Technology disconnect

I’ve been thinking lately about how saturated my life is with technology and have started planning a dedicated time to unplug.  I had to start by recognizing that I can’t do my job without a computer (I’m a software engineer) so I’d either have to give in to that caveat or find a way to work around it.  I know I’m the type that struggles with temptation, so having use of my computer while trying to enforce a set of limitations would be very difficult.  And if I had 8 hours a day with full access to everything, how would that really be affecting a change or limitation?

So I decided to take the week of Thanksgiving off.  (In reality, its 3 days + 2 holidays.)  I’m still new enough at my job that I won’t be on call or tapped to help fix something.  My manager actually told me as much.  With that, I can take my laptop off the table as I have no obligation to it. Continue reading

New Years Marathon, and a Review

Planet of the Apes Film Posters

I have this somewhat odd, and some might say questionable, New Years tradition.  It started a few years ago, my first Dec 31/Jan 1 living alone, with no friends nearby (college).  AMC was marathoning The Planet of the Apes series, the one from the late 60’s-early 70’s.  I don’t think I’d ever seen them, and yet, I fell in love with them.  I watched them through the countdown and into the wee hours of the morning.  I’d never really had a tradition for New Years before, and I enjoyed that night, so, it stuck.  Fast forward a few years to now, and I’m still doing it, in one fashion or another.  This year, I ended up watching it New Years Day cause I fell asleep early on New Years Eve.

If you’ve never seen the originals, or if you’ve only seen the 2001 remake, or the 2010’s reboot, I encourage you to see what started it all.  Of course, any film from the 1970’s will seem a bit rough around the edges when compared to a new movie, but there’s something really great about them. Continue reading