Perpetual Preparedness: Geeky Spouse

"If at first you don't succeed; call it version 1.0" - unknown

As a follow-up to my Personal Day post last month, I thought I’d share The Endearing Habits of a Geeky Spouse.

Romantic in unusual ways – LED valentine heart?
Finding the best deals in grocery stores – Calculating the best unit price with mental math
Offbeat quotes – the author mentions quoting the Muppets but geeks will also memorize Monty Python’s Holy Grail, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, and other classics
Not addicted to TV sports – more time for love
Lots of cool gadgets – the author mentions getting techy hand-me-downs as the spouse constantly upgrades
Owning lots of interesting books – Lord of the Rings anyone?
Finding lost items – this goes both ways. I can find something I can visualize well like my wife’s cell phone. But the other day I could not see a clock radio that was in plain sight because it did not match my mental memory.
Providing computer support to friends and family – my dad calls me with computer questions
Love to Cook – “it’s like doing scientific experiments where you get to eat the results!”

To be fair, let’s also examine the Annoying Habits of a Geeky Spouse

Punning – my dad (not a geek) loved this. We were exchanging puns while picking raspberries and I’d made a putdown pun that I don’t recall. My dad immediately responded, “Respect your Elderberries.”
Avoiding swear words or using substitute like “frak” - is this a problem?
Over-the-top holidays or events – I like my costume collection and silly hats and ties! We also like our tradition of finding a new game meat to try every Christmas in place of turkey or ham.
Dissecting movies, books, etc – my wife does get annoyed when I comment upon what we’re watching together
Wearing geeky T-shirts to “normal” places – I love my star trek shirt (though it seems to have shrunk a bit since college)
Filling rooms with geeky supplies – but my comic collection only fills part of the attic.
Geeky house decorations that are hard to explain – doesn’t everyone have a scythe hanging on their living room wall?
Looking up information in the middle of a discussion/argument – isn’t the point of the debate to find the truth?
Needing to watch TV shows ASAP to avoid spoilers – as per the dissecting above, geeks love to twitter, facebook, and blog about the newest TV shows giving away the ending
Projects that take over house and whole weekends – I’d add to this an obsession with new games or a new book. My wife knows I’ll be out of touch for a few days until the game or book is finished.