Saturday, August 22, 2009

MUSINGS FROM AN INTERNET OUTAGE

An area the size of the country of Wales suffered an internet outage which lasted at least 18 hours for some people, and 22 hours for others, like me. There was a problem at the telephone exchange (how old fashioned a term is that). The general and cynical suggestion is, that the technicians and engineers were trying to 'improve' something. It is certainly the simplest and most likely explanation. The next simplest ones would be either a failure in the system or incompetence. Of course, there's no denying that it could have been all of those factors.

What did we do with the space, the temporary internet hole in our lives?

I messed about in the kitchen preparing nosh, nothing unusual about that.

Hubby watched TV. That has become an unusual activity.

We had talked about the endless possibilities that caused the failure of our internet service, and
re-booted the router several times.

I phoned a friend, also affected by the outage, who really wanted to chat for a change. His day was not the best day ever.

My most recent digital photos were uploaded onto my P.C. and sorted a bit sooner than they might have been.

This morning, I was awake early and crept in to the living room to see if hubby was surfing his blog and auction sites. There wasn't a computer to be seen. We were still without an internet connection. Hubby was contemplative, it went like this:

If an internet communication system fails, what else can fail. Wind turbines are remotely controlled, is there some backup support system for them? (They aren't a major provider of fuel, they don't work if there is no wind or if there's a gale).

Next, what if the major stores lost their central 'nervous' systems. What arrangements have they got in place to remain functioning nationwide. they would lose automated stock control, but what else? So many of the major stores these days, provide services over and above domestic food shopping; optical health provision, prescription pharmacy, financial services. You never know, they may have to go back to basics, and be food provisioning stores for a while, that's if people could get access to their own money during that time.

12 comments:

adamantixx said...

we lost the internet for several days last years and it really does highlight the amount of time we tend to spend online.
i did wonder where you'd gone!

ZACL said...

Thanks for missing me...I am most touched by that.

As you know, we recently had a bereavement. We took a couple of days out, I may blog something about that. The internet outage was over and above the time away, so that extended my absence.

TG said...

I missed you, too. Was wondering why no ZACL comments or replies :P Anyway, in July I had a dead modem for 8 days. I nearly went nuts. I can't live without internet anymore. It's sad, I know... :(

ZACL said...

Hi MKL,
It is so sweet of you to think of me, thank you.

Yes, it is amazing the kind of hold the internet gains on the individual. There times when I have had to take a blog break, to re-charge my thinking and creative batteries, but to be deprived of the pathway when I want it, it surprisingly difficult.

You know what, I think we must be just a little bit addicted! :D

MKL said...

If it's just a slight addiction, I can live with that :P I think this is just a phase for me, because of so many changes in my life. I can see myself being less online once I fall in love again.

ZACL said...

Aha, so this is a life-balance exercise which you consider will re-balance itself in directions that will suit your circumstances at any particular time of your life.


I would say that is eminently sensible. :)

TG said...

All I can say is, that I wish to. I reather be somewhere in Southeast Asia sipping a cold drink with a beautiful woman than trying to figure out what next to write about my kafkaesque life. But I guess that's reality for now and it will stay that way for a while. I don't have the strength to change my life significantly now...

ZACL said...

Don't model your life too much on Kafka, however interesting a character he seemed to be.

There is no point in pushing yourself in any direction just for the sake of doing so. It doesn't usually work out. You will do whatever you need to do,when the energy returns and in your time, however long that takes.

MKL said...

My biography reads itself like a Kafka novel. I am a tragic lost figure, will probably always be. But I have some gimmers of happiness, that should be enough to keep me going :) Thanks for the encouraging words, though. You are a very kind person.

ZACL said...

We all have mixed biographical experiences. The difficult times are hard; it is the courage and other strengths of the individual that changes how the biography will read.

Because of a typing error one letter is missing from the following noun...glimmer. I cannot resist telling you that a 'gimmer' here where I live, in a farming community, is a first year (one year old plus) lamb.

MKL said...

Haha.. I'm a sloppy writter sometimes. I really meant glimmer. Lambs of happiness would be a bit over the top, even for me :)

ZACL said...

What a thought, such imagery....all that gambolling around green fields.