I'm glad you're back :-) I gave away some sourdough starter today and included your recipe for sourdough waffles. I haven't "discarded" any starter since you posted that!

Having no internet is great for getting things done that you have been putting off. But then I always run into the problem of having no internet to answer the questions that I about HOW to go about doing those chores. Youtube, ordering a part for something that I'm getting around to fixing, finding the instructions for something like drying time between coats of paint because the print on the can's label is too small to read...

It's an all around 'Oh, boo' experience....and four days without is awful!

I have to admit that having heard that McDonalds had free WiFi when the place I stayed at wanted to charge me to connect I found the nearest Micky D's and sat in their parking lot to complete some tasks. It felt a little strange but it worked.

When we went to Fiji for two weeks, we were completely off the grid, and I enjoyed that very much. Cell phones did not work, and there was no internet at all on the island where we stayed.

I like getting away for a couple of weeks at a time, but I need a change of scenery to accompany it. Some parts of Death Valley can be scary when we are out of touch, but we've always made it back without a scratch, even though we've gone on dangerous roads that we found out later were supposed to be closed.

I'd be totally panicked. My Mom's assisted facility issues emails regarding visits, covid related things. Her care coordinator, an RN, will sometimes call but more often emails with questions or changes to her care. I bought a new computer last month and had all transferred out of the old into the new for me. I gave a strong plea at the service desk that they do their best to have it finished, not have it overnight. They did get it back to me, didn't keep it more than a few hours.

And never again will I buy a new phone and new computer same week. My concentration skills are lacking this year and a new operating system, new phone were almost too much ;0)

That's not even touching on the browsing I do, shopping, news reading, information I want or need. I think I'd give up heat or food first.

One of the things I would have done was make cookies. But the recipe for the molasses cookies I wanted to make was in my bookmarked stuff and I couldn't get to it!!

The other accompanying irritation is that when calling the offending party - my cable and Internet provider - they tell you to go online or access the app to resolve the problem....or at least check the status. That won't work at all if not able to access or get WiFi, so why do they even bother to say that with their irritating robotic selves!!

nickle, I've thinking about firing up a batch of sourdough waffles again. It's been too long and I already ate the excess I had frozen :-))

Your absence was noted. I was beginning to wonder.....

Thanks, floral!! It's reassuring to note that my virtual friends here might miss my presence.

I also sorely missed my streaming services that feed my addiction to British TV programming :-) Between the two, it has been a miserable and very long 4 days! More so as we are still encouraged to stay home and stay safe.

I have a jar of discard finally full enough for nice batch. Looking forward to breakfast tomorrow!

The line between essential service and additive use can be blurry. Before looking at email, this site, or a few others I visit from time to time, in our family the internet:

- Provides the "landline" phone connection via Ooma and Panasonic cordless phones

- Provides reliable cell phone service, the up and downlink connections for our Verizon signal boosters that raise our 1-2 bar sometimes unreliable tower connections to 5 bars

- Allows us to monitor security cameras in two homes

- Allows us to monitor and control temperatures with heat and AC in two homes

- Allows my wife to work - elementary teacher using video conferencing with kids at home

- Allows video visits every few days with friends and family in 5 US states plus 2 continents outside of North America

- Provides a TV signal - Prime, Netflix, and YoutubeTV

- Allows me to manage and monitor my financial situation using Quicken and transaction downloads from our accounts

- Allows me to pay bills not otherwise on autopay and transfer money where it needs to go

- Allows me to read my digital subscriptions to the NY and LA Times and Wash Po

I have an essential wifi-only (no internet) application too.

So, all that happens before any addictive behavior and other essential subscriptions (like Cooks Illustrated for recipes) start.

A couple weeks ago my internet was not working for about 24 hrs. I really missed it. These days it's my main contact with other people.

I am going to double down on the moronicness of being told to go on line by the people who make it possible (which at that moment it is not) to go on line. Living as I do in the boonies this is not an uncommon tell. I want to know why I pay the same fees for access as some intown person who is back in business within a half hour and feel they have suffered.

Yes, Elmer, I am familiar but my point is that everyone of us pays a fee to the service provider for that service. I pay the same fee as anyone in town. That there are fewer of us ought not leave us at the tag end of repair every single time. If I am not being offered the same service then why am I paying the same fee? Too bad if they make less money or get more complaints.

You know how it works.

You're the owner of the internet provider. After a storm there are 5 outages needing repair - #1 affects 100K homes, #2-50K, #3-4K, #4-200, #5-50. For every day a customer's service is out, you need to reduce their bill by 1/30th of the monthly charge. All pay the same amount, it's the fee approved by the PUC or local government agency.

You have two repair crews. Are you expecting to assign them other than by priority, 1-2-3-4-5, in that order? No, of course not.

Now, you're a homeowner again. You're in group #4 or #5. Others will have their service restored before yours is, it's simple triage/prioritization. It'll be the same the next time too.

If you're waiting for higher speed service, those in more populated areas will get it before you do, if you ever do. I'm sure you know that too.

During that last hurricane that hit our way, we were out of connectivity for a week, out of power for 4 days and not even cell service for 5. Not fun. But it is a wake up call as to how much time one spends on line....so hard to not reach for the computer to answer every question that arises....a phone number...a recipe ... send a text...whatever.

We are in the boonies and losing power/internet is just a fact of life and what we give to live in the woods, on the lakes and enjoy nature every day!

Well Yes Elmer, that is exactly what I said and my point is that legally why on earth am I paying the same access fee when my service is always going to be last. Where I live your phone has to be out for five days before you can claim something back. You have to anticipated your phone would be out five days BEFORE you get anything and you have to figure out how to tell them your phone is out when your phone is out. I had this very discussion with some poor female on the line who couldnt imagine having a land line which we have because the cell service is spotty. This is nothing like when I lived in Death Valley. I am so very aware.

Last time my internet and phone went out back when I had a land line I called to report it using my cellphone. The person insisted that I had to report the phone being out by using the computer. When I tried doing it via my cellphone it was rejected because the telephone number that I was using was not the same as the one I was reporting.

I went camping awhile back. I'd never really made use of my phone as a hot spot before but I was surprised how easy it was. I had enough speed to browse and even stream, about twenty meg or so down. Of course if I had been gone very long I would have had to buy more data, but it was an option.

" why on earth am I paying the same access fee when my service is always going to be last" ?

For the reason I described, an answer you already knew. I hope you never have this experience but the same thing will happen when you go to an ER when it's busy, and for the same reason - they can't have staffing available to deal with unexpected peak demands. They have to prioritize how and with whom they spend their time and in what order. Greater needs are looked after first.

It's all about personal choice. There are 100 reasons why I would never live in the boonies or anywhere where procuring goods, a choice of competent services, and normal urban activities are limited or unavailable. Poor utility services and its prompt repair are not high on the list but they're certainly on that list.

My relative and I do not know why this has not been in the news, but Oklahoma City is in a state of emergency. They had a freak ice storm that knocked out the power to most of the city and its suburbs. the central part of the state is affected. This is the 4th day that my relative (in Oklahoma City) has been without power. Since their soil was not frozen, there were no ice that stayed on the ground, however, all surfaces above the ground are coated. Trees are bent over or broken, grass blades are coated with ice and confusing the rabbits, and power lines are down. My relative has a small alternator set that is large enough to power the refrigerator and freezer plus a few lights. He has no heat. His only source of heat in the house is a gas fired log in a small fireplace. Its holding the house at a chilly 59 F. His alternator goes through 26 gals of gasoline per day.

Currently, there are lineman crews from 20 states from as far as Ohio. Three days ago, there were only a few crews available.

I would expect poor service in central Oklahoma for a few days.

Our power goes out frequently in the winter. The last extended period was during a big snow storm and I discovered about using my phone's hotspot (someone must have suggested it) for internet connection. It was so easy and kept me connected to the outside world, as well as provided something to do when I was stuck at home for so long (like now with covid). I connected my laptop to it, because I don't like using my phone for internet connection It uses a lot of data if you want to stream videos, but for internet connection it lasts a long time. I have unlimited data now because my internet (DSL line) is so slow that sometimes my grandson cannot load the video game he likes to play with his friends. The hotspot is much faster/more bandwidth. So check and see if you have hotspot service with your cell phone.

I have a small generator that I would fire up to run the refer and freezer for a while every few hours and I charged the phone and other devices at the same time, so I could use them even when the generator wasn't running.

Jemdandy, I don't know if you mean generator? I have a small one to power the refer and freezer (not at the same time and I don't keep them plugged in and running all the time). If it's cold enough outside, he could move the stuff from the refer outside and keep it cold and not have to run the refer at all. The freezer could just be run once a day or every other day...they hold the cold very well. That would save him a lot of gas. It would also free up the generator to run something to generate heat if he has a space heater (if his generator is large enough to run one).

My generator is a small honda and it wouldn't go through 5 gallons of gas in a week using like I described above. I can't imagine why he's using so much gas unless he's running it 24/7? Hope it's all fixed soon. Brrrr.

Hope OklaMoni is all right.

Just a suggestion because I charged mine yesterday. I have a small portable charger that I have used for my computer when the electricity failed. Depending on your use I suggest buying one that can deliver a charge for longer than you need it. Also purchase one that can be recharged. When I purchased this on I discovered that at the time there were also ones that were to be discarded. They do lose their charge after a while, Make certain that the plug in's will work with what you have. When I switched to my Iphone my old one could not connect to it.