Back on the grid…
Tonight I flew back into the Bay Area after being “off the grid” for a few days to participate in the funeral services for my father in Ohio and Pennsylvania. Being off the grid is an interesting experience, since it provides a stark contrast between the lives lived by many in California, and the lives lived by a lot of people in other parts of the country.
(Update 04/19/2008: I know. I know. I wasn’t really “off the grid.” I had my cell phone. So long as I had my cell phone, the telecommunications companies/U.S. government (maybe that should have been a hypen, rather than a slash) could find me. 
I even got a call from a headhunter during that time. However, when you are used to being very plugged in, you feel a little naked without your high-speed Internet connection close by. It is good to remember that much of the country and much of the world functions happily that way, all of the time!)
Some of the first news that I heard from a California radio station was bad news, of course – the elimination of jobs and an increase in unemployment. A gentleman from Wachovia was quoted as saying that we are already in the middle of a recession in the U.S.
The area of the country that I visited was depressing, in that the local economy there is worse than in the Bay Area. The contrasts with California were striking, and I will write about the contrasts in future blog entries.
Tonight, however, I need sleep, and I am in touch with my biology. Stay tuned….
-Bill at Cheshire Cat Photo™
