Thursday, February 7, 2013 – Whiticar Boatyard – near Stuart:

            After a delicious dinner last night of steak on the grill, sautéed spinach with garlic, mashed potatoes, and a nice glass of red wine, we hit the sack around 10:00 p.m. in anticipation of getting up early to be ready for the repairman who was coming around 8:00 a.m.  Then after a quick breakfast and a quick clean-up, we were ready to greet the repairman, and get out of Dodge with a borrowed car should the need arise.  The cat was already buried under the covers probably not to be seen for the rest of the day.

            It’s an hour later, and the repairman has come and done an initial inspection, and has now disappeared to get some tools, so Bob and I are killing time by doing whatever we do on our computers.

            So, I think now is a good time to bring up the subject of cell phones and addiction.  Us “old” folks know how annoying these new “smart” phones can be, especially when these young “kids” (that’s anybody who’s five years younger than we are) are constantly glued to them especially in restaurants and other public places.  You know how it is – you are in a nice restaurant and a couple is sitting next to you and they are completely and totally devoted to – not each other – but to their cell phones! As a matter of fact, any reader of this blog has probably been personally affected by this phenomenon and knows the anguish of this addiction.   These little miniature computers have completely taken over our lives just as much (or maybe even more) as tobacco, gambling and alcohol, and – mark my words – are out to take over the world (uh…I think they may have already…).  And just as true of any addiction, the poor soul who suffers from this affliction will swear to High Heaven that he is not addicted.  But, friends, this is not true!  He is addicted as sure as the cat is addicted to catnip!

            I myself have finally become a victim of the affects of this dreaded new phenomenon.  Yes, everyone, my faithful husband of seventeen years has succumbed to this new age disorder that we thought only teenagers suffered from.

            We bought “smart” phones in January as a present for my birthday, and because we thought they would come in handy on our trip down the waterway.  And they have!  But we didn’t buy the most expensive phones; we didn’t buy iPhones; we bought the least expensive “smart” phone the store offered.  But it didn’t matter.  The addiction comes on slowly – you have to learn to use all the little bells and whistles which causes some utterly frustrating moments, but when you overcome the difficulties, the feeling of accomplishment that you have conquered the little machine is quite a “rush.”  And then it begins, slowly, insidiously, it worms its way into your system until there you are – in a bar at the Super Bowl game (your hometown is playing no less), and you are checking your e-mail, playing Angry Birds during commercials, answering e-mail, checking the GPS for a look at our next destination.  How quickly we forgot how we used to look disdainfully at people using their cell phones in public places.  And now – there is no end.

            We now get notices from Verizon that we have already used up 50% of our data package for the month and it’s only the 5^th of the month!

            The phone makes this cute little e-mail notification sound, which goes off constantly even in the middle of the night.  I have begged and pleaded to turn the sound off.  I’m ignored.  If you think texting and driving is a problem, try using the GPS on your smart phone and driving.  And then there’s the stock market app, and other apps too numerous to mention.

            Breakfast now consists of checking and replying to e-mail, and, I don’t know – maybe he is also reading the paper on his phone.  Even before breakfast we have to check to make sure the phone is fully charged up.  Then after breakfast, more phone activities.  Bob has now learned to do voice e-mail, but when he got frustrated that the phone wasn’t hearing him correctly, I gently reminded him that he used to do all this stuff on his laptop computer (remember those?), and that maybe he was becoming addicted to his phone.  I mean I don’t even have to remind him to take it with him when we go anywhere in a car anymore!  Well you should have seen the look I got and a terse, “I am not addicted to my phone.”  Well, isn’t denial the first indication of addiction?

            I am considering starting a support group.

            Depending on how the day goes, I may write more later…

            Well, enough of that.  The repairman was completely through before we even had a chance to say car keys, and that was around 11:00 a.m.  We then decided to get out the charts and the Waterway Guide and make a more definitive schedule for the next month, and so we did.  We are even hoping to be able to catch up to some friends who have headed over to the west coast from the Keys, and maybe meet them perhaps somewhere around Ft. Myers.

            Just after lunch, the boatyard manager came by to give us the bill (which actually wasn’t horrible), and we got to chatting about the boat in general, and then the issue of the microwave came up again.  And to make another long story short again, we actually wound up ordering an exact replacement from Best Buy and having it shipped here to the boatyard, and when we come back this way in early March, they will install it for us!  Hallelujah!

            After all this, we decided we didn’t really want to go into town, and we spent the rest of the day people watching and finalizing our trip to the west coast.  It should be very interesting!

            Tonight we’ll have lamb chops on the grill.

            Tomorrow we’ll have a short hop to the Sunset Bay Marina in Stuart, and then on Saturday we’ll head to Indiantown, which is the first stop before we cross Lake Okeechobee.

View down Willoughby Creek