I’ve always prided myself in being computer literate and able to figure out new adventures such as blogging and social media. After all, lots of folks my age never had the advantage of working in a company where computers were the only way to get things done. I was blessed to get years of on-the-job education and training that kept me current with the ever-changing modern technology.

But lately I’ve begun to dig in my heels. A lot of what is happening these days is unnecessary and ridiculously isolating. Think of all those folks who won’t make eye contact with you because they’re looking at their phone or watch. Think of the guy who walked right in front of my moving car a few weeks ago because he decided to jog across the street in the middle of the block, his attention on whatever his handheld gadget was. I missed him by a hair, and I’m not sure he even noticed.

So here’s my plan. I’m going to take a different path and admit I’m becoming an old fogie. No, I won’t go back to using a typewriter, but….

I’m keeping my dumb phone.

I like my dumb watch just fine.

I refuse to wear one of those fitness devices that measures things going on in my body or the number of steps I take each day.

When I use my recumbent exercise bike, I will not turn on the heart monitor or enter my weight to check calories burned. I ignore everything except the time and the resistance level.

The only touch screen I use is on my Samsung Galaxy 4 Nook tablet. And to be perfectly honest, I don’t use it that much. It’s great for travel and for reading an ebook downloaded from the library, but I’m more of a hands-on printed hardcover reader when I’m not on the road.

We will never buy a car that drives itself, including one that parallel parks without my intervention.

I don’t want all my computers and devices hooked to the same cloud where all my activity can be monitored in greater detail than it already is.

I will not buy a drone, even for fun.

Nor will I purchase a robot (or a synth–if you’ve been watching Humans on AMC, you’ll know what I’m talking about…they’re just too creepy).

And I do not want that super, duper, special new thermostat installed that would allow our utility company to control our energy usage.

Have I forgotten anything?

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In case I don’t get around to posting on Wednesday, please come back on Thursday when my special guest blogger is Lois Winston, author of the Anastasia Pollack mystery series (and she writes in lots of other genres, too).