VOTE - funny story, just like a man to howl at something like that ;-D
I liked this sentence a lot: He sat and pondered the unflinching unfairness of life, and wondered what he had done, who he had upset in a past life that was now in a position of importance high enough to heap countless varieties of misery upon him.
"She was a woman, after all, and although she was bright enough in her own way, this was something that was beyond the comprehension of any woman." - you just had to get a dig at women in there, didn't you :o)
There was only one thing I didn't get: why did his wife come walking into the room after he finished howling? Wouldn't she have come running once he started? Or are you trying to say that women are slow? :o)