Wireless Peace

So I’m doing something I never wanted or thought I’d do. I’m sitting outside a coffee shop, sipping on a strawberry smoothie and writing this blog. Why am I doing this? Because I don’t have internet at home.

            You see, it all started about six years ago when I bought my house. We had no choice but to get our internet through our cable provider. A company that seems to have a stranglehold on both television and internet in this area. I suppose you could call it a monopoly, since there are no other options other than putting a satellite dish on your house but even then, you won’t get internet service. Which really sucks. Cause as you know, we Americans love our internet.

            So, normally what’d I do is just write a blog at home, go somewhere that I could pick up a wifi signal and quickly upload it and then disappear. However; today is just too nice out to sit inside and mope about my plight. I know, first world problems.

            This all being said, the shade I’m sitting in is nice, the breeze is perfect and people walking up and down the street are a pleasant distraction. There are even some patrons, four of them, two men and two women, sitting a few tables away from me that don’t seem to mind my cigar smoke. I suppose you could say is that the biggest distraction is that I’m camped not too far from both of my jobs and I keep seeing people I know. People who stop and talk with me. I don’t mind really.

            Well, except when they want to hold a conversation with me. To prove my point, some guy, a Coast Guard sailor, just sat and talked my ear off for about twenty minutes about his BMW motorcycle and opinionated that Harley riders were mean. He then saw my helmet and asked what sort of bike I rode. I told him. Then he made some excuse about having to be somewhere and left in his volkswagon. I just laughed. Not out-loud but inside as my sarcastic inner voice screamed that this guy is nothing but a complete and utter idiot.

            So now, it is just me, my thoughts and the breeze. Really kind of like being on my front porch except I don’t have a cigar ashtray and I can’t play my music. If I’d brought my headphones I’d be able to play music or even listen to one of my podcasts but I didn’t think of that. All I could think of was getting a strawberry smoothie and enjoy its refreshing taste as it cools my inner core temperature.

            Where was I going with this?

            Oh, yeah, I hate big companies that on a whim decide to increase your bill for the same shitty service they’ve been spoon feeding you for years. Then, when you have a problem, they come up with every excuse in the book to not help or infer it is your fault and not theirs. When you finally convince them to send out a technician and they finally arrive, they say there is no problem on their end. They suggest signal boosters, rewiring and spout off so much technical mumbo jumbo that in your mind a countdown timer starts. When the timer gets to zero, you are sure your head will explode and repaint the inside of your home with red and gray matter.

            So, I got rid of the cable and internet. I got a satellite and no internet now. My bill is three quarters less than it was a couple months ago, I get more channels and I have crystal clear clarity on my television. Which is funny, because truth be told, I don’t watch a lot of tv. I rather enjoy the internet and watching shows on the pay service I have there. But, alas, I’m sure eventually I will get access at my home someday soon. After all this isn’t the 20^th Century anymore.

            Yeah, I guess you could say me and mine are missing unfettered access to the digital life. Not so much now since the satellite has been installed. But quite nights sitting on the couch surfing the web while some mindless show is playing on the black box and an occasional grunt is emoted from one of our mouths is not too sorely missed. Now, we have to look at each other, make polite conversation and such. Well, not so much me. The lack of luxuries in my life has not hindered my time on my porch or even my writing.

            Truth be told, without the unfettered access of the web, I’m getting more done in the writing aspect of my life. I finished a story I’d started a year ago. I’ve gone through another tale that was partially finished and I’ve started working on that again and… This is actually my second blog this week. I wrote one last night but I have no idea if I’ll ever post it. You see, I do that. I write things and never post them. There are more than a dozen on my flash drives that will most likely never see the light of day. It’s not that they are terrible, or too revealing or even offensive. Nope, it is just that I don’t feel like posting them.

            Maybe I’ll save them for another day, another week or a time when I don’t or can’t write anything and use them as a bank blog. Either way, it doesn’t matter much to me. I’m just happy to be able to enjoy a day off, write a bit and not have to worry about being entertained.

            I hope for you that one day, if you’re in a similar situation, you wont freak out, get stressed or even go through some sort of withdrawal of modern technology. Instead, I hope you will enjoy the time away from the light speed distraction of the 21^st century.

            Now, I’m going to go for a motorcycle ride, have red bull and a cigar and then maybe I’ll watch some television.

Have a great week.