The Unplugged Life

We were entirely unplugged from civilization last week. Okay, well not *entirely*...we still had phone and television, but the motherboard on my brand new (40 day old!) computer croaked on me. Ever try to do anything on a computer without a motherboard? A call (or 12) to the motherboard manufacturer (how many times can I hear, "Please hold. Your call is important to us" and not lose my mind?) and a hefty chunk of change for the new board (which will be refunded when they receive the defunct one), and all I had to do was wait. An interminable 5 days. If I thought that hearing a sappy, drippy voice in "On-Hold Hades" would make me mad, 5 days without connecting to the outside world challenged that notion.

I can hear it now. "You weren't *really* unplugged from the world--your phone worked and you had TV!" What you may not know about me is that I really don't enjoy talking on the phone (despite the lengthy periods on it with the motherboard manufacturer). And I really don't enjoy TV, although I am a bit of a current-events junkie. Typically, though, I get my current events from online sources and eschew TV watching.

I bet others of you are thinking, "Well jeez...I bet *she* got some things done around the house without being online!" Ehhh...yes and no. I spent a good deal of time under the desk, trying to figure out what was going on, a great amount of time on the phone with tech support, and some time doing other things (like sewing). If I had planned my online-fast, I would've accomplished more--but as it was, I took a good chunk of time to just read. And wonder how many emails were piling up in my inbox--with no way to stop them.

There were parts of last week that were refreshing. No reading testy messages on boards from people who were experiencing a precipitous drop of blood sugar and no time in the office (other than picking books off my bookshelf). I did miss my writing (and am behind as of now!), and I dearly missed my iTunes. But on the last day of this forced-internet-fast, I figured out that I could plug my iPod to the stereo via the monster cables that hooked up the AirPort and still hear my tunes. :) Too bad I didn't figure it out sooner! And I truly did enjoy the time to read--yes, I could've been painting or doing some home-improvement task, but I was feeling a bit sorry for myself and decided that some pleasure reading was long overdue.

I did learn that interpersonal stuff is easier online (in terms of time-management) than on the phone, but the connection of people is what's important--no matter how it takes place. So maybe a self-imposed fast from being online is in order every so often. It stretches me. And maybe someday I'll actually enjoy talking on the phone. But I'll make sure to set my listservs to "no mail" before I do it so I don't have 1200+ messages waiting to overload my inbox when I get back online. ;)