After frantic Black Friday in the stores, buying boots that looked great in ad and returning them the next day when sanity also returned, I turned to the Internet. I found what I was looking for, but I had trouble with the purchase and had to go to the chat room for assistance. They helped me – and then I didn’t know for certain if the ‘buy’ had gone through. After sending them a customer support ticket, I finally decided to go ahead and re-enter the credit card and – viola!! I received the e-mail confirmation. While I didn’t have to fight crowds to get the products, I did experience frustration none-the-less.
The last internet purchase I made was a refurbished lap-top. It has sound problems with the microphone providing a banshee like wail whenever I lay my hand on the front of the keyboard or try to talk to someone. I called the provider and they put me through to tech support. He told me to turn off the microphone, which I did. The wailing stopped.
To add insult to injury, this morning when I opened my computer, I had a cyber class on blogging that I had forgotten 
about. I went to the JoinMe sight and Skype and turned on the microphone and the screaming began again. I tried to fix it – but to no avail. I am now on the second computer but, it too, has a mind of its own. The Office application has a glitch. As I am typing, the letters decide they have a better place to be than in the word that I am typing. They jump to the new sight and when I look up; I realize that I have made unfamiliar words inserted into an entirely different thought.
So, now I am in my blogging class and the topic is Cyber Monday. Help me, Lord! I remember a kinder, gentler time when I had a Rolodex (not to be confused with Rolex) and a file cabinet, a phone and a car. My own mind was the computer and things worked amazingly well. I didn’t have access to all the things I do today, but truly, it was less stressful.
So, here I am, after a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends, struggling to be thankful for cyber-anything. Thinking back longingly to a time when Christmas Shopping was fun and didn’t start until December.
Cyber-burnout is really just a state of mind. I have to know that if I didn’t have the internet I wouldn’t have blogging class with friends in Rockford, Illinois, or a Skype friend in South Africa. I wouldn’t be able to see my grandchild in Madison, Wisconsin, or write to an audience of people I don’t even know and will, most likely, never meet!
After reconsidering, I am thankful for the Internet and the amazing way it allows me to communicate with the world.
Thanks, Al Gore!!! (lol)
Encore Now 