type of solution a guy who lives in a fucking tent would come up with, it probably didn't fuck up your car any.

Just to add to spam's brilliant solution, wear gloves if you're doing a thorough clean, that white shit can give you a burn.

Sojorn

A napkin dabbed in a 50/50 mix of baking soda + water is great for cleaning corrosion off the terminals. Spraying the engine compartment of your car with a waterhose like a deranged fireman...not so much.

Oh and if you feel like spending a few bucks, auto parts stores will sometimes carry a socket end with a metal scrubber designed specifically to clean battery terminals. Do that, maybe grab a new set of cables for a cheap but effective way to improve terminal contact (or at least test to see if the cables are still good).

As far as tent guy goes...good luck. My only advice would be forced sterilization so he doesn't breed more stupid into the world by the very slim chance a female lets him penis her.