JEST FOR FUN

She spent the first day packing her belongings into boxes,
crates and suitcases. On the second day, she had the movers
come and collect her things. On the third day, she sat down
for the last time at their beautiful dining room table by
candlelight, put on some soft background music and feasted
on a pound of shrimp, a jar of caviar and a bottle of spring water.

When she finished, she went into each and every room and
deposited a few half-eaten shrimp shells dipped in caviar into
the hollow of the curtain rods. She then cleaned up the kitchen
and left. When the husband returned with his new girlfriend,
all was bliss for the first few days.

Then slowly, the house began to smell. They tried everything
from cleaning, mopping and airing the place out. Vents were
checked for dead rodents and carpets were steam cleaned.
Air fresheners were hung everywhere. Exterminators were
brought in to set off gas canisters, during which they had to
move out for a few days and in the end, they even paid to
replace the expensive wool carpeting. Nothing worked.

People stopped coming over to visit. Repairmen refused to
work in the house. The maid quit. Finally, they could not take
the stench any longer and decided to move.

A month later, even though they had cut their price in half,
they could not find a buyer for their stinky house. Word got
out and eventually even the local realtors refused to return
their calls. Finally, they had to borrow a huge sum of money
from the bank to purchase a new place. The ex-wife called
the man and asked how things were going.

He told her the saga of the rotting house. She listened politely
and said that she missed her old home terribly and would be
willing to reduce her divorce settlement in exchange for getting
the house back.

Knowing his ex-wife had no idea how bad the smell was, he
agreed on a price that was about 1/10th of what the house
had been worth, but only if she were to sign the papers that
very day. She agreed and within the hour, his lawyers delivered
the paperwork.

A week later, the man and his girlfriend stood smiling as they
watched the moving company pack everything to take to their
new home. And to spite the ex-wife, they even took the curtain
rods with them.