One of the other joys of living in a shared apartment is the risk that you might get the responsibility for something. I’ve been the lucky winner of handling the electrical bill, so it’s my job to find out of how much each tenant has to pay. To complicate the process, we don’t get one bill, but two - one for power grid rental and one for the actual electricity - and people are moving in and out all the time. Bills usually cover two or three months and there is a good chance someone moved in or out during that time.

All this result in an algebra hell that I’d probably should have a Master’s degree in mathematics to solve. The bills usually contain fluctuating expenses that change depending on the month and they might not even change in the end or the start of a month, but rather in the middle of it. So the payable amount is rarely the same for all tenants. On top of that you have the task of actually collecting the money. The people who live here are usually not the problem, they do tend to forget about the bill but pay eventually - it’s worse with the people who have moved out. So far I’ve been able to get through it without having to hire someone to chase anyone up and break their legs, but one thing is certain; I’m looking forward to the day when I don’t have to be reminded how much I such at algebra every other month.