Romance

For much of last summer and into the fall Charlie was in a flat-out run at work. The game industry tends to heave itself around in manic cycles of reasonable amounts of work and then "you are staying here until everything is finished" stretches. Euphemistically called "crunch time" it has nothing to do with delicious sugary cereal and everything to do with an entire company of people pouring their creative energy and skill into a crucible that eventually, finally produces an awesome video game.

I was also working a gig at microsoft and the result was that for a few months we really didn't see each other. I'd be gone from 7am until 5pm, and Charlie worked from around 11 am until one or two or later in the morning. We had one mode of communication: The Daily Blood Pressure Pill. Every morning on my way out the door I would leave a glass of water and his pill on the counter along with a note reminding him to take the pill.


In the evening when I returned, I'd find an empty pill dish and the note flipped over to give me my message.


Keeping the love alive, even when we don't see each other. Extra nerd points for our Blizzard notepad. That thing is ancient, because I know it came in an old Diablo box.

Today? Today I'm driving Charlie to work and then going to cook him his requested dinner, a homemade pizza. Things are so much nicer when it isn't crunch time.