A few days ago, I heard an interesting radio show about an experiment some Washington Post reporters ran, on themselves.

So when eight Post reporters got to talking about their attachment — no, addiction — to their BlackBerrys, phones, Twitter and Facebook, it was only natural that someone said, okay, let’s go without, if only for a week. No Web, period. If you need to talk to someone, do it in person or by phone.
Everyone got excited: What would our friends and loved ones think if we didn’t respond to their texts and e-mails? Would we be able to do our work? Could we make it five whole days?

Some of them did.

I’m trying to do the same. So, I’m going back in time, trying to live my life like I did back in the good old days. I was trying to come up with a good date, one that would still allow me to have some fun with the computer. In 1985, that meant playing Manic Miner, the Wall, and the Hobbit. But in 1990, it was Formula 1 and Civilization. Also, in 1990, I also had email, even if my experiment is based on the assumption that I won’t be on email.

It’s not that big of a deal, I know, and I did something similar three years ago.

However, ten years ago, Wife and I drove across America in three weeks, making stops at various libraries every few days to check our email. Ten hours ago, I was sitting in a movie theatre with Wife, watching The Ghost Writer, and halfway through the movie, I checked my email.

So, no email, no Facebook, no Twitter, and probably no blogging, although, I think writing’s good for me, and since I don’t have a fax machine, posting stuff on the Internet is the way to go. Although, I can always write a letter, put it in an envelope, lick it, ride my bike to the post office, and buy a stamp.

Of course I had to announce this, otherwise nobody would have noticed anything.

So, June 1990, here I come. Hope those jeans still fit me.