“Promise me something,” my wife said.
I was preparing for my annual window washing ordeal and was not in the mood for promises.
“What?” I asked.
“Promise not to swear.”
She knows I swear creatively whenever I wash the windows. It is just something I do.
“Look,” I told her, “we moved to the country so I could swear as loud as I want.”
She shook her head no.
“Go to town if you don’t want to hear me then.”
Again she shook her head no.
“Even if I were in town,” she explained, “I would know you are swearing.”
“I promise,” I said, placing my hand over my heart, “if you go to town, I will not swear.”
“You’re lying.”
“Pretend I’m not.”
“Why can’t you control your temper?”
I didn’t say a thing. I simply waited for her to leave. What I would have told her had she listened is that our storm windows were designed by Satan himself.
Many consider them his best work.
Face it, aluminum track windows were a fad that lasted only as long as it took to realize that the only people who could work them were the people who sold them.
With one exception.
The windows on our house never worked: even for the sales rep. Currently, every storm window is jammed. It is not that they refuse to move, it is just that if you want them to slide up, they will fall down and if you want them to come down, they will only go up.
Despite that, I have managed to take them down and put them up every year, yet it still takes an entire morning to figure out how they come apart and all of the afternoon to get them back together.
Contrary to what a rational person might believe, putting track windows together is NOT the reverse of taking them apart. It is an entirely new branch of physics. One that will never be fully understood.
But every spring and every fall, the job gets done – but not without swearing nor injury. My wife knows this and despite her protests, she knows to be somewhere else while the windows are washed.
And just as I came around the house after cleaning the last window, she pulled into the driveway.
“I bet you swore all afternoon,” she accused.
“Not once,” I said with all the sincerity I could muster.
“Don’t you lie to me, Mister!!”
I let it go… and headed for the garage to put the squeegee and ladder away.
A few minutes later she called from her sewing room.
“What?” I yelled back.
“Have you put your cleaning stuff away?”
“Why?”
“This window is streaked and I refuse to look at streaks all winter.”
“!@#$%^”
“Gotcha,” she shouted in triumph, “you can’t lie to me!”
Almost Iowa 
Your first mistake was swearing. Instead, after her streak comment, you should have taken all the cleaning stuff and placed it at her feet, “Here ya go, good luck”
Tried that. She just streaked up all the windows and walked away. She knows the streak bother me more than her.
Too smart for you, Iowa!
When we bought our current house, it was in terrible condition. The first thing we did was replace all the windows, since they leaked. I stood on ladders for years to wash most of them, until the day I discovered that (with the exception of the sliders) they all tilt in for convent washing from inside the house. Not sure why the guy who sold us the windows didn’t mention that one! Or maybe he did and I just forgot….
Those tilt-in windows are a Godsend. It appears that after decades of howling and swearing, someone took notice. So see… howling and swearing works!!! 🙂
“Look . . . we moved to the country so I can swear as loud as I want.” Funny! And one of the best perks of living in the country.
You betcha. 🙂
I still swear although our windows, for the most part, don’t open. It’s real hard to keep them clean (salt air and all) so they need to be done weekly. When we built the house I insisted on being albe to reach all windows from a normal standing position. Mission accomplished on all but two.
Good thinking, but I’ll bet those two drive you crazy. 🙂
I have found the answer. No storm windows. I did the calculation to find our how much less insulation I would have without storm windows, and how much that would cost in annual heating bills (it might be more in Minnesota), and it came to $148.97 per year. I decided that was a cheap price to pay.
(The above is a lie, but that’s OK, because you are a man, so it doesnt matter. Just dont show this to your wife, or mine).
Last week, our propane dealer came out to fill our tank. When I complained about the jammed storm windows, he smiled. Now I see that he bought himself a 20 ft bass boat with live-wells and a refrigerator. I hope the two are not related.
Don’t worry, what is said between guys, stays between guys – even though the women always find out.
I don’t think it’s Satan. I think it’s the house talking back at you. Letting you know who’s in charge. At least that has been my experience.
That could be true – but the house was probably designed and built by Satan too.
You’re giving Ol’ Scratch way too much credit.
We replaced all of our track windows with casements, a few years ago. We thought they would be easier to clean. They aren’t. They just represent a different set of issues. When cranked they get stuck in the most awkward and impossible positions for reaching outside surfaces.
Been there, done that, got the t-shirt. Wait until the argon gas layer that they sandwich between the windows leaks…and you will have a perpetually clouded window.
Oh, I’m really looking forward to that! Well, on the upside, I could get rid of curtains, since no one will be able to see in. And I won’t have to clean them any more since I won’t be able to see out anyway.
I am laughing only because I have not yet pulled out the ladder to wash windows. I detest the job, especially since, an hour later (OK, I may be exaggerating a bit, but not by much), the windows appear unwashed. We live along a busy street.
Some of our windows are of the variety you name. Horrible. I told my husband the other day, as the sun tried to shine through the dirty living room window, that someone needs to invent self-cleaning windows. He mentioned something about something race car drivers place on their windshields. A film of something. I am vague here. I did not listen closely enough. Unlike your wife. She is a clever one.
Wouldn’t you know it, I no sooner got the windows washed than our township decided to dump more “gravel” on our road. About 30 belly dumper trucks (the big ones that look like a bridge) have flown by so far, dumping “gravel” which is really dust since there are no pebbles in it, not even sand grains. It is what the quarry calls “fines”.
I can empathize.
I haven’t wrestled with the windows you describe, but remember well the ritual of removing wood-framed screens each fall and replacing them with storm windows. Chores like that I remember fondly because they represent the years I was physically capable of that hefty labor and, more significantly, thought I had endless time remaining for more pleasureable pursuits.
Changing the wooden storms bring back memories of my dad. These things were rituals that he enjoyed passing on. I am not sure what I am passing on by cussing at the track windows – but fortunately there are no children around when I do it. 🙂
😊. Some of our new-fangled materials don’t carry the same lasting impressions for generational rituals, do they?
I know those windows very well. You described them beautifully. I think swearing, not only should be allowed, I think it’s required. They won’t respond to anything less.
I start out with swearing and usually graduate to empty threats.
White vinegar works a treat on windows – I’ve watched the wife do it hundreds of times…the place ends up smelling like a fish & chip shop though. My wife has just added that a cheap plastic fuselage of cola cleans the toilet bowl to perfection…not that you wanted to know that of course – it does make one wonder what it does to the lining of the stomach though!
Coca-Cola does an excellent job of freeing up the lug-nut on your car when other methods fail. It works wonders on the stomach lining… and the enamel on your teeth.
I think you have the makings of a song lyric there! Sell it to Coca Cola and put your feet up for evermore!
One of the great rituals of my childhood was the washing and changing of windows: taking down the screens and putting up the storm windows in fall, reversing it in the spring. With a two-story house, that’s the only time the windows got washed, believe me. I still have a photo of my dad up on the ladder, engaged in the process. It was made a bit harder by the fact that the windows, screens, and storm windows all were wood, and heavy.
He’d swear, too. The only other times I heard him swear involved plumbing, or an occasional explective that involved taking the Lord’s name in vain. Whenever he was being given the business by my mom about his language, he inform her that was “technical vocabulary,” and necessary for the successful completion of the job.
Oh, I remember that wooden storm window ritual well. My favorite part was the reglazing. We would paint the old glaze with alcohol then light it. The blue flame would circle around the window and curl the old glaze. I got to be quite an expert with a putty knife.
Fond memories.
She gotcha alright! 🙂
(sigh) She always does. (another sigh)
“What I would have told her had she listened is that the old aluminum track windows on our house were designed by Satan himself. Many consider them his best work” — a hilarious highlight of a great post!
The only object that rivals aluminum windows for Satan’s best work is the bewildering bristle of buttons on the remote control that operates our satellite TV box. It is a glimpse of hell.