Where've ya been, Steve? The Next Chapter...
The Rogers Guy made a stop at our house yesterday - aren't bundles wonderful? For about $15 less per month, we now have digital cable, cable modem, the Home Phone system (not with the free cordless - we took another offer), plus a long-distance plan and a separate extension in our bedroom! For less money!
We made this decision last Thursday, after taking a couple of hours to weigh the pros and cons, and the person at the call centre was actually quite helpful and was willing to price everything out, with taxes, to let us see how it would all compare without pressuring us to complete the signup then and there! That's what I hate about telephone solicitors - they want you to make the decision right then, in the middle of your supper or your evening or whatever. I'm sure they hit the odd person who has actually been thinking about their particular product or service and is just pleased as punch to get them on the phone. I have to say, though, that I don't remember the last time that happened at our house.
In any case, decision on Thursday... and the Sympatico modem heard us. Yes, I know that I'm a strong, devout Christian, and that only my ancient pagan ancestors held to the pan-animism that proclaimed that everything had a spirit all its own... but I'm convinced that the old modem heard us and said, "Fine, be that way!" and pooped out on us after four years of near-constant operation. So, our household was unplugged, in a computer sense, for four days. No internet, no email, no Club Pogo, no Club Penguin, no MSNMessenger, nothing.
And in some ways, we were better for it, I think...
I remember an ad a few years ago that parodied The Untouchables movie poster - a small group of executives didn't yet have cell phones with them 24 hours a day and were being referred to as "The Unreachables" - and I remember telling myself that I never wanted to live that way. I write this with a cell phone on my hip, and with my wife and I seriously considering adding one more thing to our Rogers bundle (a 2-phone cell plan). When I don't get my email for three or four days, I miss things. Were I to travel to the far side of the world, I would still want to keep up on my online comic strips.
And yet, being 'unplugged' to a certain extent for those four days made me realize how valuable time is, and how time spent together is infinitely more valuable than time spent online.
Just something to ponder for a while