Business as usual

I had a great time camping with my friends this weekend. The weather was perfect (finally), the scenery was cool, and it was a good way to unwind for a few days. I took some photos so I'll post a more detailed trip report later in the week when I get them developed.

Unfortunately, the serenity and inner peace that can only come from cutting yourself off from the modern world was wiped away in the first few minutes upon arrival at the office this morning. I should have known that the day would be off to a frenzied start--the 'new message' light on my phone seemed to be frantically blazing a more alarming shade of red, and my Outlook mailbox was chock full of urgent incoming emails adorned with exclamation points, red flags, and this apparently new icon:

So the morning was spent racing over to the courthouse to put out a small emergency and then getting stuck in one of those endless meetings monopolized by someone who just loves to hear themselves talk. A good part of the afternoon was spent trying (and failing) to decipher html code in an attempt to redesign the color scheme of this blog. I was about 75% successful, but I finally gave up for today and decided to tackle it tomorrow.

As the day wound down, I had a chance to reflect on the contrast between the positive effect of living outdoors versus the negative stress of working in an office. I began to think that maybe the Amish were on to something with their disdain for modern technology. I had to admit that, the idea of living a simple life close with nature was a seductive one, but I came to realize that, ultimately, their dogmatic insistence on the use of buttons in place of zippers would be a deal-breaker for me. Plus, I'd miss my TIVO too much. Maybe I'll just buy "Witness" on DVD as a compromise...