HOPELESS GEEK

My wife might be right. I could be a hopeless techie. Well, 'hopeless' might be a bit strong. I have plenty of hope ... hope for more and better technology that will improve and satisfy our life. And 'techie' might be a bit strong as well, since I never really took a techie class, or was paid by a techie employer. I was a marketer, who simply took a shine to certain tech applications, and made a hobby, then a career out of a few focused apps. But, my ability to write code (assuming that is a definition for the tech) is next to zero ... a smattering of basic, java and html, networking fundamentals and digital studio skills that pass for amateur visual animator-illustrator.

But as I write this using a wireless pocket OGO from the deck of a cruise ship in the midst of the Gulf of Mexico, it occurs to me that the tech tools and toys I've carried in my backpack are a far cry from the printed maps, film canisters, notebooks, and novels that once went along on trips as 'personal companions.' Let's see now ... besides the OGO, today I'm carrying a six-pack of technology including a PDA, digital still camera that slips into a shirt pocket, a palm-size digital video camera, a thin LifeBook mini-laptop PC fully-loaded with office apps and broadband communications (plus a few games), a half-gig USB thumb drive, and an umbrella. Sorry, no iPod. The pack is also filled with trade magazines, from Info Week and Wired to Videography and Church Production. I tosssed in one no-Tech book about kayaking, as I plan to buy one soon.

So, if all that crap is the definition of a techie, I plead guilty. But ... clothes don't make the man. The fact is, I'm going thru a tech withdrawal. Days at sea ... without mail. Huumpf. (This blog is a draft until we near a port with a cell node). There's not even much to videotape out here, which is my core passion.

If that doesn't define me as a techie in pain, what's left ... well, ultimately, we get back to the real core of our being, which is original thought, the spirit of relationships and some physical conditioning. In all honesty, after a little twitching and itching for my tech tools, the lack thereof doesn't bother me too much as I find some respectable options. Walked and ran eight miles yesterday. That's good. Found a little peace with the simple environment of the sea, contemplative thoughts, and casual conversations with total strangers -- more good stuff. It's what cruising is all about. At least until we get back to port.