Soon I Shall Be Internet Impaired....For A While...So Time For Digital Cold Turkey

Hello there. Hope you're feeling well today.

I've not hidden the fact that regarding the house we're shortly going to move into I've absolutely no interest in it's décor other than I don't want to live somewhere as if designed by Coco the clown. This whole moving away from Bridgend is what the wife/daughter wanted and whilst as I said before I've never fought against this as I feel that I owe her one for being with me through unemployment and depression my gratefulness  does not extent to interior design.

In other words, as long as it doesn't look stupid the wife deals with it.

But of course being the man of the household, albeit the man with a bad back, when it comes to technology I am the caveman here me roar (well not loud enough that the neighbours hear of course) and this leads to the question of the internet.

The house was abandoned. It doesn't even have a phone socket (ripped out) and even if it did we will need to change the supplier. Currently it's linked to Virgin Media which makes it a no-no in my book given the callous way they closed down their Swansea Call Centre.

So the first question is actually should I use the opportunity to change provider? I don't like Talk Talk but now it's Murdoch free SKY becomes a consideration. Worth looking into though probably I'll stick with BT.

Of course if that was my only tech problem I'd be fine. But no. Let's assume I'll stick with BT. To install phone/internet sockets will take at least three weeks to arrange because I'm changing the phone company in the new house. Three weeks?!! In internet terms that's an eternity. Using the internet in one form or another constantly rather like the forthcoming attraction that is Brexit I feel as if I'm moving back to the seventies.

The wife astonishingly mentions I could do things whilst we're in the process of literally bedding into the house. Things like gardening or shifting boxes. Or talking as a family. I know how selfish can you get?

I'll have to arrange an alternative. That I've done. Will get a PAYG intenet mobile modem. Will link up to five contraptions. Cost £50 to set up and I think the guy said £11 a month. However there is a catch (you knew it was coming didn't you?) the gigabytes are restrictive. Perfect for tap, tap, tapping away on blogs like this. Perfect for looking at websites. But anything that requires watching things move. Or asking machines with female voices what's the capital of Cambodia and the gigabytes will be gobbled up.

So that means no Netflix, no Alexa or no YouTube for let's call it a month. It also means (to the horror of daughter who is unsurprisingly generally supportive of my plan) no facetiming through the internet either. What I've suggested to daughter is how I'm slowly dealing with this. By going digital cold turkey.

Me and Alexa are going through a separation at the moment. Am not watching any series on Netflix just films. YouTube is actually the hardest to shake. Because aside from the odd live sporting event I watch it in bits anyway.

So I'll have to start making more recordings from the TV. Getting out those DVDs (remember them?) and start listening to radio stations......from a radio.

It's tough going on digital cold turkey. But when full internet comes back it won't be so much bells and whistles as the full jazz orchestra. Just waiting for the addiction to go full blast again

Until the next time.