Oscar writes
Have come to the same conclusion .... now anybody got an idea what to
tell the wife why I need to have the next 20-30 Saturdays off? Somebody
suggested to bribe her with $200 every weekend and point her to the
nearest shopping mall ... Any cheaper suggestions?

For my part I make sure I get up before her, tip-toe out the door trying
not to wake her, and on those occasions when I think she might notice my
prolonged absence from the usual chaos of my household on a Saturday
morning, try and make it back shortly after lunch with stories of
selfless self-sacrifice of how the conditions in the morning were really
lousy, didn't get anything in the air till gone 11 and though it really
did look like the day was about to blossom in the afternoon you really
wanted to come home and spend the time with her.

Never make it sound like you spent the morning enjoying yourself, and on
the odd occasion across the afternoon stare poignantly at the sky when
she thinks you think she's not looking just to drive home what a
terrific afternoon it could have been and look what you willingly gave
up to be at home with her instead.

Of course, on those days where the afternoon really does bloom, I just
switch the mobile off, blame the battery, and claim ignorance along the
lines of "I didn't realise the time!". Easier to say sorry than to ask
permission. She, in her turn, grabs the credit card and our teenage
daughter and goes off up town to get her own back on my wallet. Would be
cheaper to pay her in dollars

Naturally, all of this is written with tongue firmly-in-cheek.

--
Bill Gribble
| http://www.ingenuitytest.co.uk
| http://www.cotswoldgliding.co.uk
| http://www.scapegoatsanon.demon.co.uk