Homo Electronicus

I woke up this morning to an eerie silence. "Why isn't the clock on?" Then I remembered, the city told us the power would be off, in our city block, for several hours this morning.

It is telling how much one gets accustomed to certain things when they are absent. Such as electricity.

So, I ended up walking to the office. As it happens, I will need my car later today, to run to the hospital--so why walk? After all, my car has a full tank of gas, it's all tuned up...sitting in a garage, that has an electric door opener. I'll walk back (or have someone ride me back) later.

This morning, I'm working on a brand-new computer. My old computer, which I've had for eight years, sits mute, next to my new one. For the last several years, I've gotten accustomed to the worsening wheezing of the old one; now, everything in my office is strangely silent, too.

It took me awhile to get my new computer up and running. The hardware and software was no great trick; getting my documents over wasn't, either. Figuring out how to transfer the settings of my Outlook was a bear, but we got it done yesterday. As it is, a number of settings aren't just the way I like them; it has programs on it that are on when I power it up that I don't want, but haven't figured out how to turn off. I'm not entirely convinced the email is working just the way I want; and it just doesn't feel right. I keep looking over at my other computer...