Very good article Deb--the line that made me pause, a little guiltily, was the one about you setting the computer aside when he wants to talk.

I'd like to oblige when my partner wants to do the same, but I've lost too many trains of thought, too many cut but not yet pasted lines in the process.

He now calls in from the other room to ask if I'm working--I just say yes or no and he knows how to proceed.

It sounds a bit uptight, but he has his issues that I accommodate. Relationships definitely involve a lot of give and take.