Down Time

Take away, take away
take away this ball and chain
for I’m lonely, and I’m tired
and I can’t take any more pain
Ball and Chain, Social Distortion

You have to give it up to the person that convinced us that we need to go wireless “for all the right reasons”.  You know: never out of touch, easy to reach, able to contact help in case of an emergency.  Yada, yada, yada.

For almost twenty years now, I have been…um…connected.  First, the pager.  Then, the cell phone.  Then the crackberry, only to leave that job and go back to the cell phone.  What the spin meisters failed to mention is that this means anyone can reach you whenever they want.  24×7, 3×5, whatever “all day, all night” jargon you want to use.

It’s the ball and chain.  Sometime, it’s tough to stay away.  Especially when your corporate phone calls on your personal cell phone doubles your phone bill for the month.

I requested and received a crackberry today so I don’t impact my personal finances by going over on my cell phone minutes.  I am again available around the clock – via e-mail and phone.  So much for down time.  Yuck!

We’ll see if I use the crackberry in moderation or not.

Still, I gotta hand it to the marketing folks that convinced everyone to be available all the time.  Look at how well it has improved our driving habits.