Sometimes I feel like I've just rebooted my machines.

... But then I run uptime, and see something like this:

18:54:05 up 8 days,  4:42
8 users,  load average: 1.71, 0.75, 0.64

It often surprises me how long my machines have been running in the background without supervision. Often weeks, but I've even had months pass.

I love the stability of modern systems.

Yet I wonder: why do such timeframes of operation feel so significant when applied to machines?