It happened this past week, and “it” is something we take for granted.
A widespread internet outage occurred on Thursday, and it was something that saddled a lot of people for an entire evening.
Knocking out the internet meant no television, no surfing the world wide web, no watching recorded shows, and for some, no landline phones. Heck, I couldn’t even ask Alexa when the rain was going to stop for the night.
So what do you do when there is a major internet outage? Simple… sit around the living room and watch the radio.
Well, that didn’t happen, but it was one of the choices. Another choice was to play cards. That didn’t happen either.
The best I could do was hook up the old antenna to the TV and watch over-the-air network shows.
One show I really enjoy is Ghosts on CBS, and at 8:15 p.m., I realized I’d better work fast to get the antenna hooked up. I never miss Ghosts, and since I cut the cord many years ago, I have Tablo, which is a TV tuner of sorts that captures over-the-air programming that I could record as well.
Tablo is internet-based, so if I didn’t hook up the antenna, I knew there was a possibility of not seeing the playback from Tablo.
We are so dependent on technology, and my career lives and dies by it. Granted, I was still able to write a few articles and edit a few photos while everything was down, but I could not send any of it to the paper.
When I first called my internet provider, an automated message told me at 4:30 p.m. the service would be restored by 9 p.m. Well, 9 p.m. came and went, and at 10:30 p.m., I called one more time, and they pushed back the restore time to 1 a.m.
I never did get the official word on what the issue was, but obviously, it was bad. From what I found, not everyone using my provider was without service; plenty in NEPA had service.
I had a flashback to a few weeks ago, when most of us on the west side of the river, from West Pittston to Kingston, were without water. … and we didn’t have water for some time.
That was pretty rough, too. You couldn’t take a shower, coffeemakers were silenced, brushing teeth took a hiatus, and the worst was not being able to flush a toilet.
Grocery stores quickly sold out of water before shelves were replenished at an amazing pace. Gerrity’s at West Pittston was restocked in no time, and that was a big help.
After water was restored, you had to flush your lines and boiled some water to be safe.
So, for those in West Pittston, we’ve had a water issue, and now an internet issue; the only thing left is a power outage, which I hope doesn’t happen.
Even if there is an outage, I have a leg up on that problem. A few years ago, I purchased LED light bulbs with built-in batteries, so when the power is out, the lights remain on.
I think that would freak out all the neighbors. You know the drill: the house goes dark, and the first thing you do is head to the window or go to the door to see if anyone else has lights out.
I can just hear it now as my neighbor tells his wife, “I don’t know, honey, Betty has no lights, Bob’s house is dark, but Tony’s has lights on at his house.”
The other thing I have is a few Halo battery packs; the kind that you keep in the car to inflate your tire or jump your car. The batter pack also has emergency lights and an outlet for up to 75 watts, enough to power a computer and a TV, if I’m not mistaken.
Gone are the old days of keeping a drawer full of candles and burning them in key rooms of the house. The only thing is, you had to make sure you had enough matches or lighters.
After looking at the red light on the router, waiting for it to change from red to white, at 12:42 a.m. on Friday, that white light just lit up. It’s like waiting to see if a Pope is elected.
When it turned white, all my emails went out immediately, and I just wanted to call someone to let everyone know, IT’S BACK, IT’S BACK!
The loss of the internet pales in comparison to the loss of a life, and this past week, we say hail and farewell to Atty. Joseph Terrana, Marie Melvin, Ellen D’Elia, Mike the Barber DeFrancesco, Raymond Cichocki, Shelley Morrill, and Rose Kelly, who lived 103 years; all Greater Pittstonians to name a few.
Growing up, my mom told me it was important to pay respect to those who passed away, and I really try to make an effort to pay my condolences to each family. In the old days, it wasn’t uncommon to have a two or three-day viewing. Those days are long gone.
Today, visitations are only an hour or two before the funeral service, making it extremely hard to pay respects.
Condolences to those mentioned above.
Quote of the week
“The advance of technology is based on making it fit in so that you don’t really even notice it, so it’s part of everyday life.” —Bill Gates
Thought of the week
“Once a new technology rolls over you, if you’re not part of the steamroller, you’re part of the road.” —Stewart Brand
Bumper sticker
“Technology is a useful servant but a dangerous master.” —Christian Lous Lange
