Tuesday, May 22, 2007

The great Internet time sink

Sometimes I think I'd be better off without Internet access. I figured I'd pop online for a minute to check my bank account to see if a check cleared. I have my web browser configured to give me a quick summary of news headlines as the default, so as soon as I opened up the laptop, I noticed some distracting headline in the news. A few minutes later (after reading the news article of interest) I'm staring at my computer trying to remember why I turned it on. I know there was a reason, but I can't remember it any more. Oh yes - my bank account. So I check my bank account and then remember one of my nieces had recently sent me an email with her blog address so I figured I'd read it to see what she's been up to. Well, it turns out her blog is on MySpace and is flagged as private, so if I want to read it I have to subscribe. So, I create a MySpace account (yes, I really didn't already have one) and spend ten minutes waiting for the confirmation email so I can use the account. Then I remember my nephew who is in the Army and is serving in Iraq right now also has a MySpace account. So I track him down and read his current take on life (not too cheerful) and discover through his list of friends that a whole bunch of my relatives also have MySpace accounts with tons of family photos and comments. It's like this whole other secret society I didn't even know about - I feel totally out of the loop. And I really get a chuckle out of viewing my MySpace profile when it currently says "You have 0 friends." Thanks for the words of encouragement MySpace!

So, the point of this ramble is my quick "pop online for a minute to check my bank account" turned into a two hour excursion.

Yeah, I know. I've got a monkey mind. I'm working on it... But it wasn't a total waste of time. I did learn a bit about my extended family.