How can housework be shared if one spouse wants to clean weekly, and the other monthly?
Easy. The person who does the three weeks should do a third of the work each week, and the person who does cleaning once a month has to do it all each time.
Bernie Koenig, London, Ontario, Canada
• As project managers are trained to understand, if you can’t agree on the work to be performed and the conditions of completion, then you shouldn’t be doing the work in the first place.
Stewart Dutfield, Delmar, New York, US
• That’s a problem I’d love to face if I can get my spouse to do any cleaning.
Pat Phillips, Adelaide, South Australia
• You might want to sling mud at each other.
Jennifer Horat, Lengwil, Switzerland
• Each contributes equally to pay the cleaner.
Joan Dawson, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
• Let one spouse be rostered to clean weekly over a three-week period. A log of time spent on cleaning tasks should be maintained.
Then let the devotee of monthly cleaning do his work. Time spent on tasks should at least equal the accumulated time spent by the weekly cleaner.
Let monthly cleaning include onerous tasks such as mucking out the oven, meticulous cleaning of bathroom and restoring order to cupboards and closets.
Let the arguments subside. Then adopt a compromise of fortnightly cleaning with all hands on deck.
Ursula Nixon, Bodalla, NSW, Australia
• If I could answer this one, I’d want a retainer’s fee.
Richard Orlando, Westmount, Quebec, Canada
• I think you should maybe consult the prenuptial agreement on this one, as I am drawing complete blanks.
R De Braganza, Kilifi, Kenya
• The one who cleans weekly should clean weakly and the lunar cleaner can clean like a lunatic.
David Isaacs, Sydney, Australia
• I presume that you just fought nightly.
Roger Morrell, Perth, Western Australia
Better have a long spoon
What makes an unholy alliance?
When States A and B have less serious differences with each other than they do with State C, then A and B may form an informal unholy alliance to overtly or covertly attack C – as current events amply demonstrate.
Philip Stigger, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
• Sometimes the frisson of a dangerous liaison.
Lawrie Bradly, Surrey Hills, Victoria, Australia
• Supping with the devil.
Adrian Cooper, Queens Park, NSW, Australia
• That between the devil and the deep blue sea.
Alaisdair Raynham, Truro, Cornwall, UK
• A new pair of socks.
Jim Neilan, Dunedin, New Zealand
But will they let us vote?
Should we let computers vote?
Our brains are sophisticated computers. By all means, let’s vote using them, instead of through gut feeling, habit, catchy slogans or the insidious influence of attack ads.
Mary Garnett, Kaslo, British Columbia, Canada
• Very shortly the question will be “Should computers let people vote?” It will be answered in the negative at the speed of light.
Gerald Garnett, Kaslo, British Columbia, Canada
Any answers?
In this era of monetising everything, why can’t we sell our votes?
Walter Steensby,
Hawker, ACT, Australia
What does the truth look and sound like?
R De Braganza, Kilifi, Kenya
Send answers to weekly.nandq@theguardian.com or Guardian Weekly, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU, UK
