Emma's Musings and Meanderings

It's not a sudden realisation, but having been deprived of it for way too many weeks; it's incredible to get an awareness of how much you rely on it! What's on in the cinema? No clue, no internet. How do you make such and such? Hang on I'll Google...er no I won't.

I first started using the 'net on a regular basis over 10 years ago now. I was still in school and it was handy for researching. At that time, it was a bit of drama...dial up connection, error messages, sites lagging, all were commonplace. Google wasn't even around when I was painstakingly searching the web. There was also a clear distinction between 'good' and 'bad' websites - the former were usable, the latter were not!

So during my time of disconnect, I got to ponder on the things I was missing. FT was definitely one of them - for me it's one of the sites I hit almost everyday, even if it's just to say hi to some of the great people I've met on here. Online banking, whats on where and a couple of online retailers also featured in my frustration.

Strangely enough though it was the random things that made me really nuts - with the other sites I could take a bit of time out of my work day to drop in...but when you're standing in your kitchen with a bit of broccoli, a couple of mushrooms, some chicken and random other bits in your I-haven't-shopped-yet cupboard, the ability to get online and look for a recipe that isn't another stir fry is very very upsetting! :)

So I got reconnected last Friday, just in time for a long weekend here in Ireland. There was serious joy. I considered sending the technician flowers and offering him my firstborn. (I don't have a first or any other number born, but it was his if he wanted it) There was an actual happy dance, and a song that went something like "I've got my net back, nah nah nah nah nah" - complicated lyrics were beyond my joy-filled little soul.

I spent the rest of that night researching a quiz that I'd been putting together as part of the author challenges. I had my ideas, the question outlines, but the fine details and some of the interesting info needed to be fleshed out - and I'd gotten as far as I could with the books I have on the subject. So I searched and researched to my hearts content...and finally got my quiz finished. It was very similar to the way I spent the very first night I connected to the internet way back when.

At that time, it was a paper for college that I was researching, and this time it was something much more for me, but it really brought home to me, in a way that I hadn't though of in a long time, just how much good information is out there.

Yes the 'net has it's flaws, some terrible sites, some terrible misinformation, but there really is a wealth of knowledge out there in the ether if you take the time to look. Personally I'm planning to take a little more time to do just that!