I'm back and not a moment too soon! Without the internet, my life felt a little emptier and a lot more inconvenient.
My first frustrating moment came on the first morning of my internet rehab when I realized that I did not know what to wear since I could not check the Weather Network's hourly forecast. So, I stood in my underwear in front of the radio until the weather report came up.
A trip to Ottawa over the weekend suddenly became less predictable since I could not correspond with my friends via email to confirm arrangements. In this case, I resorted to texting and using Joe as a proxy to check my email and Facebook accounts for any important messages.
Joe became my reaching stick as I frequently ordered him to take my place in front of the computer to do what I could not; for instance, look up the band behind "Me, Myself and I," because not knowing the answer to random trivia is no longer acceptable in the age of internet. (The answer is De La Soul.)
The worst part of not being able to access the internet was losing touch with friends. Some people claim that they don't email or have a Facebook account because they are too busy, and now I wonder if they are either too busy to have friends or if they are not really busy at all because they enjoy the luxury of regular face-to-face or phone contact with friends. With growing responsibilities and busy schedules, I find it hard to meet up with friends as often as I would like and telephoning people seems like a presumptuous infringement on their time. Email hearkens back to snail mail, when each correspondent could read and respond at their convenience. And social networking sites like Facebook allow you to keep up with the daily lives of numerous people; to bridge the awkward silence that would otherwise come up when you finally meet up face to face and realize that you have no clue about their lives.
With some new boundaries (i.e. do not check email once every 15 minutes), I hope to enjoy the internet in a healthy and productive manner from now on. I am a recovering internet addict.
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4 comments:
Using Joe as a proxy isn't really going cold turkey. The WeatherNetwork is available on TV(via Slingbox) and I would say a phone call is more satisfying that an email or blog....unless you managed to call during a momento of In flagrante delicto in which case bow chicka wow wow! :p
So you're back to the internet now? Good. I'm returning your keys to the Friday Night Play List. Enjoy.
Welcome back. I have to agree with Dangard that you still did technically use the internet. But you suffered, and I think that was the whole point, right? :) May I suggest your next self experiment be depriving yourself of sleep? You haven't done that yet. :D
Beside the De La Soul search, the few times that I used Joe as a surrogate on the internet were for non-fun, practical reasons. And it was definitely not fun, peering over Joe's shoulder, directing him to type.
The one thing that I will not refrain from is sleep because it will destroy my entire life. Having said that, the challenge has been planted in my consciousness and may come to fruition in the future.
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