According to this study, U.S. Americans are quite taken with email. Some of us check it at work (60%), some of us get up in the middle of the night to check it (36% of women, 44% of men), and 83% of us even check it while on vacation. And 52% of us have at least two or three email accounts to check!
That's a lot of email, everyone.
But I love it. I love email. I love the ease and immediacy of it. I love getting up in the morning during the summer, having my coffee, wandering by the computer and turning it on and bringing up my email. I love watching Outlook Express flicker to life and seeing the boldface font scroll down the open pane, announcing my emails: comments on my blogs! my daily notice from Political Wire! my Word of the Day! and, if I'm lucky, some chatty emails from friends, former students, and my sisters who live in neighboring towns. Once in a while there will be a smart bit of humor or incisive editorial from my uncle in Gettysburg, a fellow Dem and former English teacher who knows what piques my interest. And, sometimes there will be little glints of gold--those unintentional hoots that happen when someone sends me something that hits me just right and makes my day.
My friend Leanne is great for those. She lives in Maryland and we don't see each other very often, maybe once a year. She gets bored with email, (too much effort to type everything) and for weeks at a time, she will maintain what I call Email Silence. Then, I have to send her a snarky missive and threaten her. Not long ago, she casually emailed me and told me that she and her husband were going out to dinner to meet her son's quite-possibly-future in-laws. She promised to report back with all the details. I waited and waited with bated breath. Nothing. Finally, I could stand it no longer. I emailed her and asked. And waited some more. Here is her reply:
Dinner was fine. I wasn't wild about the stuffed shrimp but everyone else seemed to enjoy themselves ok.
Dinner was fine. I wasn't wild about the stuffed shrimp but everyone else seemed to enjoy themselves ok.
How can you not love her?
Every once in a while my sister Susan can give me a giggle, too. She's one of those people who emails exactly like she talks, which is how I email, too. (Those of you who get my emails are probably thinking 'yeah, that's true. Her emails go on and on and on...!') She had jotted me a quick email including this gem (Oh, and wait till you see her term for "treadmill," very apt):
Ballsy full-bodied workout done and 1 mile on the dreadmill. I feel better and have more energy. Several of my girlfriends have told me that my ass was looking real good.... My ass isn't my problem area. Sigh.
My only reply was can I use part of this email on my blog?
Last Year at the Dept. of Nance: The Alaskan Adventure Part IV
How do people keep up with so many e-mail accounts? I have 4. I check one almost everyday and the rest MAYBE every few months. I absolutely do not check it during the middle of the night. Hell, if my inbox has too many e-mails in it at once, I tend to feel overwhelmed. I've been known to delete everything. And for the latter, I must apologize to my brother-in-law (who has no e-mail account of his own) that often buts my e-mail address down on job applications.
ReplyDeleteI emailed you a day or two ago! I even sent you some George Bush ammunition!!! Want to know what I did today? Nothing until 6. Then I had to take Ryan's dog to the vet. Then I watched the Closer. Then I checked my email and sobbed aloud when I discovered you hadn't emailed me today... Now I'm going to bed...Stay tuned for tomorrow. It's bound to be another stellar day. Princess L
ReplyDeleteA fairly large amount of my self esteem is directly tied to the amount of email I get.
ReplyDeleteOh, and yes, when I was forced to switch to the new Blogger, I lost all of my sidebar, but I at least had saved the HTML, so I just cut and pasted into the new format. The new format for the sidebar is actually easier than the old one, though.
I love e-mail too Nance! Especially since I've move away from Ohio. I have so many friends across the country, and sometimes, e-mail is so much easier than a phone call, and great way to let people know that you are thinking of them.
ReplyDeleteI also have my reservations about calling people at certain times in the morning and/night just the same...at least e-mail is insurance that I don't forget what I needed to tell them...I can type it right away!!!
nina--I have 5 accounts, but 2 are 'professional' accounts. I check 2 of them several times a day, but not manually--the computer window is just open and it checks them. The others I check every few days. I think having a yahoo or hotmail account is just a good idea so you have some privacy and can weed out spam from your personal account.
ReplyDelete"anonymous"--you are reading too fast again! did I say you were currently maintaining Email Silence? No. Did I say I love you? Yes. Sigh. You are high maintenance.
gina--thanks for the New Blogger info. It's dire enough to make me NOT SWITCH ENTIRELY, STILL. (I fear change, as a rule.) I plan to skyrocket your self-esteem soon and add you to my sidebar. I really enjoy reading your blog.
tera--I hear you. I hate the phone, first of all, and I never can seem to get off of it with some people (like my mother). Email lets me think and revise. So much safer.
What a lucky, lucky day it is when one stumbles upon a fellow Dem on blogger. On email, I suck at it. I like the idea but I currently have 1324 pieces (are they pieces when they are made up of KBs?) of unread mail, because I stupidly sign up for things like freecycle and then can't figure out how to unsubscribe without looking like an ass. Good to meet you.
ReplyDeleteI have at least 4 e-mails accounts, 3 of which I check regularly. Outlook checks my university e-mail for me and G-Mail pops up notifications in the corner of my screen. I love getting e-mail, but it's hardly ever anything good. *sigh*
ReplyDeleteAnd dreadmill...I remember you calling it that when I was in your class and I definitely always think "dreadmill" when I encounter "treadmill". :-)
I love e-mail if it's not trying to sell me Viagra or a single's dating service. And my ass? Not my problem area either.
ReplyDeleteNance, I too am in love with email. Although sometimes I let it put too much pressure on me, work-wise. However, I'm not nearly as addicted to it as a gal who works out at my gym. She always gets off the bike halfway thru spin class and leaves for a couple of minutes. I thought she was going to the bathroom, but she's checking her email on the gym's computer! Aack!
ReplyDeleteWhen we move back to America, I'm getting a dreadmill.
ReplyDeleteAnd my e-mail? Check it last thing at night and first thing in the morning and many times in between (but never in the middle of the night).
mrs. grumpy--welcome to the (True Blue)Dept! Nice to meet you, too. Hope to see you often. you're in very good company here. as far as email goes, don't let it get you down. sign up for fun things, like Word of the Day!
ReplyDeletejenomena--yes, "dreadmill" is a term that has been around a long while. but I have to give Susan props for it. Sam got an AbLounge...I'm thinking I might start on that if I can figure out how to do it and not get nauseated. Every time I try it, I feel like ralphing.
wordgirl--having recently reclaimed my ass, it's no longer my "problem area." I think those of us who have had kids can readily identify our problem area...!
fortune cookie--stopping a workout to check email is just...well, that's addicted. wait. working out at a gym...that's...well....!
;-)
v-grrrl--even when I can't sleep, I don't turn on the computer. I read or go out to the living room and turn on the TV. the keyboard just sounds too terribly loud in all that silence. and, you know what? I think it's my turn to write!!
My e-mail habits are strange. When I'm on the computer, I check my two main accounts at least twice every hour. However, when I'm not at the computer, I have absolutely no desire to find one just to check my mail (unless I'm expecting something important). I also have two other accounts that are less important, which I check every morning.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure I'm capable of not checking my e-mail when I'm on vacations, but I always seem to find a way to do it, and so I don't think a week has gone by without me checking my e-mail. It would just be weird - like not having my cell phone with me. Oh, how the times have changed.
I try not to have a bunch of email accounts, but I do have 4: my original one, a subaccount for when I changed my name, my Casa de España one as I am club secretary, and my school email. It is a pain having to check all of them every day, so I just check the ones where I receive regular mail.
ReplyDeleteAll of this reminds me that I owe you an email. Better get my ass off the comment dreadmill. (But first I am going to check out Alaskan Adventure and Ties!)
Alaskan Adventure, Part IV: Whales are amazing creatures. You'd think they would need even bigger tails to propel their enormous bodies through the water. Great pics.
ReplyDeletei.h.--When I was on vacation, I was not nearly as interested in my email as I was in BW's ties. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing.
ReplyDeleteOrtizzle--I think having more than one email account is necessary anymore: for work, for private, and for general delivery at least. And as far as owing me an email--oh, whenever. You're still a student this summer, and that comes first. (Then Mr.O, then relaxation, then maybe email!)
Re: the adventure--the whale-watching was most definitely a much-anticipated highlight that more than lived up to my expectation. I got so excited, I felt like throwing up. Happily, I didn't. :-)