It’s been one of those weeks.
My Monday inspired this tweet…
…and by Friday, it’s looking like mental health takes more than a day.
I had today’s post all planned out – at least in my head. I was going to regale you with stories of cute furry animals, and a list of excuses reasons why I haven’t made it to your posts this week.
But last night, during an unusually last minute attempt to get the post ready, my Internet Service Provider decided it was time to have an outage.
I woke up this morning to find the three little videos I was trying to upload to YouTube were still at 1%. And everything was down.
The only thing I had left was email access on my very old Nokia 😦
I’m yet to decide if this is the universe’s way of teaching me a lesson in procrastination. Or if it is trying to tell me that it’s time to get an iPhone…
I’ve been putting off getting an iPhone, so maybe it’s a lesson in both?
The thing is, I’m scared.
Just the other day I went out for afternoon tea, and except for kitchen clatter, the place was silent. Filled with people sitting together at tables, glued to their iPhones!
Then I read the first of Nina Badzin’s iPhone intervention series, “Help! My iPhone Has Taken Over My Life” – and I was less than reassured.
The thing is, I already have difficulty staying present in my real life.
At least, that’s what I think Monday’s boiled egg explosion proves…
Hmm, I wonder, is being more connected really what I need right now?
This could be the dilemma of the century. So I’m turning to you for answers.
Is it time to upgrade my phone? Will I ever be able to disconnect again? How do you people do it???
Alarna Rose Gray 
Crikey, can’t offer any advice here, mine still looks like a house brick..! 😉
I think you have your priorities just right! 😉
Don’t have one darling – land-line is good enough for me!
We managed without them until the last ten or more years… so i’m used to making arrangements and Turning up when I say… no constant running commentaries…
It’s hard for most of us to remember the days when we survived without a mobile! But you are proof it IS possible 😉 Though, I have to ask, does your family gripe about it? I know us kids have pestered the folks quite a lot about their refusal to have a mobile! 🙂
h yes, they bully me dreadfully – worst when my husband is in hospital and they try to give me lessons while I’m sitting at his bed-side!!
One of the problems is that unless I put on my specs I can’t see the buttons and stuff , and they’re so small that my stiffarthritic fingers have real difficulty….but I haven’t convinced my children !!!
Alarna, just break down honey and get the iPhone. I hear ya on the boiled eggs. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve done that one. Good grief. And I know about procrastination too. Been there, doing that. But please, do yourself a favor and get the phone. I just bought mine last month and I love it. I was over-due for a new phone anyway. I had one of those old crazer flip phones. Yeah, I know. I finally caught up with the rest of the world. I just don’t like to bring it out when I’m dining with someone else. Call me old fashioned, but that’s simply not my thing. So let us know when you get the new phone Alarna! 🙂
Thanks for the encouragement, Karen. I am more or less resigned to the need to upgrade, I’m just not sure I trust myself! But I agree with you 100% that etiquette and manners are needed… I’ll let you know when the day comes 😉
Loved your post and Nina’s which I checked too. Until today I was longing to get a iphone, now not so much! It’s a reality check…
Some days I tell myself I’ll take one day off my blog, stop checking it for that long but even that can get addictive, have to try a little harder 🙂
Thanks for a tremendous post!
There are big ‘pros’ and ‘cons’ both ways – it’s a question of self discipline, I suppose.
Glad you enjoyed it! Let me know when you decide to take the plunge 😉
I do not have one and your post dissuaded me to take that fatal plunge 🙂
It is inevitable isn’t it? Eventually we will do everything looking into the phone. 🙂 I think that technology can’t make you more connected than you want to be. You can still turn it off. If you connect all of the blogs you read to it, then you will be in trouble because that is what makes my phone valuable. 🙂 Hope all is well Alarna! Embrace the technology.
Yes, you are right, there is always the off switch. I’m pretty good at that with the standard mobile. It’s the added feature of connecting to the internet that has me in a fluster. But I’ll work up the will just now… 😉
I am sure you will, you always make me 🙂 !
iPhones are great, that much is true. Technology is so amazing these days. However, I can’t guarantee that once you have one it will be easy to stay off it. It requires discipline and self-control to resist the attachment that one may develop to their phone. It’s very tempting, but if you think you will be able to avoid being on your phone 24/7, go for it. But I must say, I hate when people are on their phones while we are speaking or having a meal, very annoying.
I suspect the issue of eye burn will ensure I switch off occasionally! At least we’re in agreement about table manners… It’s crazy!!
I just got my first smart phone 6 weeks ago. Have to admit I don’t like being connected all the time. I usually keep my phone kind of far away while I’m in the house. Close enough to hear the ringer but far enough not to hear the vibration of twitter, FB, etc notifications. 🙂 I DO however love being able to take photos whenever and wherever, and am really enjoying Instagram.
And I get your egg debacle. I can’t tell you how many times I think, what’s that noise? The noise being the oven timer I set but after leaving the kitchen completely forget about.
There’s hope for me yet, Coleen! I thought I was the only one holding out on the iPhone.
I’m going to have to do as you say and keep it away from me. Or switched off… Then again, that timer thing could be handy. I hear there is a timer on the iPhone? And yes – photos are one of the reasons I would like to have one. So much easier than what I currently have to do to Tweet a picture!
Thank you for giving me hope! 🙂
Don’t get an iPhone. You’ll never look another person in the face again.
(What the hell did you do to that egg?)
Oh no. I was worried you might say that!!
(The egg was on the stove until all the water evaporated… and then I heard a loud crack. That, too, was a week after the oven itself exploded after being left on too long. Not a good omen, right?)
Someone told me that the correct answer is always “It depends.”
When I got my cellphone, I was terrified that I’d turn into one of those people who carried their phone everywhere, and was afraid to miss a call, even in the bathroom. Or worse, I’d go to visit someone and not pay any attention to them because, hey, phones are shiny. I compromised: my phone lives in my house almost all the time and everyone who gets the # gets the warning that I don’t answer my phone when unwinding, working, sleeping, eating, socializing, when solicitors won’t stop calling and I turn off the ringer, etc (as in, 90% of the time). So I guess if you get an iphone, set limits and stick with them so the phone doesn’t take over your life. Turn it off or put it away when you go out to eat or do anything else where you don’t want to be distracted.
I guess the bonus would be that you could have set a timer for that egg.
Hehe! I will definitely be needing that egg timer 🙂
You’ve just given me a blueprint, I think. People who know me already know I won’t necessarily reply to their texts immediately. Or always answer the phone just because it rings. So I’ll just have to extend this to my internet usage.
It’s all about discipline, discipline…
It seems we’ve been in the same boat this week! I went to hear James Scott Bell speak at a writers conference yesterday (got to hang out with some of the other WANA peeps there). When I got home, I couldn’t connect to my internet. No go this morning either. I called our provider and they reset it at their end.
It was irritating to not be able to read the blog posts I’d plan to catch up on and reply to emails and FaceBook and Twitter comments. I wished I had an iPhone and plan to get one in May or June. Hubby and I still have old flip phones with no internet.
I’ve had the same thoughts as you about having an iPhone with me all the time. At the conference yesterday, people were checking their phones off and on during the breaks. I felt like a kid who doesn’t own the latest toy, missing out on the fun. Actually if I’d had an iPhone, I could have gotten a jump on replying to those comments, maybe accomplished some things on those breaks.
I plan to be careful with my iPhone when I’m around others. I think interacting in person is way more important than constantly checking our online connections, but we’ll see how it goes. I also know it will be challenging to learn a new gadget. It always is! Have a wonderful week, Alarna.
P.S. I do think those mental health days are great. Sometimes it’s nice to unplug.
Hey Lynn! Looks like I’m not the only one with this dilemma. There have been many times, like at your conference or at the hairdresser, that I’ve wished I could just plug in and use the time to get some things done.
So I do think there are advantages. I’m just terrified of that 24/7 contactability.
You’ll do great with learning the new gadget, Lynn!! I’m always impressed with how you find your way around new technology.
Iphones are great and I would recommend you get one Alarna. Not because you have one that you need to be glued on it. I have a rule that when I’m with people, the phone stay in the bag. As for the internet world, I really thought it was trying to send me a message in the last month to not come back to blogging. But, I’m back now!
Your rule is a sensible one. It’s more or less how I do things already, it’s just the temptation to check twitter and things is going to be a challenge! Glad to see your blog is up and running, and you were not defeated by the technical dramas!
Buy the iPhone! You’ll love it. I know you are disciplined enough to keep yourself from using it excessively!
Thank you! I’m glad you know… maybe there’s hope for me yet? 😉
Had my iPhone 4 for 2 years and it was the best $199 I ever spent .. Do it
$199?? Is that all it costs you where you are? Still… I take your point. And I think you are right. (PS. You could almost be a Nike ad 😉 )
I’m laughing out loud at the picture of the boiled egg. As I read your post, I was thinking, “I’m not that plugged in…” and then the egg reminded me of all the times I’ve overcooked/burned things because I think I can squeeze in one more comment, one more email, one more sentence…
The Internet has been sending me a message in a faulty router, which I just replaced today. I’m giddy with excitement at the thought of not being pushed off the Internet playground halfway through a post!
Hehe! Hey Sally 🙂 I’m finally back and just saw I missed your message.
Funny how we get used to the plug in after a while, and the multitasking becomes a way of life. Boiled eggs and all 🙂
Hope your internet is now working like a dream!
hi. my name is liz. and i’m addicted to my iPhone.
i need to stop. i need to find the discipline within me to shut it off, and to be more present in the current world that is swirling around me… where i am. but, anytime i have down time, my face is surfing. though i do admit that i only check things quickly. i am not someone who’s on her phone for lengthy amounts of time. and the photography benefits are fabulous! plus, i’ve decided that being connected and writing have become something very important to me. so, my only struggle is reign in my down time… to breathe, look, observe instead of surf.
hope all that makes sense. bottom line: i’m very happy with my iPhone and all it has to offer. it’s important in my life. but, i could also do with a little balancing. 🙂
Hehe! Like your AA take on that – I am certain it is addictive! But like anything – it can’t be all bad. I’m pretty sure I won’t be a lengthy surfer – aside from anything else, the screen is too small! But also, I take your point about photos – that could Really come in handy.
Thank you! I’m gaining more confidence now (and, ah, goodluck with the balance…) 🙂
I disconnect every time I leave work for the day, and it feels good. Surveying is one of those industries buried in its connected technology.
But should you upgrade your phone, think of all the free wifi connections you can tap into around town. I think you’ll become addicted. Best of luck on what ever you do, Alarna! Here in the tropics, tomorrow’s another day…
Free wifi is definitely a plus – there are times it’s frustrating to be out and disconnected. So I will determine to juggle it (hopefully addiction free 😉 ). Glad you still get your disconnect.
TODAY, APRIL 22 IS ALARNA’S BIRTHDAY!!!! YEAH!!! xxxxxx
LOVE YOU, GIRL!!!
My iPhone is so much easier to manage than my last complex phone but I don’t use it for uploading stuff. I am a bit behind the eight-ball in that regard. My husband uses it in such a way though and I wonder whether I might start…soon.
Yes, it does look a bit unwieldy to me. But I guess when you’re stuck, it may well come in handy. Yet to be tested 😉
I still have a non-smarty pants phone that I got in 2003. I like it because it makes and receives phone calls. Pretty cool!
When I want to disconnect, I simply leave my home office and go out to do some gardening, go on a hike, go to the Zoo or SeaWorld, go for a walk on the beach.
I do answer the phone 24/7 as a courtesy to my Clients, but the only way I’ll ever have a smarty pants phone is when my 2003 phone no longer works and I can’t replace it with a similar phone. Getting electronics fixed in today’s world is a non-issue since we live in a throwaway society and fixing costs many times more than buying new.
Love your term ‘non-smarty pants’ phone! And yeah… gone are the days when a device just does one thing and does it well!! 2003 is an impressive time span – my phones don’t usually last that long because of how frequently they get dropped.
Hope, anyway, you’re enjoying some disconnecting as we speak 🙂
My Friend, I think you are perfect just as you are.
If only that were true… 🙂 But thank you *hugs*
Let me rephrase that,
“My Friend, I think you are perfect just as you are…to me.”
xxx
Huh? Huh? Don’t go for a stuff similar to iphone, Alarna. Use the very basic model class phone ya have now in your hands. I will be shifting from my Supernova to a black & white phone soon. For calling and all, that’s enough in all respects. I found it really interesting and easy to use with wide no of benefits for 2 days on last week. 😀 🙂
Rahul
I’ll keep your advice in mind, Rahul. I have always preferred an appliance that just does one thing, not twenty. But we’ll see… I may not be able to resist the peer pressure