Wow so many with the same situation, although mine is not because of him losing a job in this economy. I always seemed to find the really nice guys that lacked motivation - I married two of them. My first husband was in finance, and figured that he could work fewer hours and manage to make enough. I was working and had two young children and he did not think that his free time was for housework or watching the kids even when I went to the gym - I had to get a sitter so that he would not have to commit to being home. No matter how much counseling or discussion between us could make him see how it felt to have him sitting on the front porch reading the paper while I was going crazy in the house getting lunches ready and the kids and me out of the house every morning. The neighbors even noticed! I felt if I was going to live like a single parent, I might as well be able to date, so I divorced him. And then I did the same thing again! What the heck was wrong with me?? When I met my second husband, he had a job, but all of his jobs were not long-term or careers -- he was also an under-employed carpenter. He was an awesome person, and a great step-father to my kids, but the housework was not even on his radar. However, with his more "flexible schedule", he was the one that could get a sick kid at school or be home if needed, so he was a bit of a house husband and that allowed me to concentrate on my job. But once the kids were off at college, I joked that he was my oldest child, but it really wasn't a joke. Unfortunately he died suddenly a little over a year ago, and although I miss him terribly, I am not going to make the same mistake again. I'm fortunate that I can support myself as I've been doing it for years anyway. If there is a next guy he will have to be at least where I am financially (which is not much!) and be interested in a true partnership. We all have to put up with stupid bosses and policies, but how can these men think it's OK to put their pride before their employment because they won't tolerate whatever they don't agree with? You can't be an employee and do things any way you want - we all have to suck it up for a job. If these guys didn't have a wife, I wonder what would they do? Please understand, I'm not knocking your hubbies - especially after the men I married! Many of you seem to be adapting to the new normal in your households. What makes it work is a sense of teamwork between the two of you, each doing what needs to be done. A wife can't be the breadwinner and then come home to housework & cooking while the husband plays - that situation won't last long without resentment.

Wine50: A big hug to you. And ditto what OleJoyful wrote--could not have chosen finer words myself. As so many of you have written, the distress you feel having the task of cleaning out the home is palpable, but hopefully you can approach it as a learning experience--learning more about the family members. Kind of like a treasure hunt (yes, among all the trash!) You can try just imagining what she looked like in that Chanel dress for the big to-do. You find out more in those tucked-away letters. And while you might not be able to identify some people in the photos, it's a glimpse into another era. I think really the only thing I can add is to not do this alone--if there are other siblings in the family, make them have an equal hand in it, from the basic cleaning-out-the-fridge or clearing out trash part to the divvying up of stuff and making decisions on what to toss or donate. It's not just to make the work go faster. I didn't have the chance to go back afterwards (and that was awhile after both parents had died), because the house was quickly sold and there was a deadline to have it ready for the next family. And I just could not get back in time because of another commitment. Other siblings did the work. Every day I recall some little object, maybe something I gave to my mom, and wonder what happened to it. Was it thrown out, is it in a box in the basement of a sister's house.

I missed this thread ... glad it came back up. My husband and I are avid fans. I tried out for Jeopardy! around the time granjan did -- at least ten years ago, when it was still being made in the Burbank area. I took the test and was one of the three selected that day for an interview. We played a mock game on a mock set and I did as well as the other two. They told us if we weren't contacted by August, that was it. We'd have to try out all over again for the following season. They also warned us that many teachers and students apply for the show, but the producers want contestants from as wide a variety of occupations as possible. I assume that worked against me, since I am a teacher. (Okay, maybe it was my personality.) They never got in touch. At any rate, I didn't try out again. I was so happy to get the interview, that was enough for me! My friend's mother was actually on Jeopardy! (senior tournament, she didn't win) and we all went to watch. That's where I learned more about the show. Alex was pleasant to everyone, even the go-fers. The audience has to be really quiet -- it's very hard to sit there and not shout out answers (like we do at home). As I recall they were taping 5 shows that day, so the contestants had to have changes of clothes, as mariannese mentioned. Besides literature, facts about Canada, U.S. presidents and state capitals are heavily featured.

I remove virus on a daily basis here, I'm a trained expert. http://www.geekstogo.com/forum/ I have not seen this one you speak of. It was not Ransomware though or your files would have been encrypted. The latest Ransomware Wannacry is not only Ransomware but, a worm as well and a worm is designed to search all computers on the network and infect them too. If this is a new virus / malware you speak of I'll certainly see it soon.