days of dial-up

Economy has required us to revert back (in time?) to dial-up. This is excrutiatingly painful as I have not used anything but high-speed internet for several years now (4 at the very least). Your average, every day, web browsing is really not all that difficult, however, downloading is another story, as are the large flash presentations my online classes like to use. A "simple" flash presentation that should take about 10 minutes to view literally took me over 45 minutes. Throughout the entire thing I felt like bashing my head directly into the monitor (thankfully, I didn't) One minute of the thing would play...followed by 5 plus minutes of nothing...followed by another measly minute, and so on. ARGH! And forget about downloading. I never even realized how much I downloaded on a daily basis until I discovered how SLOOOOOOOOOOOOW the downloading process is on dial-up. It really makes you stop (literally) and think about what you're doing online.

Positive points to all this nonsense: For practical reasons, I can no longer just sit in front of the computer and while away the hours on the internet. A) I cannot hog the phone line B) Two people cannot be on dial up (cost effectively) at the same time, so I cannot hog the internet time and finally C) (my personal favorite) I can no longer aimlessly wander around the internet. Everything takes so darn long to do now, that I literally have to make a list, prioritize and then kick serious butt to do it as quickly as possible so I can get in as much as possible in as little an amount of time. Why is this a good thing, you might be asking? Well, first of all, it forces me to prioritize and actually do things with a purpose. This is an excellent development. It also means I spend less time on the internet and more time doing other things, like write snarky blog posts while waiting for the love of your life to finish his business online, or hey, even do housework. LOL!

So, bitching and moaning aside, this is actually a good thing. It just takes some getting used to, and I sure am not used to it yet. ;)

Hooray for mobility!

Eric and I switched computers again. You see, originally, I gave him my laptop because his back was not doing well and he was laid up on the couch most of the time---> thus, unable to use his desktop computer. So, we switched computers and voila! He had computer time again, and I got to experience what it is like to operate a bulky desktop (which I thought I wanted...) again. Then, the two of us proceeded to suffer in silence because, as it turns out, he prefers desktop computers and I prefer laptops...yet he was using a LAPTOP and I was using a DESKTOP. See the problem? ;)

Well, today we discussed it and it was quite funny, actually. I mentioned off-handedly that I missed having a laptop. To which Eric replied "I miss having a desktop". This revelation was followed by lots of "really?" "No, I mean, REALLY?" "well, whattayaknow." This was promptly followed with a transfer of computers, and several hours of messing around with the settings on our respective "new" computers and deleting of the other's "junk" (as I kindly refer to it). (and of course, knowing Eric, as soon as I gave him the desktop he promptly opened it up and started tinkering, making it "bigger" and "better" and "meaner"...and then it stopped working. Don't worry, its up and running now.) Its funny what happens when you communicate.

;)