No Internet Connection? However Will I Manage?

So the worst thing imaginable happened today. My internet was out. All. Day. Long. (Well, not quite. Most all day. Okay, maybe something like six hours so far. I tend to exaggerate when cataclysmic events occur.)

 

But, seriously. This is one of my worst nightmares. Sitting here with no TV to watch. No emails to read. No games to play on my phone. No Social Media to peruse. And, worst of all – no checking Amazon to see if they sell White Duct tape. (Don’t ask.)

 

But, OMG – it’s like we’ve descended into the Ice Age around here.

 

Actually, that’s not true since it hit 90-something degrees today. I’d be accurate and tell you more precisely today’s high temperature – but I don’t have Internet, so I can’t check my phone, my Apple watch OR ask Alexis. (Who just tells me she’s having trouble connecting and then shuts up and goes dark on me.)

 

I can’t remember the last time there was such an extended period of time without the Internet. Sure, there are the occasional storms that temporarily knock out the electricity and my WiFi. Once the power comes back on, I have to fiddle with the TV remote a few times checking connectivity, but it usually comes back on without incident.

 

So far I’ve gotten three text messages from AT&T telling me they’re “hard at work” restoring my Internet. When the first message popped up saying there was an Internet outage in my area and they expect to get it back on by 11:00 PM, I was a little nonplussed.

 

Usually they under-promise and over-deliver – so I figured we’d be back online in no time. Well, it is now six hours later and still nuthin’.

 

Maggie's either bored...or hot!

So I had to resort to other means of entertainment today. Like catching up on my laundry. And taking Maggie on extra walks. Which, frankly, I don’t think she much appreciated. It was hot out there.

 

I even read a book and wrote a letter.

 

Go me!

 

Actually, reading a book and writing a letter aren’t all that unusual. I write at least one letter a month, which is a definite slowdown from my younger years. I don’t want to shock anyone or anything by writing too much or too often.

 

And I’ve been a voracious reader since I was a kid, although I was off my game a bit after my mom and then Vince died. For some reason, it was hard for me to concentrate on the written page and I’d frequently finish a chapter having no clue what I’d just read.

 

But, since I’m back in book club with my old neighborhood, I’ve been reading a lot more. And, lately, I’ve also been reading a series of books written by a guy who lives in Northern Michigan (They’re the Ray Elkin series by Aaron Stander, if you were wondering). My cousin loaned me four of the books in the series and I told her last September that I’d read them and bring them back when I head up north at the end of June. That gave me ten whole months to read four measly books. I could do that in my sleep.

 

Yeah, not so much.

 

I ran across those four books on the shelf in my spare room and realized that the end of June was fast approaching and I’d either better get busy reading – or bring them back unread. Since I at least try to finish tasks that I commit to, I started a bit of a reading marathon the other week and finished the first four. Now I’m on the sixth book in the series. Guess I like them. They’re an easy read and keep me entertained.

 

Which, again, is a good thing since I Have. No. Internet.

 

Sheesh. You would think I spent my whole life “connected,” which I most assuredly have not since I predate Google by…several decades. (See? Here again, I’d check to find out when Google arrived on the scene…but I can’t.)

 

I do remember in the early 80s getting some sort of Intranet thing at Ross Labs and marveling at being able to send messages to friends on other floors in the building. I thought that was some SciFi kind of magic and was eagerly awaiting the next technological invention.

 

On the other hand, I do worry sometimes that, for some of us, our lives are SO connected that if we were to be globally hacked, we would be in such big trouble. Like me. Everything I do and everything I have is online. Passwords. Phone numbers. Directions.

 

I don’t even own a paper map anymore. And, with my sense of direction (or lack thereof), how would I get anywhere?

 

The other day I went to the bank to withdraw some cash. I rarely go to the bank to do, well, banking anymore – but I needed some actual bills for a couple of graduation gifts. Only I couldn’t remember my account number. Or my PIN. I knew the teller would be able to take my ID and look it up, but I was trying to be efficient and look it up on my banking app so I could write it down on the withdrawal slip. Except that I didn’t know where to find my full Account number – usually only the last four digits are displayed and you have to clickety-click somewhere to get the full number.

 

So the 20-something Teller showed the old lady Customer how to work her phone and get her account number. This was helpful at the time, but I’m not positive I will remember if and when there is a next time.

 

Anyway, my point is that I’m a prime example of how reliant I am on technology and the Internet these days.

 

What I intended to make. No "after" photo of
what I actually DID make.

I’m planning to meet with some friends later this week for dinner. I said I’d bring dessert, which was going to be some sort of lemon tart thing I saw on an online video. Except since we’ve been warned about this massive heat wave this week, I wasn’t sure I wanted to put any extra strain on the A/C by turning on the oven. So instead I figured I’d bring fresh fruit. And I saw this really cute tray of fruit that looked like a flower that someone posted on Pinterest. Only I can’t access it to see how they did it or what fruit they used.

 

So I can’t go to the grocery store until I have photo in hand (or more precisely, photo on my phone in hand).  Let’s hope this connectivity problem is resolved by tomorrow or else I may be tossing some grapes and strawberries on a tray and calling it a day. Sorry, ladies. My creativity was stunted by my lack of Internet access.

 

I guess it’s a good thing I can type this blog in my Word document. I just can’t post it until the Internet comes back. Nor can I upload any pictures to accompany the blog.

 

And I still can’t check Amazon to see if they sell White Duct tape. Dang. Let’s just hope in the meantime I don’t forget why I wanted to know if they make white duct tape in the first place.