I wondered in today’s paper if we can ever truly take a vacation from work because of cell phones, e-mail and other personal technology that keeps the office just a quick call or a few clicks away no matter where in the world we go.

Just in the past week, I called four people to interview for various articles I’m working on. All four were on vacation out of state, and all four took my call right away or returned my message within a few hours.

One of them was Dan Buettner, the Minneapolis author and explorer, who was relaxing in the Virgin Islands when I first contacted him. I met him for breakfast once he returned and asked him why he interrupted his vacation to do business essentially. He said he wasn’t bothered at all by it. In fact, he said, he likes the fact that he can keep in touch with the business world while also getting some R&R. “Technology allows me to take a vacation,” he said. That’s an interesting point. As a self-employed person with no formal office, Buettner might be missing important business if he’s not available. 

On the other hand, it’s not just vacationers who can’t escape work. Reader Alexis Todd of Plymouth called to say that she was on doctor-ordered bed rest due to pneumonia. Nevertheless, she still worked 5 1/2 hours on a day when she was supposed to be out sick. Her rest was continually interrupted by e-mails and cell-phone calls from the office. Of course, she admitted, she allowed it to happen. But as a sales manager in tough economic times, she could be losing out on a sale (and its commission) if she doesn’t make herself available. “There’s this fear that even if I drop out of the business world for a day or two, my job is in jeopardy,” she said.

How do you handle your vacation and sick time? Do you really take a break from the office? Or do you let technology keep you available no matter where you are?

Gotta love online games that play off of the news, such as Barack, Paper, Scissors. Created by the USA Rock Paper Scissors League (really), the free game lets players control Democatric presidential candidate Barack Obama in a game of rock, paper, scissors against opponents such as President Bush, Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Democratic rival Hilary Clinton. If you register at the USARPS site, you can add your score to the online leaderboard. The game has some great comedic touches, such as Ahmadinejad standing near a sign that says, “Nuclear facility” — with “nuclear” crossed out and the word “children’s” painted over it. If Obama loses to him, the Iranian president says, “I win! Go and complain to the U.N. about it.” Many of Obama’s catch phrases pepper the proceedings, such as this encouragement if you fail: “We can do it! Yes, we can!”

Other techno-musings:

Super Smash? I finally got around this weekend to playing Super Smash Bros. Brawl, the new sensation for Nintendo’s Wii. I’ve been playing video games pretty much as long as they’ve been in existence, but I have to admit that I’ve never enjoyed fighting games or understood the craze over them. They just amount to mindless button-mashing to me. Still, Super Smash Bros. has received universal acclaim, along with assurances that even non-genre fans will like it. Guess not, in my case — it’s still just a fighting game. My reaction probably is also because I’m not so immersed in Nintendo history that pitting, say, flagship character Mario against Snake (from Konami’s Metal Gear Solid series)  sends me into a fan-boy frenzy. Oh, well — enjoy it, Nintendo fans.

DVD extras: I also watched Rob Roy over the weekend. The 1995 film, starring Liam Neeson as the Scottish folk hero, was one of MGM’s first DVDs when it came out in 1997.  I had to laugh when I discovered a huge mistake in the four-page booklet’s production notes.  It described in detail how the film was shot mostly in Scotland and then the whole production was moved to Perth, Australia, for interior shooting inside two castles. The headline even referred to filming “down under.” The only problem is that the film was shot “entirely in Scotland” — as it notes in the credits — and the Perth in question was the historic Scottish city, not its newer namesake half a world away. Maybe the person who wrote the production notes should have watched the film or, you know, found out more about its production? (And where was quality control on such a huge gaffe?)

Smart shopping: After last week’s column about finding deals online, I have to emphasize that buying online makes so much more sense than shopping in stores if you’re looking for low prices on consumables and accessories. I just bought a new digital camera and thought I’d check while at Target to see how much an SD flash card was. The store had a 1GB card for $20. Yikes. Instead, I ordered one of the highest-rated cards from Newegg with twice the storage capacity for less than $8.