My internet was down today.
For hours.
Now anyone that knows me also knows that I am nothing without my 'net. I felt the beads of sweat begin to form on my brow as I watched my little icon fruitlessly attempt a wireless connection, and watching the same panic stricken look overtake my co-workers showed me that I wasn't alone in my symptoms of withdrawal.
Ten years ago, I barely knew what the internet was. I had never heard of instant messaging, and gmail wasn't even a glimmer in my eye. Yet here I am now, bootlegging a LAN connection from the cube next to mine to hitchhike my way onto the super highway that has hijacked my life.
How did we ever get to this place? People have done without them for ages, but there are certain things that throw our lives into a complete tailspin when they're ripped from our grasp. Maybe you freak out if the microwave goes on the fritz b/c you need your Orville and you need it NOW! Or possibly you fail to believe that your satellite can't receive its signal and choose instead to channel up and down aimlessly hoping to stumble on just one second of Dancing with the Stars.
Tell us about the "modern conveniences" of your life that you simply cannot do without.
Obviously I can't do without the internet. More specifically, I can't do without email. If I do not have access to gmail, I feel as though the world is crumbling down around me... especially if I know that my mom and T Pea are online. Oh my word, break out the paper bag. I'm full on hyperventilating by that time.
ReplyDeleteOn a less serious note, I'm also addicted to my blow dryer and straightener. Without them, I work a serious fro, and "going natural" is NOT my best look.
Email. My name is T Pea and I am an email junkie.
ReplyDeleteI was the geek who had email in college (command-line VAX, anyone? Pine, anyone?) and all of my friends were like, "E-what? What's the point of that?"
And now, if you don't have email, chances are, we don't keep in touch very often. I hate talking on the phone. Hate it. (Sorry! Still love ya, though!)
I usually keep my email running constantly at work and as soon as that little icon changes to let me know I have something in my inbox, I have to open it. Have to. Sometimes I open my inbox to find out that the new message is from my listserv and I know it is completely irrelevant to my life. So I minimize it. But that "new message" notification in my system tray seems to grow bigger and bigger until I read the message and it clears.
Because of this obsession, sometimes I have to actually close out of my email if I have a deadline because I know I won't be able to resist the new message alert.
On Saturday night, I spent the night at my grandpa's with my mom and was jonesing for a laptop. We had nothing to do but sit and relax. I had to finish a birthday present for a certain little baby who is turning 1 this weekend, yet all I wanted to do was check my email. So what did I do instead? Pulled out my cell and started texting. But, oh my friends, it is SO not the same. :( I know, I know, I'm showing my age. Texting and IM-ing? Pffft. Gotta have my email.
Okay, I can't let T Pea go down alone for her email addiction. I am right there with her, and no amount of steps is going to save me. I've even been known to refresh my inbox when I haven't seen the little new message indicator appear in my toolbar for a while... just to make sure my email really is working.
ReplyDeleteAlso, amen to the phone thing. I hate the phone. It's awkward. It's drawn out. It's pressure filled. It's... ugh. Don't call me people. It's not pretty.
This is why T Pea and I really are two peas.
> This is why T Pea and I really are two peas.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry, since I just found out that you love landscaping, I may have to rethink this.
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IM is awkward for me, too. How do you end? Do you close with "Okay, I'm done now and I have nothing else to say to you" or do you just stop typing? Ugh.
I cannot believe I forgot about my iPod. As I was the Queen of Mix Tapes, I truly think this is one of the best inventions ever. I don't carry it with me everywhere, but I love Groover with my entire being.
One of our incoming freshmen indicated on his new student survey that the "most unusual" item that he plans to bring to campus with him in the fall is a "really old iPod."
Really old? How in the world do you have a "really old" iPod? How old are you that you think 1st gen iPods are "really old?" Jeez. I bet the kid got it back before his voice changed. In ancient times.
Honestly, not having my cell phone is like being naked. I was flipping channels and saw Saved by the Bell when Zack had one of those huge, old, mobile phones. I remember thinking, Yea right, like anyone's every going to do that. Now I can't function for a day without one.
ReplyDeleteI am also an internet junkie...it's so easy and so immediate. I love it. I love to read the news. My husband makes fun of me because on big news nights (like election results) I will be both surfing the net and flipping between news channels. Also, tpea, I had a VAX account. So I could chat with my engineer friends at Purdue.
How did we function before these things? I really can't remember...
Also, is anyone else old enough to remember when not everyone had cable TV???
I can not live without my DVR. I don't remember the last time I watched a commercial. It used to be that you had to remember when your favorite TV shows were going to be on. Now, I just set it up to record the series and watch it when my DVR tells me to.
ReplyDeleteLove love love love love love love love love love love love love love my TIVO. I could not live without it.....nope not ever!
ReplyDeleteI am a complete luddite
ReplyDelete1. I hate my cell phone
2. I never go online at home (unless I am working from home)
3. I don't have a TIVO or a DVR
4. I don't have an IPOD
5. My husband didn't even have a cell phone until last month
Here is what I want - peace and quiet!! When I am at work I feel like I need to constantly respond (to friends just as much to work stuff). When I am at home I don't want to be running to answer the phone or trying to check email while keep an almost 1 year-old from stirring the catbox with his toothbrush.
I have even been known to simply turn the phone off. *GASP*
Oh, and I have only sent maybe a dozen text messages in my lifetime.
Cell phone and internet. Of course with the internet, I'm assuming I have email access. Doesn't matter if I'm working or not. Communicaiton Access, access, access at my fingertips is the reason I will get somewhere, realize I forgot my phone and drive back just to get it, adding 10 miles to my trip. And of course, now I must have the phone that has internet and email.
ReplyDeleteWith that said, I admit it stinks to be a slave to the very instruments I despised originally (and to the master I cater to on my current job ;-)