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Having finished breakfast, I need to pack my stuff. It feels somewhat strange not to pack in the usual stuff like the mobile phone and the MP3 player. (I even remove the LED lamp from my key ring.) On locking the door, it comes to me that once I was even planning to install some electronic house access system which would render the house key obsolete. But it turned out that there is no fall-back system in case of a power cut. Who invents such a bullshit?

In the bus to work I have to show my monthly ticket to the conductor. I have to admit the ticket has an integrated chip, but that one is used on a self-service station only, not for daily routines. I guess we can turn a blind eye to that. But I know that some other bus companies give out smart cards which you have to check on a sensor on entering the bus. Luckily, mine hasn’t started that sort of stuff. Anyway, I could buy a single ticket which is printed on paper (by a onboard computer, sadly), paying with loose change. Dodging the fare is not advisable today because the controllers use some sort of handheld computers where they would enter my data, requiring me to subscribe with a digital pen on a touchpad.

While entering my workplace, I realized that usually I would have to check in - using a smart card again. Good thing is, we are allowed to note down the time as an alternative, if the check-in does not work or we’re working abroad. Today I declare it as ‘not working’, period. And now things are getting tricky: What do you do all day long if you are usually working on a computer or in a lab with high-tech equipment? First thing I do is to tidy up my desk and file away piles of old papers. This keeps me busy for about an hour and a half and leaves me with a certain good feeling and a blank desk. But there are at least two hours left until lunch break. Perfect time for the reading of some papers about my next task. I printed them the day before since after all paper is friendlier to read and easier to highlight. You see, I’m cheating again: It’s not like I’m not using computers at all, It’s just that I planned carefully to avoid computers today, having prepared for that before.

All the time I’m happy the phone doesn’t ring, because it is - you may guess already - some high-integrated Voice-over-IP-based digital telephone system bling bling. I am certain my phone possesses more computing power than the machines which controlled the first space flight. Only for comparison: The first working prototype of a telephone was constructed in 1861, and one of the first ever transferred sentences was “Das Pferd frißt keinen Gurkensalat” (The horse doesn’t eat any cucumber salad). Which has about the same amount of meaning as what usually comes out of my phone receiver.