I left my computer unattended for several days around Christmas. This was the real deal “off”. Meaning off-line, unpowered, disks spun down, etc… Nor was it just a hardware thing. I have multiple ways to access my blog (tablets and such) but I deliberately used them sparingly. (In a world of smart phone clutching monkeys I’m not sure if modern people truly understand the word “off”. Doubt me? If you can get a modern person far enough into the hinterland that their phone loses signal, watch them. It’s comic that they’re almost physical tied to the ‘net and the severing of such is not without consequences. They’ll check their completely dead phone on 15 minute cycles; like a lifelong smoker reaching for the next cancer stick. Even if you think you’re immune, you should test it to see. It’s worth periodically getting off the treadmill just to make sure you can still do it. As for me, I chuckle that my cell phone battery died while I sat by the fire sipping bourbon. I didn’t miss it but boy was the phone pissed off!)
The unfortunate truth is our machines are no longer “machines”. Our electronic lives are used to (and to some extent demand) constant cultivation. While I was carefully limiting my exposure to digital misery (it is simply a truth that most digital media is designed to foment unease in the viewer) all sorts of minor mayhem went down behind the scenes. Some updates happened that might have been a problem. One post vanished (don’t worry, it wasn’t a big deal). I think I lost e-mail for a while. Hosting may have been interrupted (or not). In part this is because I refuse to let software have the keys to my bank account so some “auto renew” stuff did not auto renew. (Self inflicted hassle or an abundance of caution? Embrace the use of “and”.)
Anyway, I’m back and I think I’ve got the engines on-line again. This little corner of what was once called cyberspace should be as stable as ever (now that I think about it, it has a pretty good track record for limited downtime considering how little I attend to basic maintenance).
If I was gone, or bounced an e-mail, or didn’t acknowledge something… sorry. Shit happens.
I managed by starting the lesbian squirrel story over. I had forgotten just how entertaining it really was. Keep going at your own pace. The world will still turn much like your stomach after the fourth helping of ham and beans. F Hubert
It totally makes my day whenever anyone reads the Squirrels! Thanks for patience with the slow pace of writing.
When you disappear, my only expectation, is for you to stay alive (how is up to you), SO THAT you will eventually regale us with squirrel adventures. All your other ramblings and musings are just icing on the cake. Carry on at your leisure.
I spend too much time on my ass on the pooter, (rabbit hole chasing) my bad. My cell phone is a flip phone that I use as a phone with optional texting. It frequently gets turned off and goes into a custom fit Faraday pouch. I don’t jones for webcrawling when away from it, for some reason. I can’t take any credit for that, I also don’t go into withdrawals when I don’t take my prescription Vicodin and muscle relaxer, I just have a lot more pain (mucho phuqued up back). Genetically, I lucked out. Didn’t get an addictive, compulsive personality.
Thanks for writing when you do, we (The Royal We) appreciate it.
Tree Mike