My husband Dennis dragged me kicking and screaming into participating in this effort because I mostly spend time escaping from the tensions, boredom, uncertain relationships and hierarchical constraints of work. But he needed the help. Dennis and I had co-authored an article back in the first creative flush of our relationship about the rationality of a part-time work schedule, and of course we are now both mired in full-time employment and barely have time to breathe. I predict that our descendants will look back at our current work schedules with the same horror with which we regard the 12-hour workdays and child labor of the industrial revolution. For now, work is as ubiquitous and fraught a concept for us as is religion or love. It defines the daily reality of almost everyone I know. The stories that follow explore, identify, play with, and probe this reality in disparate ways. I think people will relate to them deeply and find them well worth their precious time.