I just returned from 10 days with my parents.  10 days with no internet access, cable as basic as it comes, and definitely no blogging, facebooking, tumblr, etc.  I will not lie and say that I enjoyed my technology-free visit.  However, when you stay in a retirement town in the middle of northern Florida and you have nothing to do but observe and visit and chat, you definitely make some new memories.  For example, my waitress’ name one day was Melayne.  I love that name.  It will definitely appear in one of my upcoming books.  Also, the lady that cut my mom’s hair tried one of those juice diets and gained five pounds when she broke down and ate a Reuben sandwich.  Then, the guy next to me on one of my flights admitted that he misses his dog more than his kids when he travels.  And the best of all: my parents’ neighbor yelled at his wife, “Well, Hitler isn’t going to get these rugs cleaned, is he?”  Wouldn’t you just love to know the sentence that preceded that utterance?  When you unplug, a few things happen.  You get grouchy, for sure.  I think that’s one of the withdrawal symptoms.  You worry that you’ll forget to wish someone Happy Birthday because Facebook couldn’t remind you.  However, you also get a chance to watch people and talk to people and figure out what life looks like untethered from the computer screen.  People say “hello” to each other a lot more.  People tell you their story and want to know yours.  It was kind of cool and kind of horrible all rolled into one.  I should try it more often but for now, it’s just good to be home.