One of the neat things about my job is that it gives me access to a fast Internet connection. At home, I'm at the mercy of dial-up on a 56k modem -- broadband out in the sticks will not be happening in my lifetime, according to the utility company, and satellite Internet is too pricey and too buggy for our tastes right now -- and the way my computer's configured, the call-waiting will knock me off the line if someone else calls. (It's a pain in the rear, and I know I could disable it, but given that an important call could come in, I leave it be.)
During the week, I remain relatively in touch with what's going on. On the weekends, I fall out of step. That has a good side, because I don't get addicted to the Internet and instead I log on every so often, check my mail, and fiddle around just enough. About 20 minutes is enough for me most times. At work, though, during the week, it can become hours. There are websites I check at work because looking at them from home is just such a pain.
That cuts both ways, though. There's one website I enjoy, a pop-culture website where the comments frequently get snarky. I like to contribute a little snark every now and then, too. But by the time I'm up in the morning, the snark's already in the hundreds of comments. The other day I went to contribute to some snark, only to realize it'd started late on the previous Friday and it was already hundreds of posts deep. Nothing like being late to the party, right? So I held my fire. (My contribution wasn't that funny, anyway, now that I think about it.)
I can't figure out whether I envy or hate people who are able to stay on the Web all the time. On the other hand, it did mean I was able to get several books read that weekend, so I guess I'll take the richer life that way.
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