Don't hate me because I email...

Email has screwed up my life. It is true. Before email, I communicated as any normal human being would. If I wanted to chat or had a question for someone, I'd pick up the darn phone and call them. No big whoop.

But, now that email's taken over the world, I've let it be my social buffer--and at times that is not a good thing. I tend to have a tad of social anxiety about calling people and disturbing them. It is just so much easier to send a quick email that they can answer when they have the time to read and answer it.

But, this has gotten out of control completely for me now. I even email my next door neighbor sometimes! Recently, a friend of mine made a joke to said neighbor (in my presence) about how I email rather than calling. And, I felt like a big dork.

Maybe I don't like the sound of my own voice. I don't know. Email just seems less intrusive to me. But, there's always the problem of friends who do not check their email often. When I look at the friends I've kept over the years, they have one thing in common. No, it isn't common interests. It's that they are emailers! I have lost touch with most phone friends entirely!

And, that keeping in touch is the big benefit of email, I think. I've been able to support a high school friend through what's becoming a very nasty divorce. We reunited at our class reunion this summer and have been catching up via email ever since.

But, I'm also finding that email is hurting me in another way. I'm now falling behind the times. Most of my good friends who live in different cities are all on instant messenger now. They don't email much at all. It's all about the IM and then the phone. Because the only time I sit at my desk for more than a couple minutes at a time is late in the evening, IM isn't practical for me.

So, I post all of this to say, if you have a friend who sends you bizarre emails instead of making normal human contact, well cut him/hear some slack. Maybe she's shy. Maybe he doesn't want to bother you. Or, maybe they have laryngitis! All I am saying, is give email a chance people...give email a chance!

P.S. This was a rather blathering post, but it managed to cover up my last post on Palin. Let's just say my enthusiasm is waning rather quickly there, but I'm still very interested in hearing some debates. Too bad they can't send those debates via email, eh? (wink)

Just twittering by...

I've got a busy day, but I thought I'd update you. If you don't read this through a reader, you've noticed that I spruced up the old sidebars some and added a link to Twitter. I have been officially Twitterfied people. After only a few days, I have decided that I love me some Twitter. For those who haven't seen it yet, it is kind of like mini-blogging. You post a short thought now and then and others in your network can read it, post their own responses or post their thoughts. It is fun and more my speed. I like chat, but with my part-time consulting work, I don't typically sit at my desk for long periods of time until late in the evening when a lot of people aren't on chat. So, check out my Twitter page here and join it--be sure to let me know if you do and I'll add you to my network!

I would really like to use CommentLuv, that special feature that lets you put a link to the commenter's last post right after their name in comments. But, as far as I can tell it doesn't work with Blogger. If someone out there has found a way to make it work with their Blogspot address, let me know!

OK, that's it for now. I forced myself to workout this morning, even after muy glasses of vino last night at bunco and now I have to go wash wine glasses and try to recover. But, oh...it was fun. It made up for the fact that Lost was a repeat last night...

When I die, bury me with my mouse...

I learned something interesting this weekend. I am completely and utterly a computer addict. It is not until something you count on daily is ripped away from you, that you see what a part of your life it truly plays. Late Friday night, my "ripping" came in the form of a major power outage which we think may have blown the power supply in my almost new PC. But, at the time I was sure that my whole PC was Kentucky fried.

Ironically, with the power out that morning when we woke, we decided to go have breakfast with the kids and stop off at our favorite computer parts store to get much needed memory for my box. When we got home to install it, we realized that the computer was DOA.

I cannot describe to you the suppressed anxiety that I felt that I hid from my husband as best as possible. What he saw was my frame pacing back and forth near his office as he tried to figure out the problem. What he heard was my semi-anxious and repetitive dialog noting how I didn't know what I would do if the files were gone. What he could not see was the wheels in my mind spinning off their tracks as I mentally logged every file and picture that would be lost if I could not get my hard drive back. He could not hear my inner-voice screaming a blood-curdling Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! Must. Get. Hard. Drive. Baaaaaack!!!

Have I mentioned that I'm fighting the world's most impossible deadline for my first issue of a magazine in a completely new job? Oh, yeah, and did I tell you that the vein in my temple is still throbbing from the trauma of this PC tragedy?

God blessed me with a techie-nerd husband--something I now count my blessings for every day. Hubs figured out that, with the right equipment, the drive could be hooked up to his laptop and I could pull over files and be in business again.

I've now backed up my beloved family photos and my magazine files. Everything else can be done later. I am not completely back in business as I can't log onto my magazine job's email to see what stories may have come in this weekend. But, I'm back online and I am breathing huge sighs of relief.

I honestly don't know what I would have done if that drive was gone. But, what I have figured out is that if you gave me one item to take on a desert island, it would be my computer...oh, and network connectivity. So, TGIF--Thank God It ain't Fried!