It's not his bag, baby?

My husband is a funny mix of techno savvy and completely not! I'll start with a couple of examples. 

Example #1: When we started dating almost 11 years ago, he had a cell phone AND a pager!!! Who was still carrying a pager at that point???? It took a lot of convincing, but finally he let go of that old Maclean Hunter (remember them?!) relic and opted to add voice mail to his cell phone!!!!

Example #2: Last year, he received a Tom Tom GPS for his birthday. You need to understand that Ron probably drives an average of 1000 - 1200km a week for work. He's in and out of Toronto several times a week and he's always going to new places or looking for faster/shorter routes to wherever he is going. A GPS is the PERFECT gift for him. After it sitting in the box in his office for about 2 or 3 months I started questioning him about why he wasn't using it. I was still getting calls from him from the car periodically and they'd go something like this:

Ron: Are you at your computer?

Me: Yes, why?

Ron: I'm trying to get to X. Can you look it up on Mapquest for me?

Me: Why haven't you unpacked your GPS yet?

Ron: Why are you asking me that right now? Can you please just tell me how to get to X?

Me: Sigh... Okay, here's your directions...

Finally I said to him "Why aren't you using the GPS? Do you not like it? Do you think it's a silly gift? What's the scoop?" This is when he said... "I need you to set it up for me!" That night I took it out of the box, charged it up, read a few instructions and set it up. It's been in his car ever since and he uses it several times a week. 

This seems so funny to me... he's a smart man. A man who loves to have all of the latest gadgets. Case in point... the day the Blackberry Bold came out, he had one. He has an iPod Touch. He drives a car that is loaded with fun features. It just seems that when it comes to figuring out how things work, it's just not his bag! 

Which leads me to my next point... Ron and social media! The 2 do not go hand in hand! Yes, he's on Facebook. Or rather I should say, yes, he has a Facebook profile. But unlike me, he is not on it every day, nor does he ever post a status! He really could never fathom why anyone would be on Twitter and he's just not hip to the blogging jive! In face, it took me several days to admit to him that I started this blog. I knew when he found out he would likely roll his eyes and say something like "why the heck do you have a blog???". Or "when the heck are you going to find time to write on a blog?". And in fact, that is exactly what he did say when I finally told him about it. 

What he doesn't understand is that for me (and so many others I'm sure) Facebook has been a way for me to find and connect with people I haven't seen or heard from in 20+ years. People I have cared about at some point in my life. In fact, I never would have reconnected with my very best friend I had all through grade school if it weren't for Facebook. Now I've actually seen her, gone for a coffee and shared some fabulous memories with her. Maybe it's that Facebook appeals to my emotional side! And maybe it's different for him because he is still living close to where he grew up and still has several of the same friends. I do not.

As for my new blogging hobby, I'll just say that sometimes I have these weird, random thoughts in my head when I'm lying awake (usually after Evan has woken me and I can't get back to sleep!) and I feel the need to write them down. I've never "journaled" before and I don't own a diary, so blogging seems like a more natural fit for me. 

And I have to say, I love my Ron very much. Last night he actually went on my blog for the very first time and told me he liked it. I feel like I'm fully out of the blogging closet now and have gained all the acceptance I need. And just because it's not his bag, baby, doesn't mean it can't be mine!