Mobile World

I am currently at Seatac waiting for my (late) plane to head out to Northern Cali for a friend's wedding. On the way here I was checking my email on my iPhone. I shot off a couple of texts. Now I have my laptop fired up, and I can be as productive as I could be at my office in Olympia. Technology makes life on the road ever more productive.

Technology made me pause today on the shuttle when I was observing a father and his two sons. The father sat idly while his two early twenties sons tapped on their smart phones. They could have been playing Fruit Ninja, texting their girlfriend (or boyfriend), or emailing their boss. But the definitely weren't talking to each other. They were isolated while sitting right next to each other.

I am now sitting in Vino Volo. (Side note: I love the Seattle airport. At what other airport can you get a Walla Walla wine with a crab, salmon crostini? Love.) There are many people sitting at tables here. Alone. Typing on their smart phones. Answering emails on the laptops. Making business calls on their cell phones. Almost daily, I find myself honing in on one subject and then tuning into it all around me. Today's subject is technology.

Are we living in an interconnected world that leaves us unconnected? Has our quest to be in touch left us out of touch? Why can't we sit at a meal anymore without somebody answering a ring or a beep? I think it is eroding relationships. Because my sister just had a baby, I now think of things in terms of children. How do you teach children when it is appropriate to be on their phone and when it isn't? When you are on a long road trip and are bored out of your mind, text away. When you are sitting with your grandmother eating lunch, TURN OFF THE DAMN PHONE!

Like all tools, I think we will learn how to use mobile technology to improve our lives and weed out the ways it doesn't. There will be proper etiquette for texting and emailing (and people will follow it). We will text and email to stay in touch with those far away and leave the phone in the car to cultivate relationships right in front of us. I hope.

Signing off. By myself. With my computer. And my iPhone. And a glass of Sauvingon Blanc.

Mobile Office

I have always enjoyed conducting business from wherever I happen to be. It makes life easier. And more fun. Today, I am conducting business from somewhere in Utah on I-17. I am the co-pilot on a 20 hour drive from Scottsdale, Arizona to Great Falls, Montana. I must be honest, I was not looking forward to this drive. I have logged A LOT of hours on the road this year spreading the Bon Lemon love, and the idea of tacking twenty more on just for fun sounded like listening to Michael Buble while eating mouthfuls of cilantro. (There is only so much sitting my butt can take before it, along with my stomach, start to look like a science experiment gone wrong. Even with my snacks of hardboiled eggs and oranges today, I feel myself melting into the seat.)

But 6 Par Farmer makes this migration twice per year. Once in the fall and once again in the spring. I thought it only right to accompany him. And I figured if I was going to be the passenger instead of the driver (I do help with the driving sometimes) I better be productive. I have been meaning to get the Verizon MiFi hotspot thingamajig, so I can use my fancy (read: complicated) new point of sale system on the road. So, I ordered up the thingamajig last week, signed on the dotted line and was ready to head off on our trek, armed with wireless internet connectivity.

So... here I am. With all of my gadgets. Videoing the drive. Playing Words on my iPhone. Trying to do my taxes on my iMac. Blogging with my Mifi. (A touch slow, but pretty cool to have on the drive.) All the while trying not to get carsick.

If I can get a few things done on the drive, beyond gaining 5 pounds and increasing my sodium consumption to alarming levels, I will consider this little endeavor a success. Hopefully, 6 Par Farmer will appreciate the company. Although, I think my impatience is tangible, as he offered to buy me champagne at the last gas station. (He's a lover.) When we arrive on Sunday in Great Falls, I will run around the block as many times as possible preparing for my 10 hour drive back to Olympia. I have to get back in the car? Shoot. Me. Now.

I need a jet.