confessions of an internet addict

Most people know that I spend a lot of time online. It's what I do. It's who I am. Many of you come to me when you need to research something that you cannot find on your own because you know I can find it. Or there's the other crowd of you (you know who you are) who are now trained to find local doppler radar maps so Barb can be warned of incoming thunderstorms.

Last night I had a chat with my roommate about being a neurotic worrier. She mentioned that many days she just can't even go anywhere because little things worry her, such as whether or not New York City buses still take change, or if you have to have a metrocard. I said "that's the difference between you and me. I too am a neurotic worrier, but I use the internet to find answers. The internet is a wonderful thing."

For example, tomorrow I have to rent a car and drive to LaGuardia airport to pick up my mother, sister, and aunt. This trip makes me very nervous on many different levels, so I started researching it LAST WEEKEND--a full two weeks before I need to make the trip. After reserving my car online, I researched the terminal lists to find my family's airline, then looked at maps of the airport layout, driving circles, and parking lots. I looked up parking rates and hours. I looked for directions to the airport and investigated major highways and bridges, which led me to worrying about toll collections because I have no idea what the tolls are or if I will have enough $1 bills with me, or perhaps a fistful of quarters will do. So then I thought an EZ-Pass would be EZ-er so I looked up the Fast Lane stuff for MA (because I already have my non-refundable $27.50 transponder) to make sure it works in NYC and NJ toll booths, then called the Mass Pike people to see if I could re-activate my FastLane transponder, which they said I could, but the real problem is that it takes three days for it to become active in non-MA toll booths, which is NYC, which is precisely why I re-activated the stupid thing in the first place.

Me: "How will I know if it's working out-of-state? Can I check online or something?"
FastLane guy: "We can't monitor the out-of-state activity. You just have to try it."
Me: "So...to see if it's working I have to drive through an EZ-Pass lane and if it fails, I know it's not working? And then I get a ticket for blowing the toll?"
FastLane guy: "Yes ma'am, that's correct."
Me: "Did you just call me ma'am?"

The point is, I get very nervous when an answer is not on the internet. This is incomprehensible to me. It's unsettling. It's "destablizing." So lacking an online option, I decided instead to just check the weather again.

I have a sequence of websites that are all bookmarked for easy access. I will go through the list repeatedly if a) it's first thing in the morning b) it's just after lunch or c) I am really, really bored. The sequence is this:
1) weather.com (including relentless search for current 100 mile doppler reading)
1a) any Local Severe Weather Alerts on weather.com
2) boston.com
2a) check price of RSA's stock to see whether all my options will still be completely WORTHLESS when I lose them Sept. 1
3) ny1.com
4) Petey B. (Boston meteorologist who, when on duty, writes the funniest weather descriptions known to mankind. Props to K-dawg on this find.)
5) back to weather.com (to compare it to Petey B., of course)
6) miami.com to read the latest Dave Barry columns, which occur daily lately while he is at the Olympics
7) earthlink.net to check my email, if any
8) weather.com again, just in case it's changed in the last 4 minutes.

When I'm done, I usually send some silly email to my sister like "my nose is itchy" or "I like cheese" to which she responds "k." Then I get up and crack my back, sit down, and start all over again.