Techno-Withdrawal?

The last few days we’ve been staying in an RV resort that is situated in a canyon east of San Diego. We have very limited access to internet/e-mail as well as very spotty cell phone service due to the resort location. Pack it up When we want to get on the internet, we have to pack up the laptop and go over to the gate house or club house to have access. Then the access time is limited to 15 minutes a session and one is only to do e-mail, not surf the web. Find a signal When we want to use the cell phone, we have to go to the parking lot near the clubhouse or go into town where we can get a decent signal. We cannot get a signal at our camp site and in many parts of the resort. Life is rather quiet without the ring of the phone several times a day. Is this withdrawal? Here I sit feeling like I’m in withdrawal or maybe being deprived of a basic right. But wait! The fact is that I am doing fine. I am not suffering any physical distress and the earth has not fallen apart because I don’t have easy access to the internet and the numerous forwarded stories that fill my inbox most days. (I know this because we can get satellite TV at our camp site and the national news reports activities of life are proceeding about the same as they were two weeks ago when I had easy internet and cell phone access.) E-mail solution We seldom get urgent e-mails anyway, so if I check e-mail every two to three days, I’ll be able to pull out the ones that require response and handle them in a timely way. The forwarded stories can wait until we move to another resort where service is easier to access. Phone solution Walking over to the club house a couple of times each day to check voice mail and respond to calls provides some good exercise. That is something I need anyway, so what’s the big deal in that? We’re spoiled How spoiled we’ve become with our unlimited access to technology in the last few years! We’ve allowed ourselves to become rather dependent on surfing the web for hours at a time and on having a cell phone glued to our ears no matter where we are. While technology is certainly useful for keeping in touch with family and friends and for gathering all sorts of information, life proceeds very well without the constant access to these two modes of communication. Shucks! I think I’ll just relax and enjoy the resort --and maybe a good book.