More Interactive than TV

I suppose I've always been fairly proficient at wasting time. Perhaps these skills were honed by working several years in Saudi Arabia. Nah, well before that, as a child, I used to spend hours with catalogs and magazines. One could always count on television too. As I went to college back in the day when eighteen year-olds could drink, there was, of course, the possibility of sitting in the pub. Still, decades ago I feel there were fewer options. We are now blessed with numerous new ways to while away the hours. I imagine that some with addictive personalities find the Internet as the greatest way to suck up free time.

Lately, I've been spending a lot of time thinking about a winter retirement retreat. I live in one of the warmest places in Canada as it is, but I remember making childish drawings of coconut trees well before I could produce the outline of a maple leaf. I'm not quite yet 50 but already work part-time. In another five years I'll certainly be ready to live on a measly pension and a bit of savings. Given these facts, I have been recently wasting time on the Internet.

Online I can pick an area, dig right down to a very specific neighbourhood, and start an online investigation. I can learn the going prices for real estate, the local laws regarding ownership, and all sorts of relevant data. Then, I can search for photographs, email a local Realtor, and even plan financing. I guess this really isn't wasting time. I did use the word 'investigation' in this paragraph, didn't I?

Here's the floor plan of an apartment building being constructed near the Katunayake International Airport in Sri Lanka.