Conference quark::mennotes

    Well for a time my wife was a computer programmer. I think I could
    handle that switch. :-) She could probably handle my job as well as
    I once she got up to speed on the programming languages my group uses.
    But she's been out of software for 13-14 years so the curve would be
    a problem. And she's not likely to put up with the garbage I do so
    she'd probably get fired or quit in a day. :-)

    Right now I'd have some trouble. But not too much. She runs an after
    school program and a summer recreation program. The kids are from
    kindergarten to grade 5. This is not the age group I deal with best.
    Although I did spend about 3 weeks working with her last summer. I
    needed time away from work so I took a month off. Most of it was spent
    helping with the recreation program. So I could do it but, frankly, I'd
    rather not. 

    			Alfred

    Even though I love my job (no joke, REALLY!), I'd still trade for a day.
    
    I like a temporary change of pace and scenery every now and then.

    Although I like eating. Cooking a profession doesn't really excite me
    much. And working in the summer in the kitchen isnt very much a desired
    profession either. So I would not want to trade places with the ex in
    that....:_) Although I hear that these days even the kitchen is air
    conditioned.
    
    I rather doubt that the ex would want to trade with me either. Going to
    college for this profession, then working the wierd days and hours
    doesnt excite her. This was a conversation that had taken place long
    before things went to the hounds in reguards to our marriage.:)
    
    I am doing what would be termed womans work with house cleaning, child
    rearing, and even pressing little girls dress's. And I get little or no 
    help from friends or family in this game too.

	"I am doing what would be termed womans work with house cleaning, child
	rearing, and even pressing little girls dress's. And I get little or no 
	help from friends or family in this game too."

I take off my hat to a man who attempts that alone because I know it's no easy 
task. I've been keeping up with some of your other notes and I think it takes a 
lot of courage to do what you're doing George. But I bet it makes you happy.

Your comment made me smile because I had visions of a green lizard ironing a 
little girls dress ... :-) (must be the perfume Dune coming from Lorna's notes) 
but please don't take any offence, I'm laughing with you not at you.

- Paul.
 

    I wouldn't care to switch with my ex-husband, even for a day.  Don't
    think I could do the work anyway - he's a plant eng in a small factory
    and the work is extremely heavy and rather dangerous.  In fact, the
    end of his finger was recently torn off.
    
    I don't beleive he could work too well at my secretarial job either,
    though he's versatile and might surprise me (he has several times
    before, one of the reasons we're ex ;)
    
    

    If I traded places with my sweetie, we'd probably have to switch
    cubicles (ours are about 100 feet apart,) although it wouldn't be
    required.  We'd each log into the same call-handling system (CHAMP)
    but he'd be using the one based in Atlanta while I'd switch to the
    same one based in Colorado.
    
    He'd have to talk to people about their system hardware problems
    and I'd be talking to people about their programming difficulties.
    We both know electronics (I have more experience at it than he does)
    and we both know a number of programming languages (most of his work
    experience has been as a developer so he has more experience than I
    do with languages.)
    
    Then again, a guy from my group recently went to his group, so our
    jobs couldn't be that far apart.  :>  (We have the guy back on temp
    loan now and he still remembers how to do the stuff we do over here.)
    
    When it's two DEC employees who are both engineers/specialists,
    the trade wouldn't be much of a change.  :>

    I wouldn't want to swap places with my ex-husband.  He's an unemployed
    software engineer (victim of the infamous Dec. 7th Digital lay-off),
    and I don't know anything about software.
    
    On the other hand, there are things about my day that would pose
    problems for him, too.  He would find taking care of my 5 cats very
    annoying, and would be confused trying to accessorize my outfits and
    jewelry.  Also, it's been years since he had this much hair to worry
    about.  I think my job would bore him, too, as he never did develop an
    interest in the valuing differences notesfiles, and would most likely
    have a hard time attempting to exchange vaxmail with my friends.
    
    It probably wouldn't be a good idea for us to switch.  :-)
    
    Lorna
    

    Paul, 
    
    THANKS! Sometimes it aint easy. And there have been allot of stuff
    written about single dads doing it all in News Week that a friend of
    mine clips out and sends.
    
    I am glad you can laugh at it! :) Green lizards tail and all!:) 
    
    Geo

    
    Well, Jan would have the best of that trade.  She's a better writer
    than I am an IS consultant.  She knows the tools I use far better
    than I know the tools she uses (except maybe for DECplan).  She'd
    also make out better at home -- she cooks far better (and more
    often) than I have ever balanced a checkbook.  The pets and livestock
    would make out fine either way.
    
    Ron

    I don't know if I could trade places with my boyfriend. He has got his
    A-levels coming up and I know not much about history and he doesn't
    understand the principals of my business studeies course (part-time at
    college). I could cope with his 9-4pm hours and free periods and
    especially the school holidays I miss out on!

    My ex is an electrician.  This is often hard physical labor!  Often
    enough he has to pull a bundle of greased wires through a pipe.  You
    gotta have mus-kles.  I couldn't do a fraction of what he does.
    
    I'm a tech writer.  My ex can't type, spell, or consistently write a
    grammatical sentence.  He'd be SOL in my line of work.
    
    L

    While it might be fun to try my wife's work, I could never be as
    successful as she is at it. Her skills are entrepeneurial and
    political, in the very best sense, and she's very gifted. She works in
    the non-profit sector and imagines great things, marshalls other
    organizations and money to create them, and manages them efficiently.
    From our first date, her skills have amazed me and endeared her to me.
    
    I think she'd probably be bored with my kind of work (writing), though
    she's a suberb writer and intellectually capable of doing the work. She
    could do the other part of my job (housework and running a household
    with 3 kids), but she's quite inefficient at that and would easily be
    frustrated. No doubt she would find it confining as well.
    
    Kit

    
    
    
     I would love to trade places with my x wife. She gets to have my son
    when she wants. She lives in a five bedroom house with her hubby. She
    she gets the tax write off. I get to work two jobs and sixety two hours
    a week.
    
                                                
    David

    I just absorbed my ex's part of the family dream. Income property that
    took two of us to work. Now worked my me, now trying to fight for a
    chapt 13 plan. No fun. She walks out, I get all the fun and heart burn.
    Its like watching a sand castle get washed out to sea.