From: theise@panix.com   
      
   On Sat, 31 Jan 2026 11:56:54 -0600,   
     sticks  wrote:   
   >  On 1/30/2026 9:21 AM, Ted Heise wrote:   
   > > On Wed, 28 Jan 2026 20:08:11 -0600,   
   > >    sticks  wrote:   
      
   > >>       ...The wife was talking about how everything seems so   
   > >>   expensive now and mentioned last months gas bill.  I told   
   > >>   her to just pay it and not give it another thought.  ;-)   
   > >   
   > > LOL.  I avoid such problems by just paying the bills myself.  ;)   
   >   
   >  Since I met my wife, I pretty much let her take care of the   
   >  bill paying.   
   >    She's really good at all that kind of thing, I tend to put   
   >  things off too much.  I think what makes it work for us is that   
   >  I have complete trust in her.  She does not buy things we don't   
   >  need, and though she knows I don't give a crap what she buys,   
   >  she will ask me before anything out of the ordinary.   
      
   Sounds like a good arrangement.  We've had a differemt approach.   
   For most of our lives we had two joint checking accounts--one she   
   used and one I used.  When we set them up I asked if it wouldn't   
   be simpler to each of us to have an individual account.  OMG, that   
   kicked off WWIII.  I've gradually learned over the years not to   
   even give the appearance of questioning her about money.  She's   
   very responsible, but we have very different ideas of what's   
   reasonable to buy in terms of decorations and gifts.  Oh well.   
      
   And I learned my lesson the hard way on putting things off.  For a   
   time I put paid bills in a box to be filed.  One time I let it get   
   full, and it took me two days to straighen out the mess.  Never   
   again!  Now I pay bills every Firday, and file the paperwork as   
   soon as I'm done.   
      
      
   >  30 years ago she was a legal secretary making decent dough.   
   >  The problem was the damn lawyers.  She would get into arguments   
   >  with them and would come home very upset.  I finally convinced   
   >  her to just quit and let me take care of making money, and her   
   >  just take care of our "estate".  She keeps very busy, actually   
   >  like doing laundry, and the house is immaculate all the time.   
   >  I do nothing inside the garage and I like it that way.   
                              ^^^^^^   
      
   House, maybe?   
      
   And we're very similar on that.  My career really paid off but it   
   took me many years before I convinced my wife she didn't have to   
   work.  The biggest hesitation was she wanted to feel valued in her   
   career.  She taught elementary music, and was superb at it.  But   
   you know most teachers don't get paid what they're worth.  Finally   
   the stresses of teaching in person at the tail end of COVID got to   
   be too much for her, and she said enough.  I do try to do some   
   chores inside the house, though she does a lot more (in part   
   because she has a higher standard than I of what's clean enough).   
      
      
   >  I did suggest she start making a list of all the bills and   
   >  payments that we have monthly so I would know where to start if   
   >  anything happens to her.  She said not to worry, and that if   
   >  payments aren't made I'll figure it out soon enough.  So I just   
   >  shrugged and went back to not worrying about it.  Heh.   
      
   Ueah, like I said, some things are just not worth arguing about.   
   I'm still opening my mouth before I think, but not as much as I   
   used to.   
      
   Sounds like you're pretty mindful about exercise, good deal.  And   
   I could easily spend lots of wintertime in Arizona.  I lived in   
   Flag for half of the 70s and really love that climate.   
      
   --   
   Ted Heise                Gretna, NE, USA   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)