A Very Reasonable Inquiry

Nov 19th 2007
Claudia DainMy Life As A Plebe

61 Responses to “A Very Reasonable Inquiry”

1. Lisa H on 19 Nov 2007 at 8:10 am #

   Some men, ahem, in my house, become addicted to their Technology. They cannot handle it as a convienience to save time, instead it becomes an all consuming toy that they must play with during dinner, during children’s piano recitals, during their shower and during sex. Some men cannot handle a “new” time saving gadget, in their hands it becomes a time vacuum and all consuming addiction.

   Women, however, can handle cell phones and cruise control. It allows us to multitask seamlessly between setting our children’s disputes, while heating up dinner, while applying undereye concealer. Yes, women can morph technology into their lifestyles and it actually is beneficial to the human race. Men? Not so much!

2. Michellynn on 19 Nov 2007 at 8:38 am #

   I will second the vote that men are not well equipped to multi-task, period! LOL Add in most forms of advanced technology and they will be controlled by it rather than liberated.

   Case in point. I work in a male dominated field, where I am in the only female in the vast majority of meetings I attend. Almost invariably I will walk in to a conference room and the men already present will all have their heads bowed in religious reverence, over their PDAs. If they are away from their desks they must review and respond to every last scrap of email the moment it comes in even though they may have only walked out of their office a mere 2 minutes earlier. Even more ironic is the fact that while they are at their desk, email is a low priority. BUT, get them in to a conference room with a PDA in their hand and it is suddenly the most important activity in the universe. Of course, there is also a great deal of posturing over what version of software and hardware they all have as well.

3. Michellynn on 19 Nov 2007 at 8:42 am #

   To finish the thought…it seems technology is more of a status symbol for men…whereas for women it is more of a means to convenience. Don’t get me wrong, I love men (particularly my DH..*G*), but they really are still the “hunters” at heart and so very focused on who has “bagged” the biggest kill….. LOL

4. cail on 19 Nov 2007 at 8:51 am #

   i think this really depends on the type of technology. i do not have a single female friend whom i would turn to for tech advice. that being said, i’m usually the one they’re turning to.

   cruise control makes me carsick. call waiting is the greatest invention ever.

5. Sonja Foust on 19 Nov 2007 at 9:32 am #

   This is TOO funny. My grandpa does the exact same thing AND he drives with both feet, so if you’re in the front seat watching his leg for some brake action, you never get it, because he uses his left foot for the brake. I refuse to sit in the front with him anymore because it just freaks me out.

6. Karen Rose on 19 Nov 2007 at 9:42 am #

   I rarely use cruise control. I’m not anti-c-c, but I just forget to use it. I’ll get to where I’m going with a cramp in my foot and say “DOH! Should have used CC!!”

   I hate call waiting because it beep-beeps in my ear and I don’t know how to work the phone to see who it is without hanging up on my current caller, so I just grimace and mutter about hating call waiting.

   I suppose I could read the phone’s instruction manual, but I have no idea where it is. I know I kept it, because I throw nothing away. My office has piles of stuff, so I can identifiy the age of the pile by what’s in the strata, like rocks.

   “Oh, this is from the waffle-iron era, circa May, 2006. And this is from the meso- new -cellphone era, circa July, 2007.”

   It works for me, unless I really want to know how something works. Then I just mutter at it and lament the piles of stuff. Now I’m depressed. Gee, thanks, Claudia…

7. Karen Rose on 19 Nov 2007 at 9:48 am #

   But back to the topic at hand… My husband uses CC and gets upset when the vehicle groans and sputters while going up hill in the mountains. Not in FL, mind you, as we have no mountains. But when we were driving from OH to MD via WV, he’d scowl at the CC when it would cut off.

   I wanted to say, “Just put your foot on the accelerator to make it up this big hill!” but that would be back seat driving, which I try very hard not to do. But I’m stomping the heck out of the floor on my side of the car, wishing I had my own accelerator so I could make the car go up the hill and DH would think it’s still on CC. Everyone would be so much happier.

   Other than that, he’s a much better multi-tasker than I am. And he knows how to work all the TV remotes, so I don’t have to.

8. KariE on 19 Nov 2007 at 9:50 am #

   I do agree that cruise control was designed for women, BUT there are women out there that shouldn’t use it. Case in point, the woman driving the cranberry PT Crusier on I-75 yesterday is one of them!
   I think video games are the technological advancement that men don’t seem to manage well. I DESPISE video games. With a passion. I can’t think of anything that eats into our family time more than my dh’s video games.
   That said, I feel video games have made life worse.

   (I’m normally not this cranky)

9. Claudia Dain on 19 Nov 2007 at 9:58 am #

   Ditto a million times over on the video games. Yuck. Boring! Stupid! Waste of time!

   I think I’ve covered how I feel about them.

   Now, I will freely admit that knowing how to use my call waiting and cruise control comes directly from my DH’s mouth. I cannot make myself read an instruction manual. I know there are actual words written on the page, but it goes in BLAH, BLAH, BLAH. Karen? Get someone to explain how call waiting works (a single touch of a button!) and learn to find your cruise control (a single touch of a button!). You’ll save yourself a sore foot.

   KariE, of course there are going to be some women who spoil the curve for the rest of us (cranberry PT Cruiser–are you listening?). Maybe she had a sex change and was Bob just a few months ago? That would explain it.

   Cail, for tech info, you can’t beat our own Sabrina. She’s my go-to. Sounds like you two have a lot in common!

10. Claudia Dain on 19 Nov 2007 at 9:59 am #

    Sonja, riding with your grandpa sounds a lot like riding with my dad. The tale of our drive (race) around the lip of the Grand Canyon still gives me nightmares.

11. Claudia Dain on 19 Nov 2007 at 10:02 am #

    LisaH, I always chuckle when I hear men (mostly male comics) go on about how women aren’t good drivers because they’re putting on makeup in the rearview while driving. Uh, hello? This means I AM a good driver. I can apply my lipstick while waiting for the light—multitasking, people!

12. twolilhahas on 19 Nov 2007 at 10:24 am #

    Oh, I love me some cruise control! It really makes driving better all around. The technology I couldn’t live without is wireless technology. I love my wireless internet access.

    You are so right about the video games. Men cannot handle them properly. I enjoy a little video game playing, but get a man involved and he’s consumed. He can’t be bothered to talk, eat, sleep, anything! Drives me crazy.

13. KariE on 19 Nov 2007 at 10:33 am #

    Claudia-
    It is quite possible the woman was a Bob prior. As I executed my “why in God’s green earth are you driving” look, she did have a “Bob” hair-don’t, and a “Bob” nose. These days you never can tell.
    Amen to “I AM a good driver”. Who else can do all the above listed, PLUS change a pair of pants? I have done it successfully, but do NOT recommend it. What can I say, desperate times called for desperate measures.

14. SuzyQ on 19 Nov 2007 at 10:47 am #

    I love my cruise control and use it often. I know this may sound silly, but I wish I could set my cc for a 25 MPH speed limit. I always have a hard time in keeping within the residential limit and I swear there I see more cops taking radar on the back roads than on the highway. My cc won’t engage unless it is over 30. My husband, on the other hand, never uses the cc.

    Just a warning about using your cc on wet roads, it could cause the car to hydroplane.

15. Claudia Dain on 19 Nov 2007 at 10:50 am #

    KariE, next time you see “Bob” in traffic, get right up next to “her” and check for an Adam’s Apple Bulge. That’s the only way I can tell sometimes.

    Now, really, what is it about video games and men? And look how Hollywood has jumped on that—how many movies have been made based on video games? One of my sons is going to see Hitman this weekend. Talk about your built-in promo! These guys have all played the game! Why not go see it on the big screen?

16. Claudia Dain on 19 Nov 2007 at 10:51 am #

    Because I am Honest and True, I told my DH what I was blogging about today, and because he is a Man and Strange, he grinned and said, “Did you tell them I use cruise control around town, in traffic?

    He’s PROUD.

    I rest my case.

17. Claudia Dain on 19 Nov 2007 at 10:54 am #

    SuzyQ, how I hear you. It’s so tough to keep it to 25. The car just wants to creep up to 30, and there’s not a person in sight, and you just want to get home…

18. Claudia Dain on 19 Nov 2007 at 10:56 am #

    KariE, I want to hear the changing pants story!

19. KariE on 19 Nov 2007 at 11:13 am #

    I had a date right after work and knew I wouldnt have time to drive all the way back home (20 miles and 3 towns away), so I had put my “date” clothes in my car. Before I left work I hit up the bathroom and freshend up a bit. Gave the necessary areas the necessary attention, you know, the pits, the face. I took too long and didnt have time to change all the way. The top half was done, but not the bottom half. I knew that on the way to meet my date there was a strech of road that would allow for “pants changing”. So I did.

20. FreshEChelle on 19 Nov 2007 at 11:18 am #

    Claudia, your DH needs a 12 step program to kick his cruise control addiction.

    I rarely remember to use cc but I should (I only remember when my shoes are too high). Last night, cruising home from Philly, I glanced at the speedometer and was almost suprised to see I was doing 95 mph. When I first got this car, I was pulled over doing 92 mph. If only the car would shimmy or something at high speeds, I’d give up my goal of getting a ticket in every state in the union.

21. Julia London on 19 Nov 2007 at 11:26 am #

    Oh Claudia, this is too funny and too true! Jack London does the same thing - cruise control means Get Out of My Way!.

    His other driving thing is that he doesn’t use blinkers. I suggest, after someone almost rams us from behind when he slows to turn, “wouldn’t it be a lot safer if you used your blinker?” He says, with that I AM MAN grin, “I’m saving them.”

    As for me, I love the cruise control. I rarely use it. however, because I can’t remember how to turn it on and I’ve had more than one close call while fiddling with the little buttons while hurtling down the hiway.

22. KariE on 19 Nov 2007 at 11:30 am #

    FreshChelle, my car TOTALLY shimmies when I hit 90. My DH had hit a semi truck tire driving home from Orlando last spring and it messed up my front end, hood, and along the passanger side. I got it all fixed but when I got on the hightway it shimmied. I’m chicken to take it in and tell the body shop that when I go 20 miles over the posted speed limit it does that. If it did it at 89 I TOTALLY would take it in though.
    I figure that the shimmying is my own governer. ha

23. Claudia Dain on 19 Nov 2007 at 11:34 am #

    KariE, changing your pants while driving sounds perfectly reasonable to me, especially since you’d planned out in advance the particular (perfect) stretch of road to do the deed. Women are such good planners, so in tune with their cars and the road.

    FreshE, I know EXACTLY what you’re talking about. I had a Porsche 911, sold it exactly one year ago in fact, and I had the same problem. That car (and it was the car, not me) wanted to go fast and went fast at every opportunity. It was very sly, that car, just going faster and faster without my being aware of it. Not one shimmy. No engine noise. No rattling. Just ZOOM!

    Julia, YES on the car blinker. This goes right along with car conveniences that men don’t seem to understand. Blinkers are so much better than sticking your arm out the window, right? A little flick and you’re done, the whole world knows what you intend to do next. So convenient! So (dare I say it?) polite!

24. Claudia Dain on 19 Nov 2007 at 11:38 am #

    Now, while I’m thinking about all the gadgets in the car that DH abuses and misuses, the windshield wipers rank in the top five. He won’t turn them on.

    Why? What could he possibly have against clean windshields??

    Every single time we’re in the car together and it starts to rain, I wait for as long as I can, which means until I can’t see a thing through the rain, before I say, “Wipers?”

    He sighs like he’s being tortured and turns them on. Low. I really think he’s more a motorcycle guy. Just an engine and a seat and he’s good. All the convenience technology is a waste of precious engine space!

25. Sabrina Jeffries on 19 Nov 2007 at 11:41 am #

    I confess that I USED to be just like Claudia’s dh. Putting it on meant keeping it on. I think it’s a personality thing, not a gender thing.

    HOWEVER, after we got our Honda Odyssey, I discovered the lovely buttons on the steering wheel. I’m in heaven! You can decelerate the cruise, you can accelerate the cruise–you can essentially drive the car from the steering wheel. I LOVE IT!! If I’m on cc, and someone ambles into my lane going just two miles lower than my cc speed, I simply press down on the decelerate button until my speed matches theirs, then wait until I can get around them, then press the accelerate button to return.

    I love cc because holding my leg in position for the pedal always makes my leg cramp, especially in my lovely new Japanese car not designed for big fat Americans (I have the seat back all the way, and I still have to keep my leg in a painful position). I don’t think I could drive this car for any length of time if I didn’t have cc.

26. Claudia Dain on 19 Nov 2007 at 11:43 am #

    Since Sabrina confessed to having a history of misusing her cruise control, I think it’s important to point out that she and my DH are on friendly terms. In other words, I think he infected her.

    Just sayin’.

27. FreshEChelle on 19 Nov 2007 at 11:43 am #

    KariE, LOL!!! You’ve got a great “go-around” for cruise control!!

    Julia, if your DH wonders who is blaring the horn at him, that’s me. Failing to use a signal should be a capital offense whether it’s for turning or changing lanes. If you can’t use your signals, get the h@#$ off my road!!!

    Not to go all Andy Rooney, but have you noticed that men who drive below the speed limit and/or in the left lane with their signal on for 20 miles (turn into the damn divider already and end my suffering) are always wearing a hat? “Old man in a hat” - the greatest threat to road safetly.

28. Caren Crane on 19 Nov 2007 at 11:55 am #

    Claudia, I completely agree with you about the men and cruise control. My husband, who is not an agressive drive at all was driving us to Charleston recently. I asked whether he had used his cruise control yet (new car) and he looked astonished, as if he had forgotten he had such a feature! So he tried it out and, after several hours, exclaimed with astonishment, “It has a feature where you can just hit the button and it will decelerate without you touching the brake! And you can make it increase your speed by a couple of miles an hour!” Um, yes, dear my 10-yr-old minivan has that as well. I find it handy EVERY TIME I USE IT.

    He cannot multitask. Most men can’t. Karen, you’re a lucky woman!

29. Caren Crane on 19 Nov 2007 at 12:01 pm #

    Oh, sorry Sabrina. I hadn’t read your confession before I commented. But I think I have mentioned before that you and my dh share some qualities. *g*

    Julia and FreshEChelle, my dh uses a “spare the turn signal” rule as well. I have explained that I use turn signals so people will not have to intuit what my next move will be. It’s like a clue, I said, so they can prepare themselves. But in his head, it really is all about him. He simply doesn’t think about other drivers or what might help them. It’s a very man-attitude.

    FreshEChelle, the other hazard to driving is what my BIL calls the “fire marshall”. It’s the (older) man who has decided the appropriate speed everyone must drive. He drives in the fast lane on the interstate, uses his cruise control to maintain this speed (which is usually at least 5 mph slower than others in the fast lane) and will not move over no matter who or what rides his bumper or flashes lights. Ack!

30. DebMarlowe on 19 Nov 2007 at 12:03 pm #

    OMG! What *do* men have against the windshield wipers? Drives me crazy! I sit there, biting my tongue until I can’t take it anymore and then I say, very politely, “I cannot *seeeee!*

    My dh behaves with the cc, though. And with most other technologies. I have to say, I enjoy most new gadgets. Especially my computer. I have to clamp down and not LOL when my mother tells me that computers are ruining the world.

    The one I personally have a gripe with is the cell phone permanently attached to the ear thing. Really? Do you get that many calls? Don’t you know you look just like the guy who works for Lando Calrissian in The Empire Strikes Back?

31. Claudia Dain on 19 Nov 2007 at 12:04 pm #

    Oh, yes, let’s go all Andy Rooney!

    I haven’t noticed the men in hat connection, but I have noticed the white haired person in white Buick connection. I’m convinced that Buick has one market and one product: white cars to old people. Try it. Every time you see a white Buick, look to see who’s driving it, always below the speed limit, btw.

32. Claudia Dain on 19 Nov 2007 at 12:08 pm #

    Okay, and here’s my new “thing” with the cell phone: they’re so tiny now, those little ones that hook over the ear, that people are talking all around me and they’re not talking TO me…and it takes me forever to figure it out because the phone is ATTACHED TO THEM.

    Embedding them is the next step, trust me on this.

33. Claudia Dain on 19 Nov 2007 at 12:13 pm #

    Ladies, you have no idea how glad I am that I’m not the only one who has noticed these things. My daughter is also of the She Who Sees crowd.

    Recently, DH driving, the whole family in the car, the cruise control set, DH riding the bumper of the car in front of us, I say (calmly), “Brake!”

    DH sighs, DOES NOT HIT THE BRAKE, changes lanes instead and says in explanation, “I’m trying to save the brakes.”

    To which DD (dear daughter) replies, “Or you could save our LIVES instead.”

    To which we all LOL, DH included. He does have a sense of humor about his insanity.

34. Julia London on 19 Nov 2007 at 12:35 pm #

    Caren, that’s great — Man-attitude is Manitude! hahaha.

    Fresh, I agree with you. He ought to be shot, and not just for the blinkers.

    Deb, the windshield wipers!!!!! OH.MY.GOD. We’re driving 80 down the interstate and its raining. I try not to nag, I really do, but finally, I can’t stand it. I say, “Can you actually SEE out of your side, because I can’t!”

    He says, very calmly. “Not really,” and turns them on. What if I hadn’t been there? WHEN would he have turned them on??

35. Suzanne Enoch on 19 Nov 2007 at 12:59 pm #

    To the list of stupid inventions, I would like to contribute leaf blowers. They are noisy, they cause pollution, and where does the yard stuff go? Into someone else’s yard! I especially hate them on Thursdays, when my next-door-neighbor’s gardener blows all of the excess leaves and mowed grass onto my driveway.

    Get a broom, fella! That’s what I use to sweep up the mess they leave behind. *g*

36. Claudia Dain on 19 Nov 2007 at 1:00 pm #

    I honestly thought that my DH was the only one who had a thing about the windshield wipers. I’m shocked, SHOCKED, that it’s another Man Thing. Is it like a duel? Who can win? The rain or the man who refuses to give in and turn on the wipers?

37. Claudia Dain on 19 Nov 2007 at 1:03 pm #

    Oh, Suzie, I confess to loving leaf blowers! Of course, I’m the one doing the yard work so I appreciate the convenience (if not the weight) of them. The noise is annoying, true, but when you have tons of flat surfaces to clear and a billion leaves to get shifted, a blower is such a great invention. But blowing your yard junk onto someone else’s yard? How rude! That’s not right.

38. Sabrina Jeffries on 19 Nov 2007 at 1:39 pm #

    Yes, Suzie, I was with you on the leaf blowers when I lived in New Orleans, where there is really no fall. But here in North Carolina, with actual seasons, the leaf blower is essential. For one thing, the city comes by with a giant leaf-sucker and sucks up all the leaves that are blown to the curb. If you do not blow them to the curb, you have to rake them, and trust me, you have NO idea how many leaves can be produced for one home in North Carolina. It’s really kind of scary. My neighbors in their tiny house in my last NC neighborhood, who had trees only in their tiny backyard (none in the front as we did) collected *18* trash bags of leaves. That would have been just a drop in the bucket at our old house, with its 21 trees.

    I think the leaf blower is truly a necessity in certain parts of the country.

39. Sabrina Jeffries on 19 Nov 2007 at 1:41 pm #

    As for the car thing, I admit to being somewhat male in certain respects. Certainly, I am the only techie in the family.

40. KariE on 19 Nov 2007 at 1:46 pm #

    This one may be a little far fetched as a technological advancement that has made life worse but I’m going with it: Smart alarm clocks. I’m talking about the one I have that automatically sets itself when the power goes out, or jumps an hour ahead for Daylight Savings Time or falls back an hour when it ends. It would have been great if it did it on the right days.
    Another “great” feature, it has 2 alarms. Kinda like a His and Hers. So His is set at 4:45 so HEe can be out of the house at 6:15. Hers is set at 5:45 so HE makes sure HE is up and out of the house at 6:15.

41. Lisa H on 19 Nov 2007 at 2:05 pm #

    I am laughing along with all of you girls today!

    Yes, we have the windshield wiper issue in our family too. I hate to be a passenger during a rainy day when my husband is the driver. He will wait as long as possible to turn them on. I am very good at not being a backseat driver, but when it comes to this I do say, “Please turn them on!”

    (I bet Johnny Depp always turns his on at the first sign of rain!)

42. Suzanne Enoch on 19 Nov 2007 at 2:50 pm #

    Okay, I’ll amend my complaint — leaf blowers are stupid in areas with no seasons. Here I think guys use them just because they’re gadgets. Big, loud gadgets. There’s no sucking done here. Just blowing. *g*

43. Claudia Dain on 19 Nov 2007 at 2:51 pm #

    Kari, I agree on the smart alarm clocks, though mine makes me feel stupid. My DH (the poor guy is really taking it on the chin today) got me a very fancy, multipurpose clock for Christmas one year. It plays nature sounds, radio, CDs, and tells time with a screaming yellow digital readout the size of a playing card. Let me be clear: it’s not the numbers that light up, but the huge rectangle of yellow light. It lights up the room.

    Anyway, it quickly became his alarm clock. I can’t figure out how to do one thing with it. It scares me to death. One time, DH set it to play surf sounds and I couldn’t figure out how to turn it off. I ended up unplugging it.

    I hate that clock.

44. KariE on 19 Nov 2007 at 3:09 pm #

    (My train of thought has taken the fork to the left and has decided that someone needs to blog about stupid/dumb purchases by spouses (men). If it has been done, please direct me in the right direction.)

45. Claudia Dain on 19 Nov 2007 at 3:22 pm #

    Oh, go ahead, Kari, take the fork! *G*

    In my DH’s defense, I asked for the clock/CD/radio, but this one was so gadgety that it’s rigged like a bomb. A few years later I asked him for a new radio/CD player and, because he can be taught, he got one that was so simple that it didn’t require explanations or directions! I love that CD player. It even has a remote!

46. KariE on 19 Nov 2007 at 3:39 pm #

    Claudia-Oh I’m serious. I’m just waiting/looking for the place to complain about the riding lawn mower with the 38″ deck that cuts/clips/mulches for our .25 acre lot.
    I think you know your aren’t going to get along/like the the gift when DH is more excited about it than you are. My ie. golf video game. (I have already stated my dislike for video games). I traded it in for a book. haha
    I’m still trying to teach mine. We are still in pre-school. *deep sigh*

47. Claudia Dain on 19 Nov 2007 at 3:47 pm #

    Hang on, Kari, they do eventually figure it out. *G* It takes a while. A woman has to be patient, and some things, like cruise control and windshield wipers, are out of reach. But we never give up!! LOL

48. FreshEChelle on 19 Nov 2007 at 3:57 pm #

    Caren Crane, “fire marshall” I love it!! I called those drivers “The Enforcer” or the “Indy Pace Car” but I’m switching to “fire marshall”.

    Claudia, the next Old Man in a Hat I see will probably be driving a white Buick. Thanks for giving me one more thing to be ticked off about. My uncontrollable road rage makes me scream “take off your hat and drive”.

    One more Andy Rooney kvetch … the left lane is the passing lane NOT the fast lane. Even if you’re going 10 miles over the speed limit, if you aren’t passing, move over for the love of God!!!

    Finally, Janet Evanovich once wrote about NJ traffic “bumper to bumper at 80 miles an hour”.

49. FreshEChelle on 19 Nov 2007 at 4:01 pm #

    Suzanne, I’m with you on the leaf blowers. They drone on forEVER. They can’t possibly be more efficient than a rake. Not the ones the landscapers at my apt building use…for 2 hours at a time… with no stopping… on the one day a year I take off work so I can sleep in.

50. Claudia Dain on 19 Nov 2007 at 4:12 pm #

    Bumper to bumper at 80 mph, but are the wipers on?!? This has become my new burning agenda; what is the exact speed of car to rate of downpour graph going to show?

51. KariE on 19 Nov 2007 at 4:25 pm #

    Does Rain-X fit in these equations anywhere??

52. FreshEChelle on 19 Nov 2007 at 4:30 pm #

    Claudia, I’m Lenny (Of Mice & Men) when it comes to your physics quandry. Get a car with a rain sensor that he can’t turn off… then watch him squirm!

    Julia, “he should be shot and not just for the blinkers”. Can this be tomorrow’s topic?

53. KariE on 19 Nov 2007 at 4:38 pm #

    FreshChelle: Get a car with a rain sensor that he can’t turn off…

    THEN get a hidden camera in the car so we can see his reaction when they go on!!! HAHAHAHA

54. Karen Rose on 19 Nov 2007 at 5:17 pm #

    Claudia, my DH will use his wipers when it rains, but he drives me NUTS about using his wipers to clean the windshield when we travel.

    “There are bugs on the windshield,” I say. “Please clean it. I can’t see.”

    “I can see, and that’s all that’s important,” he says (just like a man, right). “Besides, it’s my bug collection,” he explains patiently, as if I’m a three year old. “I want to see how many bugs I have by the time we get there.”

    So incredibly GROSS!!! Especially in FL in the spring when the lovebugs swarm, always traveling in twos, having sex as they fly. Ew. They are even less attractive splatted on my windshield. Ew.

55. Julia London on 19 Nov 2007 at 5:18 pm #

    Haaahaha, Fresh! I should clarify that he hasn’t done anything bad or made me mad, but he’s just one of those men who thinks most laws and rules are suggested guidelines and does what he pleases.

56. cail on 19 Nov 2007 at 5:21 pm #

    SuzyQ, i got a speeding ticket very very early Sunday morning in a 25 mph zone. I just don’t see why 25 is EVER the speed limit.

57. Claudia Dain on 19 Nov 2007 at 6:08 pm #

    LOL about using the wipers to clean bug guts. I do this routinely, before they harden. This seems so completely logical to me. Why don’t men get this?

58. Claudia Dain on 19 Nov 2007 at 6:10 pm #

    Oh, Cail, I can answer the 25 mph speed zone question. It’s to protect the little kidlets. I got hit by a car when I was 7, chasing my dog across the street. Naturally, the dog escaped unscathed! Four legs are such an advantage. LOL

59. FreshEChelle on 19 Nov 2007 at 6:47 pm #

    KariE, I like the way you think. LOL again.

60. twolilhahas on 19 Nov 2007 at 8:07 pm #

    Oh YES, the wipers! That makes me crazy. The first sign of raindrops, I’m turning on the wipers. My bf…not so much.

61. doglady on 19 Nov 2007 at 10:48 pm #

    I have laughed and laughed at you ladies and your dh’s! My husband is no longer with me, but I have so many happy memories of his complete techno obsession and my complete techno phobia!! I HATE TECHNOLOGY! I was born in the wrong time!! I would have a meltdown when the computer would act up and Roger would come over, type in a few commands, fix it and go sit down without saying a word. He would use cruise control and sit there while we putted up a hill because he was determined to use that !@@#^^ cruise control. It would make me nuts!! Oh and Karen Rose, I so feel your pain! I cannot figure out how to use call waiting on my phone! My critique partner taught me how to use the missed calls thingy or I STILL wouldn’t know how to use it! The instructions for the phone are in a file somewhere. I just can’t find the file!! I bought a futon a year ago and it is still in the box because I read through the instructions one time and said “This isn’t happening!”