Sometimes I Just Want to Go Completely Offline
It's amazing how quickly the time passes. Here we are already in the final month of 2025.
Soon, another year will have passed and begin its fade into the collection of memories.
I put off starting this blog for a time because even though my girlfriend and others told me I should blog and I enjoy writing, I just wasn't sure it was something I wanted to do.
The more time passes the more I am torn between participating in the Internet and getting completely out of the digital world including cell phone as much as I possibly can.
I love the offline USA. It's the online USA that I find so weird. It's the online world that seems filled with all of this extremism in various forms that I simply do not relate to.
At least that's how it was and is for not only myself but everyone else I knew in the USA. Online is where they saw the constant conflict and extremism being expressed. NOT in their daily "real world" life.
I never got into using apps on my phone the way most people seem to. I use my phone for making calls and messaging (and even that is limited).
I prefer to keep my programs and Internet usage almost entirely on my computer.
Development work, planning goals, playing tiny retro style games often found at Itch.io and GameJolt - I really enjoy PICO-8 and TIC-80 games, a small amount of time on FB website, and so forth.
Mostly my computer time was offline with me programming in a variety of languages and frameworks. Creating a game dev tool, testing out ideas or building a full game.
I just really enjoy the offline "real world" life.
On my morning walks over here in SEA there are many people I now "know of" from having seen them daily in some cases to weekly in others.
I'm always saying GOOD MORNING! to every person I see and in the beginning only a few replied. Not because they are anti-social or did not like me. At least I never thought that. LOL!
But because they are shy or busy or otherwise simply not ready to speak to me. Over time, more of them say Good morning! back to me.
Two older ladies are always working outside their homes in the early mornings. I always said GOOD MORNING! and they never replied.
Finally, one day after about 5 weeks I heard Good morning! back. Down the road a couple of blocks the other one still did not say a word.
After 8 or 9 weeks, it happened. I was walking along and as I passed by her working I said GOOD MORNING! and she stopped turned and said GOOD MORNING! with a smile. And now ever since that morning I hear that sometimes before I say it.
On my way home, I often stop at the roadside vendor... a mini bakery on wheels. I buy a very small amount of fresh baked bread. It's delicious.
I often feel like we are living in two completely different worlds.
There is the OFFLINE world which is largely a fantastic place in my view.
And then we have this ONLINE world which seems to have been invaded by unhappy, and often just plain hateful, people who enjoy causing trouble for others.
But I also wonder how many of those extreme "people" are actually bots... a lot of them I am thinking.
All I know is in the USA there was a HUGE difference between the Online World and the OFFLINE what I call "real world" I lived in.
The real world I lived in had NO political talk. NO extremism being expressed. It was very quiet.