From: wolverine01@charter.net   
      
   On 2/13/2026 10:26 AM, Ted Heise wrote:   
   > On Thu, 12 Feb 2026 10:06:30 -0600,   
   >    sticks  wrote:   
      
   ---snip---   
   >>   It is funny how women get so much joy from a new item of   
   >>   clothing, but we go nuts for a new tool.  Practical things.   
   >   
   > I always laughed when we drove by the pair of stores along I-70   
   > somewhere in western Indiana (or Eastern Ohio?): one was a candle   
   > store, and the other a toy train store.  Perfect for couples!   
      
   In my younger days, my girl would always want to go to this huge   
   shopping mall outside Chicago, Woodfield Mall.  She would look around   
   for hours and hours.  I of course went right to the bar and she came and   
   got me when she was done spending my money.   
      
   > My wife doesn't mind shopping for clothes at all, and I really   
   > dislike it, so I long ago started letting her buy most of my   
   > clothes.  She has better taste too, so that'sa plus.   
      
   Unfortunately, my size makes clothes buying a real problem.  At 6' 6"   
   getting shirts and pants that have the necessary length without ending   
   up tent sized is difficult.  She has found this out the hard way and has   
   had to return many, many things.  I just wait until she complains enough   
   that I need some new things to wear and I finally go.  I just hate it.   
      
   ---snip---   
   >>   My wife does all the cleaning, and when I suggest we upgrade,   
   >>   her usual response is something along the lines of she's not   
   >>   gonna clean that all the time.  My dad always had a nice clean   
   >>   house, but the step-mom didn't do the regular cleaning.  She   
   >>   had a maid do that.   
   >   
   > I try to help with some of the cleaning, now that I'm retired.  It   
   > just feels too patriarchal to expect her to do it all.  Guilt I   
   > guess.   
      
   > We tried a cleaning service for the better part of a year a number   
   > of years (decades?) ago.  She was dissatisfied with the attention   
   > to detail, so we gave up that idea!  I'm still satisfied with a   
   > lesser degree of cleanliness, so use that as justification for not   
   > doing an equal share of cleaning.  And of course those periods of   
   > time where there's mor "man's work" to be done (yard work,   
   > repairs, etc.) I feel pretty well justified in doing less around   
   > the house.   
      
   She's not as crazy about it as she used to be, but she still cleans   
   constantly.  Unlike you, I don't suffer from any guilt on the matter at   
   all.  I let her be able to not work and for 30 years I provided.  She   
   seems to like how we do things, so I ain't gonna upset the apple cart.   
   I do all the fixing, outside maintenance, and remodeling we do.  If she   
   asks me to do something, I get it done.  Though she might ask me to   
   close a cabinet door properly, she just never asks me to clean anything.   
     I gotta admit sometimes I leave a drawer open just slightly so she can   
   see it, knowing it drives her nuts.   
      
   >>> A few years back our newer tv croaked and we decided to get a   
   >>> new one rather than making do with the older one.  When we   
   >>> looked at the options, my wife encouraged me to spring for the   
   >>> one with the nicest picture, even though it was more than we   
   >>> had spent on such things before.  Seems we both got lucky.   
   >>   
   >>   I find when we do shop for those bigger ticket things we always   
   >>   end up getting way more than we thought we would.  Like her   
   >>   Bronco, for example.  You start looking at them and the   
   >>   different options, and sure you can get less of those fancy   
   >>   things, but you realize you want them and just say yep.   
   >>   Rarely down the road are we unhappy with getting more, but I   
   >>   sure have made purchases where I can say I wish I'd have gone   
   >>   for the next level or two better.   
   >   
   > Same.  When the company fell down on replacing the company car   
   > with the same I'd had before, it turned out the Acadia with the   
   > full trailering package had a bunch of other "features" (like   
   > heated steering wheel and heads up display).  When I first   
   > encountered them, I kind of rolled my eyes--but as time's passed   
   > I've really come to appreciate them.   
      
   Going in next week to get her another new Bronco, so I can have the one   
   she has now that set up as a TOAD.  She said she wants it exactly like   
   what she has now.  I said not exactly, that it has to have at LEAST   
   everything she has now.  If we find something else she likes, we'll get   
   that too.  If that looks like I'm buying her cooperation, I won't argue   
   with that.   
      
   ---snip---   
      
      
   --   
   Science Doesn’t Support Darwin. Scientists Do   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)