Since Friday my house has been without an internet connection and I noticed how addicted to the World Wide Web I’ve become. I can go days, weeks, even months without the internet when I’m travelling or otherwise busy and don’t miss it one bit. But now, being a journalism student quite reliant on an internet connection, my fingers itch each time I start up my computer and I’m tempted to double-click the icon that holds a wealth of entertainment and information. Checking emails, reading the latest news from around the world, communicating with friends in all corners of the world and last but definitely not least updating this very blog used to be possible with a click of the mouse. It’s amazing, really, how addicted I’ve become. Which makes me wonder – does the internet count as a drug? After all, you constantly keep an eye on the connection symbol, your fingers urge to hit those keys and you grow frustrated when the connection is cut. For the time being, I have to walk to the Learning Gateway, the Fusehill Street computer room or Brampton Road’s News Room, PC suites or library to go online. My lovely housemate, (Haha! The deliberate sarcasm in this!) has not paid the phone and broadband bills since March 2008, which is why we got suspended. Although I am sure deep down inside that I can spend my time wisely (I could, for example, finish all those projects I started) I am longing for some distraction. I don’t have a telly (can’t afford the licence), so I watch all my favourite shows online. My communication with home is usually via ICQ, Messenger or Skype – all internet based. Normally, I chat to my friends, including my best friend, every night, like a ritual. Now I realize, how much I miss this connection to home. I’m stuck in a place I don’t really want to be in with people I get along with but who, for the most part, haven’t become more than acquaintances in the 1 ½ years I’ve known them now. Well, my housemate’s gonna get a kicking for not paying up (although he asked for money several times) and I hope for his sake, that our house will be reconnected by the middle of the week!