A whole weekend, no phone and no internet!

11 years ago

What really got to me was no phone. We don't have cell phone reception up here in the mountains. I felt very vulnerable without being able to call for help in case of an emergency. I fell 3 years ago and broke my hip. If something like that had happened over the weekend, DH would have had to drive 5 miles to get cell phone service to call an ambulance. No close neighbors either, we are all on acreage so houses are far apart. Turned out to be a broken wire in the main box, not our box. It is something their repair man did when fixing something else. It has happened more than once this year. I guess the equipment, which goes back to the 60's, is getting old.

My son went through internet withdrawal. Not a pretty sight. I did miss checking in on the Cooking Forum and not being able to look things up. It is amazing how dependent we have become on computers and the internet. I spent most of my life without it, though I was one of the first to start using the internet 20 years ago. Computers were a part of my job since 1978 along with dial up modems and services like Dialog. At least I got a lot done around the house without the distraction of the internet. DH calls it "The Black Hole" because it sucks both my son and me into it and we never get out. LOL

Clare

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Comments (4)

lindac
11 years ago
Glad to see you can once again sink comfortably into the black hole....it's very inviting!
annie1992
11 years ago
Clare, welcome back to civilization, LOL. You're right, we become very dependent on our technology. Like your mountain, the farm has no cell phone service. I had one of the deputies tell me that the only place in the township where you could get a cell phone signal was in the parking lot of the Townhall, because they are on top of a large hill.

Annie
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I'm a texter too. My phone serves 3 purposes - coordinating when/where I'm meeting someone in the near future, canceling meetings in the near future, or finding people if I can't see them. I will call when I need answers immediately, or if I need to cancel something/apologize about something, but generally texting suffices. In locations of loud music, texting is a LIFE SAVER! C - yo where you at M - by the dj on the left side..come find us C - omw...just holding V's hair back in the bathroom.... Jokes! That said, I didn't have voice mail until 2 months ago and it's an absolute delight. I love getting messages. And now, I actually get a little annoyed at people who call and don't leave a message. Voice mail is definitely useful too...but does come at a price, like texting! I guess I'm either antisocial or autistic, but I could never appreciate 'chatting' on the phone. If someone wants to talk to me casually, then I'll meet them at a coffee shop for 2 hours...I'd rather do that than sit there with a device glued to my ear. (maybe that's why all my long distance relationships are such epic failures...just kidding) Personally, I see phone conversations as an intermediate between the emotionless-ness of instant messengers and the intimacy of meeting in person. In person, body language is a large component of communication, and in instant messaging, it's generally understood that emotions and expressions do get lost, and so it's 'okay' to occasionally pause in between sentences, or sign off without a lengthy 'okay goodbye! I loved talking to you! Can't wait to chat again! Say hi to so and so for me! ETC....' But with phone conversations...it's so awkward. I never know when to say bye, or how to end a conversation. The communication cues are all so alien to me. I'm fine ordering pizza, calling in a complaint, or calling a friend to confirm a date or time...but just to chat? I can't do it.
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Hi func tion then look, Having grown up on a farm, I didn't have difficulty with your four- letter word (the first one) even though I've had next to no experience with diapers for many years. ... ... and I can do without a "just wait" from the prophesying crowd, please: from my current viewpoint - they're both merely a couple of unrelated four letter words! In that I've lived alone for many years, I do have to take care of my kitchen and bathroom. I'm having some trouble with your "d_m", though: when I drop in an "a", I get one of those things constructed in a river to hold back water, which may become a four-letter word if your house is on floodplain further downstream when it breaks! Dropping in a "u" seems rather meaningless, unless one adds a "b" at the end, then doesn't fit. To add an "i" might have some meaning, but seems rather marginal. In my experience when used as a curse, sometimes teamed up with a word related to deity, but only when one adds an "n" at the end. But then it becomes another four letter word, doesn't fit your program! Jes thinkin' - a bit too much, maybe? ole joyful
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Lars
11 years ago
I like having vacations away from technology, but my niece cannot handle having her phone turned off for ten minutes. When we go to Death Valley for Christmas, I know there will be areas where cell phone service is not available, and I'm really not happy about that because I would like to be able to be rescued in case we get lost or stranded. We'll keep an ice chest in the truck with us when we adventure out and avoid the roads that require four-wheel drive. We almost got stuck in some mud (from melting snow) at the top of a mountain the last time we were there.

My main distraction from housework is cable TV with DVR. I always have a backlog of TV shows recorded and don't have time to watch them all.

I'm glad you are back on line and with phone service!!

Lars
caflowerluver
Original Author
11 years ago
I am paranoid about not having phone service ever since I fell and broke my hip 3 years ago Oct. We are in a very remote area and couldn't call out to the neighbors for help. I tried for an hour after I fell down the ridge and none of my neighbors heard me. DH finally came home and found me. As we age and have more health conditions I am worried about getting medical attention in a timely matter. What if one of us had a heart attack or stoke, or there was a fire or someone was breaking in to the house? I can't believe that AT&T is so lax about service and didn't come out to fix it right away. After all it was their error, the repair person broke the wire.

Lars - My main distraction from housework is cable TV with DVR. I always have a backlog of TV shows recorded and don't have time to watch them all. You and me both. We have DIRECTV and record about 25+ shows so am always behind. Plus occasionally we get free SHOWTIME or HBO week's so record lots of movies. We have had them on our DVR for 2 years before watching them. Luckily they don't go bad (even if they are bad). LOL

And I want to say I did not mean this as disrespect to those who are suffering from Sandy. Going a weekend without phone or internet is nothing compared to what they are going through. I went through it in 1989 from the Loma Prieta earthquake. We were 4 miles from the epiccenter. We had no power, water, heat or phone for a week. We used our neighbor's pool water to do dishes and pour a bucket down the toilets to flush them. We used DH's camping stove and a small hibachi grill to cook food outside. We lived in DH's backpacking tent until the aftershocks stopped. We had over $40,000 damage to the house. Every time I see disasters like this one it brings back all the old memories. My heart goes out to them.

Clare

A whole weekend, no phone and no internet!

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lindac

annie1992

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A whole weekend, no phone and no internet!

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lindac

annie1992

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