Experiment: Failed

I am hear to post the results of my phone fast: failed.

Progress of experiment: Failure was detected on the second day of experimentation.

Overview: I am too dependent on staying in touch with family, friends, and the pediatrician's office.

Overview: If I can recollect, I have only had one science project started during my entire life. I believe I was in 7th grade, and the time to start experiments and science projects began. I decided to plant beans in foam coffee cups, and determine what outside elements would impact their growth. This took place on a card table in the foyer of our house, and they stunk! I remember my dad complaining about the stench, and my brothers kicking a few soccer balls towards the table and yes they fell. That experiment failed as well. Too much water, not enough sun. I don't think my control group even sprouted.

The phone fast was very similar. I posted my blog, and emailed it to the people that I converse with the most on the phone. My youngest brother, called me immediately. He was confused. We work together via satellite connections, but email would not suit him. He would call and start to leave a message on my machine "this is work related." I would answer, and it was never work related. I screened all of my phone calls for the first couple of days, but I found myself in isolation, since the emails that I was sending to the outside world were not returned from the recipients.

My family was the worst to work with. They have not made the quantum leap to the 21st century where email communication could be used by everyone. People would be allowed to respond when they have the chance to read their email, and be as brief or lengthy as they choose. The recipient of this email, would in turn, be able to read the text at their own time and respond accordingly. When I sent an email, I would get a phone call to talk about it. The point was lost. I have grandparents who do not have email so that was impossible unless with a posted letter. They write thank you notes for a living, so a phone call would be much more fun and less taxing on their hands than a long letter written.

I did cut down/back on my time on the phone, except in regards to my husband. We increased in that department. I was out of town for 10 days during my experiment, so that meant that we didn't see each other. The email or instant messaging is a thing of the past with network to network free calling on our cell phone plan. We also talked over computer cameras, and that seemed to help, but left very little privacy. We could type simultaneously on a instant message during our video, and we thought that we could say things so that we were the only ones reading the notes. Technical glitches proved that our conversation was being read on two other computers in two different locations. Quite embarrassing.

For people I did not inform of my phone fast, they might call and leave a message, and I would need to return that phone call pertaining to social arrangements or information requested. Instead of explaining my crazy idea of a phone fast, I would return the call and sometimes get trapped in a long conversation. I have enough people thinking that I am crazy, who don't know me intimately, so those who are in the outer realm didn't need any more ammunition for their craziness assessments.

Conclusion:
I need to be in control of my outgoing calls, and the length of my incoming calls. Spending an hour on the telephone with someone is outrageous and uncalled for. Unless that person is an extended relation or friend whom one has not heard from in a long time and it might take an hour to talk. Where distance and geography suspend those relationships, it is entirely acceptable to spend time on the phone. However, daily check-ups with people, unless there are new developments in someone's failing health, plans that must be made, or emergency situations have been cut down. For that I feel that I have learned from this experiment, however, I would conclude that failure to fast was the failure of the experiment.