I had a deadline to meet when I woke up on March 19. So after going through my morning waking routine, I picked up my laptop and started to work.

My girlfriend and I recently moved into a new apartment in Capitol Hill, in part for its scenic view of downtown Seattle, but there was certainly no time to dilly dally on this day.

After roughly an hour of typing and researching medical marijuana legislation, I inadvertently landed on my former newspaper’s home page. A few words in a headline caught my attention.

“News helicopter crashes near Seattle’s Space Needle”

I looked up through my windows for a direct view of the Space Needle. And yet, there was no ghastly plume of smoke. Nothing out of the ordinary at all, as far as I could tell.

I had missed the whole terrible thing as it unfolded right in front of me. And I only found out by visiting a website – in Iowa.

Now, please don’t misunderstand me. I don’t mean to be callous or downplay this tragedy; this isn’t a story about my desire to watch terrible accidents and death unfold, or a way to gloat about the modest view from my one-bedroom apartment. More than anything, I saw this as an instance of being both grateful and disheartened about the role of technology in my life.

I rely so heavily on computers, cell phones and the internet in my professional and personal life — from research to March Madness updates. And I love this. I wouldn’t have survived this industry in the age of the typewriter.

But there’s also the headache I get from staring at the daily glow sitting on my desk and plopped in my hand from morning to night. It’s really kind of exhausting.

I recently spent a weekend in Doe Bay, where I actually spent a few moments off-screen. I walked outside and my pockets were free of a cell phone and keys. And even a wallet. It’s a freeing feeling to know you’re not needed or connected.

But that’s the thing about tragedies — whether it a mysterious helicopter accident or a plane vanishing over the ocean, they sure help with perspective. For me, it’s a reminder that life is indeed short and that terrible things do happen. And sometimes that means shutting down the computer and watching the next disaster through the window.