"Thirteen, this is Houston. Good to see you again"

Although it wasn't full of featherweight sil-nylon goodies or the latest titanium trickery this was a parcel I thought I'd be really excited about. A new modem to replace old Ericisson HD105i who spluttered and wheezed his way to silicon heaven over the course of the past couple of months, providing us with hours, minutes or seconds of internet connectivity a day as the little plastic box deemed fit. When he finally gave up the ghost we went 'off the grid'.

It's been refreshing to be honest. I didn't realise how much I relied on the internet to keep in touch and keep up to date with current events. Over here, in another country, so much of the miasma of daily life just floats by me, un-noticed and unassimilated. Conversations overheard, newspaper headlines full of gossip, advertising in every medium still trying to sell me crap I don't need. All of it, unless I concentrate hard, washes over me like white noise. I find myself a lot less concerned with other people's business.

With the internet I pick and choose where and when to get my information from but without it I've survived. With no daily weather forecast I simply packed a coat, just in case. With no e-mail I called people instead. It even got to the point that with no blogs to read I actually talked more to M about everything. Whether this was a good thing or not you'd have to ask her...

For better or worse we're back.