Computer Free

I had this wonderful post all ready, and I left it overnight so I could proof read it the next day, then my computer crashed.  I decided that maybe I just hadn’t learned my lesson well enough yet.  So, here is what I started:

I didn’t have the internet or my computer for a week.  That was an interesting experience.  It was different than going on vacation and not being “plugged in”.  I’ve traveled and had no computer and it was fine.  I was out of my normal and had a different agenda and didn’t even miss not checking my e-mail, facebook, or blogs.  It’s different when you are home and used to doing all of those things.

The first couple of days I just kept thinking about how I needed to blog about my experience, but I didn’t have any way to blog.  Even without the internet, I usually have my computer, but when said computer gets a virus and you can’t do anything on it, well, even that is gone.  I took my computer to someone much more knowledgeable than myself and he fixed it right up, but since he lives an hour away, it took a while before I was able to go and pick up my computer.  In the mean time, some interesting things happened.  This is what I learned:

1.  Finding recipes is a lot easier with the internet.  I had something in my cupboards that I needed to find a recipe for.  I had never eaten it before and didn’t know exactly how to prepare it.  I went searching through my many cookbooks and magazines, but I just could not seem to find a recipe with that particular ingredient.  I also learned that I need a better filing system for some of my recipes and I have a lot of papers and recipes that I don’t need and will probably never use.

2.  I missed having my music and books played at this end of the house.  I play music using Pandora or my Itunes while I’m in the kitchen or living room.  I don’t have any other stereo at this end of the house.  I do at the other end, so I ended up spending a little more time down there listening to some dramatized cd’s.  That was probably a good thing, since I don’t usually spend much time down there and that part of the house needed some tlc.  Still, I’m glad that I can listen to books and music while doing the dishes again.

3.  I ended up actually talking to people more.  Since I couldn’t rely on facebook messages or e-mail to get a hold of people, I actually needed to talk or text them.  I also realized that I didn’t have everyone’s numbers who I may need to get in touch with.  It’s good to actually hear peoples voices when you communicate.

4.  I can survive without my computer.  I joked about having the shakes for the first couple of days, but it’s only a partial joke.  I really did go through some withdrawals.  We only took the tower in to be looked at so the monitor, keyboard and mouse were all still sitting there giving the appearance that all was okay, but of course none of them worked without the tower.  I would find myself looking over there and wanting to sit down and type something.  My eyes often found their way over to the computer before remembering that the screen would just stay blank.  I was constantly wondering what I was missing and thinking about what I was going to blog about next.  After a few days, though, those urges subsided.  I did a lot of heavy cleaning to distract myself.  I read a couple of books.  I played and worked with my children.  I made it through the days and evenings with no computer and it was okay. 

5.  It’s easy to get sucked back in.  I set my computer back up and immediately I wanted to get back on and find out all that I had been missing.  I checked my e-mail.  I had maybe 20 e-mails I wanted to read and really only about 5 of those were ones that contained information that was important to me.  On facebook I had 20 notifications, but most of them were not all that important either.  A couple of them pertained to things that had already passed before I got back on, and I didn’t really miss anything.  I also went and checked blogs, but again, I didn’t really miss much.  Yes, there were some good articles that I enjoyed reading, but nothing that was super important to my life that I couldn’t have lived without. 

So, after writing all of that and having my computer pick up another nasty virus and crashing again I realized that I had picked up right where I left off on spending too much time online again.  I found other things to do, again.  I began teaching my girls to crochet and use a knitting loom.  I began knitting some projects.  I think I have maybe figured out a way to get my screen time in without sacrificing time with my family.  We will just have to see how it works out, though.