My latest life lesson
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| Mon, 10-24-2005 - 2:07pm |
I've thought for years that my life was well-balanced, that moderation in all things had kept me flexible and adaptable. Then my workplace instituted a "no personal e-mail" ban. This bothered me because I never abused it, but I got into the habit of checking my mail in the morning before work and then again when I got home from work... and a couple times during the evening and before I went to bed. Wouldn't want to miss anything.
Then my home PC was attacked by that last virus that got in the registry and kept rebirthing itself. Multiple scans and repairs were unsuccessful, so the hard drive had to be wiped. Due to an unfortunate accident, I lost my Documents and Settings content. In there were hundreds of pictures, letters I written, anecdotes, videos, music, as well as financial records and the e-mail files. It's like having a fire, and everything is gone. (Well.... sort of. I work for a place that owns disk recovery software like the FBI uses, so they re going to give a stab at retrieving some of it!)
While I was without the thing, I realized just how much time I spend day in/day out, week after week on my computer. I claim to have no time to get to the extensive yard work, the kitchen piles up with yesterday's dishes, I can't seem to get the garbage out on Thursday night, never find the time to exercise and the floors always seem to have dog hair on them ("Greyhounds don't shed." LOL! Tell me another one!)
I'm refocusing my activities now into a more balanced way of life. I will MAKE TIME for the responsibilities of home life. I will MAKE TIME for exercise and taking better care of myself. I will no longer make a dinner out of popcorn eaten at the keyboard. And you know??? I'm still going to have plenty of time on the computer!
What is taking your attention away from the other important things in your life?
Bink


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While I was without the thing, I realized just how much time I spend day in/day out, week after week on my computer.
The "superwoman" thing.
152.6&n
I sooo agree with your message... sooo agree :)
Problem with me is that I have no "real" people to chat with during the day.
I have no one.
I'm a SAHM, middle aged. It is hard to make friends.
Women my age already have the friends they need and have time for.
I have tried taking classes and the making friends just doesn't work with other women my age.
I do agree with you that dinner is more than just take-out when I get off the computer and my house is cleaner.
:)
p.s. I do have a question.
Through my cruising the various boards on here I have read more than once a comment that I don't understand.
Sometimes a poster will have a yellow hat next to her name and in her message will say " I apologize for the hat"
First... what does the yellow hat mean?
Second... why apologize?
thanks
Welcome!
I want to do, I have the freedom with grown kids and no hubby to do what i want.
I don't like to do as much alone, so I have to make an effort to go places alone or call people.
There was a time I did spend too much time on the computer, esp when Our spiritual jourmeys
was on Ivillage. I actually thought it was why the man friend moved out? Silly, it was
because of his trouble with intimacy, Adults can tell you if they need more time from you.
It did dawn on me that I was reading less and needed less time on the computer, so i changed it.
that was one reason i didn't want to get into a message board again, but here i am. It is also a
good social thing for me esp living alone, it is a matter of balance. i make time for what I want to do,
slow down if I am overextending. The computer needs to be treated with respect like alcohol, food etc
it all is so addicting. A box to answer all questions in life, to meet people, balance the check book
etc etc. Amazing. Love, Leila
I agree with everyone. Hehe. How profound....
That said, Bink, I noticed everything you mentioned making time for involves work.
We need that 'me' time too. Too. Balance, which is such a horrific word, I don't think I've ever had balance to anything I ever did yet in this life.
I work, but since it's a cleaning business, no one's there when I go. I talk to God, myself, get myself in a frenzy if there's someone I want to say something to, then forget it by the time I walk in the door anyways.
I come home check the physical mail, messages, make my phone calls...(I despise the telephone,) come into the computer room (ugliest 2 by 4 of a room in the whole house)for an hour and gab away about basically nothing. I get to vent, scream, agree, share opinions, ideas, ask questions, and there's no one to tell me I'm wrong, stupid, undesireable, overweight, etc....you get the picture. Why wouldn't I just love this thing.
I do agree we can spend too much time on the computer to the exclusion of other important and (not so important) things, but when the entire world's literally at your fingertips, without making demands...what can you do?
(wink to Bink,)
Betsy
Betsy,
I see your point!
Blessings,
Gypsy
)O(
I also have ear problems. To let you know there is a captel
phone that was only free to gov. people at first ( yeah, really, gov)
now different states are getting them. It is in NH now, almost in Ma.
Check it out. They are giving them at reduced prices even to people
who make a good salary. You need a letter from your audiologist.
Phones have captions, so you can read it. There is a little delay,
( you do not pay for the people who do the typing)
I can still manage on the phone, have all sorts of gadgets on them,
but it does help when I miss a word repeatedly. I also love the computer for the same
reason and also becaiuse i live alone. It adds more education and companionship.
More sharing of ideas. when i lived with my last man friend, I still loved the computer!!
I was loving our spiritual journys and shared a lot of spiritual thoughts there.
Check out Shhh, an organization for HOH. They have a really good message board.
Love, leila
Thanks for the info. I DO have a Captel phone that I am part of a test group to use, here in CA, where it is NOT available through the system like TTYs, amplified regular phones, lights to tell you the door bell is ringing, etc. It has not been approved here. However, I find there is an unacceptable degree of inaccuracy with the Captel phone at times. I no longer make business calls through that phone because, as you know, numbers are very difficult to decipher, and there have been times, even when I have repeated the information to the person I am calling, the Captel captions gave me totally wrong appt. time information! :-\ Because it is voice activated through a computer, it has it's problems. The human captioner merely repeats what he/she thinks you said, into a microphone, to a computer, and that computer through it's programming interprets those sounds, and then sends that captioning to you. I still prefer REAL people doing the captioning. I use IP-RELAY through AIM and their own program, as well as my TTY. I use Captel now only for social calls. This is after two years as a tester of the equipment. At first I thought it was going to solve all my problems. It hasn't. It's still useful, though. :)
Hopefully as the Captel phone and voice recognition computer technology continues to develop, the accuracy will improve. I think part of the problem is the captioner has to interpret speech patterns and accents in the hearing person's voice, as well as having perhaps his/her own accent, and THEN the computer technology has to make sense of that as well -- and ALL before WE get the captioning! :=O Telephoning is still my most awful task to perform, but I am grateful for my TTY (free through the state) and yes, the Captel phone, even with it's limitations. I am especially grateful for the IP-RELAY service as well. :D There are many states without the benefits we have here in CA. I have a friend who moved to another state, and was appalled at the lack of service and equipment available, and the ignorance and insensitivity. And when TTYs cost over $500 and special amplified phones cost hundreds of dollars, it's difficult for the hard of hearing and deaf to get this kind of equipment without a good state program of distribution (especially when, for hard of hearing, hearing aids can cost over $5000 for two, which my new digital ones did this year, and no insurance will cover the expenses, so it's out of pocket unless you are low income in this state). Of course, if one has online access, IP-RELAY through AIM or it's own web site, that's an alternative anybody in any state, can use, even on library computers with Internet access. :)
Gypsy
Edited 10/30/2005 12:58 pm ET by gypsywolfwoman
Blessings,
Gypsy
)O(
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