Post 13: Immobile

Humans take mobility for granted.




Like Arlen in his "Hour As A Spy," I am sitting in a computer lab, only that it is in the Science Laboratory Building rather than the Hart Media Distribution Room. Unlike his purpose of observing people, I am in here because my "[formerly] endeared friend and [currently] dreaded enemy" is temporarily drained - literally. Part of the plastic insulation of my Fujitsu charger melted over the past weekend and I attempted to wrap the exposed wiring with insulating tape. At first, I thought I had succeeded in repairing my charger, but in a couple of days the tape had also begun to melt and my charger stopped working altogether.

In contrast to the Hart computer lab, there are only sit-down computers in here. The computers are arranged in neat rows, 12 Dell computers in each. I cannot describe the inflow and outflow of traffic because there are only four people in here, including the guy in the blue jacket and myself, and I believe that there have been less than 10 people arriving and leaving since I first got here. Furthermore, as opposed to Arlen's comment about how "most [people] take their cell phone calls outside the computer lab, maintaining the silence of the computer lab," I selfishly and guiltily spoke on the phone for 20 minutes in my seat. Other than that, I am accompanied only by the typing noise a teeth wind-up toy would make in an otherwise realm of utter silence on this quiet Friday.

As for my laptop, it not only served as a medium for watching movies and YouTube and playing games, but also suffices as "[a] workstation on which I process and store nearly all the school related documents. Therefore the laptop’s mobility creates an opportunity to blur the line between study time and personal time" (Huang). To be honest, this line is distinctively clear to me right now: I could care less if my laptop had no programs other than the Internet and Firefox so that I could write my Blog in the apartment instead of asking my roommate to drive me to school and pick me up on a day that neither of us have class. Rick also questions what it would like to "have a UC Davis No-Laptop Day." I have an inkling that there would be a little more people in this computer lab, more people walking and biking around downtown Davis, and more people improving their personal health.

Having no laptop for a few days has made me question myself about peoples' reliance on mobile computers. Although this situation has made me reach out of my apartment in search for another resource, I feel like I have a clear vision of the purpose of laptops. I view my powerless laptop not as a lifeline but as a supplement to my boredom and, occasionally, my work. It has not hindered my personal health and well-being because I am still able to maintain my weight and stay in steady shape. But I have been lying on my couch watching TV and playing my PS2 for the past few days bored out of my mind - THAT might have an effect on my body.

I am not trying to bitch and whine about myself; the point I am trying to make is that humans take mobility for granted. There are people who have fatalities, from amputated limbs to permanent, life-threatening disabilities, while others simply cannot afford other types of mobility. We should take a little bit of time appreciating with what we have in life instead of worrying about the material things that we want and do not have. I should be appreciative that I still have a computer to use somewhere, good friends who will drive me around, a place to live and watch TV in, a good laptop, and a normal life. The best part is that I will have a buffed-up leg when I heal.




Still, immobility sucks!