No phone, no TV, no internet, not a single luxury...
unless you count well water, or electricity. (Okay I'd count those. But still...)
You never realize just how dependent you are on something until you don't have it. We are currently without phone service (land line or mobile), internet, or television. We are virtually cut off from all forms of communication with the outside world, short of the mailbox at the end of the driveway. We have been for almost a week.
We can't quickly look up where the nearest hardware store is. I can't return emails for my freelance work. We can't call our real estate agent in Ohio. We can't get in touch with friends or family.
Even when I'm at work, with a vast telecommunications network at my fingertips, I still can't call my wife and ask her if she can pick up that check, or find out what essential items I might need to grab on the way home.
The biggest near miss to a problem came on Friday, when I got a call from the school that Amelia had a fever. In order to go pick her up and take her home, I'd essentially have had to miss half a day of work at a time when I have no paid time off to use. And I had no easy way to call Lori and let her know.
Luckily, Lori and I had already arranged to meet for lunch, so I could let her know to go get Amelia.
It seems like there are a dozen times a day when I think, "Oh I should call our friends and see if they're home" or "I'll just look that up online," or all the other little mundane things that I can usually do without a second thought. Right now, it's about 4:30 in the morning. I was so exhausted last night, I fell asleep putting Amelia to bed. So I woke up extra early this morning. I can't do much unpacking or rearranging without waking up the rest of the house. I can't flip on the TV or surf the web either. And our books aren't even unpacked. No books, forsooth!
Thankfully, we should have this mostly resolved by Monday night, when our bundled services finally get installed. And at some point after that, I'll post this.
Meanwhile, I think it's time for a snack. I burned a lot of calories yesterday...
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Follow-up: I think I missed the phone more than I thought I would, and the TV less. And internet, don't ever leave me....
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Labels: ramblings, relocation
posted by e4 @ 9/13/2010 08:09:00 PM
4
comments
4 Comments:
Nice to see you back again :)
I agree - internet please stay!
viv in nz
Glad everything worked out. I can imagine being without communication can be a little freaky.
So, funny! We haven't had television service in more than a year. Most of the phone calls I get are from my husband (when he's at work), solicitations, or from people I'd just as soon not talk to anyway (like the one at 3:30 this morning that had me contemplating disconnecting the phone ... or at least changing the number I've had for thirteen years).
But the Internet ... I'd be totally lost without it!
P.S. Thanks for getting that song stuck in my head *grin*.
last time the internet/phone died, i had to look around for a phone book. i now instantly recycle them when they are dropped off... good to hear you're getting settled!
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