Technology's Handmaiden

Its alarming how dependent I have become on technology. I am able to satisfy my anal tendencies by checking various “important” items with just the click of a button on an oblong piece of plastic that corresponds to a virtual arrow on a computer screen. That one click connects me to the World Wide Web where I can check bank balances (satisfying my “need” to keep my checkbook and budget balanced and up to date), check various email accounts, read blogs, see the weather, read the comics, and get updated on movies and various Hollywood “gossip”—all things that basically just waste my time but things that I can’t seem to do without.

One technological terror (thanks to Darth Vader and the Death Star on that one) that I have a complete parasitic relationship with is my cell phone. This life dependent relationship has grown ugly over the last couple of weeks as I have experienced on going problems with my little ear accessory. I have not quite been able to figure out the problem, exactly, but it is a problem that receiving a BRAND new replacement phone from my wireless phone provider has not solved, apparently. The funny thing is, I remember clearly the days I was not a wireless customer, and how I didn’t worry about missing calls or not being available to people 24 hours a day if I was not at home. But since becoming a wireless subscriber in recent years, I get overly anxious if I leave my phone at home and make a special trip during my lunch to retrieve my poor lonely phone.

And another thing; I really don’t get that many calls. I can name on one hand (not using all the fingers, even) the number of people who call me on a consistent basis, and even then it is hardly every day (and there are times that I just don’t answer, if I don’t feel like talking to a particular person). I can go over a week without having to charge my phone most weeks. So, I just I don’t understand my obsession with staying connected 24-7. But obsessed I am.

I need to work on hanging up....