Do you change shoes or take them off before you go inside? Coats? Umbrella? Packages? Mail? Ladies, what about your bag? Ron's work shoes are usually nasty. He takes his shoes off in the mud/laundry room before he heads inside. I do the same after work, when I work in the garden etc. I have flip flops and he has slippers that are by the door, and we either slip into those, or head on in barefoot or in socks. There are coat hooks in the mud/laundry room too, along with a closet. My bag gets hung on one of the coat hooks, and our coats in the closet. Sometimes we'll hang coats on the coat hooks and put them away later. If the umbrella is wet, it sits outside on the back porch till it's dry, then it's rolled and hung up on one of the hooks. If we have packages or mail or stuff to bring in other than groceries, they get set on one of the two laundry room counters to be dealt with later. If I'm not wearing something with pockets, I'll take my phone out of my bag and set it on the kitchen counter. If I have pockets, it just stays with me. Soon as all that's done, I change into more casual/comfy wear, or PJ's if it's night time. Well, as long as we're staying home that is. What's your coming-in-the-house routine?
Shoes are never taken off outside, or left outside. As that's asking for trouble in my area. Because sooner or later, some snake is going to find it's way in them, (they like damp places). I knew someone who was bitten on her foot by a scorpion the moment she put her foot in the shoe... Shoes are taken off inside, put to one side, and you out on slippers. That's usually the routine in most homes here. My routine is a bit more complicated, as first there is something anti burglar, which I designed and installed, (which only I can disarm). Once I am inside, I look at other things for signals, which also only I can notice - In case there had been any breaking in while I was gone, I would know. So if nothing is out of the ordinary, I go to reviewing any security camera footage that had been flagged... Somewhere between all of this, when I am sure that there is no threat - I take off the gun and point it straight into a safety bucket, full of sand, (there are several such buckets in my home). Then I unchamber the bullet, after which the gun is now safe. So then I sit in front of the monitor, and review any security camera footage that would have been flagged. I don't bother checking any missed calls, nor have I ever bothered installing an answering machine, (my number is always unlisted). If anyone wants to contact me, they can message me on my cellphone. I will see it when I turn it on next. Very rarely do I ever take calls from unknown numbers. Mostly because the phone is always on airplane mode. I connect to the cellphone network only when I need to make a call...
Basically we turn off the house alarm, unlock the front door and come in. Have not used an umbrella in years and coats have all been outgrown and given away waiting for winter to arrive so we will do without if/when anything resembling cold weather shows up here....the truck can be started from inside the house and is warmed up or cooled down before we step out the front door. We have handicap plates on the truck so parking places up close to the door of where we are going are usually available, making for a short walk to those doors. Randy carries both the house phone and his work phone and he pays for everything so I have not carried a purse in years. No mud room and the laundry is at the back of the house and I am the only one who uses the back door...unless I have talked Randy into doing something in the back garden for me. Groceries or other shopping bags are put on the chopping block table in the kitchen or on the kitchen table. Outdoor shoes are removed and replaced by comfy slippers.
@S-H this is some extreme (at least compared to folks I know) security. Do you mind me asking why you are required to go to these lengths?
we have no routine. we are here all day everyday in and out in and out in and out. I have a person who comes to help me and she is in and out in and out in and out. my men..leave for the whole day and somedays they are in and out and in and out and in and out... I do a lot of vacuuming...we have a gentle shedder dog (aka german shpherd) and two cat inside. no one takes off their shoes. someone is coming into the kitchen via the back door or into the basement via the basement door or in from the garage to the office for something... SH would be very shocked to come to my house.... no security nothing. no cameras, not too many guns bwahahahaha. the dog looks scary... be very afraid of me though SH. and no snakes or scorpions not too many spiders. I have never seen a poisonous one anyway.
Well, I fought against the land and property grabbing mafia, which had some deep connections to powerful politicians - As well as links to terrorists, (some of whom doubled as hitmen for the mafia whenever they would be short of money). So I fought against them, as well as informed on them and all their illegal activities to the authorities, (with proof). As a result of which many of them are now rotting in jail, and some got killed while trying to escape arrest - But a few got away too, however they are now wanted, (with rewards placed on their heads)... In short, I have made some enemies for life. But, I am not afraid, I am proud of everything I did. And will continue to do so for as long as I am able to - This routine, I have now been doing for so long, that I don't even feel it anymore. Best part, when terrorists too are afraid of me - I really do feel like I have accomplished something solid in life! Distant relatives who's very existence I always loathed also know that it would now be in their best interest to keep their distance from me, (which from my point of view is a very welcome windfall, regarding the choices I have made). So overall, I am today a very happy and relieved person. This might not make much sense to most. But it's the truth. And I say again, that I am damn proud of what I have accomplished, (and will continue to do so, for as long as possible).
Well Ronni, we do not wear street shoes in our home, just bare feet or perhaps socks...or warm house slippers in the winter. We have "house clothes", sleeping clothes, garden clothes and everyday clothes. We do NOT mix these up. These "measures" are just how we live though, not because of Covid.
We are terribly disorganized compared to you all. Shoes generally come off and are left at any one of three doors. My cell phone travels about with me and is frequently misplaced. So much so that my husband got me a 'Tile' so I could find it with my keys (or vice versa). Things tend to get dumped on the kitchen table, then cleared away in time for dinner. We've gotten a bit lax since the kids grew up and left home. We do do a morning pick up though. And I do keep the bathroom clean! @S-H you'd probably be appalled to learn that we often don't lock our front door. In the home I grew up in, we didn't lock the doors either. In fact, we couldn't:. It was an old Victorian house and the skeleton keys had been long since lost. We were never robbed.
In the 70s (I am told) nobody over here also bothered to lock the main gates and front doors of their houses. And nobody got robbed either. There just wasn't any need to lock anything. Cars too weren't locked, and nobody rolled up the windows when you parked outside the store and went inside to do your shopping. People just knew which lines they shouldn't cross. Neighbors too always looked out for each other. Local postman was also like a member of the family, (and a favorite of all kids). Newspaper delivery guy was the unofficial neighborhood watchman too. Policemen in uniforms were also always true friends of the entire community, they knew you by your first name, as well as which house and family you belonged to. Today? Well, no need for me to say anything. As everybody over hrre already knows what the entire situation is like nowadays...
oh... this does sound just like here. you would fit right in. I wouldn't even notice another person I guess. I also have a tile for my keys/phone. I have used it quite often. One morning I got up last week to find every door on the house was still open screendoor shut, and one was even propped open for the cat to roam in and out from the previous night. the children came home after I went to bed and never closed one door.
When I've been out shopping, I take my shoes off just inside the door on the mat. They go straight into a shoe cupboard/hall table just inside the door. I put my keys and loose change in the bowl on top of it and my wallet on it too. I then change into "scruff." That's old chinos and golf shirts. I've a lot of scruff and I wear it round the house. If I've a sudden impulse to go out and do some work in the garden, I go as I am. When I come in I change into clean scruff and what I was wearing goes into the laundry bin. It can happen that this can occur twice in the same day.
Say folks---what is a "tile" for fone and keys? Oh, I forgot to mention that the garden clothing stays in the garden and I change out of my street clothing and into those garden duds to work in the garden.
Dog & SJ, I have gardening/working-around-the-house clothes too. I change them regularly because we still have a tick problem here in New England. Whenever I work in the midst of plants in my garden, at break time, I shower and change. (This is partly why I want an outside shower!). Some days, I go through 3 sets of gardening clothes. If I am meticuous about this, I manage not to get bitten by the ticks. No tick bites= no lyme disease. @carolyn I am glad to hear we are kindred spirits in how we use our houses! I had a chuckle hearing that I would fit right in at your house & your probably wouldn't even notice an extra person! Your description of the doors and your offspring coming & going reminds me of when our kids were still at home. All the comings & goings of them & their friends. Wonderful days but tiring too. @Sjoerd a tile is a little device that you attach to your key chain, & it will set off a beep to help you locate your keys. It is paired with your phone, so you use your phone to locate the keys. Or vice versa. Very helpful if you are someone like me who is a bit disorganized despite monumental efforts not to be.
