First post (Late, oh no!)

Taking a day off from the internet and my phone was beyond just a challenge or an exercise, it actually cost me money, which wasn't too much of a thrill. Not only do I take classes online, I also work as a freelancer with my only contact with my employers coming through email and the web. So, when I took the day off from the communications world (including my iPhone), it was a relaxing day spent a little more connected to my family than I usually have the opportunity to be, but I felt a constant feeling that something was going to go wrong, between keeping up with my classes or something with work (I have several clients, so the workload isn't necessarily tied to Monday through Friday). We went to a movie together as a family, cooked together, and played games until the kids had to go bed, but I knew that the next morning when I went back to my phone, there was going to be a lot of email and probably a few phone calls and text messages even to deal with, starting Monday morning in a bit of a crunch. Little did I know or expect that there would be nearly a dozen voicemails from friends, family and predictably, one of my employers leaving several messages asking if I could do a rush job for him. I feel like I've developed a reputation as someone who works quickly and is nearly always available (after all, without a regular salary, I'm generally willing to take whatever income is offered to me), but this Sunday, I was away from both my email (which I check every few minutes or so) and my phone (since our family only uses cell phones these days). I didn't have a specific pointperson to tell that I was taking the day off, and stupidly, I had forgotten to leave some sort of away message on my phone and email. It turned out my boss could still use my help the next day, but I still felt like I had damaged my reputation a bit. Probably not a big deal in the long run, but I really felt that a forced day away from the internet wasn't the sort of thing I can really afford these days when I don't really have "vacation days".

So, what did I learn from a day off the internet? What I learned was that I don't know if I have that luxury these days. The economy these days has eliminated the sort of work that means a desk job that lasts from nine to five, so I'm stuck staring at my iPhone during my waking hours waiting for work to appear or even more accurately, trying to track down work. School only compounds that problem, which just makes for a life desperately tied to the internet, for better or worse. Maybe someday I'll find a more stable job and hopefully graduate from college, so I can free myself a bit from the entanglement from the world of the web. For now, however, I'm stuck.