It was out for several hours. In fact, it was still out when we eventually went to bed. I was just hoping it would be back on in the morning. After all, I need the internet and my computer to work.
Interestingly, I haven’t experienced an extended power outage in more than a decade. Where I live, a typical power outage rarely lasts more than 10 or 15 minutes. To be without power for several hours is rare. To be without it for several days is even more rare.
Nonetheless, this most recent episode got me wondering about what I would do without both power and the internet for a week or longer. It could happen.
Internet on Our Phones
Last week’s power outage started at just about 9 PM. A pretty strong thunderstorm was blowing through and a flash of lightning that must have struck very close by knocked out power to all but five or six houses in the neighborhood.
My wife was on the internet when it happened. It wasn’t a big deal because her phone automatically switched over to mobile data. She didn’t miss a beat. But while she was updating her social media friends about our suddenly powerless environment, I started thinking that I could still be online if we had Blazing Hog 4G rural internet.
Blazing Hog provides 4G internet via the same cell towers my wife’s phone relies on. It would still work even when the power is out – at least in theory. The problem is that a 4G wireless router still needs power to work. So even with Blazing Hog service, I would have been out of luck until the power came back on.
Talking the Night Away
As soon as I realized the 4G rural internet dilemma, I dismissed that thought from my mind. My wife finished her social media updates, then looked at me and asked what we were going to do for the rest of the evening. We decided the time was right for good conversation. We hadn’t had one in a while.
Long story short, we talked the rest of the night away. We didn’t need TV or streaming videos. We didn’t need social media, the 24-hour news cycle, shallow and meaningless memes, or any of that online stuff that dominates so much of our time. We just talked.
We talked for several hours before finally heading to bed. During that whole time, I was reminded of what life was like before the internet. It was a lot different, I’ll tell you that. We also reminisced about growing up in an era when power outages were more frequent and lasted longer. Back in the day, we knew how to keep ourselves busy until the lights came back on.
We finally went to bed just after midnight. It was strange that the house was completely dark yet the glow of solar landscaping lights outside could still be seen through the windows. As I slowly drifted off to sleep, I realized that we could go a week or more without power and the internet, if we had to.
Maybe other people are so dependent on technology they couldn’t make it for that long. But my wife and I grew up before modern technology. Having to go without it would just be like old times. We are very familiar with life when the power goes out and there is no internet.
