A few days ago I stumbled across a blog written by a woman who was perplexed at how complicated life had become in this day and age. This lady is an educated, high-level executive who deals with some fairly intricate issues in her job, so if things today are much too complex for her, then it is probably like that for many of us.

She started out by saying she voted in almost every election and had always considered herself to be informed about matters facing our nation. For the past few weeks she had overheard numerous conversations among her employees, business associates and others about the current debt ceiling debate. She admitted she was really not up on the issue, but sensing this was an important topic she set out to get up to speed.

That evening she watched the evening network news, but came away more confused than before after being spoonfed just a few highlights on the debt ceiling issue. The following day she made it a point to listen to a couple of hours of talk radio hoping to gain a little more depth, but felt she was eavesdropping on a conversation with people from another world. The talk show host and guests were throwing around unfamiliar terms like CBO scoring, and spent most of their time exploring the political nuances of the machinations taking place between Congress and the president.

That afternoon she set aside an hour just to explore the Internet for more information. Surely there was a newspaper or politically-based website somewhere that could break this whole convoluted mess down to the basics so that she could easily comprehend it. Unfortunately, that was not to be.

This lady is not a political junkie. She has a hectic career along with a family to raise. Her children have sports and music practices each week along with homework to do. There are groceries to buy, meals to cook, bills to pay and clothes to wash. Though her income may be above average, she lives a very traditional American life. She wants to be a good citizen, but can't spare an extra five, 10 or 15 hours a week just to keep up with what is going on inside the halls of power in Washington D.C.

Unfortunately, it is not just politics draining the life out of us. After reading her blog, I spent a few minutes pondering all of the other complications that have crept into our lives over recent decades. Don't get me wrong, I love most of the technological advancements we now enjoy, but it seems we've all become addicted to constant stimulation. There is almost no time to just hang out and enjoy life.

My home and office are filled with technical gadgets, and I have built about 200 websites in recent years. I am by no means a technophobe, but I made a conscious decision to not have a smartphone. It's already a pain maintaining a PC, and I don't need the hassle of downloading, configuring and updating countless apps all the time. Heck, I even have text messaging blocked on my regular cellphone. I refuse to be tied to an electronic device that buzzes every few minutes eating away at my time. Plus who wants to shell out big bucks every month to pay for all this portable whiz-bang goodness? This will probably shock most of you, but I probably use less than 25 minutes a month of talk time on my cell.

As a child playing in our city youth football league for boys ages 10 to 12, we practiced each afternoon Monday through Wednesday and played our weekly game on Thursday. The regular season lasted only six weeks and was followed up by the season finale between the regular season champs and the all stars picked from the other teams. Today kids as young as 6 are playing on special traveling teams where the season can last several months. There's also pressure to attend camps and training academies during the summer for fear of falling behind the other players when the season resumes. Baseball and basketball are usually more intensive than football and many kids play all three. It's too much on the kids and too much on the parents.

This afternoon I received word that one of my childhood neighbors from Cedartown, Elise Hicks, had passed away. She and her husband Lewis lived two houses down from our family. Their backyard was our neighborhood hangout and almost every day a group of us kids would gather around the wooden swing under their silver maple tree.

Back then summer vacation lasted a full three months and school didn't resume until around Labor Day. Every day was a new adventure. No sports practices or organized activities, just kids being kids. We rode bikes, explored in some nearby woods and fished a local creek. We played chess, Monopoly and Life while listening to the latest records we had purchased. Sometimes we would wrestle, have dirt clod battles or shoot at each other with BB guns. From sunup until dark we enjoyed a life with no pressure, just adventure of our own choosing.

Today it seems our kids are in constant motion as they shuffle off from one scheduled activity to another. In between they pound away firing off text messages to their buddies, post status updates on Facebook, or pop out another tweet on Twitter. Many kids have never even explored their own backyard, much less spent a day in the woods.

Sometimes it's tempting to sell the house, close down my businesses and move to the middle of nowhere. Unfortunately, technology would probably follow me there and I would still spend too much time trying to keep up with the folks who operate Government Gone Wild.

Follow me on Twitter @chuckshiflett and also check out my statewide columns at: The Backroom Report.