Slow Internet=bleh

This summer I have had to learn to deal with a very frustrating issue. No, it's not college algebra, too much work at my job, or any of those normal things that can be frustrating for normal people from time to time. No, what I have dealt with in a way that you cannot comprehend is slow internet.

I grew up in the 1990's, you know back when N'Sync was cool and Justin Timberlake didn't think he was a rapper. The 1990's was also when the internet was emerging. When I was in 5th grade, a good friend of mine had it, and when he showed me MSN chat, and I saw that the potential of me getting a girlfriend could increase with the ability to chat with the ladies online...I was hooked.

Of course that theory never panned out. But still, about a year later I finally convinced my dad to get internet. We got dial-up, which was AWESOME because I didn't know any better. A few years later, I started hearing this term "DSL" and "High Speed Internet that doesn't make an annoying 'dialing up and connecting' sound everytime you go online" So I had to check it out. Around that time online gaming was also emerging, namely x-box live.

However, it wasn't until October of the year of our Lord 2006 that the Griepenstroh home upgraded to high-speed internet, and only because I had a job and told my dad I'd pay half the bill. And as you all know, once your eyes are opened to the world of high-speed internet, you can't imagine going back to dial-up. The funny thing is that when I moved out my dad didn't downgrade, he picked up the rest of the bill because he couldn't go back either.

And over the past few years, my life has become more and more online. I realized today that there are at least 6 websites that I am heavily involved with/desire to check regularly. But here at camp, we have the capacity for around 3 people to use it at the same time and have it be speedy. Unfortunately, at any given time during the daytime in the summer we have 20 people using it. If I try to do anything on the internet during the day I might as well give up before I even start because it is going to be as slow as molasses. Right now it is very late at night, which is when I should be asleep, but instead has become my "internet" time. Even now the internet isn't exactly speedy. There has been talk of getting better internet out here, but it is more the providers fault then ours.

For now, my best option is to deal with it. Maybe I could even become a little less dependent of the internet...maybe. So tell me, how much time do you spend on the internet every day? How many websites do you regularly check? Why are we as a culture becoming so dependent on the internet?

-Bill