My Life Relies Upon Tech - And That's OK

The last weekend was an adventure.As I watched the news reports suggesting Hurricane Irene was on its way to my doorstep, I couldn't help but think that it had little chance of affecting me. After all, I've never had to deal with a hurricane at any point in my life living here, and there was simply no reason to believe, I thought, that that would change.[Image credit: NASA]

But then the seemingly impossible happened: Hurricane Irene didn't veer off course. And her eye was within striking distance of my home. As she approached, rain fell and wind swept across my yard. Within a couple hours, I had no power. And I was left sitting in my house wondering when the power would come back on.

In that moment, I was lost. I didn't have access to the Internet, my television didn't work, and I was left with my books. For a while, it wasn't so bad — I wanted to catch up on the title I was reading. But before long, I was bored. I wanted to be able to play some games on my iPhone, but its battery was low and I didn't have a way to charge it.

For the first time in a long time, I was without my electronics. And I was shocked by how much I missed them. I wasn't able to record all the shows I wanted to watch, and doing something as simple as reading the news was made far too difficult, since I needed to hook up my 3G accessory just to do so.

Worst of all, it continued on like that for more than a day before the local power company finally got my power back on.

But now, as I look back, I realize just how unappealing my life would be if I didn't have technology. I wouldn't be entertained; I wouldn't be nearly as up-to-date on the news as I am now; and perhaps most importantly, I wouldn't have quick and easy access to the information that not only pays the bills, but helps me determine many of my life's decisions.

Now, I'm sure there are many folks out there that disagree with that sentiment. They probably welcome their time away from all the tech in their lives to catch up on the quiet aspects of life. For them, the time away from the TV, computers, and other gadgets was a vacation.

But for me, such vacations are a nightmare. My vacations require those things. And if I don't have them, I'm left to hope I'll get my hands on them as soon as possible.

So, here's hoping the power doesn't go out for a long time again. Actually, I have a better idea: here's hoping the generator I buy to power my house when the electricity goes off isn't too expensive. Sorry, but over 24 hours of no electricity is too much for me to handle.