In this digitally connected world, it is cliche to state that we have developed a dependence on technology. Without our handy gadgets, life becomes a drain on our energy. Tasks that would normally take 10 seconds start taking ... *gasp* ... 15 seconds. Impersonal email must be replaced with, heaven forbid, a personal phone call should the server ever go down. Life's pictures must be captured in our mind's eye rather than our dinky cell phone's crappy camera.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not a luddite by any means. I love my tech toys, and although I'm not the first wave of adopters, I'm usually not far behind with things. But today technology sat up and spat in my eye, and has left me pseudo-paralyzed.
First, my Palm Pilot died. Actually, this had happened last month when, in a sheer stroke of genius, I decided to plug its charger into a Hong Kong outlet without using an adapter first. I couldn't hear the thing frying with the surge of electricity, but I may as well have.
Second, my cell phone died three days ago. Not it's fault, actually. The two of us have done battle together over the years, and unfortunately the scars were too many for it to bear. Put aside the fact that it is one of the only phones around that ONLY makes phone calls (that's right, no camera do-hickey, no color screens, no crazy games), even so it was only being held together by my wife's hair band, literally. You see, when I dropped it for the 100th time a little while ago, its battery pack came loose, and I needed something to hold the thing together. See for yourself.
But the worst event of all happened two days ago. My hard drive crashed. Just like that - without any crazy shenanigans on my part. The laptop simply refused to reboot. In a panic, I took it to the Geek Squad today, who after overcharging me told me that there was nothing they could do.
My life is on that computer. Which is why I take regular monthly backups to an external hard drive. That alone would have meant all was ok with the world. However, I've been working on this 10 page paper for one of my Hong Kong classes that is due tomorrow, and most of the work on it was done over the last week. So I hadn't gotten around to backing things up before the crash.
I'm screwed.
With are the chances of such a tri-fecta occurring in the span of a month. I'm left without a communication device. And given my crappy memory, I'm left without a way of recording my appointments, tasks, or my to-dos. Do I need to bring out my hunting knife and polish off my fire-starting skills next? Exactly how much more is life for me going to devolve over the next few days?
It's a brave new world out there, and I'm lonely and defenseless.
*For those of you wondering, I've swiped my wife's laptop to access the internet and compose this entry*
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Well, in case misery actually does love company...I fried a charger too. I actually saw smoke come out of the adapter though.:)
ReplyDeleteOuch. Double ouch. Good luck with the paper... a lot of things I do online now, cus I think the Internet won't shut down (you never know though).
ReplyDeleteBy the way, you are in a unique position to actually write a blog about not having communication technology around you for a period of time. I have a feeling that we really overstate our dependence on technology. Lose it? Adapt.