Third week of Nano whatever

Do you find it easy to go offline during vacation?

I don't go on vacation.    But I did, if I had something fun and interesting to do, I don't think I'd have any trouble at all being offline.  When family comes to visit, or (in the past) when we went to visit family, I wasn't completely off .. but only "on" during down time.

Tell us about a missed connection.

If I missed it, how can I tell about it???

Do you havee any regrets about the connections you've made over the years?

Not really.  There have been friends come and go.  I'm sorry to have lost some of the friendships; but I've made new ones.  At one time I had a chat group, and most of us became good friends.  There were problems, and the group disolved; I do regret that.  But I'm still friends (on FB at least) with several of them.

Do you think all things are connected?

I think it's a "small wordl" and there are surprising connections.  But all things?  Only through God.  But not in a physical way.

Do you feel that you are connected to your community?

No, I really don't.  Especially not now, being both retired and a full time caretaker.  I still have friends in the community, they they seem mainly to be people I do business with of some sort or another.  I think if the reason for the business were to go away, there would be no communication; therefore, no connection.

And I don't much like this question, as it makes me realize just how alone I am.

More of that Nano stuff

Who was the first person you met over the Internet?

I  can't possibly remember that!  It was not only years ago, it was several different ISPs ago!    I've never participated much in chat rooms, but I have (in the distant past) been in private chats with ladies I met through some group or other.
On the other hand, the first person I physically met after "meeting" on internet would be a lady in CA.  I went out there for my son's wedding, and not only did she and her husband come to the wedding, they very kindly and generously taped the wedding and sent the video to me later.  Before I came home again I spent a day with her at her home.

Tell us about the first entry on your blog.

I don't remember that either.  More than likely, I long since deleted it!

Think back to that first blog comment.  How did you feel when it popped up on your computer screen?

I don't really remember, but I suspect probably a combination of surprise and pride that I actually accomplished it.  It never mattered if anyone read my blog or not, but I did it anyway. 

If you were tralpped in an elevator, which three bloggers would you most want with you in that situation?

What a silly question!  If I were trapped in an elevator, why in the world would I want bloggers with me?  I would want someone who was capable of *doing* something, not just writing about it!

How do you feel when you're unconnected to the internet?

I hate to admit it, but I feel very "antsy".  My computer is my main  "connection" with the outside world.  Without it, I have little to no contact with some family members and friends.  Since I'm more or less stuck at home most of the time .. and the contact I have is almost exclusively with medical personel ... it's very lonely withn internet is down!

Nano something or other posts

Two of my nieces are doing that blog eveery day thing.  Since I spend a lot of time writing useless stuff, I thought I'd do it too.  Sort of.  I guess it's OK to do several days at once! LOL!  (oh wait.  hardly anyone reads this .. I can do it any way I want! LOL)

Day 1: Write about the last time you connected with a friend.

When I was about 5 years old, my parents moved to a new house.  3 houses up the street was a family with a girl about 9 months younger than me.  We became best friends.  We were in and out of each other’s homes and lives as if we were sisters. 

I don’t know when or how the friendship faded; but suspect it came with school.  I was a grade ahead, plus she went to private school for the first 3 years.  By the time we were in the same school, there was too much “distance”.  But recently we reconnected.  When there was a notice in the paper that her father died, I sent flowers and put a message in the guest book.  It took nearly 10 months, but she responded to my message.  We’ve emailed, friended on FB, and had one lovely long phone conversation.

That was the most recent *real* connection.

I’ve also recently acquired a new pen-pal.  I signed up through a epal site, and she responded.  We’ve written each other every day, and have been surprised at how much we have in common.  So, the letter I received this morning I supposed was the last time I connected with a friend.

Day 2: Where is your favorite place to connect with friends?

I don’t think this is what the question means, but I have to answer “online”.  Because I can’t get out of the house to meet up with friends … and have never really done much of that anyway … my email and Facebook connections are what are important to me.

Day 3: Do you think you still spend the same amount of time connecting in the face-to-face world now that socializing is so easy online?

I probably do, only because my face-to-face socializing has been practically non existant anyway.  I have more social contact online than I ever did in the “real world”.

Day 4: Who do you feel closest to in your life?

Right now I’m not sure I feel “close” to anyone.  Certainly not my husband, due to severe health problems which include dementia.  Not any of my siblings because we are rarely in touch (although I’m abundantly overjoyed with I can get together with any of them).  I have a daughter-in-law that I love dearly, and connect with; I have a girlfriend that I (mostly) enjoy being with; but she also doesn’t really grasp what my life is like, so frequently ignores me or lets me down.  I really just don’t feel “close” to anyone.

Day 5: Do you think it’s easy or difficult for you to connect with people?

Clearly, it’s difficlut.  I’ve been shy since grade school.  In school it was horrible; and for pretty much all of my school years I only had one close friend.  The friend from my junior high days, and the one from high school, have both died of cancer.  I’ve recently reconnected with my earliest childhood friend, but I wouldn’t say we are “close”.  Our lives, while there are surprising similarities, have gone in vastly different directions.  Plus, while she lives in the same state, it’s about 4 hours away. 

At one time I had a job as a tour guide.  That was the hardest thing I’d ever done in my life!  But I did enjoy it.  After that I had several different jobs dealing with the public.  I did OK, but don’t handle stress very well; and like a lot of people, I thrive on praise or compliments.  In jobs were they were stingy with that, I didn’t stay very long.

I spent the last dozen or so years before retirement in an office.  I made some friends there, but no one I was very “close” to.  None of them were interested in keeping up a friendship (other than very superficial, as on FB) after I was no longer in the office.  I was (am) still a bit on the shy side .. don’t talk to strangers easily … but instead of trying to get to know me, some of the girls just branded me “stuck up”.  The ones I got to know seemed to like me .. but like I said, only as long as I worked there.

Now?  Well, I have some friends I made during my year of being a chocolatier.  I had to quit that because of my husband’s health and my failing vision.  Turns out those friends are pretty much just superficial too.  I rarely hear from any of them; usually only when they have a new catalog or something.

I’ve used an awful lot of words just to say I don’t make friends easily!