Thursday, December 3, 2009

Cyber 'Space'

In that place in my life where there is normally cyber activity, there was only 'space' for the last 2 weeks (of the non cyber variety). We were offline because our landlady forgot to renew our shared subscription, they cut us off 5 days early too & took another 10 days to sort it out & put us back online. Admittedly I now have a netbook, but not an iphone or blackberry. But it is still very inconvenient. We don't even have internet at the school I work in so I have been dashing into the odd cafe with wireless, (there are a few here now), to go online but I am always in a hurry & somehow didn't get around to writing a post. Anyway apologies & I hope someone somewhere out there missed me!

I always rather hope that someone will send a message saying where are you or what's happened, but I guess I don't blog enough or have enough followers for it to be noticed. I was teasing Iota when she was away last week about how silent the Halls of Cyber Space were without the sounds of her comment clogs ringing through the Cyber Ether as she strode around the blogosphere. I am not a Big Noise in Cyber City so I tend to wear slippers & pad silently, or tiptoe apologetically.

Anyway I always think I spend too much time blogging, emailing, ebaying, doing research for my lessons, Facebooking, & still get frustrated because I don't manage to blog that often or read & comment on many other blogs.

So I thought I would have lots of free time this last 2 wks with no internet, but I didn't seem to. It was good in a way, it made me reaslie I don't spend as much time as I thought I did, but it was quiet, without the blogging community, the emails from friends, skype and so on, which my computer companion offers me. We have no road name, no street address (few do in Albania) so no post, no landline either & mobiles are very expensive here, so my computer is my contact with the outside world, my mail, my phone, my main communication.

But it's a good sign that I coped & didn't get depressed, as is the fact that I don't find much time to blog at the moment. It means I am much busier, working a little (which has done wonders for my pyschological well being) & of course being a taxi, as my chidlren have found more things to get involved in, thanks to parents setting up after school clubs etc.

But the evenings are the time I often dip into cyber space, when not struggling with learning Albanian verbs (I keep telling myself its keeping senility at bay & saves me from doing Sudoku), preparing lessons or grading papers. So as I had a little space, I made this. Sorry it's a terrible photo, new camera & it was too close, cdn't focus. The sun, face, hands, feet & flowers are buttons. There's a bit of embroidery but only very simple e.g the flower stems & sun's rays.

My children's school requires indoor shoes (& as of this yr-health & safety rules are creeping in even here- they have to be 'off the floor' in a shoe bag on a peg.) My son wants one now, he's having a kite (geometric shapes equals easy).

I did feel rather like an old 1940s advert with my husband sitting by the fire (ok wood burner) reading the Telegraph (a friend brought it back from his recent visit to the U.K a real British paper in English, you can't be choosy) & me sitting next to him on the sofa sewing. Well at least I wasn't darning his socks (though I have also been known to mend his clothes I must confess) And actually it was very peaceful & quite therapeutic.

11 comments:

Iota said...

We didn't have internet access when on holiday (well, I did go to an internet cafe just once to check emails, but only once in the entire week). It IS nice, as you say. And yes, I was comforted to find that I could cope ok and still had plenty of things to occupy myself with. But then I was on holiday, so that's a bit different.

I'm impressed with the Albanian verbs. For my part, I'm just embracing oncoming senility.

And of course I'm flattered by your picture of me as a cloggy presence in a bloggy land! I now have a visual image of you (impressive, since I've never met you) tiptoeing about in your beautifully embroidered brocade slippers, like a Shakespearean heroine, loitering behind the arras, picking up all the useful plot developments and insights into character, and distilling them into pithy words of wisdom for the audience.

Potty Mummy said...

Oooh - 'arras' - get Iota with her Shakespearean terminology! It does rather sound as if you've got yourself a busier life, which obviously gives me heart, seeing as we're off shortly. And actually, I DID wonder where you were - so you have been missed!

nappy valley girl said...

It's definitely nice to have an internet break once in a while. Suddenly there are all kinds of other meaningful things to do. I often wonder if I should take one day off every week.....

Dorset Dispatches said...

I was wondering where you were, Balkan Bloggy chum. Albanian verbs! I'm so impressed. Now we are officially heading back to the beauty of Oxford, the Bosnian is so far on the back burner it may be at the end of the back garden. What's wrong with Sudoku? I love it!

I keep thinking of an internet break, but I think I need one in Oxford and not Tuzla. Very impressed with the bags. The boys have to have indoor shoes here too. I quite like it.

Welcome back, may your internet stay strong and true.

Paradise Lost In Translation said...

Wow, Iota that is restraint for u, Colorado must have been VERY good;o)
I like the image, better start embroidering....
Thnx PM. well it took me a yr to settle. The thing I find about the internet abroad/blogging etc is that it can become an escape & impede you getting really stuck in where you are instead of relying on friends from home & a virtual community, which is good, but you also need to make a real life in the new place. That's why I am always wary of how much time I spend & monitor it, & feel guilty abou tit as if I'm copping out. It's, as I have said before, q a gd barometer of how happy & settled I am as to how much I am on the computer! Back in yr home country blogging etc is an add on to an already established life, support & friend network etc, it's not a substitute which when alone & abroad is a danger I think. You'll be fine in Moscow, it's a big city with lots of ex-pats so they'll be loads of groups to join, stuff for mums too Im sure. I don't know how lon gyou're going for either, but if you know it's for a short time, it's much easier to get stuck in & see it all as an adventure & exciting etc!
NVG What does the Dr say about your blogging? A day off a wk is prob manageable!
BRit Agh, so I missed out on that post while offline! Back to Oxford, I must come over & catch up on the news! & yes, it is beautiful; going home now from here (wch is beautiful in places, but also full of rubbish & rubble!)it astonishes me even more!
I lik ethe indoor shoe thing too. We have a basket of diff sized slippers by our front door for people to choose a pair when they arrive. Do u do that??
Suduko, sudoku?? Nothing, it just does my head in! Not my style of brain teaser, I prefer languagey/wordy ones or logic problems

Millennium Housewife said...

I am hanging my head in shame. I often read you but don't comment a lot so you won't know I've been (unless you have a stat counter and then you'd see). I hadn't noticed you'd gone because two weeks can often mean a holiday or just a mind break from blogging. Rest assured if it had been a month I would have asked. You'd be sorely missed if you stopped.
The 'pumpbag' thing (that's what it was called in my day) is a non entity here now, but when I was at school (not that long ago I SWEAR) we had the same thing. Because we were always late (my mum had four kids in six years so lots to cope with) she bought us two sets of identical shoes/pumps so we could go into school without changing. Genius.

Iota said...

Meant to say, very impressed with the applique bag. Hope your daughter appreciates it.

Tattieweasle said...

So glad I am not the only one who makes bags for shoes - and I don't even have the excuse that I'm abroad or have no access to the net. I think I'm turning into my 1940s granny...Glad your back on line!

Expat mum said...

Ooooh, "Arras" - did that for A level. Hamlet I do believe. (Don't be impressed. When you study the same play for two years some things stick.)
In the years before t'Internet, I used to do quite a lot of sewing and crafting of an evening, although hubby was usually away and kiddies in bed. Bliss. At the moment my thing is making gift boxes from empty square tissue boxes. In fact, here's one I made earlier:
Cut the top off, stick wrapping paper all over it, line the inside with a big piece of bright tissue paper, poke two holes in the sides for a handle and Bwalla (as my little one says). They make great gift holders, especially if you buy chocolates in uninspiring boxes for the teachers. Just take the chocs out and put them in your hand made gift box.

London City (mum) said...

Am reading you, promise! Don't stop writing!
Send me your email address so I can add you to list of readers as have had to take drastic action and limit access to blog thanks to former paranoid bastard employer...
londoncitymum@gmail.com

LCM x

Home Office Mum said...

i have been absent in blogland because a) i was sailing for 6 weeks and b) i was catching up after being away for 6 weeks and c) i secretly loved being free of internet for a while.

But now I'm back and trying to catch up on everyone. Glad you're back online and monumentally impressed with the bag. And Albanian verbs. Seems very rounded. Your life I mean. Not the verbs.