Time and the internet

It’s interesting, I’m writing a bit more – I’ve written once or twice in the last week – but I’m still not reading much. Part of this is I only have one book, but I haven’t even been inclined to get into that.

I suppose I read quite a lot on the internet but you can’t really count that.

For a while there was a bit of guilt at the thought of dealing in English but that has passed. I wonder where my time goes because I do have a lot of it.

I think most of it disappears trying to sort out minutia. Things like which rail discount card to buy become hours long research and translation sessions where I always feel burned out and exhausted by the end. The deplorable state of internet in France doesn’t help things either. Packing up all my gear and heading over the teacher’s college I work at…working over there, but only with internet explorer because nothing else works…then coming back for lunch. It all just wastes so much time.

I think I should just give up the internet entirely, all the connections here are nothing but grief. But I can’t. Planning my holidays required oodles of research.

It’s strange being in a country, ostensibly tied in with the idea that the internet is the future, but also notoriously famous for its bureaucracy and pace. Not a good combo. Both through its connections and how websites are designed, the French have somehow extended this notoriety into the digital realm.

I have theories as to why I can’t find something helpful, like a train schedule online (I can find it through the German Rail website, which all the French use as well), but they’re for another time and involve the economy.