How about Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder ? I am like that too. Mostly with my Mac. I will even change the appearance of an apps icon if it looks slightly out of proportion to the the rest of the icons in the dock. That's just the tip of the iceberg!

I once opened the contents of iPhoto and changed the camera tif it uses to a picture of my camera.

I made custom icons for Office even though I was only using the demo.

You would be hard pressed to find any normal folder icons on my HD aside from in the library. Or ones apps create.

It gives me a comfortable feeling when I can keep things organized. A good routine.

I make piles. It's a congenital disorder. When I was at my grandmother's house in June, I found a pile of RNC monthly newsletters, stacked in order, going back about 10 years. My dad makes piles, too. Mostly of books and maps.

I'm generally a neat person (I hate grime, grunge and dust) but I'm forever triying to figure out which pile I put some piece of paper in.

CV

at work, im very organized. take notes about projects. keep stacks of paper perfectly lined up and straight. using tables as a "boundary" separating one project from another.

at home, sh|t is everywhere for the most part. although my pocket contents always land in the same spot everyday. thats somewhat obsessive i guess. i think its just smart.

I have one compromise with my wife regarding laundry: When I take my pants off at night, they go in a heap on the floor. The next morning when I get up, I put on a clean pair and transfer all pocket items at once from old pants to new pants. Then and only then the old ones go in the laundry hamper. She is not to touch the jeans on the floor.

I have neither lost nor laundered my wallet or keys in some ten years now, due in part to this compulsion.

CV

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Ha! Yah, the other day my mom was like, "we're driving by Sears do you want us to drop by your keys or do you want to go with us to your sister's."
At which point I asked, "where did you find my keys?"
"Oh, on the server (wooden thing, doesn't run linux guys) where you left them!"
"I left them in the door."

My mom has a COMPULSION for never cleaning, but always moving peoples things when they get in her way. If I leave my bible on the counter one Sunday she'll throw it in a drawer some place and then say she didn't touch it.
She's like the anti-organizer, might be why we don't get along. I swear she has three different spots where she says the wisk should go... you're screwed no matter where you put it cause it'll be the wrong spot that day.

It depends on importance, I'm organized with some things but not others. When it comes to my computers, I keep everything in it's proper place and always maintain a clean desktop (that's where I usually dump project contents while I work on them)... on the other hand, Kim and Sarra's computers are disasters. I'm always wanting to organize `em and clean their desktops. In contrast, I like a little physical clutter around the house, a stack of books here, a pile of folders there, makes the place feel more "lived in". I despise places that look just spotless and perfect. You know, the type of place you're afraid to sit down on the furniture and wonder if anyone truly lives there?

Though, I will admit that I'm a "dirt nazi", grunge and grime have no place in my home.

My room will always have cable clutter... and it's actually a bit of a mess right now because I don't have enough room and keep telling myself I'm moving back to school in a month so I don't need to really organize everything. But I know where everything is anyway.

My sympathy!

Shouldn't it be poof?

i'm a VERY organized person, and i don't have a lot of "stuff". on the contrary. i've made a point of it in my life to have as few "possessions" as possible and to make everything i do own be of "quality". people at times find it annoying that i am so "organized", but to me it's more about "functionality" and design.

i guess that's why i'm so busy customizing my computers all the time. i'll walk into a new workplace and 99% of the machines will be junked full with trash etc. when i leave, all the computers i have worked with will be running flawless.

that's pretty much how i feel about my work as well. i'm never really satisfied with what i've done, and always strive to make things "more perfect".

All my computers run well, as far as OS and all is concerned.. but that's about where it ends. I use the desktop on my mac as a dumping ground. Stuff I download, or work on, or am working on, gets there, and on some sites that can mean a massive mess.

... especially when I'm switching between multiple things.. I do take my time to organize it when I'm bored enough

As for my room, it's neat and organized. I have one of my comps up here, my 2 old laptops, a bunch of decorations and some playthings, and that'd be about it. I keep all my work either stored on disk or in a specific binder, and have 3 main spots for cables (under my desk, in the bottom drawers of my cabinets, and in my closet) -- all 3 easy to get to

So no, I don't really have much.. I don't like keeping things that are of no use to me (then again I have 2 monitors that aren't working and the one I'm using now I'll have to replace soon since it's 14 years old o_O)..

Our garage on the other hand, has tons of empty boxes, a bunch of things my oldest brother puts there and then totally forgets about, and who knows what else... the irony is most of it's relatively recent.

*sigh* I constantly arrange that too, the 'wall of boxes' is well, like a brick wall.. except much fatter. I built it up to be structurally sound and most importantly level, but it seems every time my brothers go looking for something they turn the whole damn thing upside down

Back to my room though, there just isn't much there.. and since I keep most of my things stored digitally, I don't have any papers laying around. I do tend to have a drawer, and possibly at times even a bin full of junk computer parts, but that's about it. As for wires, I do have too many to be useful, and um.. yeah..

As for what chris said about his pants.. funny I do that exact same thing

I'm the ONLY borglab member who gives a flying **** about organizing our hardware... groan...