Unplug

Time Wasters

computers
Facebook
smartphones
Twitter
tablets
wireless
printers

Maybe it's just me, but I find that when I sit down at the computer to do one thing I am suddenly engulfed by a huge Draconian beast intent on sending me off on myriad paths. And each path has a series of splinter branches that propel me further and further away from my original task.

Tonight when I wanted to do a simple task I did not have the correct password even though I was certain that the one I had written down was correct. "You'll need to authenticate yourself."

Why is a machine telling me that I needed to vouch for myself, justify who I was, give myself a rubber stamp of approval, validate "me".

An hour later the email allowing me to document myself—lost, I expect, in cyberspace.

Do I now walk through life, at least on the computer, as a fraudulent character searching for an identity? How many roads will close, drawbridges rise leaving me on one side?

I need a release from this purgatory of incorrect password—do not proceed. Step back.

Soon I shall declare a free zone—no computers, no wireless. Evernote sent me a message—my Adobe password may be compromised. I don't have one so I can't be thrown off balance by this dire circumstance.

I shall rid myself of passwords—eight spaces long and must contain at least one numeral, two uppercase letters, and one symbol.

In retrospect I don't want to go where I'm not wanted. I wave the white flag. Soon I shall declare my freedom and take out my fountain pen and bottle of ink. I shall eschew anything that requires a password.