Computer Addiction

Hmmmmm... I was just over at the "Off" Topic Board and jokingly made a comment about being addicted to my computer. The thing is that it is the truth. When we were traveling and all I had was an aircard to check my mail and maybe play a game of Tri-Peaks Solitaire on Pogo thru AOL, I was pretty good. I had several people I e-mailed regularly, some news alerts, and a couple of newsletters that came to my e-mail box. My main addiction to the computer back then was Sim type games. You know the type; The Sims, Zoo Tycoon, RollerCoasterTycoon. I also had a camera and liked to send out pictures to people, but I wasn't too bad. I would spend a few hours a week on the computer. I watched a lot of movies and played games on the PS/2......  

Then, we came off the road and I got Broadband...............  

Now, I'm addicted to Club Pogo Not just Pogo, but Club Pogo. The first thing I do on a Wednesday is check and see what the badges are that I can earn for that week. I spend a couple of hours almost every day playing games over there of one type or another. I still play my Sim type games and even occasionally turn on the PS/2, but I HAVE to get those badges each week <g>. It's way more fun playing a game and chatting, or playing a game like Gin or Canasta -against- another human!    

And if Pogo isn't bad enough, I rediscovered bulletin boards. A few years ago I used to play a Pern RPG on Prodigy on a bulletin board, and also posted on a few other boards. I had forgotten how much time you can spend on bulletin boards.... And now, on top of that, I had to discover Journals. A way to not only write (or type <g>) out your ideas, views, whatever strikes your fancy, and then for people to have the opportunity to then comment on your ideas..... I see another addiction on its way. I already have a couple of journals set up to notify me when there are updates. So, it's not just the writing in a journal, it's also reading other peoples ideas, and makingcomments for them. Yep, I see this becoming time consuming.  

My SO already claims that "the box" takes upa large chunk of my time. I told him that it was because I wasn't currently working and had time to kill while I was home alone with just the dog and cat, but I know that even when I go back to work that the computer is going to stay a large time sucker. I'm blaming it on the Broadband connection! When things load almost instantaneously and you don't have to wait for a Website to download forever, you find yourself surfing just for the sake of surfing. And the things you see make you think about other things......  

So, yeah, I think the computer could easily become an addiction if a person was careful to keep it in perspective and realize that real life offline is, and should always be, more important. Your family, friends, pets should always be first in line for your attention. But..... as long as there are a couple of hours of the day left over to spend on the computer why not?  

And <sigh> the Sims2 hit the shelves this month and ZooTycoon2 is supposed to be out next month....."Ummmm.....Hon.... I know what I want for x-mas....O.K.??? Huh??? But Hon...." <BEG>