mDuo13

I've discovered a recent trend of mine that is actually rather concerning. It started maybe a year ago when my watch died. I had been the kind of person who was pretty dedicated to his watch; I wore it pretty much any time I wasn't in the shower, and had relied on a series of similar watches for years, going through the effort of fixing various little things like the wristband or the battery when they went out. But this time, I just kind of never worked up the gumption to replace it. I procrastinated it until I decided I didn't really even need to, and started relying on my phone for the time, instead. Sure, it's frugal, but more than that, it was a learning experience.

For one thing, I learned what I used my watch for most. Funny thing - the answer was, "checking the date" followed by "timing my laundry". Getting time was up there, too, but it's easy enough to spot a wall clock in a pinch. All in all, I've found that I can get by without a watch, and there are good points to that (like not having to worry about it getting momentarily caught on my long-sleeve shirts) so I don't feel too bad about letting it go.

Actually, perhaps this trend started even earlier, when my laptop seemed broken and I stopped using it, but didn't get a new laptop for a good chunk of time (and when I finally did, it was an Eee, not a full laptop). Yeah, there are things I can't do on my Eee that I could do on a new laptop... but nothing I can't put off for the duration of Winter Break, which is when I use my Eee most. Laziness and a reluctance to spend money ended up making me more or less abandon something... and I didn't really miss it... much.

It got a lot worse recently when I let my bike get stolen. I wanted to get a new bike, but I had a hard time deciding on the right one, and they seemed kind of expensive, so I ended up remaining indecisive until the new semester started and now I'm just sort of lacking a mode of travel. I miss my bike a lot actually (I very much enjoyed riding it) but I don't usually need it around here, since I almost never need to leave campus without someone else who actually owns a car, and none of my classes are all that far away now.

And then I lost my phone. Not sure how - had it one day, didn't really do much, but the next day, it was nowhere to be found and I couldn't hear it ring when I had people call it. So I looked around, checked the lost-and-founds around where I had gone when I lost it, but to no avail. I guess I wasn't really proactive about finding it, but I just didn't feel that up to it. So I went over a week without a phone, and, to be honest... if it weren't for my parents really worrying about me getting out of touch, I probably would have gone longer. I was not really inconvenienced by not having my phone, except in two ways: checking the time (see above), and replacing my phone. I mean, some other people might have been inconvenienced by not being able to contact me, but it's not like I noticed. And, frankly, not having to worry about whether I was going to receive a call when I took a nap or was in class felt kind of nice.

But, of course, one kind of can't go without a phone in today's world, so I caved and got a new Sony Ericsson W350. Had to go through a real hassle to get a blue SIM card and an unlocked phone because freaking AT&T hates my ancient cell phone plan and I don't want to switch to a new one that'd be like $20 more per month for fewer minutes. It's done, though, so now I have a phone. It even has a camera, so I can show off the changes to my room or something.

So, I mean, I guess I'm not living that zen of a lifestyle, but these periods of going without something really are insightful and kind of refreshing. It's nice to know that, even without a lot of the gadgets and items I now live with, I could get by just fine.