Happiness Is Getting The Computer Back

My stepdaughter recently decided to live without a cellphone due to its ubiquitous demands on her time. I thought this was very brave, although I don't get so many phone calls, so it isn't the same thing.

Then, the computer went kerploot -- and into the shop.

I had never realized how dependent I had become on this little mechanical device...emails, communication with family, daily news reports, all the blogs I read, checking the bank account (oh,no!), paying the bills online (oy vey!)...and The Husband keeps in touch with friends and baseball team on the computer, and this isn't even touching Facebook. I have a Facebook page. I mostly have it because my friends from ulpan use it as a way of us keeping in touch and posting pictures but it, also, has expanded. It's nice to see pictures of my friends' children, and what they're up to. It's nice to get pictures of my cousins' place in the winter, and photos of Yosemite from my girlfriend. The Boy uses the computer for multiple things mostly involving Star Trek and computer games...

You would think we were all heroin addicts in this household. The daily question was, "When will the computer be fixed?"

With the computer in the shop, everyone has been irritable.

We're disconnected from the World Wide Web. We're disconnected from our addiction to whatever it is the computer gives us: connection to blogs, to news, to emails, to message boards, to chat rooms, to Facebook, to cyberspace's ubiquitous siren call.

It was irritating, but also liberating. I may need to answer emails but I couldn't; I needed to pay bills but I couldn't; I wanted to catch up on news and blogs, but I couldn't. The fact that I couldn't also meant that there was NO pressure to do these things.

But today, the computer is back (thanks, Yossi!)and we're back on the 'Net. For better or worse.