Disconnected

I'm dependent on my mobile phone. Yesterday I found out how dependent I am - and I don't like it. Yesterday I had occasion to fly and on landing I turned on my phone - you know, to reconnect. Only I couldn't - there was a code error. Passwords flashed through my mind like the speed of lightning - birth dates, PIN numbers, postcodes - you name it, I tried it. Then I passed the point of no return and my phone no longer required a PIN - it now wanted a PUK!

PUK, PIN - what's the difference? Oh, there is a difference because the PUK allows you to then enter the PIN. And then I can reconnect. But I can't - I still have a code error.

Now I'm confident that the PUK/PIN issue will be sorted out. Yes OK - I'll have to call Telstra (on another phone), talk to the robot - or rather she talks to me - and then eventually I'll be connected to a real person. But in the meantime ..... I am disconnected.

You see, all my contacts are in my phone - names, addresses, phone numbers. There is no hard copy with me. There is at home - in my home diary. But I'm away from home - a looong way away from home. And without access to them -I feel lost and very disconnected.

For all the benefits of new technology - the swiftness of connections, the diversity and variety of applications, the sophistication of our means of communication ........ here's the reality - nothing beats good old fashioned pen and paper.

Getting back to basics - life is teaching me a lesson.