Thursday, June 30, 2005

When a net junkie gets (temporarily) disconnected

Sat down to my trusty laptop, fired up mozilla firefox expecting the familiar and friendly colors of my start page and nothing. Rebooted laptop. Still no net. Re-cycled the cable modem. No joy. Rebooted the server computer. (We have a seriously geeky house) Still nothing. Call RCN. Wait through the interminable phone message, press 1 for English, 3 for internet, 1 for highspeed, etc. . . only to find out that RCN has crapped out for the entire greater Boston area.

AARGH

So I can't read, post or comment on poetry, can't chat with my writing buddies, can't write or answer email. Sigh. In the grand scheme of things, no major crisis. I have a roof over my head, food on the table, clothing on my back. More to be thankful for than I have space to write.

But so much of my community, my personal support systems now exist through the medium of the internet. I feel cut off. As if I've been isolated in my home by a sudden unexpected blizzard.

So what does that say about me? It might be tempting to assume that I'm a shut-in, or that I have no family or support network around me. Neither are true. However, in a world increasingly fragmented into strident constituencies, I have found it necessary to reach out into the electronic diaspora of the net to find a larger community.

I'm glad to be back.

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