Sometime around 5:00 am last Sunday morning, a loud crack of thunder woke me up rather suddenly. Bandit, the courageous guard dog that he is, immediately jumped up onto the bed to assure me that it was not the end of the world.

His eyes were as big as donuts, and there was obviously some concern that whatever was happening was not natural. (Usually, a thunderstorm is just another reason to have a nap as far as he is concerned)  Thunder rumbled constantly, and it was apparent I was not getting back to sleep.

I went downstairs, and as I was making coffee, there was another bright flash of lightning.  I warned the guard dog that there was more to come, and he immediately came to my side to protect me.

A half hour later, the storm had changed into a heavy rain that continued for the rest of the day.  It seemed like a good day for “interneting” and I grabbed a coffee and smokes and headed for the computer.

No internet access.

“Oh well,” I thought. “They’ll get it working later on today.  Lightning must have hit something.”   About six hours later, I decided to phone and see if it was going to be fixed soon.  I was told there were several areas still out, but they would be repaired as soon as possible.  I was to call if it was not working on Monday so they could send out a technician.

On Monday, I still didn’t have an internet connection, and made the call for a tech to come out.  The earliest they could come out would be Thursday.

“My God,” I panicked.  “That’s five days without internet.  How will I survive?”  I broke into a cold sweat immediately.

Somehow I managed to survive.  But I did find it amazing (perhaps disturbing) how much I depended on the internet for news, weather, email, etc. It’s been a morning ritual for years to bond with my computer for an hour each morning over my morning coffee.

Seriously, I probably would not have been too anxious normally.  It is just the internet, after all.

But, through incredibly bad timing, and my usual bad luck, my new grandson was born on Tuesday, and I had to wait to see the photos.

The internet withdrawal pains eventually subsided, but I knew the desire would always be there.  And when the connection was finally repaired on Thursday, I fell back into the old habits almost immediately.

I woder, how did the human race manage before the internet?