What did we do before computers?!

Seriously, what in the world did we do before this piece of technology entered our households? I found myself asking that question this weekend when I found myself all alone...yes, you read that correctly - - A-L-O-N-E. My son left on a week long trip with my parents to Savannah, Georgia and my husband is away for his two-week summer drill with the Army, and guess what? He took the laptop with him...drat! Okay, we do have a desktop, but it is about a hundred years old and is as slow as can be so for all intents and purposes I was without a computer at home since last Thursday, hence no blog posting.


Honestly, I felt like I was having withdrawal symptoms. Dear Lord, when did I let my computer become an extra appendage to my body? I can't really pin it down as to a certain timeframe, but somewhere along the way I got hooked. Thankfully, I am not to this point yet...



But, I do have a telephone and cable jack in my bathroom, so you never know...LOL!

It got me thinking (because after all, when you are all alone without the use of a computer what else is there to do, right?). And no, my cell phone does not have internet capabilities (well, it does, but I refuse to pay extra to connect to the internet via my cell phone). AN-Y-WAY, what did we do before we had computers? I made a list:

1. We played outside

2. We used a typewriter, and if we were lucky, it had a correction ribbon in it

3. We sent handwritten letters to people

4. We mailed cards to loved ones and friends on their birthdays (you know, ones that you can put in a shoebox and reminisce over years from now)

5. We went to the library

6. We relied on nightly television news anchors to tell us the news (not a search engine's welcome page)

7. We actually talked to people face-to-face on a regular basis when we needed to tell them something

I know the list could go on and on, but these were just a few of the things that I thought about. In a way, it made me sad remembering how things used to be, and in a way it made me think, Wow, we have come so far.

Computer technology is a double edged sword I suppose and yes, I have totally fallen victim to it. Rather than wait for assurances or a diagnosis from my doctor, thanks to good old Google, I have convinced myself that I have had everything from ulcerative fibroids to mad cow disease. Throw in dealing with secondary infertility and recurrent miscarriages and my goodness, Oh, the bizillion reasons and causes why. In fact, I see my OB/GYN cringe everytime he hears me say, "I was reading on the internet...."

On the other hand though, the computer has also allowed me to find old friends from high school, bond with ladies who are going through the same struggles I am, stay in touch more often with family living far away, etc.

Could I live without a computer? I guess in the truest sense of the word "live", yes. I do not need a computer to live my life from day-to-day. Would it be difficult? Yes. Do I want to? No. Am I going to check out the latest headlines on Yahoo as soon as I am done posting...AB-SO-LUTE-LY!

Oh, and honey, hurry back home so that I can blog from our dining room rather than my office, which probably violates some sort of employee code and proper use of work computer. No, wait, first I'll click on my colletion of e-mailed work memos just to make sure...LOL!