Living with a self-proclaimed "geek"*

When you live with an engineer, you get used to seeing things like this in prominent places throughout the house...

And after you have lived with an engineer for over five years, you glance at mathematical formulas like this for about two seconds before moving on to other tasks. Truthfully, I would ask John what this was, but I'm afraid he might answer the question. I'm also afraid to erase it for fear he might have solved the Riemann Hypothesis (don't ask) or created a formula for teleportation (both of which could pay off our mortgage, which leads me to believe it's more likely John found a formula that lessens the amount of lint in an average dryer).**

So despite the abuse taken by the white board, and that lack of understanding between a "geek" and a liberal arts gal like myself, there are some great things about marrying a geek:

1) They are amazingly loyal. I will never have to worry about John cheating (He puts it as "I'm brand-loyal"). sigh... Very romantic, honey...

2) John's spatial reasoning makes him an excellent candidate to load the dishwasher. EVERY night.

3) You learn some pretty cool things on shows like "Mythbusters." But if you're geek counter-part insists on watching the Mythbusters marathon, you don't need to resort to drastic measures like slitting your wrists. First of all, they won't notice in time to save you. Secondly, there's a solution that's much less messy:
Simply take the next opportunity to watch the HGTV equivalent. Make sure to complain loudly while they're on their computer about how stupid the people are on the show, and wonder aloud why your bathroom has yet to be redone. Problem solved. :-)

4) In most cases, the advice of engineers and other geeks is pretty darn good.

5) Geeks read books like "The Zombie Survival Guide" and other life-saving literature.

6) They may not be the most impulsive or romantic people on the planet, but as long as you are specific about what you want for Christmas (NEVER tell a geek "Surprise me!" because you will be surprised, and it usually isn't pretty...), you are guaranteed to get it.

Living with an engineer has it's ups and downs. A lot of times you feel like they don't get you at all. They, in turn, feel totally misunderstood by you and the world at large. But no one is truly compatible. The longer I live with John, the more I learn from him. Just please don't tell him that. I'll never hear the end of it...


*According to John, the word "geek" is not a bad word. "Nerd" is a bad word. I have no idea what the difference is, but I'll take his word for it.

**I know of at least 2 people reading my blog who will spend their time solving this equation and won't bother reading this post until it's solved. If less dryer lint equals big bucks, I'm totally suing!