Life Without the Internet

If you have ever wondered if the consumer shift to the internet is really as big as all the marketers want you to believe, try going without internet access for a few days. Due to a glitch my cable provider experienced on Thanksgiving Day I was without cable for 5 days.

You would think because it was a holiday weekend and I really wasn’t supposed to work anyway, this would be no big deal, wrong! I live on the internet every day for work purposes, even at that I was amazed at how much personal stuff my wife and I do online.

It started Thursday evening when my daughter called to tell us she had sent an e-mail with pictures of our granddaughters dressed up for Thanksgiving dinner. Couldn’t check the e-mail without a cable connection. The same went for all of the other personal e-mails we received over the weekend and could not access until Monday night.

I’m also a huge fan of online bill paying. I pay all of my bills online with the exception of one that I have to pay over the telephone. I haven’t ordered checks from my bank in probably two years. Couldn’t pay bills on Friday like I had planned without an internet connection.

So we’re into Friday, I can’t get much work done without the internet, I can’t pay bills as I was planning and no e-mail correspondence. On top of this my wife has the weekend off work so she capitalizes on the situation and puts me to work around the house. Don’t get me wrong I don’t mind helping but she had an unfair advantage and milked it for all it was worth.

Next we decide to go to the movies, the problem is, we always use the internet to see what movies are on, where they are playing and what time they start. Couldn’t do that! I had to go out and buy a newspaper to find the information. I honestly can’t remember the last time I did this; it’s so much easier to click the mouse a few times and have all the information right in front of you.

My wife had also planned to do some Christmas shopping online over the weekend, that didn’t happen either. Fortunately she does not like going to malls and fighting the crowds so that was put on hold.

Finally on Monday evening I saw the cable light on my modem turn back on, service was restored! Although I’m still waiting for a technician to come and verify all is well, for now I’m back online.

The bottom line is; If you have ever wondered if the consumer shift to the internet is really as big as all the marketers want you to believe, try going without internet access for a few days and see how it affects your daily life!