“Happy Monday.”

No one says that, do they?  And, lately, “Happy Friday” has really turned into a hope rather than an upbeat greeting.

Well, my Monday wasn’t that happy and the first few days of life without the internet were pretty much what I remember quitting coffee was like.  I did it, but I felt anxious.

The first day without the Internet was my birthday and my kids kidnapped me and took me to the beach all day. They said, “no cell phone, no email, no computer.” It was great. Tense at first wondering if anyone was trying to get in touch with me, but after about an hour, sitting on the sand building a sand castle I realized that as long as the four people with me right here, right now were okay – that everything else could wait.  But, of course, it felt like I was the rope in a tug-o-war.

When we got back to the house I confidently averted a potential violation. In the evening my husband and kids were gathered around his laptop laughing hysterically at a video they were watching on YouTube – I said I couldn’t watch it, to which my son replied, “What are you, a Luddite?”  - pretty good for a ten-year old.  I had to look it up.

You Tube – popular, bizarre, funny, pain-relieving at times - tempting, but I didn’t watch. Instead, I sat down and asked them to describe the video clip to me. Now, I haven’t seen the video – a woman in a Hong Kong airport who has missed a flight – but I can’t imagine it was much funnier than watching my kids act out her hysterics – rolling on the floor, screaming. And I’ve got to say in this case, live was much better than Memorex.

Luddite:  “A person who is opposed to new technology.”

The new technology for me is to manage and control the old technology.