No laptop? No Internet? No problem!

[As handwritten on May 27th]

I didn’t get a lot of sleep last night, which comes with the territory when you usually wait until the AM hours to start packing. Consequently, I’ve already taken a couple of naps today. Yay for naps!

I once again remembered why I don’t like talking about politics during lunch this afternoon. Discussion of constitutional amendment prohibiting gay marriage = pissed-off participants.

It occurred to me a couple minutes ago some of the effects of technology, which are… sorta negative: the immediate access to information.

We’ll be coming home on Tuesday the 31st. We’ll also be getting a phone call that morning. Mom thought we might be roaming up here—out of normal range for cell phones, so answering calls is more expensive. Thus, that person will call the house and we’ll listen to the message when we get home.

I’m not sure why Mom doesn’t know, but they built a tower around here a few years ago and we get really good reception now. I thought about telling her so we could get that phone call here or while we’re on the road. That’s when it clicked: we don’t need to know right away.

I’m still trying to avoid technology (and I’m not talking about lamps and the refrigerator). Up to this point, we’ve listened to the weather radio for a little while and the TV is on in the other room. I think I’m winning.

But the point is that I don’t need to rely on my cell phone on Tuesday. If we wait for a couple hours, we’ll get pretty much the same information when we get home. So I won’t say anything. If Mom figures out the reception deal, I’ll take the call. If she doesn’t, I’ll stay unplugged for a few more hours.

(Note that I’m not saying I don’t like the immediate access to information. I’ve already had the thought “I wish I could Google that” float through my head this afternoon, but I think I’ll be okay.)

[Author’s note: We ended up using my phone a couple times, which I don’t feel guilty about—the calls were pretty important. What’s ironic is that on a day when the sky was overcast and gloomy, my phone lost the signal in the middle of a call and we were in roaming when he called back. *facepalm*]

2 Replies to “No laptop? No Internet? No problem!”

  1. I got (what I believe is the same communication) via FB yesterday… Le sigh. Oh, and generally “roaming” for cost doesn’t happen anymore unless you’re outside the US, FYI. charging for using another company’s tower while in the US was done away with amongst the big 3 cell companies was done away with (to my knowledge) at least 5 years ago… Well since I worked for the Evil Empire at least. 😉 When you coming to the amazing city of Little Rock anyway? :p

  2. That old “no politics or religion at the dinner table” adage always holds true, doesn’t it? Hell, even among church-going folk, religion can be a touchy topic to get into during a casual get-together!

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