shawnbakken.net

[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*]

I thought of trying to write something more substantial in this blog entry, but I have things to do before 8:30am tomorrow, which is when I’ll be leaving for the cabin with some family members, which will hopefully include my grandma. (If she’s not feeling well, she’d rather stay closer to a hospital—can’t blame a 93-year-old for wanting to be cautious.)

I have work that I probably should be doing which would require my laptop, but I’ll be leaving it at home this time. At this point, I’m thinking I’ll leave everything home but my phone, which I don’t use that often anyway (one of the benefits of having an old-school flip phone as opposed to something that can access the Internet). There’s a TV and a radio at the cabin, but there’s also space to read lots of books and take lots of naps. I’ll probably be doing both.

I may do a little journal-writing and post it on here after I get home, but the important part is just getting away. The sun will wake me up instead of my alarm (whether I want it to or not), my email account will get stuffed with crap I may or may not read… all sorts of things that will be waiting for me back here, so there’s no point in worrying about it there.

So no computer, no mp3 player, won’t watch the TV… nada. I’m pretty sure I’ll feel at ease rather than anxious, but I probably won’t know for sure until after the second or third nap. Have a good Memorial Day weekend, everyone.