We just returned from vacationing in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and Wisconsin. Quite rural. And I remained unplugged the entire time (except for some Twitter action on the Palm Pre...)

Doing so made me think about the way technology has impacted us - both for better and for worse.

Better
It goes without saying that our lives are easier now than in the past. Just look at the difference between the typewriter and the computer for instance. If you're thinking about writing a book - you're going to LOVE the backspace button and the ability to keep all your work on a SD card the size of a postage stamp.

The automobile gets you from point A to point B in a respectable amount of time. We're talking horsepower rather than a horse...

Airlines give us the ability to see the world in person rather than in a book at the library.

And the list goes on...

Worse
But there are some interesting drawbacks as well. Now we tell people they need to "unplug" in order to relax. We have connectivity that can eat up every waking second of our day. And yes, even though there seems like limitless things to be done in a day, could it be that we're getting lazier despite our increased activity?

Here's where I'm going with this...

Today I'm connected almost 24hrs a day. With the Palm Pre (or iPhone if I'd chosen that path) I'm able to manage email, text, calendar and tasks along with the insane amount of online (cloud) content available at my fingertips via browser and Apps.

But does this make me more or less productive as a worker?

On the one hand I can do my job anywhere at any time. On the other hand I can also do a million other things with the technology. I can Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Vimeo, Flickr, etc. at work and at play.

Because of this my life has the ability to become one giant tech trip. An enmeshed mess of work, family, spirituality, entertainment, education and relationship building.

Before the computer we worked hard for 7-9 hours a day to get everything done so it wouldn't be waiting for us the next day. But today we often play at work and leave stuff undone because we can always jump online at home to finish things up.

Summary
I really don't know that I have a good answer to this dilemma. On the one hand I love it. On the other I long for simpler days. Either way, there's no turning back. I don't think the Amish lifestyle is for me so I need to learn balance in this new age of technological enlightenment.

Am I alone in this?

Things have been pretty quiet around here. Some friends and I went to Key Largo, FL for some open water SCUBA diving. Our first time in the ocean and hopefully not our last.

Day one was a wake up call. Mr. Ocean said, "Welcome newbies - feel my power." And most of us did by puking our guts out and feeding the fish.

But by day 2 we learned about motion sickness medicine so we were good. In our four days of diving we saw numerous fish, lobster, moray eels, a stingray, giant grouper, etc. No sharks unfortunately, but we'll save that for another day :)

Welcome Home
After being home for a few days my wife packed up and is in Florida for a girls trip of their own. I hope they have as much fun as we did.

I'm back into the swing of things with two big projects at work and two large freelance sites to fill my time. The kids are all in soccer and doing well.

And we haven't even hit summer yet. Can't wait to see what happens...life is good!

Recently got to spend an entire week in South Carolina. North Myrtle Beach is a great place to hang out with friends and family. We stayed in a condo with a couple other families and spent most of our time either poolside or at the beach.

Pool at the condo

Condos in North Myrtle Beach

The Broadway Boardwalk

The coast at North Myrtle Beach

Medieval Times (good stuff)

My wife is spending the week in Cabo with a couple of her friends. I picked this picture since it seemed to come up on every keyword search for Cabo. Must be one of the main attractions there...

So I'm home with the three munchkins for spring break. This means I've 'almost' unplugged for the week...alright...not really. But I've been a lot less accessible. I try to keep up with the Inbox so it isn't a mile high when I get back, but this time it's been hard to even keep up with that. There's just something exhausting about three kids and a big house.

I can hear my wife laughing as I write this. Pretty sure she'd agree seeing how that's one of the main reason's she is in Cabo - to 'get away' from the chaos.

Aside from the basics of feeding, clothing and bathing kids, laundry, cleaning, re-organizing and a small home improvement project, we did the following:

• Two days at Splash Universe in Shipshewana, IN: Small park, no 'real' swimming pool and lifeguards that took their jobs way too seriously...
• Boys Night Out: Last night Jami came over to watch seven kids so the boys could go out. We ate at Outback and then since there was absolutely no movies worth seeing, returned to the house to get killed playing Halo 3 for a few hours (mainly because I play so poorly).