Just in case anybody actually reads this (such as my AIM friends who never comment because they don't have blogs and facebook junk or just because they have nothing to say)...
Due to an electrical problem at my apartment, I've been forced off the grid for a bit. The problem started yesterday and will probably be fixed sometime this afternoon, but if not, it may take a few days.
Its interesting to see just how dependent the average modern American has become upon technology and electricity. I was watching a TV show on Discovery Channel the other day (when I had the TV) all about how a solar flare could knock out the grid without warning. My guy had to scramble to get ice to put in a cooler to save our food... I'm wondering just how I'm going to get lunch without a microwave (dunno if I have enough money on hand for fast food, spent much of of my spare cash on lunch yesterday before we knew we had this problem). If worst comes to worst, I could have cold leftover tempura... but I don't know what Bob's having.
Makes me wish for a root-cellar and a wood-burning stove.
Why I'm able to type right now is becuase Bob has a laptop with a battery he charged using our car (I think, he bummed something to get it charged) and were bumming someone's stray wireless signal. I can't use it for long.
Just letting people I know and love in the Wired know that I'm out for a while.
I hope your power's back now! Your point about our modern western dependency on electricity is a good one. When I was a child in Kenya, we had scheduled power cuts six days a week, alternating between morning and evening, but there were plenty of unscheduled cuts too. Consequently, TV and the computer were very small parts of our lives (we had no internet at home, because the phone line was also very unreliable). We spent our free time outdoors, drawing and painting, playing with Legos and Polly Pockets, and reading books. Candles were a tool to be saved for evening power cuts.
ReplyDeleteNowadays, living in the UK, I spend hours and hours each day online or watching TV. I still read a lot, but I'm definitely way more reliant on electronics than I used to be, and I would be really miffed if I had to go without electricity for even one day. When I stop and think about my affluent western lifestyle, it seems completely decadent. (Although I still can never think of candles as romantic.)