I've been working in the tech startup scene for the past few years and have come to love the work and the community. I'm actively engaged at work and enjoy working on side projects and doing reading/research with my free time. It's come to be a hobby for me and the lines between work and play are becoming less easy to distinguish. I'm not troubled by this, but it has affected some of my personal relationships - some for the better, some for the worse. Most notably, for the worse with my significant other who is not at all interested in the tech scene.

I'm curious about how common this is in the HN community and how others may be coping with this situation. On the one hand, it would be nice to be able to have at least casual conversations about what I'm working on, why I find it interesting, why it might matter to someone not directly involved with the technology, etc. On the other, I can see the merit in completely disengaging from the tech mindset and engaging on a completely different level while at home with family.