You've missed me, you really missed me!

Wow - gone for a week, and you guys really missed me. Especially Gubbio - who started not one, but two threads concerned about my whereabouts. WOW! I think he was on 'suicide watch' for the past seven days.

And other messages from other trolls who have pretended I'm on their 'ignore list', yet noticed I was missing, too ! WOW! And to my friends on the forum, who tried to calm the others down - thank you (but it wasn't necessary...I've been enjoying their hysterical responses and reactions!).


So where was I the past week? There are hundreds of guesses, and none of them right . I shall tell you, and set the record straight...

With about a 24 hour notice, I volunteered to go to a seven day work retreat / conference on Information Literacy, covering 'the Digital Divide'. (This was sponsored by my employer.) The DD is a term which refers to the giant gap between those who have easy access to computers/smartphones and the internet (and other technology), and those who don't have any access. It's a social challenge that has a great impact on cultures everywhere, and the impact on sustainability and retention for all. This is especially alarming (as we experienced) during this important election year.

We were divided into two groups - haves and have nots. I was in the latter - no laptops, no internet, no smart phones, nothing for one week (which is really a challenge in this day and age). In our group, we received our news from a handful of newspapers each day, as well as television - free TV, not cable networks. So we relied on ABC, CBS, NBC, and PBS for news each night. There was a contact phone number which family members had access to, and if there was an emergency we could then use our cell phones (no one had an emergency).

To say the least, it was an exceptional week - one which included the ending of the sham impeachment trial, which kicked off the T-rump attack tour, the Iowa debacle, the NH primary, the dropouts, the Gayle King-Snoop Dog war, and more (including news to catch up on in my homestate) - where we had no internet access, just newspapers and local TV.

The attendees (all educators) were made up of liberals, socialists, independents, T-rumptards, and never-T-rumpers who called themselves 'real conservatives'. You could tell who the T-rumptards were at the conferences, just by the way they 'reasoned' with others, and their thought patterns (or lack of such).

It was a very engaging, enlightening week where I learned so much - and what is critical to the election season. You don't realize what you take for granted each day until you don't have it.

Now I'm back - and will be responding to some older threads of the past week as time allows.

Thank You, Gubbio and the other trolls - you really missed me not being here.