So Out of Sorts

Water dripped all over my beloved Blackberry today. I have been without for nearly ten hours.

My phone is currently embedded in two handfuls of rice, and I’m praying this trick will (once again) work to soak up the residual dampness. It worked once before, when the ‘berry found its way into my glass of wine. Don’t ask. But that situation sounds way more exciting than it actually was.

Earlier today, around dinnertime, I tried powering up my phone. I got a screen, but was not able to maneuver the cursor and open any texts or email. So it’s healing, it’s on the mend. But not quite ready for discharge.

Have you sent me a text today? I’m sorry! I’m not ignoring you!

Maybe it’s a good thing (no, we all know this can’t possibly be true!). But yesterday evening, I was very deliberate in my Internet use. I wrote my column (before deadline) and pre-posted a few things. Then I turned off the computer and went to bed. My plan had been to just avoid Internet time altogether today, using my phone to check for any urgent messages.

And then my phone broke. I was forced to actually sit at the computer to check email here and there.

It’s not that I don’t love you Internet — I do! I do love you! It’s just, the days are slightly strenuous enough right now that if I can get pulled in one less direction, I think that might be healthy. I’m not going anywhere, but getting a bit more organized in my approach just feels good.

Without my phone, I feel undone. I’m so used to checking that thing constantly, that it’s strange to not have it sitting there, blinking at me, reminding me that someone has sent something and needs my answer pronto.

Which is almost never true by the way — rarely does someone need my answer pronto. That is a pressure I put on myself. I called my sister tonight to check in with her. I asked her a question about something and she said she had already texted me that information. I had to explain that for the next few hours, I would be relying on actual verbal communication to get the info I need.

What a strange thing, this communication/Internet/superhighway. On the one hand it has simplified communicating, helping us avoid actual time-consuming phone calls when all we need is a yes/no answer.

On the other, it has a gravitational force that is as strong as my boys attraction to our ice-cream supply, if not more so.

I miss my phone, but somehow feel a weight lifted at the exact same time.