Babies growing up.
I did not post yesterday due to the fact that when I got up we had no wifi and no cell reception to speak of. For whatever reason, when we lose wifi here we also lose cell. My across-the-street neighbors were out of town but they gave me permission to go and check to see if they had wifi which I did and which they did not so I figured there was an outage. I called Century Link which is the company we get our internet with and after about fifteen minutes of listening to their speech about Covid and advising me to go to their web site for help (which was impossible because I could not access their web site because we had no internet which is why I was calling them), and being on hold for awhile, I finally got a no-nonesense-sounding lady who was somewhere not in America and we did our best to communicate and after she had gone through hoops and I had gone through hoops and she had pulled up my account, etc., etc., I was told that we had an outage here.
Well. No shit, Sherlock. The fact that someone all the way across the planet had to be contacted to tell me that seems immensely ridiculous and ludicrously inefficient but that's the way it is now.
She also said that it should be back on by noon. And then she asked me if there was anything else she could help me with which always makes me want to laugh because I can only think of things like, "Sure. Come help me pull invasive plants in my yard," but I said no and thanked her and she thanked me for being a loyal Century Link customer.
So I went and took a walk and the internet wasn't on when I came home and later in the afternoon I called again and this time a recording told me that we had an outage but not to worry because crews were working on the problem and it should be back on by noon the following day.
Now of course we all know that we're addicted to our devices and our web access but what struck me yesterday was how scary it is to realize just how important these things are in our lives. I had a question about canning that I could not answer by reading the Ball canning handbook. I couldn't check the weather. I could only get texts from my kids by going way out into the back yard and even then, replying was quite iffy. I do have a landline so we can call out and be called here but somehow that does not feel normal anymore. I could not read blogs nor could I post a blog. We get our news and our TV via internet.
I felt as if we had been tossed directly back to a previous decade and I don't mean the last one, either.
I did do a crossword with a pen and that felt strangely satisfying.
I read some. I took a nap. I made tomato sauce for eggplant parmesan. I picked vegetables.
And I realized how much time I waste online.
Which did not stop me from wasting a hell of a lot of time online today because miraculously, overnight, we got our magical powers back.
All of this is making me think about the hurricane which may be headed this way.
It is looking something like this right now.
According to my favorite local meteorologist, its path won't truly be predictable until at least tomorrow sometime and maybe not until Sunday. So here we go.
We are actually getting a generator that was in a bank building at Moon Plaza. Mr. Moon spent all afternoon yesterday clearing out a spot near the gas tank where he will pour a cement pad for it and having that will be a comfort. But it's not going to get hooked up overnight. Electricians and I-don't-know-who-all will be involved.
As to food- we could live for weeks on what we have in freezers, cabinets and in the garden although if a big storm hit, the garden would get torn up and until we have a generator, food in the freezers isn't going to last.
Well. This is not my first rodeo.
We'll be fine.
It's all just such a fucking stressful hassle.
I didn't really mean to go into that discussion but I did.
Yes. Yes I should.
The only things I can think of that I would get up at 3 a.m. for are:
It's unnerving to lose wifi, a real kind of withdrawal for your brain. It doesn't happen often here, but it does remind me how often I look stuff up on it. My cell service is completely separate and has literally never gone out. Even during Sandy when all the Verizon customers had no bars. My son has the same carrier, and we were both getting messages to and from neighbors when they found we had phone service! Low cost, no contract. Costs me about $12 a month.
ReplyDeleteI hear you on hurricane prep, so hard not to start the worry too soon.
Our cell should not be connected to our wifi at all either and yet, it seems to be. I should...look that up online!
DeleteLily says hers does the same and she's on different wifi so who knows?
relieved to see your post today. So rare that you miss a day and I was concerned. Wifi and connections....it *is* almost frightening as to how we rely on those, isn't it? Glad you are safe and well....and alert to the impending storm. Fish and tomato caesar salad sound like just the ticket to relieving a stressful day. don't forget the martini, it IS Friday! No, I don't think you'll forget that important part!
ReplyDeleteHugs to you both
Susan M
Yes. Safe and well. Just bereft of modern communication technology. Which makes us feel so vulnerable.
DeleteWe did not forget the martini! Trust me.
I see your pearls, your stars on the buttons and the safety pin , just in case. You beautiful woman!
ReplyDeleteHurricanes, the reason for the season?
As we bake up here and were slapped silly with what the sun can do, next forest fires, And villages burning in fifteen minutes just above us in
BC. bloody hell, Mary, We are all in trouble everywhere on this earth.
I pinned that pin there one day when I'd been using it for something but I cannot remember what it was. And there it still is. One never knows when one might need a safety pin, right?
DeleteYou are so very right. We are in trouble. This is no joke at all.
Love your glasses!
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteI did not know for certain we had a named hurricane until I went to youtub3e for some music while I was making dinner...I don't have tv or landline so will keep checking until there is any outage...Have a good night.
ReplyDeleteIt's downgraded to a tropical storm now but could still have plenty of tricks up its sleeve. Girl- you need a landline.
DeleteAre those two fat pearls (I honestly spelled that purls the first time!) in your right hand? (I knit too many socks.)
ReplyDeleteNeither purls nor pearls. My earbuds that I have in almost all day every day, listening to books or podcasts. Good eye!
DeleteYes, to stay on the phone for 20 minutes to learn there is an outage (duh). And yes, without my phone and it's voluminous contents, I would expire. I don't know my kids' phone numbers. i hardly know their addresses. Gawd.
ReplyDeleteAnyhoo, seeing Elizabeth was so wonderful. We have a plan. All of us go to Cozumel and meet up. What do you say? Mr Moon can come too but he'll be outnumbered. We also think your blog is a genius blog. for many reasons.
Love forever,
Beth
Yes, please. Our plan is genius.
DeleteOh you guys! I'm not sure I can "share" Cozumel with anyone but my lover man. It is where we have fallen in love over and over again and that is what its magic is for me.
DeleteSomeplace else, though. We should.
Those glasses look really cool! I love them! I'm catching up, here -- just read your last couple of posts, and I am struck by the photos, especially that storm coming in and the photo of all the people and the blasted-looking tree. There was something very beautiful and haunting about them.
ReplyDeleteYou're right, Elizabeth. That is a strangely haunting place but it is beautiful and such a good place to take kids. And no one is ever there!
DeleteYour new glasses look very swish with their " pearls". My £1 reading glasses have " diamonds" ! Well, that's what I tell everyone!
ReplyDelete"Diamonds" are good too!
DeleteThat picture of you - I am not sure how it might best be used - as a billboard advertising smartphones or sunglasses. Not sure about the strapline either - "Mary's over the moon with her Pearl Glasses" or "Mary's over the moon with her i-phone 12".
ReplyDeleteP.S. Wasn't Elsa that lioness in "Born Free"?
Well, I do love those sunglasses but I can't imagine living without my iPhone. However, if it came to my iPhone or my regular glasses, that phone would be out the window!
DeleteAlso- yes. Elsa was the lioness. Let's hope that this storm is as well-mannered as that big cat supposedly was.
DeleteAh, yes, the stupidity of the internet service provider who recommends you go online to see if there is an outage...when there is an outage. Had two outages myself this week. Luckily, my cell is different provider, but even with that, the internet service is in my DH's name...don't even get me started on how no one will answer questions if you aren't listed on the bill. Told one operator that the company would never get their bill paid if it wasn't for me. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteSurely hope you don't have to deal with Elsa...worried about Steve's visit, too.
Love the pearly glasses. Hope the break in period isn't too bad.
Same here- I didn't know the last four digits of Glen's SSN and I thought she was going to "pull up my account". I think she heard in my voice though that I was not having THAT!
DeleteSteve could very well be affected by this storm. What a great Florida vacation, right?
I will start trying to adjust to the new prescription when I get the regular glasses. I hope I can adjust too!
You look like a badass in that picture. A badass with pearls 😎
ReplyDeleteThat makes me happy. Nothing I'd rather be.
DeleteYour sunglasses are cool! Hope you stay safe from the hurricane.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Ellen!
DeleteIt's amazing how quickly we became totally dependent on the internet isn't it. While, for the most part, I'm sure we could live without it for a day or two, longer than that and I think there would be trouble. So many banks have closed down and we're obliged to do internet banking - so how do you cope with banking long term when the internet is down? And I was just reading the news that that condo building in Surfside is being demolished tomorrow because of structural concerns and the imminent hurricane - and over 100 people are still unaccounted for!!! Damn, that would make me go insane if I had loved ones in there! In the meantime, stay safe and I hope this hurricane gives you a miss!
ReplyDeleteMy phone is my back-up brain! I think that may be true for all of us. But yeah, if the whole system goes down, that's it for civilization.
DeleteI don't know what to say about that condo in Surfside. The whole thing has been a horrible, horrible tragedy.
You look rock star cool in those sunglasses! Love them. And yes, we are now completely plugged into the internet and the new definition of apocalypse is a world wide web blackout. Glad you're back!
ReplyDeleteThe glasses are great! I am so NOT happy about this hurricane. Hopefully today (Sunday) we'll know more about where it's going to go. I'm not worried -- I just think it's going to be a huge, wet pain.
ReplyDeleteWhen I'm in a no-Internet situation I usually find a Starbucks or something nearby and go camp out for a little while, just to stay on top of things!