An Unplugged Moment

The cable company struck again on Friday. From noon until noon the next day there was no cable, no internet. It's not like this doesn't happen around this time every year, it's just usually shorter outages, maybe four hours or so.

I took it in stride. After all, I was already prepared because my schedule had been varied. I was all set for a potential disaster. So, all of the work for one of my freelance jobs was in my email, totally accessible from my phone. No problem there. I put a record on the turntable and relaxed. But one who is used to digital streaming quickly realizes that records are not easily paused. So I moved on. I had a number of previously downloaded podcasts on my Kindle that I could access (and had to get rid of anyway--memory shortage).

After a few entertaining podcasts, I moved on to reading. Without online access I had at least 100 different books at my fingertips. I read for awhile, skipping from book to book. I then looked at the clock. Surely hours had past? Nope. Just two.

By the evening, I was itching for some news. No, seriously. I get a little edgy when I'm out of the loop for more than a few hours. I decided to use my phone and stream my local news station's broadcast through their app. No problem for the first hour, but my cell service provider must have realized I had it too good and slowed my speeds so the streaming stopped working. Just as well, because the streaming used a quarter of my monthly data in just an hour. Hmph.

The rest of the night? Switching between season two of Get Smart and season four of Emergency! Thank heavens for my unruly DVD collection.

The next morning wasn't too bad because I try to limit my online access on Saturdays anyway. I went and got a coffee. I read some more. Played a little Mario on the Wii. But what angered me the most out of this whole matter? I didn't write. The absolute perfect time to write, and I didn't do it. Okay, maybe I snuck in a few sentences, but once I realized I needed to Google a question, I gave up. This experience made me realize how, even sitting watching TV, I'm addicted to Googling things I don't know. How did I survive before that search engine existed? Did I just walk around like a dummy, not knowing the answers to weird, random facts?

All is right with the world again, so it's time to get to work on August's projects. They are big ones, so get ready. It's going to be a wild ride and I'm taking you with me.