my wife doesnt like my love for all things gadgety/techy....need advise.

[hulkster]

okay, so ive been married for almost 4 years.  my marriage is great and my wife puts up with my techy stuf and love for techy stuff.  i have lots of games, arcade machine, gaming pc, hdtv, etc etc.  recently ive been able to accumulate gift cards to various stores that were either free, given to me, or i was able to return something for store credit.  so ive been thinking of what to do with my money.  things that have popped into my head:

- 32" lcd tv for the bedroom
- media center stuff
- extra large hard drives for a NAS or home server
- more games 

so i recently came up with a plan to purchase a tv tuner to finally take the plunge into the media center realm.  this isnt a full head on plunge to fully adapt everything in my house and spend thousands, but rather....take an old P4 pc, and put a tv tuner in it that would be free with store credit and hook it up to my current crappy 19" tube tv in the bedroom.  i have vista ultimate on this pc, and i thought "hey its free, what the heck....i can stream movies, music, photos, etc to my bedroom for free!  awesome". 

so i tell my wife my little plan and she starts asking me "why do you ALWAYS want more stuff?  why cant you be content with what you have?  our tv works just fine.  i dont need to listen to music in the bedroom.  you dont even watch much tv in this room anyway.  our house isnt big enough for all this stuff"     so im like...uh.....why?  why do i need more stuff?  im not sure i have an answer to that type of question really. 

why do i NEED an arcade machine that plays 10,000 games?  well i dont NEED it, but its cool and i like tech stuff.  its like, in my view, im just trying to give us access to all our content whether it be music, photos, videos (we are expecting our first child in march), movies, or whatever.  why wouldnt that be cool? 

so i guess my question to you guys is....do you have any suggestions on how to convince my wife to allow some of this stuff?  one of her big deals with the media center thing in the bedroom was "i dont want a pc in the bedroom.  we have enough stuff in here".  well its a quiet pc, and it could be covered up without any problem, but geez...what the heck?   

[mcfreak]

Do you have a 360? You can leave the PC in the office and extend the media center interface from vista to the 360.  Works really well and even supports HD streams.

I have the same "problem" as you.  The wife deals with all my technology afflictions and calls me a "Mad Scientist" every time I come up with something new that will make our lives better (At least mine)  .  I don't have an answer except that when she gets used to all the cool features in media center she will miss it when it breaks.  You will need to set up a dev environment for testing plug-ins, new apps, etc and schedule down time in the production environment (your bedroom).

Lets put it this way, would you have the bedding that you have in your bedroom now if she wasn't there?  I have a feeling it has some floral pattern on it.  It's like that,  why do we need all this furniture, picture frames, scrap books, purses, shoes...  We have it because that is what SHE wants to do and that is what makes HER happy.  Tech stuff is what makes you happy.

If she lived by herself she would have analog TV, Coax into the TV she got in College.  On the flip side, if you lived by yourself you would have no furniture, the same bed you had (white sheets that haven't been washed in months, same mattress from high school, and just a metal bed frame)  However, you would have 20 arcade cabinets, every console ever made, a server room up in the office, and LCD's on every wall, and a big remote to control them all **Of course this would be a one of a kind remote in the shape of the Lord of the Rings "Ring"...  Maybe that is taking it to far...

Cheers my friend, welcome to all of our daily battles....
 

[hulkster]

Do you have a 360? You can leave the PC in the office and extend the media center interface from vista to the 360.  Works really well and even supports HD streams.

I have the same "problem" as you.  The wife deals with all my technology afflictions and calls me a "Mad Scientist" every time I come up with something new that will make our lives better (At least mine)  .  I don't have an answer except that when she gets used to all the cool features in media center she will miss it when it breaks.  You will need to set up a dev environment for testing plug-ins, new apps, etc and schedule down time in the production environment (your bedroom).

Lets put it this way, would you have the bedding that you have in your bedroom now if she wasn't there?  I have a feeling it has some floral pattern on it.  It's like that,  why do we need all this furniture, picture frames, scrap books, purses, shoes...  We have it because that is what SHE wants to do and that is what makes HER happy.  Tech stuff is what makes you happy.

If she lived by herself she would have analog TV, Coax into the TV she got in College.  On the flip side, if you lived by yourself you would have no furniture, the same bed you had (white sheets that haven't been washed in months, same mattress from high school, and just a metal bed frame)  However, you would have 20 arcade cabinets, every console ever made, a server room up in the office, and LCD's on every wall, and a big remote to control them all **Of course this would be a one of a kind remote in the shape of the Lord of the Rings "Ring"...  Maybe that is taking it to far...

Cheers my friend, welcome to all of our daily battles....
 

ha, thanks for that last paragraph....cheered me up   

yes i do have a 360, and its in the rec room with the hd tv.  heres the deal though, the pc im typing this on now that has vista ultimate...will be moved to the rec room in a month or so to make room for a nursery.  so ill have just about all my media outlets and stuff in one room which will be nice.

hdtv
xbox 360
wii
ps2
arcade
gaming pc

the only other place that i would like to stream stuff to is the bedroom, and maybe outside for music (i have a pool and a deck with a tv mounted).  i guess the one main place i would actually use the htpc quite a bit is in the rec room...but that would require an expensive htpc im guessing because ill need to be able to record hd, record two channels at once, etc. 

so in theory i could use the 360 to stream stuff, but its just so dang loud.  i even have one of the quieter models (my first is red ringed...i got a new one with a quieter dvd drive, extra heat sink, etc). 

so with that being said...any more suggestions? 

[TOK]

The correct response is "Hey, you're right. I'm going to the nudie bar."

[shardian]

She's right, you have too much tech junk.

Oh wait, was I supposed to be supportive?

[tommy]

Tell your wife you enjoy these things and they make you happy. When you find something that makes you happy you should not listen to anyone who tries to stop you from having a good time and enjoying yourself even though it is your wife. It's hard enough to find enjoyment in life sometimes and when you do you need to hold on to it.

You would think she would want you to be happy and support anything you do that makes you enjoy life more, and not dump all over it. I'm not saying she's a bad person but make her understand that these are the things you enjoy and you would not stop her from doing or buying anything that would make her happy. I would not let anyone stop me from enjoying myself or feel guilty about it.

[geomartin]

It's a month before Christmas and she is probably a little miffed about you spending money on yourself.  Take the gift cards buy the tuner AND SOMETHING NICE FOR HER, put it under the tree and wait for Christmas to start playing with it.  I've been married 18 years and this usually works great for me.  My wife never knows what SHE got me for Christmas until I open it

[Singapura]

Take a look at http://mentifex.virtualentity.com/robowife.html. Trading your wife in might solve your issues 

But seriously, I have the same problem with my better half. I don't even have any cabs at home because they're virtually impossible to buy here and there's no way I could make one at home. I do love hi-end audio and that's where my troubles start. I've found out though that she really likes mobile phones so I "let" her buy a new one once every two months and immediately upgrade my stuff after that. She can't complain  She also liked the Wii a lot so I bought it "for her".

[danny_galaga]

The correct response is "Hey, you're right. I'm going to the nudie bar."

 

[Level42]

When was the last time you played with HER, instead of your tech stuff




I have several strategies. The one I like the most is, do not tell anything, put the machine in place and say nothing. She'l look at you in disbelieve when she discovers it and say "you didn' buy another.....blablabla" Then you walk up to her cloths/shoes/boots/purses or whatever she buys in quantities that you really only need one or a couple of and say something like "you didn' buy another dress/pants/shoes/purse etc.

That solves things most of the times here

But I think I'l try that nudie bar the next time 

[Luigi]

Man, this reminds of my situation. I do not smoke, I don't go out often or spend much money for unnecessary things (well, ni my opinion). I'm the singer of two bands, well, things don't go very well there so we don't have a lot of gigs and even not much rehearsals. I do not spend much money for tech things, my "newest" console is the N64     Normally I only go to our (a friend of mine has a small hall for his business) gameroom on saturdays to work on the cabs....playing is very rare. I don't know why but she doesn't like it when I go there.....heck, I even take the kids with me so they can play some games or see a movie....so she can rest or do some sports.

Last week end I said, that there will (again) be no band rehearsal on wednesday so I will go to the new gameroom and finish the electrical work so we could start to put in and power up the games (I haven't been there for the last three weeks and next weekend is blocked due to HER hobbies!!). She didn't want me to go there!! It was like saying "There's no band rehearsal...I'll go to the nudie bar with my mate!"     She said she wanted to look the last show (3rd season) of "Desperate housewives" together with me but I said that I record it on HD so we can look on saturday or friday.

I even do not spend any money from the household for the cabs. If I want to buy something I have to gather the money or sell something.

I really don't understand 

Sometimes I think she thinks she has to compete with the cabs 

[ChadTower]

The correct response is "Hey, you're right. I'm going to the nudie bar."

Please find me the nude bar that accepts random gift cards.  I have a whole stack of the damn things.  My wife's family pretty much only gives out gift cards for any event and we never get around to using any of them.  It's always to the most useless places too... never a Lowe's or a Stop and Shop.  It's always Christmas Tree Shops or Kohl's or Bill-Bob's Cajun-Australian Gouda Emporium.

[mcfreak]

The correct response is "Hey, you're right. I'm going to the nudie bar."

Please find me the nude bar that accepts random gift cards.  I have a whole stack of the damn things.  My wife's family pretty much only gives out gift cards for any event and we never get around to using any of them.  It's always to the most useless places too... never a Lowe's or a Stop and Shop.  It's always Christmas Tree Shops or Kohl's or Bill-Bob's Cajun-Australian Gouda Emporium.

I put a Visa gift card on the top of my list this year as I am tired of the random place gift card for $30.  I even added a link to where to get it online and listed stores to get it from : CVS, Walgreens...  Let's see how that works this year.

[ChadTower]

I have a couple gift certificates to restaurants that are 75 miles from my house... but close to the person's house that gave them to us.  I strongly suspect that the reason we get so many gift cards to stupid places is because they're being regifted since the first recipient doesn't want to shop there either.

Can't say I see the point of giving someone a gift certificate anyway unless you're giving it long distance.  Talk about a gift without any forethought.

[CCM]

I'm fine with gift certificates and money (as long as the gift certs. are for somewhere I actually shop).   I'd rather pick something out I know I want/need than be stuck with some crappy holiday print turtleneck sweater from the inlaws...

[ChadTower]

I'm fine with gift certificates and money (as long as the gift certs. are for somewhere I actually shop).   I'd rather pick something out I know I want/need than be stuck with some crappy holiday print turtleneck sweater from the inlaws...

That's choosing between two things that aren't what the gift is supposed to be, though, isn't it?  I always thought a person is supposed to think about the person for whom they are buying a gift and then give them something they could use or something they may want.  Putting in a little thought about the person, right?  Why else would you buy someone a gift?  When people go the Old Navy clearance bin route for a gift just because they were on their way out of the mall that's just as bad.  I have a closet full of fleece pullovers that don't fit me as well.  I get at least 2 every year and one year my mother in law alone gave me two, having forgotten entirely that she had bought and wrapped the first one.

[JackTucky]

That's choosing between two things that aren't what the gift is supposed to be, though, isn't it?  I always thought a person is supposed to think about the person for whom they are buying a gift and then give them something they could use or something they may want.  Putting in a little thought about the person, right?  Why else would you buy someone a gift?  When people go the Old Navy clearance bin route for a gift just because they were on their way out of the mall that's just as bad.  I have a closet full of fleece pullovers that don't fit me as well.  I get at least 2 every year and one year my mother in law alone gave me two, having forgotten entirely that she had bought and wrapped the first one.

Have you considered that people don't like you and buy you things you can't use on purpose?  Take a look in the mirror.

Jacktucky

[ChadTower]

Let's have a show of hands... who didn't see that coming a mile away? 

 

That's high quality JackTucky right there.

[Level42]

The correct response is "Hey, you're right. I'm going to the nudie bar."

Please find me the nude bar that accepts random gift cards.  I have a whole stack of the damn things.  My wife's family pretty much only gives out gift cards for any event and we never get around to using any of them.  It's always to the most useless places too... never a Lowe's or a Stop and Shop.  It's always Christmas Tree Shops or Kohl's or Bill-Bob's Cajun-Australian Gouda Emporium.

Hey-hey-hey, what's wrong with Gouda eh ??
 

[JackTucky]

Let's have a show of hands... who didn't see that coming a mile away? 

 

That's high quality JackTucky right there.

I didn't think you considered it.    Sorry if it offended you. 

=J

[Thenasty]

what can a wife give you that a PC/MAME/ARCADE/TECH STUFF/ETC.. can't ?

You got Ms.Pacman that will give you good time anytime.
Daphne will be there when have that itch, and that Kababongbong (japaneses arcade game, whatever it's called).
Don't forget, you can also ROCK or DANCE anytime you feel like with your stuff.
You can even get you'r techie stuff to WAKE you up, Cook, Serve, Wash etc.....

I guess that only thing you can have from a WIFE is NAG NAG NAG NAG anytime you want some stuff  



STUFF = Perfect Companion
WIFE = Not so Perfect


Need to play with my STUFF, Asteroids anyone ?  

[lharles]

why do i NEED an arcade machine that plays 10,000 games?  well i dont NEED it, but its cool and i like tech stuff.  its like, in my view, im just trying to give us access to all our content whether it be music, photos, videos (we are expecting our first child in march), movies, or whatever.  why wouldnt that be cool?

so i guess my question to you guys is....do you have any suggestions on how to convince my wife to allow some of this stuff?  one of her big deals with the media center thing in the bedroom was "i dont want a pc in the bedroom.  we have enough stuff in here".  well its a quiet pc, and it could be covered up without any problem, but geez...what the heck?   

I think the active part of that is 'we are expecting our first child'.  Personally, I wouldn't even begin to fight that battle when she's pregnant.  I've gone through that three times and I'm a father of four kids, (twins the last time 'round), as a result.  Logic gives way to emotion like a 'teeter totter' when there's a bun in that oven.   

If you're gonna' convince her to be okay with it or somethin' like that...I'd say wait until after March. 

[Biscuit]

For what it's worth, my opinion is she's in the throes of the nesting instinct, which I believe includes components of worrying about your finances, worrying about how much time you will be devoting to helping her with the baby, and maybe even when you are going to grow out of playing with toys. 

Don't worry about it too much.  Life changes with every new addition to the family, so enjoy yourself now.  Priorities and hormones will be juggled when the time comes.

[ChadTower]

That's a good point.  Don't argue with a pregnant woman.  You cannot win.  If you start to succeed she will simply change the topic to something you did 12 years ago before she even met you that she heard about from you mother one night when you  weren't around. 

[btp2k2]

get a new wife

[hulkster]

thanks for the comments guys.  the weird thing is, i will end up having a total of $267 or so after i buy things with gift cards, then take them all back to walmart for store credit or cash, or whatever i end up getting.  sometimes they give cash but not always.  anyway, i have all this FREE money that didnt cost me anything or her anything, it was basically just given to me.  i told her all that and she said she knew it was "free" but her response was "in the end, you are still buying stuff".   

seriously, after she said that i was lost.  im going to get christmas money as well (her grandma already guaranteed it)....so will that mean that i can only spend my christmas money on things she deems worthy of me "needing"?? 

i swear, every time we go to kohls or whatever clothing store and i mention something about possibly getting a dress shirt (because i RARELY buy clothes...id rather buy games) she is all like "how about you get 5 shirts".  so clothes are okay for me to get.  i could spend $500 on clothes and she's cool with it.  i brought up the comparison that she likes clothes and likes wearing new clothes the same way i like playing games and getting new tech stuff.  i said "you dont really NEED 5 sweaters, but you like having new stuff....and i have no problem with that.  you enjoy it, so its cool".  but of course, the pregnancy gauntlet is thrown down and she gives me the response "well i cant wear any of my old clothes because im getting fat" for the record, shes about 130 pounds so she's not fat, but shes bigger than she was obviously because shes 5 months pregnant.  so i lose that battle too...no comparisons can be made.

i think in the end, she wants to make up my christmas list for me.  she told my mother in law to get me a ladder for christmas because i needed to change light bulbs.     i was sitting right there when she said it!  i looked at my mother in law like my wife had just suggested we adopt 50 cats.  my mother in law just laughed....and i said i wanted money and gift cards to best buy so i can buy more games.  booyah! 

regardless, i love my wife to death, dont get me wrong.  we have a great marriage and everything is awesome, and i cant wait for our first child.....but jiminy christmas....gimme a break! 

[lharles]

regardless, i love my wife to death, dont get me wrong.  we have a great marriage and everything is awesome, and i cant wait for our first child.....but jiminy christmas....gimme a break! 

The fun is just starting.  You can enclose the word fun in the previous sentence in sarcasm brackets or not...just depends on the situation.    Parenthood is AMAZING.  You get to have a small human who doesn't realize how flawed you REALLY are for the first decade plus of their lives, so they tend to like ya'.   

Good luck, man.  Sincerely.

...and you'll be able to accumulate those tech toys again in the near future.  You might find your motivation to do so is sidetracked by things relating to the mini-adult though. 

[crashwg]

IMHO, your wife has a control problem.  Of course I'm not a shrink or anything, but if I had to guess I'd say that it's not going to get better any time soon unless you some sort of counseling whether it be a professional or just an unbiased third party at the very least.

Then again, if she's hot and putting out (she is pregnant after all so, duh...) you may just want to keep your spending habits on the D/L and downplay the cost of the things she'll obviously notice. 

[ChadTower]

It might be temporary... some women get all nesty-controlfreak while pregnant and then chill later... but then again, we don't know if she was like this before being pregnant.  I was fairly well on her side until the ladder story.

Don't hide things from her.  If you're going to be spendy on electronics, be open about it or don't do it.  Be a man in your own house.  Hiding it only affirms her control.

[markrvp]

Go to your wife's closet and count all her shoes.  Ask her why she always wants more shoes.  Why is she never happy with the shoes she has?

Men and women all want more, guys just want stuff that's actually useful and will be used more than once.

[shmokes]

There's always the possibility that she's just right.  She doesn't strike me as a control freak.  You've got loads of gadgets that include at least one ginormous arcade cabinet.  A lot of the poor saps on this board are required to keep their BYOAC hobby in the garage.

People keep comparing her penchant for new clothes, but the fact is AT SOME POINT if your wife was out-of-control buying new clothes you would start to get irritated.  She would go to buy a new jacket or a new pair of shoes and you'd be like, "Why do you ALWAYS need to buy more and more stuff.  You have SO MUCH already and a lot of it is barely worn and still in style."

Before you go nuts feeling all sad for yourself, consider whether you might have reached that threshold.  The person with the problem hardly ever identifies it as such, but everyone around them sees it.

Try taking that $230 and starting/adding to a Roth IRA or a 529 education fund for the tyke.  Maybe you'll find that not only was it a much better use of your money, but that, in fact, you don't really give a ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- about having no media center in your bedroom. 

Or maybe she's just a ---smurfette---.  What do I know?

[hypernova]

Next time she partakes in her personal hobby, hound her with the same questions.  Then explain the concept of "what goes around comes around" and to back the hell off.

This could lead to a petty fight.

Which then leads to glorious make-up sex.  See, I had a plan all along.

[btp2k2]

Whenever my wife starts in on me and my hobbies, I just walk into her office and pull back the closet door to reveal her shoes and purses.

Argument over

[hulkster]

well heres a little update....i am a total --cream-filled twinkie--. 

talked to my wife the other day about this...she brought it up....and i told her that i wasnt mad,  just didnt understand why she wouldnt let me spend my gift cards and such on stuff i wanted to since it was basically given to me for free. 

she looked at me like i just asked her to do backflips on top of the house or something...and proceeded to say "what??  no no, you buy whatever you want to buy with your gift cards, i just dont want a pc running all the time in the bedroom."  and i was like..."um...huh?  thats all?" she said "yep, thats all, just no pc in the bedroom, but do whatever you want with your gift cards.  there yours, why would i not want to get something free when you may want to use our own money for it down the road???"

 

yep, so im a --cream-filled twinkie--, and my wife is awesome.  i told her i posted on here about my inability to understand where she was coming from and she just laughed.  i called myself a --cream-filled twinkie-- as well.  this all came about because of miscommunication.  all is well, and ill probably end up getting Rock Band for the 360 anyway and maybe start on buying some parts for a media center for the REC ROOM.   

[CCM]

miscommunication is the cornerstone of marriage...

[FrizzleFried]

Since I separated my arcade money from the rest all has been well!  Now,  it takes either a starting amount or you gotta sell some stuff,  but once you get rolling it's all good.

I had $340 or so in my arcade paypal account a couple weeks ago...a $300 SW repair later and it was down to squat.  After selling some Mr. Do parts and a few other deals I am now back up to just over $200 in the arcade fund.

BTW: I picked up the Mr. Do cabinet for $20 and have already sold $120.00 worth of stuff out of it and I still have more to sell out of it.

[tommy]

she wouldnt let me spend my gift cards

  

Grow some balls man.  Or atleast buy them with that gift card.

[hulkster]

she wouldnt let me spend my gift cards

  

Grow some balls man.  Or atleast buy them with that gift card.

eh?  growing balls has nothing to do with not spending gift cards.  regardless of how you look at it, it would be more LOGICAL to spend the gift cards on stuff we need like diapers and stuff for the newborn coming. 

but i guess respecting my wife's opinion = not having balls. 

[SithMaster]

Its advice from tommy concerning real world situations what else would you expect.

[hulkster]

Its advice from tommy concerning real world situations what else would you expect.

true 

[tommy]

Real life advice seems to be exactly what he needs from me. How is a grown man gonna say his wife will not let him do what he wants, come on dude.

[hulkster]

because this grown man likes sex.    happy wife = more sex

[zelony]

Your wife probably read this forum and came up with that story to make herself look good.

I know of no happily married man.  There are plenty of guys that are content or just don't care, but after a decade of marriage I just think to myself, "A maid, a cook and a massage therapist would be cheaper and there would be no nagging."

One can dream.   

As far as her like or dislike of my hobbies and the stuff I spend my money on, it is my money and I can spend it on whatever I want.  That being said, I make a good living and money is never an issue for us.  When we were younger I wouldn't have wasted money on things like this, so it is all relative.

[ChadTower]

I know of no happily married man. 

I am.  My wife rocks.

[tommy]

because this grown man likes sex.    happy wife = more sex

So she holds all the cards and wears the pants in your relationship? Whatever she wants and whatever she says goes or she takes away things that you enjoy if you do not listen?

You're worse off than i originally thought.

This is what is wrong with relationships. Nothing going on that is equal.

[RTSDaddy2]

I know of no happily married man. 

I am.  My wife rocks.

Mine rocks also - she helped build our cabinet (for those new to the board). Spent time hand-painting the marquee when my hands got tired.   Home schools our 5 year old.  Works a part-time job again.  Does as well as she can to keep our house clean (and it's a chore as we've run out of storage room).  Hasn't nagged me once about our current situation - supports me at every turn, but gives me grief when needed....what more could I ask for (and to the smart alecks on this board -DO NOT answer that)?

I will second every guy on here who brought up the point that so many seemed to miss early on in this thread.  You have your first child coming.  Ours is five, and last year was the first time in a LONG time I got to treat us to a new gadget.  But like they've said, your little one is going to be more interesting and more fascinating than any gadget out there.  At first, you may not quite believe it....but wait 6 months.  Heck, wait 3 - and you will be amazed. 

The best advice I can give you is ALWAYS try and see the world through your child's eyes. You get to live again man - nothing is as special as your child handing your a three leaf clover as a "gift" just because he/she thought it was pretty and wanted to give daddy a gift.  Hugs from your kid - oh, my god.  Take every damn thing I have in my house if you want it, but do NOT take that away from me....I would die a thousand deaths if I couldn't feel those little arms wrap around my neck.

Good luck - you will find this little one soon enough to be the reason you get up in the mornings and go to bed at night...and just think! In 4 -5 years, you can introduce them to the joy of videogames, much as my daughter and I are sharing in now!

[Goz]

Note to self...... don't listen to tommy about dogs or marriage advice.

[saint]

I know of no happily married man.  There are plenty of guys that are content or just don't care, but after a decade of marriage I just think to myself, "A maid, a cook and a massage therapist would be cheaper and there would be no nagging."

My wife and marriage are awesome.

[saint]

The best advice I can give you is ALWAYS try and see the world through your child's eyes. You get to live again man - nothing is as special as your child handing your a three leaf clover as a "gift" just because he/she thought it was pretty and wanted to give daddy a gift.  Hugs from your kid - oh, my god.  Take every damn thing I have in my house if you want it, but do NOT take that away from me....I would die a thousand deaths if I couldn't feel those little arms wrap around my neck.

Amen - what he said. There is no possible way that someone who isn't a parent can truly understand this. I thought I did when I wasn't a parent, but when I had my first child... holy crap my world changed (in a good way). Second best decision I ever made in my life -- getting married. First best decision I ever made in my life -- having kids.

OK.... enough of that sappy stuff, back to building my new bartop cabinet!

[ChadTower]

The best advice I can give you is ALWAYS try and see the world through your child's eyes. You get to live again man - nothing is as special as your child handing your a three leaf clover as a "gift" just because he/she thought it was pretty and wanted to give daddy a gift. 

Damn good advice.  Damn good.  It is amazing how quickly that period of their life ends - and how easily you can miss it by not paying attention.

[CCM]

Sounds like tommy trains his wife like he trains his pit bull.  One day both of them will bite him in the face...

[shardian]

My wife kicks ass. I sooooo take all she does for granted. When she jumps ---my bottom---, it is usually because I need it. She would do anything for me, no matter what.

Oh yeah, and she is cool with the arcade stuff. The only condition is that family and bills come first. IMO, that is quite a reasonable condition since those things matter a whole lot more than arcades. Anyone who values their "toys" over their family has serious priority issues.

[ChadTower]

Anyone who values their "toys" over their family has serious priority issues.

We got a standard photo xmas card from one of my wife's cousins yesterday.  It is a picture of their dog in a little santa outfit in a painstakingly staged photo.

They have a 2 year old child.

[tommy]

Note to self...... don't listen to tommy about dogs or marriage advice.

Keep your rubber sex doll away from your dog and should be ok Goz. 

[Tiger-Heli]

well heres a little update....i am a total --cream-filled twinkie--. 

talked to my wife the other day about this...she brought it up....and i told her that i wasnt mad,  just didnt understand why she wouldnt let me spend my gift cards and such on stuff i wanted to since it was basically given to me for free.

I thought this was going to end differently, and it reminded me of a classified ad I saw recently:

Must sell: 2006 Suzuki GSX-R 1100, 3,000 miles has had recent service (expensive) and all required maintenance.  Cheap!  Sale forced by clarification of terms with my significant other.  Apparently, "Get whatever the <cleveland steamer> you want" doesn't have the same interpretation as the dictionary would lend you to believe.

[hulkster]

i am extremely happily married.  coming up on 4 years in june.  i never had the "tough first year" that all my friends talk about.  never had a fight....disagreements yes, but nothing to fight about.  ive never been mad at my wife, just frustrated like this time.  i love being married, best thing thats ever happened to me.  and 99% of the time, im glad that my wife is more of a penny pincher than i am...otherwise i wouldve bought lots of different things that i ended up not needing in the long run, or i got them for free.  case in point...my 50" hdtv.  my mom got it for me for my birthday...go figure. 

this post was not to bash my wife at all...just voicing my misunderstanding of her thought process and hoping you guys could relate.  some of you did, and did very well, others gave comments like i would have when i was 17 year old frat boy.  but hey, you are only as smart as you post right?  oh wait, im screwed then.