The fifth appendage

I am on vacation this week. I officially began vacation when I left work on Friday, and since then I feel like I'm in an episode of "Punked."

I began vacation with a Friday evening appointment with the eye doctor, who proceeded to make me paranoid about having a detached retina. (I don't, but she planted a seed that I can't get past. She hit my paranoia button and ramped it up…)

I should have known then that I was in a mini-funk. Well that continued Saturday as I got to security at Denver International Airport only to realize I left my iPhone in my mom's car when she dropped us off. Yes, I am now on vacation in San Diego until Wednesday night with no cell phone. I feel like I've lost a part of myself. I spent most of yesterday thinking I needed to check something on my phone every two minutes, only to sadly realize that I didn't have it.

Cell phones to my generation are like an extension of our being, or a fifth appendage. It is said the average person looks at their mobile phone 150 times per day. I might look at mine more frequently than that, particularly on weekends when I am not at my computer all day long. Going from that to pretty much nothing (Lindsay graciously allowed me to load Twitter on her phone so I'm not completely cut off) is like going Cold Turkey on a serious addiction.

I have been reading the book "Sticking Points" on my trip. It's a book that looks at the differences between the four generations — Traditionalists, Boomers, Gen-X, and Millenials — and how to capitalize on those differences. But it begins by looking at the generations.

In reading it, I think I have tendencies of Gen-X and Millenials, which makes sense since I'm right on the border (Gen-X is born 1965-1980 and Millenials are born 1981 to 2001). But in the sense of phones and technology, I'm a Millenial. It noted that 83 percent of Millenials sleep with their phone, or sleep with it right beside them and on all night. Check. It noted that Millenials spend an average of 53 hours a week engaged in media. Check plus, as I'd say that would be a conservative estimate for me.

So spending a few days with occasional computer time, no cell phone and limited TV is like going into something of a media blackout. While that might sound like bliss to people in older generations (or at least no big thing), after just one day I feel like I'm going borderline crazy. Maybe that's a good thing — but ask me again on Thursday...