Dear Mary,

Please help me, I’m at my wit’s end with my partner.

Working from home in our tiny spaces means that I am downstairs at my “desk” in the kitchen, often on the phone.

My partner has been staying up late talking with friends. I understand trying to find this new normal is hard and I’m glad he is doing this without drinking.

That said, when he gets up at 10 AM and fires up the espresso machine right next to my desk and the volume goes up to ten while I’m on the phone talking with a client it makes me feel like I’m living with a teenager, not a grown man. Isn’t it obvious I’m on the phone? Is he that clueless?

I’m telling him my schedule for the next day so he can plan around it but planning doesn’t seem to be his forte.

At my Wit’s End