Is it possible to “go off the grid”?

Let me start by saying that I am not a political person.  This is not a post about civil rights etc.  I am however A THINKER (referred to as OVER thinker by most).  This morning’s overthinking began when I signed into to hear I song that was on my mind.  I have to give you a few more details before I get to the point, because I don’t want to cause you to overthink my reason for listening to the song.

Many of you know, but for those of you that don’t, the last couple weeks have been a bit stressful for me.  The most obvious stressor  being Sarah’s death, and because of that other things have been carrying more weight on my shoulders than they should.

  1. Einstein has not fixed his car yet, so he has been relying on me, to either get up at the butt crack of dawn and take him to work, and then go again in the afternoon and pick him up OR surrender my car for him to use.  Most days I have given up the car.  This starts the “butterfly effect” or chain reaction.  I have to move all of my doctor appointments to the following week, do all of my shopping online etc etc.  So next week will be busy as hell.
  2. My damn coffee maker broke AGAIN….. If you know anything about me, this needs no further explanation.
  3. and so on and so on…. basically my whole “routine is down the drain”

To “get through” the week, I have held on to the fact that today would be a “just chill” day.  When the alarm went off at 5:00 am, I smiled when I shut it off and tossed the phone.  I went back to sleep.  I won’t call it “Restful” though, because when I am dreaming I work out a lot of things that have been stressing me out.  Either way, when I did FINALLY get out of bed at 8:00 this morning, my ” precoffee” thoughts were….UGH, some days “I hate people”…..smh

As I walked into the kitchen to turn on the coffee maker, I remembered a song I used to listen to.  You guessed it… “I hate people”, by Theory of a Deadman.  I opened up Youtube, typed the song in search and hit play.  I hit the button on the coffee maker, and let the dogs out.  When I came back into the room the song had finished playing and I had missed it, so I typed it in again. But then I had to leave the room to pee.  When I came back the song had finished again.

Is the Third Time a charm?

THIS TIME, I grabbed my coffee, sat in front of the computer and typed it in again… “I hate my life”….As I took my first sip of coffee and youtube reloaded. This is what I saw….i hate my life


Seriously?!?!?!?  I type “I hate my life” and INSTANTLY I am spammed with suicide prevention ads?!??!…..Start sending me coffee maker ads or how to receive your coffee in an iv form!!!!  I instantly ” look around” (searching for a hidden camera)  Seriously?!?!? I guess I said that before, but one more time…SERIOUSLY?!?!?!?

Enough of this spying on people Big brother shit!!!! 

THAT is what I am writing about now

Does the U.S. Constitution give you the right to privacy?

The answer is NO!…. funny for some reason I thought it did.  OH shit, more overthinking…..and lots of reading and googling etc…..smh

I have given in to the whole tradeoff thing…. Convenience vs. Privacy to save money on gas when I signed up for a “discount” card at the super market.

I also use google maps quite frequently to navigate.  I have only just recently, by accident learned that google tracks ALL of your activity.  Google knows where your cell phone is at any given time day or night.  WTF?!?!  and the sad thing is I am sure I surrendered my right to privacy when I agreed to let them “help me with directions”….smh

The biggest battle I am having right now is with Einstein’s purchase of Alexa.  I was in the kitchen the other day and mentioned maybe trying a new recipe for Meatloaf.  (Alexa is NOT allowed in my kitchen).  When I went back into the adjacent room a few hours later to “check” facebook, my news feed was loaded with recipes for Meatloaf.  Enough already!!!!!!

When you buy a smart tv, if you don’t UNCLICK the button to turn off voice activation, you are allowing them to record 24/7..

I know that I probably sound like a paranoid freak, and that no one really wants to know that much about what I do, but I personally think I need to rethink the whole convenience vs privacy thing. I am going to spend more time researching “how to live off the grid”  Is there such a thing as privacy?

In the meantime, while I am still using the internet…let me throw you a bone big brother…  I would like to be the first to know

  1. When coffee comes in IV form and how to get it?
  2. Where Coors Light is on sale?  Because I am going to start drinking.
  3. Is privacy even real?

On that note, does anyone have any thoughts to share, want to have a debate with me?  Maybe even a beer….I’m “buying”.

What are your thoughts?


24 thoughts on “Is it possible to “go off the grid”?

  1. By pure chance I found your post here and was intrigued enough by the title to read the whole post. I don’t think that you are paranoid, I do not think that you are crazy in wanting to go “off the grid”, I have had the same thoughts myself recently. My thoughts on privacy is simply: If “they” (whomever “they” are) want to see what I do online (schoolwork and dog-training videos) and get a picture of what I do in real life (schoolwork and training my dogs) then…I really do not care all that much. Perhaps a cavalier way to look at things, but I have too many other immediately challenging life-items to deal with than to think about the “what-ifs” of government spying and datamining. Again, I do NOT think you are paranoid, just more interested. (:

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you for reading AND for commenting!! Normally I am in the same boat as far as REAL life concerns, but my boyfriend has my car this week, and I was tired of being sad about the funeral, so this was a welcome distraction…. It does still have me thinking though. I have always thought too that I am not a bad person, let them look, but the fraud investigator in me has me hung up on it today. It’s scary the information “bad people” can find out about you with just your phone number


    1. USING THEM!!!… No I didn’t break another one ( although I did drop the pot when I opened the box 😦 ) That was a summary of little things adding up to be a big thing. And I’m not political because I have decided to spend the little energy I have not fighting over something I feel I have no control over

      Liked by 1 person

  2. I think I worked in criminal justice for too long. I want to know what people are doing. I want to know who is around my family. I want to know who lives where and if they really have a puppy. I want to know!!! Yes, you have a right to privacy but you do not have a right to privacy using a computer, using a computer is a privilege. As is driving, shopping in a public grocery store, carrying a cell phone… see? There are things that are private and there are things that are privileges. We tend to forget someone paid a dear price for our freedom but now we see everything as a “right” and not a privilege… Oh heck… I really don’t have the answer. I could care less who watches me, I’m the most boring human being in the world. I get a lil’ crazy watching hockey… but otherwise, chill. This distraction works! I must give you that! Ha!~Kim

    Liked by 1 person

      1. I was a director of a work-release for men just getting out of prison, one of the biggest in Seattle WA. Like being a Warden in a prison but my population, 70 inmates … were not behind bars. Everyone gets out of prison, I dealt with them, getting back into the population.

        Liked by 1 person

  3. This is a big topic of debate at our home. Having homeschooled my son we discussed this at length, privacy vs internet. My take is that the internet is a privilege and when you are on it you’ve completely agreed that anything you do/say is not private. It does bother me that we aren’t informed in anything more than a 2 font that cell phones and computers or internet are not to be considered private but we’ve all glossed over the fine print, it is there. Personally I’ll give up my privacy if Facebook helps locate criminals and missing children or tracking a cell phone means locating people. I’m totally okay with that, but I realize I stand very alone in this opinion. We do have a right to privacy and freedom of speech but it does not include cell phones and the internet. And it’s because of that that you won’t ever find Alexa or google on my countertop. Simply my personal preference. It’s creepy when Facebook shows ads for things you were talking about but it’s also a reminder that there’s a price for that privilege…in my opinion. Great topic! Hoping E gets his car fixed so you can resume your life.🌸

    Liked by 1 person

    1. While I was overthinking this yesterday, my brain took it 500 steps further…So I mentioned that I don’t like Alexa, but my friends and family do. So when I am at my children’s houses and they are having a completely confidential conversation with their mother ( whom facebook knows is me, because they have tagged me as such) are they still gathering information about ME. when I didn’t agree to use the privilege? I mean if I stopped using my cell phone and internet etc, I would still be “monitored” THAT is the part that is creepy. I know that no one meaning not ONE person is going to review all of that, but with AI and a computer program, it is possible to know what everyone is doing all the time. So even if someone tried to live “off the grid” I don’t know if it’s possible

      Liked by 1 person

      1. My mom lived in the country off the grid, no electricity (they had an alternate power source), no cell phone. It can be done it’s just that I for instance have chosen to give up my privacy for the luxury of using the technology. I totally get what you’re saying, that it’s nearly everywhere. It is, nearly. I used to watch that show where people were moving to Alaska to get away from it all. They were giving up all the fancy, fun stuff we choose to use to be free of it all. I think times are a changin’ rapidly. Can you escape? Yes. Do you want to live in Juno, Alaska? Probably not. And I’ll close by saying I’m in no way trying to be argumentative. 😬Again I realize my views are vastly different from most on this topic. Just sharing my thoughts. Hoping today is best as can be for you.🌸

        Liked by 1 person

      2. MISHKA…. I love that your views are different than mine on several things….. it allows me an opportunity to learn and discuss, and even sometimes debate. How can I learn if I don’t consider everything? I know in my heart I could NEVER “disappear” my kids are my life and even a day of not talking to them or knowing they are ok would destroy me…. I just wonder what else I would have to sacrifice, already knowing I don’t want to live in Alaska :P… I do however want to travel there and see the northern lights

        Liked by 1 person

  4. I’m equally fascinated and paranoid about Big Brother. I find the technology so clever and do try to look at the big picture, example, to be able to use SatNav my location has to be known! I hear people complain about Big Brother, but they still want and expect all the benefits of modern life that it provides, not least keeping us safe from criminals. I used the word ‘bomb’ in a post the other day and am nervous that I’ll get a knock on my door. And maybe you will too now that I’ve also written ‘bomb’ here! 😉

    Liked by 1 person

    1. lol I wondered the same thing, if “white coats” would knock on my door today because I specifically said “I hate my life” in my post 20 times… in all reality the worse thing that will probably happen is that fb will pop up on my mother’s computer screen saying “It’s been 20 mins since you have talked to Grace…send her a message”
      I KNOW that sounds paranoid, but here is a story… I signed into my old facebook account the other day to see if anyone I have not added to Grace, sent messages about the funeral, within 10 minutes….10 MINUTES… I had 40 messages in my inbox of people ” waving at me” that couldn’t be a coincidence?!?!? So I messaged one of them back saying, Did you wave at me or did fb tell you to wave at me?….sure enough, something had popped up on their screen saying “so and so” just installed messenger…say hi to her…….

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Big Brother is definitely out there…. Perhaps that’s how we should try and view it, not just as all powerful all seeing, but as a big brother who’s looking out for you, hence your Samaritan helpline 😉


  5. Does Einstein know he is risking his life when you get up at the butt crack of dawn and drive him to work BEFORE you have your coffee? As far as the other stuff is concerned, it is what it is. You can do certain things to limit the intrusion, but unless you want to live in a cabin somewhere on the dark side of the moon with only a land line and no TV, good luck. Here’s a scary thought, what if they can track what you are doing and where you are through your state of the art coffee maker (just kidding)

    Liked by 1 person

  6. Loved this one and yet again this made me chuckle. Glad you gave the heads up on Alexa I was mulling over getting one, but with that bit of info I’ll refrain. I hate Siri talking out of turn, I don’t need another heifer pissing me off. lol

    Liked by 1 person

  7. Privacy is such a recent concept, no? A hundred years ago, every neighbour knew your business. And then there was this bit of privacy in the suburban sprawl, in the fifties, lasted for about fifty years, and now it’s being decimated by virtuality. Seems more like the natural order of things being restored, no?


    1. There is a difference between Knowing your neighbors though and “thinking” you know your neighbors, for example… I absolutely LOVE my animals, most animals in fact, but today, when D.O.G. peed on the carpet, I said, “D.O.G. you are such an asshole.” That should have been said in the PRIVACY of my home, but now it is left “out there” for someone to consider me an animal hater. I just think there should be SOME limits.


      1. Yes, of course. It’s just that there really used to be none. And people minded and moved to the big cities to get away from the scrutiny. And now privacy is being lost again. Or being voluntarily given up, if you consider what goes on on social networks.


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