I was one of the lucky few to be dating a man who owned one of the first portable computers manufactured, which of course automatically entitled us to first class service everywhere. He no sooner had placed the computer on the airline tray table than six fellow techies leaped to his side to discuss the merits of the computer. Personal conversation with my traveling companion totalled ten minutes out of a six hour flight. They are speaking a foreign language and they are completely oblivious to this fact. No one will notice that you were there anyway, including your techie.
Parties dominated by techies are truly exciting experiences.
If a techie was forced to bring his SO, he will feel obligated, however, to forego technical discussions for at least the first ten minutes. He will tell you to simply inform your boss that you won't be starting until then. Techies are very well read. They devour books and articles on such exciting topics as memory management, VXD's and debugging but give them a book on relationships and watch the panic spread across their faces. Mention a couples workshop you think both of you should attend and watch those deadlines move up.