DaleRussell's Blog

I can remember when I thought all this new technology would bring a little extra time and efficiency to my life.

Boy, was I wrong.

I wake up to my office email on my home computer. Wow. I thought when I first got it. That’s cool. Now, I realize, no, it means I’m at work before the coffee has even brewed.

My cell phone rings constantly. Morning. Noon. Night. I get voice messages, call backs, and text inquiries. I talk while I drive and drive while I eat, so I’m now working during my lunch break. 

We have this new web page with streaming video and non stop blogs. Cool, I thought, when I first saw it. Now, I research a blog, while working on a story, writing the story and the blog, keeping the facts separate but equal. (Isn’t there a law against this?)

When a story airs, people post responses, and I respond to the responses, while sitting at my desk, listening to my cell phone and desk phone ring in harmony.  I’d go home, but there are too many posts to read and responses to craft.  I’ll put off going home, stay at work longer, answer the cell phone calls, the desk calls, the viewers questions, and on my way home, I’ll drive and talk, and get home in time to check last minute messages on the home computer, and get a few hours sleep so I can wake up and look for tips on my office computer that now sits on my desk.

I’m 53 and too old for this.

I’m Linked in and My Spaced out. I’ve got a new face on my Facebook and an old face in the mirror.  I’ve been digged, farked, and breitbarted all week long and didn’t even know anyone cared.   I haven’t a clue how an RSS works or why it works and if it did work, what it does.  I get emails warning me about excessive emails. My spam is spoon-fed and PR people leave loving messages all day long.  My analog life is feeling like a digital dinosaur.  I’m a 16 bit employee in a 32 bit world. My bandwidth is not big enough.  My cache is cloudy. I can Google but not Gateway.  My caffeine intake is up. My bottom line is down. I spend money on cell phones and ink ribbons and save money on ties because I don’t have time to put one on. How can I?  I’m too busy tracking my links and linking to my title bar.  My downloads are up and my uploads are down.  I’m a nanosecond away from a head crash.  Frankly, I’m ready to drag and drop.

I need a break. A vacation. Not a virtual trip, but a real time, real world, sun baking, margarita sipping, stroll down a beach.

I’ll do it.  Maybe post some pictures in my blog and write a restaurant review of the little shack on the coastline.  And a live phone report on the hurricane for the News Edge. Feel free to email with questions, because I’ll answer and…..oh, hell, here I go again.