Priorities

[marc rosen]

I was working on an addition to our house yesterday when a heavy rainstorm came upon us. Rain was in the forecast but I wanted to get as much work done because the project is still in its infancy ( subfloor down, log walls scored for letting new walls in, not much else) So the rain starts and as I rushed to cover power tools, lumber and the subfloor I saw my wife rushing to get her laundry off the line. I could not understand why she was not helping me cover my tools. When I asked her after I was done why she felt the laundry was more important she told me it was almost dry and she did not want them to get wet again. I'm somewhat annoyed; clothes are subjected to repeated wet and dry cycles, power tools and ( some) building materials are not. True, I did not ask her to help me first but I would have appreciated her concern for the more expensive and more labile articles instead of the laundry. Am I being too hard on her and expecting too much? Sorry to make this off topic post, but maybe it is tangently connected. ( By the way, this is one of the more difficult parts of the project- letting the new stick framed wall into the existing log wall. I'd really have a difficult time if I was adding a new log wall) Marc

[Larry Jaques]

On 29 May 2005 04:44:45 -0700, the inscrutable "marc rosen" spake:

Men are from Mars while Women are from Venus, but married couples are from Uranus. You both did what your instincts told you. Let it go.

Then again, you could ask her nicely to help you the next time.

P.S: How do I know this? I'm single & watch it happen -everywhere-. ;)

[George]

Repeat the two-word prescription for a lasting marriage - "yes dear." Next time rain is threatening, have some covers at the ready, if not in use. You can always count on yourself to do what you want done.

[Leon]

Well Mark don't this the wrong way but, RAIN WAS IN THE FORECAST, she probably wondered why you had all your tools out to begin with since RAIN WAS IN THE FORECAST. And she was probably thinking why is he not helping me get the clothes before they get all wet again. Learn to cover your own butt and not expect others to sacrifice their projects for you projects. You have not been married very long have you? ;~)

[Edwin Pawlowski]

Yes. Reverse roles for a minute. You do laundry 50 or 100 times a year for many years. It is a normal reaction to take it in when rain comes. How often does she work with tools and building material? Her mind was not on tools.

Did cover some of the materials earlier knowing rain was coming to come? Or have tarps ready.

Go to the store and buy her some flowers or plants for the garden.

[Mike in Arkansas]

I smell a rat.. NO ONE still hangs out laundry to dry.

[John Grossbohlin]

The rain thing happened to me last evening... unlike your wife, my wife, unasked, dropped what she was doing and ran out to help me tarp the two big pallets of siding and trim. I got the tools under cover while she came out of the house. If you're nearby perhaps my wife can go over and explain things to your wife? ;-)

John

[Upscale]

You really want to risk it? Maybe *his* wife will convince your wife that laundry is more important. :)

[Duane Bozarth]

John Grossbohlin wrote: ....

Did your wife have laundry hanging on the line? Or was she foresighted enough to have already brought it in while you were still working watching the clouds build? :)

[toller]

My 8 year old left his toy (but not inexpensive) laptop outside during a rainstorm and it got soaked.

Probably no big deal; as soon as it dries out, it ought to be as good as new. My wife couldn't wait and decided to turn it on to see if it was damaged...

[Upscale]

Not a wife story, but close to it with a girlfriend story.

Had a cat that naturally like to claw at the toilet paper roll in the bathroom. Girlfriend was over to spend the night. As usual after cleaning up and getting ready for bed, I closed the bathroom door to stop the cat from shredding the paper roll.

3 am in the morning I wake up to a crash and a whole litany of cursing and swearing. Girlfriend running into the bathroom in the dark ran full till into the closed bathroom door. Had a bump on her head the size of a baseball. Do you know how difficult it is to show sympathy for someone while trying not to laugh your head off?

[tom]

Mike in Arkansas wrote: I smell a rat.. NO ONE still hangs out laundry to dry. I beg to differ. Just last evening here in Tucson, the rains came. I looked out from the shop, saw the laundry on the line, and despite all that mesquite lying out on the pallets, made brownie points with her. Today, I'll get that mesquite squared away. And it probably won't rain again for another month... Tom

[George]

Hung out two loads this morning between planting shallots and potatoes.

Hang your sheets out in the breeze and smell what they have become at the end of the day. Most powerful aphrodisiac known.

Bets off if you live dirty and urban. Then your "springtime fresh" has to come out of a bottle.

[No Spam]

One thing that persuaded me to end my bachelor habits was a particularly funny episode where a slightly tipsy girlfriend went to the toilet in middle of the night without turning the light on. In the twilight she maybe saw no lid and so flops down expecting to find a nice comfy seat (me being sort of house trained to usually put the seat down)...... but instead finds herself halfway down the pan and well and truly stuck. I laughed so much I pulled a muscle in my chest which was agony for days.

[John Grossbohlin]

My wife laughed like crazy when I showed her my reply last night... and she just helped me tarp the materials again when a front rolled in fast and it started raining hard. I think I'd be safe. ;-)

[George]

What persuaded me was staying at one of the best hotels in Havana, the old Hilton, renamed to the Havana Libre.

Both the Soviets and their clients the Cubans were suffering a severe shortage of toilet seats, and our room was one of those suffering. As we went to dinner I mentioned it to the Soviet crew, and they didn't seem surprised, as they had none in their rooms (4 of 5) and knew there was a shortage "back home." I am fairly broad in the beam, but no way could I span an unguarded bowl, and it sure was cold. My wife thought it was a good lesson for me.

[Robatoy]

marc rosen wrote: [snip]

Uhhhhh..yeah... Why didn't you grab the sheets off the line and use THOSE to cover your tools?

[Phisherman]

Your wife's nesting instinct was focused on the laundry. Don't expect her to reason about wet expensive tools. Sorry Marc, but it's your fault for not asking her to help cover the tools. Also, since rain was in the forcast you should have been prepared with nearby tarps, plastic bags, and waterproof totes. Next time offer to do the laundry, but don't ask her to help you.

[Han]

"George" wrote in news:429a2343 [e-mail]:

I think we're off topic now, but here's my story. My parents took mysister and me camping in Italy, in a wonderfull village on Lake Garda. The camping's toilets were porcelain, but a bit strange. It was like a 3x3' box in the floor, about 3" deep, with raised portions for your feet. When you went into a squat, you could aim right into the drain hole. I think it even flushed, but I don't quite remember - I was 14 or so, about 46 years ago ... The next year the toilets were more like we had them at home in Holland, i.e. sort of the same as they are now here in Jersey, and most everywhere I've been recently.

[Robatoy]

[snip] The next year the toilets were more like we had them at home in

Een schijthuis? Een doortrekker met een ketting? Tell me about it.