DM's: A Day Without Electricity

For those who were not in my college class, I will give you a brief overview of my assignment. We must go one day without technology (mainly cell phones, iPods, televisions, and video games) and write about our experience. I decided to go a little further and expand my assignment from a day without technology to a day without electricity. My day was filled with a lot of activities that I had not done for some time. The following is my experiences of that day.

My 24 hour technology sabbath started at 5 pm on a Wednesday and lasted until 5 pm on the next day, Thursday. I started first by simply laying in bed for a few hours. There was really nothing interesting about it. The sun began to set at 7:30 pm so I had plenty of time before I was ready to go to bed. So I decided to read by candlelight. I started at 7 pm and read until around 9 pm. I got tired of reading and tried to find something else to occupy my time.

After reading a bit I decided to do something that I had not done for quite some time. I started cross-stitching from 9 pm and stopped an hour later. My cross-stitch wasn't anything to difficult. It was simply an Appalachian 'A' surrounded by hearts, for my girlfriend. After a while my eyes got tired and I went to sleep.

Since I chose not to use electricity, I had no alarm clock. Usually I would use my cell phone as an alarm clock but today I just decided to get up when I saw the sunlight. I woke up a few times while it was still dark outside, so I went back to sleep. I later woke up at 8:20 am and stayed awake. I didn't have much to do so I decided to clean for a few hours. After 3 hours of cleaning, I was finished. I had nothing left to clean. So I had to look for something else to occupy myself.

To occupy some of my time I decided to read an old newspaper that I had laying around. It was nothing to interesting so I skipped to the comics section because I found it more interesting. I finished all the comics within thirty or forty minutes. I then decided to complete the Sudoku, the Word Jumble and the Wuzzles. After finishing I approximated that it was time to leave for class. So I left.

Since I decided to not use electricity at all I had to guess what time it was before leaving. As before I approximated my time, guessing it to be close to 12 pm. Since I decided to live the day without electricity I did not use the public transportation provided by Boone, the Appalcart. Instead I chose to walk to class. Without the presence of my cell phone or my iPod I was not constantly looking down texting or playing games. Instead I looked around at the amazing sites that the Appalachian Mountains offer. I saw numerous kind of trees and flowers that I had not noticed before. It was really eye opening. I can't believe all that I have missed because of technology. I reached campus in time to go to McAlister's to eat lunch with my girlfriend.

Since I had plenty of time before class I went and ate at McAlister's. I got my favorite meal, The Big Nasty, and drank some sweet tea. My girlfriend got a sandwich and a spud from the choose two menu. This decision was a little hard for me because I wasn't sure how close I would be to violating the rules I created. I decided that I was not using electricity and that all the items I were to consume could be made without electricity, so I didn't believe that I was breaking any of my own rules. I enjoyed my delicious meal (made even more delicious since all I had eaten was dry cereal since I started my day without electricity) and waited for my girlfriend to leave for her class.

My girlfriend typically leaves for her classes a lot earlier than I do. Since I know that she likes to get to class 20 - 30 minutes early I figured that if I left with her I would get to my class around the same time as her. I got to my classroom and since I was early I had to do something to occupy my time, which would usually be occupied by surfing the internet or doing some homework online. To occupy my time I decided to do something else that I haven't done for quite some time, draw. I pulled out my pens and began drawing the only thing that I have really been good at: tribal art.

After drawing for a while my classmates began to enter the classroom and my class started. I sat through class and instead of using my laptop to take notes I brandished the old method of note-taking, a pen and a piece of paper. We did nothing in class that was out of the ordinary. We spent most of the class starting group presentations. After class I continued drawing and spent my last fifteen minutes without technology happy.

When thinking about my day and the assignment I believe that the assignment was meant to express our reliance on technology in nearly everything we do. If I had to choose one item that I missed the most it would probably be my television. I watch ESPN regularly and am always up to date on the sporting news. On this particular day, Peyton Manning watch was winding down and the Tim Tebow trade was breaking ground. I didn't really have a problem going without technology. I really liked the fact that I was able to enjoy nature on my way to class. I have walked to class numerous times but I was always too busy to notice the surroundings. This whole process allowed me to reflect on the importance of and reliance on technology. Everything people do in today's world is aided by technology. I really realized that many people would have a difficult time doing such a thing. For me it wasn't to hard because I wasn't raised with the internet, or much technology for that matter. The fact that people rely on technology will help me plan my lessons in the future. I will have to not only incorporate technology but have to know how to use it.