We woke up this morning and were relaxing with our coffee and news when our power went out at about 7:00 AM. We called the electric company and found out it wouldn't come on until around 4:30. If it hasn't happened to you lately, you just can't believe what being without power is like now in the internet age!!!!
I wandered around not knowing what to do with myself… I'd wander into my studio to check out my blog… reach for the computer and realize, no power — no computer! It was so quiet. I would reach to turn on the TV or the radio and realize, no power — no connection with the outside world. Suddenly I realized that I had important emails out and no way of answering them if someone sent me a response. It's always a little unnerving when you can't receive emails because the people that depend on email expect that you will get them! No power — no connection with work.
We have a well that pumps from almost a 1,000 feet underground and up our hill 350 ft. to the house and we have no holding tank, so no power — no water! Fortunately, we keep 5 gallon buckets of water around for the ummmm how can I delicately express this, taking care of necessary bodily functions
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Well, one of the great things that came out of this day is that I cleaned 2/3rd of my studio! I can actually see white countertops and there's an entire 40 gallon trash can full of "stuff" ready to be hauled away.
I also read 4 or 5 magazines and actually enjoyed them (rather than skimming images for trends, colors images and then tossing them into my resource pile). It was an amazingly relaxing, slower paced day, one that reminded me a lot of how life was almost every day twenty-five years ago. I realized that I'm not certain that technology is always improving the quality of our lives unless we master it rather than the other way around.
I am often a slave to my email. For example, when I came back on line this afternoon there were 114 emails waiting for me! Talk about stress!!! Most of them were from two discussion groups that I belong to, but still each had to be read at least the title, sorted through and some responded to. Only a couple required a physical response.
I came to a radical conclusion today, maybe a no technology day one day a month might go a long way towards feeling more rested and relaxed… that and cleaner studio. Only if the power doesn't fail, I'm not sure I have the emotional strength to "pull the plug" on my own. How about you?!
Audrey Jeanne Roberts
Very interesting comments there – isn’t it strange? When our power goes down we usually reach for the board games and play with the kids! 🙂 Fun times! Glad my water supply isn’t dependent on power too though!
My dh is a retired Electric Utility Lineman – so we have always had a Generator to run things when the power goes out. My husband had to go out of town many times over his career and he saw first hand the things folks had to deal with no power often for days and weeks.
I don’t really understand how to get the generator up and running – so he taught a neighbor how to do it – so that if I was ever alone – while he was out working – I had a go to person.
Last Oct we had the surprise snowstorm that struck Buffalo NY. Many folks were without power for 3 weeks. But we only were out 5 days. We used out generator sparingly – about 5 hours a day. Enough for me to get “my email” and internet fix , watch tv in the evening and for keeping our food cold.
I agree AJ that we all would do better with going unplugged one day a month!