Uh oh...

Branden sent me this link today:

http://www.randsinrepose.com/archives/2007/11/11/the_nerd_handbook.html

It's a nerd handbook. You know, for dealing with all those nerdy people in your life that are so difficult to get along with. Now, I personally take issue with the author's use of the word "nerd." I believe "geek" would be more correct in this context. Nerd extends a bit beyond those that diddle about with technology, in my opinion. But putting that aside, it's a pretty amusing article. First, it is funny because it assumes that nerds are inherently difficult to deal with. They aren't. I happen to have lived with one quite happily for five years, and there really haven't been many problems. Yes, he came complete with cave-making tendencies, which don't always mesh nicely with my neat-freak leanings, but generally we're pretty good about finding a happy medium. I may not have the same "brand new project" attention level that I had when we first met, but I also have not lost all interest for him, either (or at least I don't think I have...). I really don't understand the persistent myth that nerds/geeks/people with brains that think about more than small talk are hard to relate to. The wierd thing is that they seem hell-bent on perpetuating the myth and portraying themselves as inherently one-dimensional, which they aren't. I know quite a few people that fit the geek/nerd category, and they are some of the most multi-dimensional people I know. But anyway. I will get off of my soapbox now. The article is, as I said, amusing, albeit in a somewhat stilted and stereotypical way.

However, I would add to the "handbook" that all keepers of nerds, or geeks, or whatever you call them, should take note when they randomly get up from a programming and building project and decide to go check the mail. This is a bad sign. These are the people that can go all day and night without eating or sleeping because the current project is too engrossing to notice the rest of the world (sound familiar to any of you knitters out there???). When the mail suddenly becomes a priority and no new geeky toys are expected to be showing up in the mailbox, things are not going well. It's especially a bad sign because we were hoping that this project would be done tonight so that I could use it soon for collecting some data. He's making tea now, and this pretty much guarantees that I should be preparing to wait a while longer for my little microscale to be back in a working state...