That was fun (not)

[Bounce]

72 hours without internet or phone.

No real rhyme or reason. Calls to repair once every 24 hours we went without word. No call back that it was fixed. Just did the periodic check and it was back.

 

[Ignacio]

Good to have you back. They gave away 50 free 2016 FJR ES and you just missed the draw. I was #48.

 

[HotRodZilla]

They're on to you Bounce....RUN!

 

[SwollenRaccoon]

Must have been horrible. Did you have to go play in the garage, go for a ride, read a book, copulate, or, (gasp) go outdoors and enjoy the day? Frightful.....

 

[Burnspot]

You never really realize how "connected" you are until you're not...

 

[Big Sky]

I think we would all benefit by going unplugged 72 hours. We have a "primitive" cabin in the boonies where cell service used to be very doubtful (climb the ridge and wander around) but now there is a closer tower. Hell, my iPad now works there too! I kinda liked the former disconnect.

 

[gixxerjasen]

My boss told everyone that his cell phone didn't work at his deer lease. He had service, but it wouldn't work because he turned it off.

 

[Bounce]

I often choose to go off line. Being prevented from able to pay bills, etc. is different. I was in n the verge of trying to find my cobweb encrusted check book. This morning connectivity was up and down so much the I thought it was senior discount night at a whore house.

At least I got the bills paid.

 

[steveoreno]

Who's your ISP?

 

[dcarver]

and whats your ip addie?

 

[erixun]

Cool to go off when you want it, un cool to have it taken away from you when you actually want it.

 

[Fred W]

I think we would all benefit by going unplugged 72 hours. We have a "primitive" cabin in the boonies where cell service used to be very doubtful (climb the ridge and wander around) but now there is a closer tower. Hell, my iPad now works there too! I kinda liked the former disconnect.

Sounds like heaven.

My boss told everyone that his cell phone didn't work at his deer lease. He had service, but it wouldn't work because he turned it off.

Smart man.

But back to the OP... Bounce, don't you have a smaht fone of some sort?

We get completely knocked down (no power, no phone no intarwebs, no heat, NO NOTHIN!) about once a year on average, with the duration often being a full week or longer, usually for weather issues (but not always). In those excruciatingly difficult circumstances, I fire up the little generator for our minimalist power needs, to run the 'fridge, furnace for heat, and well pump for water hot and cold, and also to recharge the wireless devices. The iPhone usually connects and gives us a personal hot spot, and the interwebs is at our fingertips.

Modern day survivalists.... yeah that's us.

 

[Bounce]

No backup generator.

Cell phone but using it for actual work is a PITA. I sometimes do it and can get by but navigating forums becomes extremely low priority. E-Mail, emergency calls to the ISP, 911 service in the event that I need it since the land line is down. Since our house it total electric, if we lost power, we'd lose heat too. Thank goodness we have a couple of electric blankets.

 

[Big Sky]

I do think our power grid is vulnerable to an attack - or even failure - that could shut it down for a substantial time for 10s of millions of people. Since we live in Montana, we tend to spend a lot of time with outdoors activity and recreation, which means we already have at our disposal a lot of "emergency" gear: generator, propane lanterns, burners and heaters (we already have a free-standing gas heat stove). We also have adequate arms and ammunition if the emergency got real serious. My wife was raised on a remote farm in North Dakota so acquired the tendency to keep well stocked pantries and freezers. We should probably be keeping more gasoline on hand: no power, no gas pumps. We like to toy with apocalypse scenarios and I think we would fare far better than most. The idea deserves some level of consideration. I kid my wife that our collection of 1,500 printed books would become the new currency.

 

[Fred W]

If / when the entire grid goes down, the cell towers go dark too. That's when you'd want a satellite phone, at least until they shoot that down.

 

[Old Guy]

If you have a smart phone, there's a good chance you could use it as a personal hot spot. When I'm off the grid, so to speak, I do that just for emails. My data plan won't support much browsing, but at least I can get those important emails.

 

[Bounce]

If I activate the hot spot, then it changes my plan which then costs me my grandfathered unlimited data. The last 2 phones I've gotten, the sales wonk has pointed out that they no longer offer ANY plan with that low a price.

I still have my kerosene heater and lantern from when we lived in the country and the power co-op was less than reliable. I also have my back packing "stove" which is really a burner with legs that uses the propane tank as another leg.

The hunting defense supplies are also sufficient. When Y2K was "the thing" I had someone at the checkout register at Cheaper Than Dirt ask me if I needed a water filter or dried food. Without pausing, I explained I had enough to last a couple of days and enough ammo to get the rest from my more liberal neighbors. She stopped what she was doing and looked up stunned.

The grid IS compromised already. The bad actors inside are biding their time until their need arises.

I'm sort of surprised no one called me on the blanket comment. My wife did.

 

[yanktar]

If I activate the hot spot, then it changes my plan which then costs me my grandfathered unlimited data. The last 2 phones I've gotten, the sales wonk has pointed out that they no longer offer ANY plan with that low a price.
I still have my kerosene heater and lantern from when we lived in the country and the power co-op was less than reliable. I also have my back packing "stove" which is really a burner with legs that uses the propane tank as another leg.

The hunting defense supplies are also sufficient. When Y2K was "the thing" I had someone at the checkout register at Cheaper Than Dirt ask me if I needed a water filter or dried food. Without pausing, I explained I had enough to last a couple of days and enough ammo to get the rest from my more liberal neighbors. She stopped what she was doing and looked up stunned.

The grid IS compromised already. The bad actors inside are biding their time until their need arises.

I'm sort of surprised no one called me on the blanket comment. My wife did.

Aha! You want FoxFi! That's an app that doesn't tell your service you are using the smart phone as a hot spot. I use it on my Samsung with T-Mo all the time. I believe it works on AT&T too.

But being out for 3 days sounds like someplace like....the Bahamas, where "Welcome to The Bahamas!" is what you say when things there go painfully, stupidly, and unnecessarily wrong!

 

[Old Guy]

If I activate the hot spot, then it changes my plan which then costs me my grandfathered unlimited data. The last 2 phones I've gotten, the sales wonk has pointed out that they no longer offer ANY plan with that low a price.
I still have my kerosene heater and lantern from when we lived in the country and the power co-op was less than reliable. I also have my back packing "stove" which is really a burner with legs that uses the propane tank as another leg.

The hunting defense supplies are also sufficient. When Y2K was "the thing" I had someone at the checkout register at Cheaper Than Dirt ask me if I needed a water filter or dried food. Without pausing, I explained I had enough to last a couple of days and enough ammo to get the rest from my more liberal neighbors. She stopped what she was doing and looked up stunned.

The grid IS compromised already. The bad actors inside are biding their time until their need arises.

I'm sort of surprised no one called me on the blanket comment. My wife did.

Y2K. What a hoot!

I worked with a woman whose husband built a new shop in 1999 and "armored" it so they and their families could hold out during the riots that were sure to follow. I wondered if they felt at all foolish when they woke up Jan 1, 2000, and the lights were still on, cars were still running, phones still worked. My neighbor was concerned that his car wouldn't run. I asked him why his car would care what day it was, and he answered "It's got a clock." I asked him if he'd ever had to set the date on his car. People wouldn't buy computer monitors, keyboards, etc. unless the package was marked "Y2K compatible." I worked at a bank, and people were coming in and emptying all their accounts and leaving with the cash.

Anyway, I digress.

I got iced in a few years back. Cell towers were down, landlines were down, my electricity was out, and I couldn't get out because of an icy, uphill road to civilization. My wife was out of town on business. I felt like I was in the twilight zone until the road thawed the next day and I could get out. Our electricity was out for eight days. The pleasures of country living, I guess.