Connected all the time but only the way you want

I have a handful of people in my life who don't like to e-mail, text or instant message back.  I'm also guilty of this at times but not constantly and certainly not when it's important.  When I send an e-mail or instant message that really should be addressed, it baffles me why it isn't.

Sometimes these e-mails and IMs are urgent but yet they go unanswered leaving issues unaddressed.  This leads to issues when it comes to working, scheduling and other pressing matters that shouldn't go ignored.

This whole concept made me start thinking about how many different ways we have to communicate with one another.  I do believe we're reaching that threshold where there are too many ways to talk and less ways to get back to one another.

Have you ever struggled trying to figure out how to send a message to someone who you could contact multiple ways?  Should you e-mail them, text them, Facebook message the, tweet them or contact them in another way?  We connect with people in so many ways now, each has a preferred method of contact.

For me, it's e-mail.

I'll ignore calls, texts and other forms of contact if I'm really in the groove of working on something.  I'll generally always answer an important e-mail after I receive it.  If it's not as important, it can wait and I mark it to respond later.

Texts are too short, calls end up taking more time than necessary, and not everyone uses the same instant messaging service.  E-mail can get to the point, get to the inbox and just about everyone uses e-mail in one form or the other.

So, why can't others simply respond to them?

Perhaps, I need to take my own contemplation on the subject to heart.  While e-mail may be my preferred method of contact, it won't be for others and maybe I need to stop stressing about it and instead open my mind to using contact methods best suited for the person I'm trying to get in touch with.

Falling into old habits

This morning I ventured out of the comfort of my room to head out into the real world.  Lately, I’ve been getting severely overwhelmed being outside and interacting with people away from the computer.  This mostly comes down to the fact that I spend 95% of my day on a computer in my apartment either working or gaming.  I have very little social interaction outside my roommate and even when she comes home, it’s a little too much for me to handle socially.

This morning though, she wanted to take me to an Indian buffet called Namaste.  I’ve never really had Indian food, and she’s been talking this place up since she started at her job down this way.  The opportunity was ripe for the taking, so I jumped on it to try something new.

As I sit here at Starbucks, I realize just how out of touch I’m becoming again with the real world.  I’m uncomfortable.  I’m anxious.  I keep hoping nobody will notice me, talk to me or even look at me.  There’s two homeless people sitting next to me eating Michelina meals they purchased with food stamps.  They smell horrible, but they’re nice and they’re not bothering anybody.  I keep trying not to look at them so they won’t look at me, but I forgot how interesting people watching can be.

I need to make an effort to get out, even if it’s just a short walk or going somewhere further away for grocery shopping.  I need to force myself to interact with people.  I can’t keep stepping outside and feeling like my sensors are going to overload.

Don’t get me wrong.  I love what I’m doing, and I wouldn’t give up the freedom being a blogger gives me.  But how I feel right now is… frightening.  I used to love to meet new people, loved to learn new things but slowly I’m falling into old habits.  Shutting people out, shutting myself away and thinking it’s okay because I’m working towards something.

But what good is working towards something if you don’t know how to reap the benefits of what it’ll yield down the line?

Oh, West Wing, why couldn't you have been on TV forever

The West Wing recently came to Netflix.  The day it did, it immediately went into my queue and I began rewatching from the start. It had been years since I've done that.  I used to watch reruns when it was on Bravo.  I've never watched it from start to finish, even when it was on airs.

The West Wing is tied for my favorite show of all time right next to Battlestar Galactica.  There is something magical about The West Wing.  The chemistry of the cast, the storylines, the walk and talk; I love the show so much.  It doesn't matter how many episodes I watch, the theme song still instills a sense of pride in what our country stands for.  I know that sound cheesy, but it's true.  Even today.

Aaron Sorkin, the creator behind The West Wing, has a new show on HBO called The Newsroom.  It's first season ended months ago, but here's the trailer:

This show makes me want to be a journalist again.  It's what I wanted to do while in college, every so often it resurfaces again.  Every time I watch an episode of The Newsroom for the moment the starting credits begin to play, I want to be a journalist again.

Sorkin makes magic.  He takes an idea and he turns it into pure magic.  I don't know how he does it, but I know how it makes me feel.  Aaron Sorkin's shows make me feel like the world is mine, that I can take it on and I can be victorious.

On second thought, maybe it's just the theme song...

A turning point for the San Diego Chargers

Black Monday 2012.

L: AJ Smith R: Norv Turner

The only news of the day I cared about was when the San Diego Chargers - my boys in Powder Blue - fired Head Coach Norv Turner and General Manager AJ Smith.  Turner and Smith were instrumental in neglecting our O Line, failing to choose and support quality draft picks and letting key talent go over the years.  The latter, in my eyes, one of the biggest reasons for lack of stability on our team overall.

(I will NEVER forgive either of them for trading Darren Sproles.  That little guy was one of the most electrifying members of our team for several years, and Turner and Co. threw him away like yesterday's news.)

While I would never wish unemployment and the challenges of it on anyone, in the case of the Chargers, I will make an exception.  We needed this to happen last year.  We needed this to build a championship team.  We needed this as fans to believe in our team.  Finally, Dean Spanos gave Chargers fan what they wanted.  He gave us hope in the future of our team.

Now, the search begins, and I like Spanos' plan for the future.  Instead of just hiring a coach and then the GM, he wants to hire a GM that will play a part in who our new coach will be.

A lot of names have been thrown around for our new coach in particular.  Names such as the also fired Andy Reid who spent 14 years with Philadelphia before being handed his pink slip.  Josh McDaniels, bane of the Denver Broncos, has also been thrown around, too.  While I still think McDaniels is a long shot, I will never forgive the Chargers as a whole team if they hire McDaniels in ANY capacity.

It's going to be an interesting turning point for my Chargers, and I can only hope that Spanos' belief in our franchise as a championship one leads to the right changes and direction for my boys in Powder Blue.

So, how do you deal with noisy neighbors without breeding hostility or retaliation?

Normally, I can deal with just about anything.  I'm pretty laidback that way.  Lately, however, our new neighbors upstairs have been out of control.  The kid who moved in - and I say kid because he's young and clearly rambunctious - seems to have friends over often who either encourage his behavior or he brings it out in them.

They're loud just talking, physically loud on the floors and depending on the night blare their TV so loud we have had to go upstairs and ask them to turn it down.  When they go on the balcony, they're so loud I can hear and recite back their entire conversations.

Like I said, I'd normally not care but when it's clear that they have absolutely no regard for the people that live around them... Well, that bothers me.  I hate when people have absolutely no regard for those around them.  It's one of my biggest pet peeves behind being late or being made to wait.

We have gone up once before to ask him to turn down his TV when it was so loud we might as well been visualizing what we were hearing.  He turned it down, was apologetic, and that incident hasn't happened again but other things have.

Take New Year's Eve, for example:

Our neighbor had company over. It sounded like the floor above us was going to cave in.  They were so loud, so physical on the floor, they might as well have been caveman going to town on one another over a woman.  This went on for a couple hours.  It was intense.  They finally left and it's been quiet ever since, but it's ridiculous to feel as if your floor is going to cave in because of an upstairs neighbor.

So, how do you deal with noisy neighbors without breeding hostility or retaliation?

I'm thinking of going upstairs and talking to him again.  I don't mind some fun but all the time?  That's not okay.

But we've talked to him before, and he knew we could hear his noise... What if talking to him again does nothing?  Then, what?  I don't want to be that person.  But I also don't want to feel as if the roof is going to come down around me at any second.