My Weekend Off the Grid

If you've already listened to Episode 67 of But You're Wrong -- and some of you just might have -- you already know that I went to West Virginia a couple weekends ago. And West Virginia being the backwards place it is, they had very little in the way of technology. For at least an hour -- probably more like three with the way I had to drive on those untended, snow-covered roads. Seriously, you better have a fucking four wheeler if you plan to go to West Virginia anywhere away from the interstate and the weather says anything above a milometer of snow. There were several times my car barely gripped to the road and I stayed on the shoulder.

Anyway, I didn't have a cell phone. Which is fine since I knew ahead of time to say something. God forbid I forget to call -- between my mother and my fiance, the two would whip themselves into such a frenzy, my last known coordinates would be descended upon by those silent black helicopters and men in heavy boots saying "hut-hut-hut-hut-hut-hut" as they casually repel the sides of mountains.

Shit, I got off track.

So I had no cell phone, something I've had fairly consistently for close to ten years. Even in Europe, thousands of miles away, I had better reception than West Virginia. But knowing I would enter this blackout period, I prepared myself. I got all my affairs in order, let everyone know, paid all my bills, said goodbye to my loved ones in case I got kidnapped by a redneck hill family ready to wear my face as a mask - or, slightly more likely, I saw Bigfoot. I didn't even think I would have internet, so in my mind I told myself I would have to deal without Twitter, Facebook, or any other constant connection social media.

And for the most part it worked. The guys had brought a router for the internet that somehow existed where we were. And for the most part it worked. I was able to send out a message and let loved ones know I was alive, for the moment. No signs of Hill People or Bigfoots. The internet otherwise was fairly spotty, so I only occasionally checked email, otherwise my phone saw little action. I was like a nun on the moon.

For the most part, it was great. I didn't obsess about numbers -- daily downloads, book sales. I didn't get pissed off by comments from people I barely know talking out of the asses. I was free of all the bullshit. I simply enjoyed the moment I was in. And I didn't feel the need to share each moment with the rest of the world.

There was perhaps a downside to this weekend semi-off the grid, which was the feeling of isolation from the people that matter most to me. I was with friends, but I felt cut off from my fiance and my family if I wanted to reach out to them. A slight enough signal to send texts might have remedied this. Not enough to get online. Just enough to say: "Hey." 

Finally, there is something that I'm not sure if it's a downside or an upside. There was very little TV, newspapers, or contact with the outside world where we were. (All TVs in the bar were focused on ESPN.) So when I came back from a Thursday afternoon to Sunday afternoon isolation, I felt like I missed a lot. The deaths of Mayor Koch and Chris Kyle had already begun to filter out of the news cycle. But the out of touch feeling might have been worth the absence of talking head idiots spewing lies and nonsense. I get so angered by the radical views on the news that it's actually quite nice to not be angered by their bullshit for a few days. It almost feels like getting your sanity back.

Minus the couple downsides, I'd suggest everyone take a few days off the grid. It's nice to clear the air of the bullshit fog your brain gets smothered in my all these media inputs. You may even find you spend less time on the internet or watching TV or obsessing over what you have no control over. 

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My phone was also used to take this picture of deer outside our place Saturday morning.