by Tina Z. Velgos

Hi. My name is Tina and I'm an Internetaholic. Today is the 395th day of my second year online. I have been urged by my loved ones to resist the temptations of the cyberworld. Maybe, you can relate to this plight. I do try to quit, at least once a day.

I've given up coffee in the morning. Instead, I allow the seductive sounds of a screeching modem to lift my spirits and pump my heart just a byte faster. No caffeine involved, Doc. This creature, dubbed the Internet, beckons me morning, noon and night. Cool site of the day? Been there. Incoming e-mail? Done that several times a day. Whose adrenalin doesn't rush when the "new mail has arrive" chimes so innocently?

Nancy Reagan, your "Just Say No" campaign did not work for me. I say, "Yes, yes, yes" to the Internet. There are too many paths to take, places to explore, Webheads to meet. If I can enlighten just one Internet-challenged individual in a day, life is good. Living the off-line life must be done one day at a time.

Is a second phone line merited in a case like mine? Guilt dictates that I take a break every hour or so, just in case I have an incoming emergency call. There are other things I can do away from a computer. I can read a book on HTML and dream about designing a web page. I can browse the magazines stands in search of new computing magazines, with their shrink-wrapped disks promising 10 free hours of online bliss. Shrink-wrapped temptations, more likely! Hold on to your credit card numbers as you can be strong and resist the impulsive decision (you and I both know that local Internet Service Providers offer better deals than the major servers). I can go to the bookstore and check out the latest computer titles. Then, there's always those software catalogs.

I'm all for recycling. There's got to be lots of creative uses for those freebie CD-ROMS I've collected in the past year.I could hang CD-ROMs from my rear-view mirror, use them as a drinks coaster, make windchimes out of them, the list could be endless. If you have a better idea on what to do with them, drop me a line (e-mail, of course).

It gets a little more challenging to go online once my daughter is home from school. Competing with a pre-teen for the phone line can get ugly. Who's faster -- an 11-year-old with a touch-tone phone or me and my 28.8 baud modem? Let's talk baud and parity bits!! Sorry, I'm getting carried away again. Hello......

Our school district recently announced they are teaming up with a local Internet Service Provider (ISP) to get all the kids in the school district online! Even though the children "netsters" can practice their keyboard strokes while surfing, would you rather see your kids in a chat room, learning every emoticon (that hip, happy face of the 90s) known to mankind, or memorizing a Social Studies chapter on U.S. Presidents?

Who needs daytime soaps and talk shows on TV when you have access to the Internet? I'd rather subscribe to a ListServ and participate in discussions with people who have similar interests to mine, than watch Oprah in the afternoon. You can't download a QuickTime movie on Beverly Hills 90210. The World Wide Web has television beat with its video, real-time sound and extensive text information.

So, give me a Mac, a fast modem, a good Hot List, a CD-ROM drive and Eudora and I'll be a happy camper. Is that too much to ask?

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