Techno, Yo.

Technology is nowhere near Jetsons-level in 2013 (I really wanted that kitchen in which I could punch the button of the menu I wanted and it would be instantly delivered), but it’s still pretty amazing.

Everyone is connected, all the time. Phones are permanently affixed to hands. Everything seems to require a swipe or a click for easy access. Liars and plagiarists can be exposed instantly with a quick trip to Googleland.

I’m as guilty as anyone. I panic if I fall out of Wi-Fi access and am in an area that even my 4G can’t keep up with. We bought a picturesque 26-acre farm piece of property with a pond, but our internet access is horrible, so instead of admiring the sweeping view that looks hand painted by Bob Ross and God combined, I gripe that there is no signal while ignoring the beauty.

There has been so much new technology in the last five years that I couldn’t even begin to tell you all of it. Even looking it up would take more time than I have (because who has time anymore, really?). What I do know is that my life is much more tech-savvy today than it was in 2008, and there is one advance in the last five years that changed my life significantly.

In 2008, my husband and I made our debut as a couple. He is a union boilermaker, and his job keeps him on the road four to five months each year. His busy seasons are in the spring and in the fall. Guess when we started dating?

With him working 12 to 16 hour shifts, in very loud conditions, there weren’t a lot of potentially tender moments for us as a new couple. I knew that I really liked him, but why would I want to date someone I could never see or talk to? I didn’t hate myself THAT much. Plus, I hated talking on the phone. After more than five minutes, my ear would get sweaty and I would start doing other things, rendering my conversation little more than occasional grunts to prove I was still participating.

Then, the technological advance that saved my new relationship: texting. We each bought a 200-per-month text package, knowing that there was no way we could use up that many texts, and within five days, when we had surpassed that number, we upgraded to unlimited.

Suddenly, we could “talk” all we wanted. When he was at work, waiting for the machines to get his area ready for welding, he now had something to do to fill the hours. We could text, and boy, did we text. I got to know him better through text than I could have in countless dinner-and-movie dates.

The more we texted, the more I liked him. Every time we had even the most random thought, we could communicate it in spite of the miles and job. When he did get back home, it seemed like we had known each other forever – in a good way. There were no obstacles.

When I got a new outfit, he wanted to see it. BAM – I sent it to him via picture text. This text-nology was fantastic! I was aware of the internet, and I was aware of this new thing called the iPhone (my sister had one), but I didn’t need any of that. I had everything I needed in my world with this unlimited texting. I thought everyone should have it. I told people how my life had changed since I started texting. I started sneaking my phone with me to work.

I wouldn’t recommend doing that.

Now, in an ironic twist, the very thing that helped catapult my relationship from dating to marriage is probably the same thing that will cause my divorce. Every time my husband is home between jobs, he’s telling me to “put that damn phone down.”

So it’s not all sunshine and rainbows. But even now, five years after I purchased my first text package, it is my preferred way to communicate. I still hate talking on the phone. But give me the ability to type and a device to send my words with, and I’ll be your most available friend.

As long as we don’t have to see each other, that is. I simply don’t have the time.