So I figured I should make a post about my last post š Why did I apparently lose my mind and delete all my social networking sites? Well I did much more than that, a bit on that near the end of this post though.
So why did I do it? To cut the IV that is the internet that has been keeping me alive for far too long now. Since around 1994 I have been way too connected to the internet. It started when I began my first webpages, the “Days” page and my old “Sega Saturn” page. I quickly found IRC and chatrooms and began nightly chats.
After the IRC died down, it was the chatroom on my site and later a forum I started. The forum quickly became a full time job though, trying to deal with and police fights, complaints, etc. I am not a bad cop, so I failed miserably at that. People walked all over me, and I idiotically let them because I didn’t want to be “the bad guy.”
After the page got sold though, the chatroom pretty much became a private room for the people who used it more as a social get-together space. It however is pretty much dead right now. Everyone went off and you know, got real lives š I soon ended up becoming a Twitter and Facebook addict, and these took over. Twitter was so useful and easy that I started neglecting blogging because it just seemed like I was putting everything I had to say on Twitter.
Not only was I hooked into Twitter and Facebook, but I was told too many times that I whined, bitched and complained too much. Also I was always on my phone, at the dinner table, when out with people, even taking it to bed to check off and on. John nicknamed it the devil’s tool.
So I decided to pull the IV out. I deleted my MySpace, Facebook (they don’t let you delete it actually, they deactivate it) and my Twitter account. MySpace and Twitter are fully gone, deleted, dead. I can however re-activate my Facebook account, though I don’t know if I’ve lost all my friends, photos, posts or what not. So effectively this blog is now my only personal social outlet left really. From now on I’m also going to try and be positive and not bitch so much š
With my social outlets gone, my iPhone basically is an expensive phone that has lost half of its use. Actually since I rarely even use my phone to talk, it’s pretty much lost all its use. I tried to see if I could drop my data plan and keep it as a phone only, but I couldn’t via the online account management. So I emailed AT&T asking if it was possible to do so. I’d still be able to use it as a phone, as well as use any apps that don’t require the internet. For those that do, I should be able to still do it through my wireless home network. Of course that means when I leave the house, it just becomes a plain old phone. I’m okay with that actually.
I need to get out more and meet real people and have real world friends. I love my online friends, but I need social interaction as well. I’ve already made plans to join a group that goes hiking every Sunday and will be going this weekend for the first time.
Oh as if all the above doesn’t seem insane as is, there is more. Because I’m now out of a job and don’t have one until I go looking for one, I need to be on a budget. I am not planning on looking till the end of June or July honestly, I don’t want to have the distractions of a job while trying to finish my dissertation. I’ve learned the long and hard way I’m not good at multi-tasking the dissertation and work š So to keep me from spending money I shouldn’t be, and from borrowing too much from my savings to pay it off, I cut up every single one of my credit cards. No, I’m not kidding. I cut them up and put half in the garbage and half in the recycle bin (I hope they are recyclable). I am not someone who has their card numbers memorized either, so I’m shit out of luck if it can’t be paid via check or debit card. I still have a few things that I am billed for monthly or every few months, I’ll begin moving them over to my bank account soon enough.
Well I guess there you have it. I’ll probably be blogging a lot more now that Twitter and my other outlets are dead š
(((Dustin))) I am really going to miss you facebooking and Tweets. I looked forward to them every day!! You are such a great guy, so I will share you with the rest of the world. Love ya!! Jamie (Jammies)
I’m proud of you. Good luck.
I think that’s great. You’ve obviously been reassessing and prioritizing. I’m glad you’ll still be here, though. :0)
Wow. That takes major will power. Good luck!! I look forward to reading your posts.
And that’s great about joining a hiking group.
oh Dustin, I just noticed you were gone from FB, I’m really going to miss you. You have become a part of my cyber life, the laughs we have all shared online, the blogging and your pictures from your trips and adventures…I really looked forward to reading your posts daily. You are one of a kind!! You are the best… I wish you luck in everything you do and all your future endeavors. I will sign on here once in awhile to read up what’s going on in your life, read about your animals, social life etc. Take care my NJ friend : )
If ever in the Land of OZ, please look me up ok?
Wow! I prefer the blog to all the other ways you publish. The tweets are fun but lack any depth. I hope you will go back to more consistent blogging here as I miss it. Your writing has always been a source of enjoyment for me. The transition to here, from the days page, was stark in that you write about your life rather than the soap but, your life is better source material.
As always, it is unfair of us to ask anything of you and I am grateful for what ever you are willing to share. Please do what is best for your sanity and productivity. I, for one, like it when you complain and will not ask you to temper your writing or the language you use.
Good luck with this latest transition and, even though you did not ask, I hate the “no mustache”
While I will miss your 100+ updates a day (LOL), I totally applaud you for “cutting the cord”! I did this 3 years ago, and quit chatting completely – I kept MySpace and Facebook, but the only one I really use at all is Facebook. And I’m about to limit that as well… as a result, I have a great social life …. great friends here in Oregon … I don’t want to get into that “neglecting” stage that people tend to do when they are hooked into the internet! Plus … I know how to find you on email or IM!!! And … we’ll always have New York š
xo love u Dustin!!! <3
Oh Tara I couldn’t agree more. I will so miss your FB updates from your trips & such and I too will come here to see what’s going on with you. Let me know if you are making any trips to Canada!!
Just wanted to say that I’m proud of you! How did it feel cutting those cards up? I actually froze mine because I’m a weenie. LOL But it has worked! I haven’t used a credit card in 6 months and I’ve paid many off. I feel free and I’m learning a valuable lesson…if I want something, I must save to get it. I’ll miss all your tweets but know you are heading in the r ight direction for this time in your life.
You are brave, just me taking a break this long b/c of surgery is going to make me have blogging/social network withdrawels from my online friends. š I’ll miss reading your tweets, but I still enjoy keeping up with your blog the most! Good luck with the hiking, I’ve heard it’s good exercise.
Yeah I am now regretting cutting them haha. I will eventually call and get only one or two of them back though.
I will probably bring facebook back, and I won’t lose anything that was on it. It’s just deactivated.
Yay! I love your blog and I look forward to reading it š I don’t keep up with twitter nearly as much as when I first discovered it. I hop on throughout the day but quickly forget what I just read once I put my phone down.
I think you’ve done a good thing!!