So being the friendly type, I asked the lady if her husband was hourly or salaried. She seemed a little reluctant to answer, then muttered something that I didn?t quite hear. So I asked again. This time, I think she answered with nothing more than ?uh-huh?, followed by a nervous chuckle. At this point, a smart man would have had all sorts of urgent warnings erupt in his head. I guess I?m a common idiot, so I continued to chat with heedless abandon. Had I only paused long enough to glance out the window, I would have quickly seen that the sun had stopped shining, the birds had silenced their singing, and the bony finger of Doom was gesturing in my general direction.