[jacog]

I recently got my network subsidised cell phone upgrade, and sold off my old one, but went through about a day without one. Oddly, I found out that it made me feel somewhat naked. Oh how very dependant I have become on this inanimate object. I use it to post here some times, listen to music, stay in touch with my lady or listen to the radio when she is on air, etc etc. Hardly ever for phone calls. Bottom line is that it has become like a vital organ, and provides, I am embarassed to admit, a sense of security. A strange personal revelation: I am a 33 year old man with a woobie!

So, fess up... anyone else here with some object that provides security, some item from which you are inseparable?

[SSH]

I get job security from the fact that you use your phone so much, as I work in a related company...

[stepurhan]

Nothing I'm inseparable from that isn't physically part of me.

However, when I perform poetry live I always like to wear one of my brightly coloured shirts. I know it wouldn't feel right doing it in any more "normal" top. In fact, I''m not sure I'd be able to get into the right frame of mind without a suitable shirt so that is a dependence of sorts.

Also, if I wore no top at all I would literally be half-naked.

[bulldog]

I would say my computer. I enjoy it very much, for games, checking email and just surfing.

[Jazhara7]

My watch. I think it's the same for any kind of student.



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[RLacey]

My computer and my overcoat (think of the latter as a glorified comfort blanket). Though I obviously can't wear the latter throughout the summer .

And my watch, yes. I find it very irritating if I forget to put that on in the morning.

[Sage]

A $5 souvenir casino chip that I keep in my pocket. When I'm nervous or excited, I rub it like a worry stone.

[stepurhan]

When you're excited. Isn't that dangerous?

Must be a hard-wearing chip to put up with repeated rubbing. What's it made out of?

[jacog]

Oo-er are we allowed to to talk about things we rub in our pocket? :-P

[Squinky]

Last week, one of my earrings went missing for a little while. I was surprised by how naked it made me feel.

Other things I keep with me at all times include my watch, my funky-shaped gold ring, my wallet, my keys, my iPod, my Nintendo DS, and of course, my cell phone. I could probably live without the phone, though.

I also used to take my laptop everywhere with me, but this term, I decided to be kind to my back and just leave it chained to my desk.

[SnorkleCat]

hmmmm...the internet. I feel so discombobulated without access. And my silver Celtic knot pendant with the amber stone in it. I never take that off...

[Stoofa]

A stuffed mouse I've had since I was a little kid, and a blanket I've had since I was a baby. I keep the blanket on one of my pillows, it smells really reassuring! I wash it but the fibre still has a certain smell. Probably some dangerous man-made chemical from the 70s. The mouse I am bizarrely attached to and dig out when I'm feeling low.

[Jazhara7]

Originally Posted by RLacey

My computer and my overcoat (think of the latter as a glorified comfort blanket). Though I obviously can't wear the latter throughout the summer .

And my watch, yes. I find it very irritating if I forget to put that on in the morning.

Oooh, yes. How could I forget my dear Igor? I feel naked without my computer too.

Also, I can't sleep if my head isn't propped up onto at least two large pillows (when sleeping in a water bed) or three large pillows in a normal bed. And I have to have my small blue pillow to put my head on and my hand under, too.

And I need my Knuddelies (My plushies Wullewack and Katzi) which I have had since I was a little kid to fall asleep.


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[Sage]

Originally Posted by stepurhan

When you're excited. Isn't that dangerous?

It hasn't hurt me yet.

Originally Posted by stepurhan

Must be a hard-wearing chip to put up with repeated rubbing. What's it made out of?

It is, quite. It seems to be made out of some type of plastic, but it's heavier than other common types of plastic and it makes a "chink" noise when struck like ceramics do.

[Jazhara7]

Originally Posted by SnorkleCat

hmmmm...the internet. I feel so discombobulated without access. And my silver Celtic knot pendant with the amber stone in it. I never take that off...

Oooh, one weekend our Internet was gone, and it was not until the following Monday that the phone company could come to fix it.

My eldest sister, my mother and I all wandered through the house, unsure what to do with our time.

Only when it was gone did we notice how dependent on the Internet we had become.


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[Squinky]

Makes me think of that day when Telltale's internet died. *sigh*

[rlpw]

Originally Posted by Squinky

I also used to take my laptop everywhere with me, but this term, I decided to be kind to my back and just leave it chained to my desk.

Why did it try to escape?

Call me a Southern Stereotype but I just feel naked without a pocket knife. I have had one in my pocket since I was 10.

[Squinky]

Originally Posted by rlpw

Why did it try to escape?

I'm not sure why it tried to escape, but I suspect that it saw an attractive laptop of the opposite sex and had a sudden urge to chase after it.

[Sage]

Originally Posted by rlpw

Call me a Southern Stereotype but I just feel naked without a pocket knife. I have had one in my pocket since I was 10.

That's two of us, then.
How do people function on a day-to-day basis without a pocket knife?

[Not A Speck Of Cereal]

Originally Posted by bulldog

I would say my computer. I enjoy it very much, for games, checking email and just surfing.

I've had a computer since the '80s. I've enjoyed and occasionally relied on it.

But I was amazed last month when I realized, after a 10 day broadband outage (after a storm, I think I've mentioned) how much my dependency has moved from the hardware of the computer to the net.

I could still play games, but no email, no web, no online shopping, no financing (paying bills, balancing checkbook), no hints or walkthroughs, etc. etc.

If I had a phone with jacog's capabilities, that would have relieved me even further from the need to have my hardware connected to the net. I've been contemplating getting one that could do those things lately. I could have at least looked up some hints without having to take the laptop out to the porch in winter, searching for unprotected private WAPs to steal bandwidth from.

So we truly are moving away from the need to have the box. We now have many boxes, but at least one of them needs connectivity.

Amazing.

Edit: I've never in my life felt naked without a watch. At one point, I didn't care about time. At this point, I do, but I'm totally surrounded by various devices that will tell me the time.