I went to the desert without Google: REFRAME. (Shall I mail you?)

 I. Boots on the Ground

Now that I have seen actual boots on actual ground,
it is time for me to get more serious about changing up my Tech Life.

Last year, getting off Tech for Trump after his inauguration was mostly symbolic. Not that symbols aren't powerful, but it felt remote, like The Cloud (not a cloud). 
Now I have seen real human beings in combat gear on my streets, 
the power of Big Tech is not remote.
Not even remotely.

I know I'm highly emotional about this topic (practically shaking, writing about about it---as well as remaining perfectly rational);
 so before I make any final move, like closing down my blogspot blog (here), I am going to jump on February's 
Resist & Unsubscribe [< NPR] 
Boycott of Big Tech industries.

There's only one week left in February, as of today––
but tomorrow is the first Sunday of Lent.

Perfect!
 I will fast from Google for 6 weeks
--from tomorrow, Sunday, February 22, until Sunday, April 5, 2026 (Easter Sunday). 

That includes youTube, and here, Blogger. 
(I closed my accounts with the other companies last year, or I never used them in the first place. I own Apple tech, and when the time comes to replace it, I'll get something else.)
I'll take these weeks to switch over completely to Proton mail. (I never did the work of changing my accounts for gas & electric, for instance.)

II. INSTEAD . . . 
I am going to do what I am always saying I am going to do (and then don't because I write so much of most-everything here, on my blog):
Send paper mail.
To friends, but also to people I don't know to say thank you, 
or to say, please stop doing that.

* * *  Shall I send you something in the mail?
Let me know in the comments.  
I just enabled COMMENT MODERATION, 
so if I don't already have your address, you can leave it in a comment, and I won't post that comment.

Overseas is OK. I even have old aerograms! Look:

And a flying dino ^ 25¢ stamp, which I'm going to use to write to Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google, to tell him I'm boycotting his company.
Like he'll care.
But the stamp might amuse the underling who reads his mail. 

Here's Pichai, below, center, at Trump's 2nd inauguration, 2025.
(As you know, left is Amazon's Jeff Bezos; right is Elon Musk.)

You never know what impact you'll have. 
Maybe none. 
But I know I will have an impact on me, myself. 
And that's where I live.
________________________

III. Meanwhile, I am happy, happy, happy! to see these developments...

1. A thousand+ Google employees petitioned Google stop supporting ICE [Guardian article] with Cloud Services, to end contracts, etc.

2. Yesterday the US Supreme Court ruled that Trump had overstepped in tariffs. 
I didn't know if the Court would ever rule against him.

3. The day before that, you'll have seen the photo:
He's-No-Prince Andrew of GB was arrested, with his brother, King Charles, giving "whole-hearted" support to the law.

Hooray for Law! It is codified human intelligence. (Not that it's perfect––neither is our intelligence.)
______________

Okay, then.
I feel lighter and happier, having made this decision to boycott Google. 

I HATED knowing I was in any way supporting a company that actively helped agents to do evil in my own city--and the country.
And the world!

So... It's good for me to take time to discern. Do I want to... 
Stay on Blogger?
Quit blogging?
Move elsewhere?

I'll post in 6 weeks and say what I've decided.

Meanwhile--mail me a letter, eh?

Thanks, everyone--sparkle on!