Oh whiffey, what are you like??? The mind boggles! LOL
My partner and I have a similar situation as BOO really, well except for the "waffling bilge" bit. :o) We share my office and have a great laugh discussing things we come up with online; we sometimes have different views on things, but this never causes a problem as we respect each others views. We both get silly and send each other messages on msn even though we are sitting just a few feet apart. I can't see what he is doing and he can't see what I am doing unless we turn around, but this isn't a problem. We trust each other. Whenever his friends or his ex-girlfriend come online to ask him for advice or chat to him, he mentions it to me, as he never wants me to feel uneasy. I do the same when my friends come online and sometimes we will both sit in front of one computer sharing our views. Would either of us be happy if our partner were chatting up or flirting with members of the opposite sex online? Of course not! But then neither of us would ever contemplate doing that! We have both been through hell in the past and we both appreciate what we have in each other. The way we treat each other is based on respect, love, caring and honesty. If it weren't we wouldn't be together. Simple. As to your question, giving someone hell in the first instance is never productive ... discussing the matter in a calm way stands a far better chance of resolving the problem.