The Rural Voice, 1998-06, Page 6CHRYSLER DODGE
JEEP
HOME OF QUALITY
USED VEHICLES
1996 JEEP CHEROKEE
SPORT - Fully equipped.
including P.W., P.L.. cruise.
4.0L 6 cyl., only 16,000 km
Ralance of warranty.
1996 Jeep Grand Cherokee
Laredo - 4.0L 6 cyl., loaded.
only 49,000 km. Balance oi
warranty.
BOTH IN EXCEPTIONAL
CONDITION
"We only sell the best
for less and
wholesale the rest"
If you don't see what
you want, ask us, we'll
find it for you.
Sunset Strip,
Owen Sound
Ontario, N4K 5W9
(519) 371 -JEEP (5337)
1-800-263-9579
Fax: (519) 371-5559
2 THE RURAL VOICE
Gisele Ireland
Men efficient because of wives
Super Wrench prides himself
about what he considers his superior
talents of time management. The
trouble is, a lot of the time he
manages is MINE.
I'd just returned from making the
bank deposit
for the family
business and
picking up
some stuff (I
make it a point
never to learn
the names of
machinery
parts) when the
little beaver
had been busy
thinking up
another make-
work project
for me. He
thrust a piece
of paper at me and said not to dawdle
getting the parts because the tractor
was apart, the customer was anxious
to get in the field, and they couldn't
wait for the courier to bring it
tomorrow. When I glanced at the
instructions I knew it would be a 50 -
mile round trip. I was beginning to
feel like the Roadrunner and nasty
thoughts of mutiny ran across my
mind. The rebellious attitude that was
just sprouting went into full bloom at
his parting remark. And, by the way,
would I move supper ahead an hour
as he had a meeting to go to?
I'm not looking for sympathy
here, as this is quite usual for most
farm women at this time of year. We
live to serve.
Revenge at supper was sweet as
Super Wrench dubiously eyed the
assortment of leftovers I hauled from
the fridge. He hates leftovers,
especially those growing their own
garnish. As he scraped and prodded
at his food, I mentioned that he'd
used all my hours up that day and I
had planned to make major inroads
into getting the flower beds ready for
spring planting. He barely looked up
fromwhat must have once been
cheese and informed me that there
were at least five hours of daylight
left and to use them to do what I
wanted.
"Do you really mean", I asked
with venom dripping off every
syllable, "that you've run out of
things for me to do?"
Before he could formulate a reply
the Master Planner from Above inter-
vened in the form of a news bulletin
on the radio. The reporter made a
very timely announcement. "It has
become apparent", he said with a
very detectable smirk in his voice,
"that the women of this generation
have less leisure time than the women
a generation ago enjoyed."
Super Wrench didn't say anything
for a couple of seconds and then,
looking at me, pronounced that
women were obviously not good time
managers as hadn't men provided
them withall kinds of machines and
gadgets to make their daily chores
easier?
At my snort of disgust at this very
benevolent macho statement the
Wrench got a wary look on his face.
He knew he'd lit the fuse.
Of course, I agreed, my voice
rising along with my temper, men
have invented machines to make
housework easier. "Do you know
why they did it?" I yelled at him. He
was smart enough not to answer that
one. I did it for him. "So they can
send them to do the work men won't,
or say they don't have time to do," I
shrieked.
He left and I attacked the flower
bcds while the mosquitoes drained a
considerable amount of my blood
which must have been close to
boiling point.
When the Wrench returned, he
stayed parked in the garage and
honked the horn. When I came out I
noticed he had tied a white cloth on
the aerial. Apparently he was
surrendering and it made me very
suspicious. Did it mean he had a list
all made up to manage my time for
the next day, or did it mean he would
let me make my plans uninterrupted
by his demands? I guess I won't
know until I unlock the door and let
him in to negotiate a peace treaty —
and when I'm through with him, time
management will be the last thing
he'll be thinking of.0
Gisele Ireland, from Bruce County, is
an author of several humorous books
on farm life.