Twenty-Four Hours Off the Internet

Heavens to Betsy- I was off the internet twenty-four hours straight. What did I miss? The Cubs are playing the Nationals with drastically different lineups. More than likely? Four hundred Americans died from Covid-19. Damn Delta variant and a screwy definition of "Freedom".

Yesterday, before I could write an article that barely anyone would read, I turned off the computer. Even when work weeks are six days? The fifth day is tiring. The afternoon nap had surprisingly vivid dreams.

Only I can dream during a nap. Cannot recall it now. Waking up around three; I contemplated options for my next move. Should I go out? Watch a movie? The decision was made with a power outage.

There was a storm two nights earlier and the power was out far too long. While some complain about "Zoom fatigue" I had to shower and get dressed by candlelight. It seemed like everything went back to normal until the next afternoon when the power went out again. Not sure I would do well in the Amish Community.

There was a text invite to visit my sister's family. I had gone over there the previous day. Why not two in a row? Because there is a lot of running and jumping with small children. From my perspective?

There is a lot of chasing and catching. They do not jump off the couch into my arms once. No, they are at "Do that again" age. There was an ebb and flow to the night where I came full circle.

I don't drink. That never stopped me from hanging out with people who do. The children were eerily similar. One minute they were wild and wanted to party. Next, they were belligerent and afterwards? They were quiet and rested their heads on my shoulder.

Back in high school it seemed like people drank to regain the feeling they had as small children. Been there, done that and after dinner we called it a night. It wasn't late. It was too late to do anything such as fool around on the computer. I missed some polls.

Not sure if I have the ability to create a poll. Don't need cheap engagement. After a strange dream about The Goonies where stereotypical children find a treasure and chase me around never catching me (I am only a fast runner in dreams) the alarm went off and I eased into the morning.

Don't take electricity for granted. Arriving at work a supervisor said "Thank God". He did not ask if I wanted to work today. A colleague is going back to college next week so this was our last Saturday.

I might make a New Year's Resolution not to work Saturdays. That still gives me five months of shorthanded Saturdays. One supervisor showed up to do paperwork and they put her to work. She was dressed for a day off and worked a few hours.

At 7:30 she said we were "Almost done". That phrase might trigger fans of the Atlanta Falcons. Before I could say "Yeah, and England almost won Euro 2020" the work continued. And continued. I was knee deep until ten o'clock.

It wasn't as bad as the skeleton crew who made one salary while doing the work of five employees. It is not fair and they really don't care about employee retention. As I told Kevin C. whose birthday is tomorrow?

"We are the culture." I once formulated a Ted Talk based on that concept. Of course, bad things happen when I contemplate Public Speaking. It might have caused a global pandemic. Work ended so late I could go shopping. I contemplated going to lunch.

Instead I ended up at a familiar 7-Eleven to enjoy my free Slurpee on the last day and the usual items that prove I am vampirically sixteen. That is nothing I should admit. The divorce essentially stunted my growth for life.

If you saw how I shopped? Nothing mature about that. I might have outgrown Pop Tarts. They are not that good. I thought about visiting Michael Fritzius as an excuse to eat at a Chinese Buffet.

Do I need to fly halfway across America to enjoy that? Shouldn't I have covered these twenty-four hours in a Jack Bauer style? Actually? If I had friends and three other people documented what they were doing it could work. That might be a little closer to Time Code. In the time it took to think about that I drove home and turned on the computer.

Not much changed. I researched what is needed for the next article which will be written tonight. The algorithm does not notice when I am here and engaging so it would not care when there is a day off.

The End of 24 Hours Off the Internet

Thomas Jackson Will Return in Your Park City Correspondent