What Do You Do When the Internet Is Down?

I’m not going to lie — this looks more like the way I behave than I’d care to admit; okay, minus the crying in the mirror part.

My family can tell you that when I am trying to edit or write and the internet goes down, I am an absolute pain in the butt to be around; grumpy and moody and prone to random curse word outbursts. It’s not pretty. I’m almost as bad when our WiMax internet service is hiccuping and slower than usual. Anymore, I try to leave and go on a long hike when this happens, but sometimes … I just can’t walk out the door, and I’m stuck in this vicious pacing and refreshing loop. I’ll eventually end up on the couch reading, but don’t think that I’m not trying to connect over my iPad’s wireless, albeit at GSM/EDGE speeds which can be just as bad. Ah, the joys of running a website.

Am I the only one who does this? =/

26media via Leandro Toledo on Pinterest.

About the Author

Judie Lipsett Stanford

Judie is the co-owner and Editor-in-Chief of Gear Diary, which she founded in September 2006. She started in 1999 writing software reviews at the now-defunct smaller.com; from mid-2000 through 2006, she wrote hardware reviews for and co-edited at The Gadgeteer. A recipient of the Sigma Kappa Colby Award for Technology, Judie is best known for her device-agnostic approach, deep-dive reviews, and enjoyment of exploring the latest tech, gadgets, and gear.

10 Comments on "What Do You Do When the Internet Is Down?"

TMEhrlich | March 13, 2012 at 12:24 pm |

My U-Verse Internet is horrible. I often feel this way several times a day!
Michael Anderson | March 13, 2012 at 12:38 pm |

I thought this was why we had internet enabled smartphones? Jeex – you don’t want us to have to actually TALK to … people?
gorkon | March 13, 2012 at 12:46 pm |

There’s an outside?
Douglas Moran | March 13, 2012 at 2:19 pm |

Fortunately, reading eBooks and playing Angry Birds and PvZ doesn’t require a working internet connection . . .
Bryan Eley | March 13, 2012 at 2:31 pm |

I went without internet access for a week when Hurricane Ike remnants barreled up the Ohio Valley a few years back. Didn’t really bother me too much as I have a number of non-electronic hobbies and lots of books, but it was harder on my wife as like Judie she had a side-business to run. I do like to tease my eldest and his friends when the power/internet goes down with “How smart are you now that the power is out?” 😉
- Judie Stanford | March 13, 2012 at 2:35 pm |
  
  ” “How smart are you now that the power is out?” ;)”
  
  Kev and I were talking about this other day, how when we were kids if there was information that we needed we had to go spend (possibly) hours researching at the library, or consult an encyclopedia (if we were lucky enough that our parents had invested in one). Our kids do not know how good they’ve got it! =P
Erin524 | March 13, 2012 at 2:41 pm |

this is why I have an internet capable cellphone…

I’ve been known to go to McDonald’s or Panera for hours on end with my laptop or ipad when my internet has crashed at home and not come back for a day or two.
dancohen | March 13, 2012 at 4:55 pm |

It’s funny but I was just having this conversation with Elana this morning. In the middle of my teaching a webinar last night the network in our house crashed and burned. I had to rebuild it etc and it was an hour before we were back. I pointed out that we are so used to being able to be connected these days that when we are not, even for a short period, it is, at best, jarring. We have become way too reliant on constant data connectivity.
Doug Miller | March 13, 2012 at 4:58 pm |

The first thing that I do these days (when I know it’s a long-term outage) is to whine about by sending a text to 40404 (i.e., I tweet about it.) I do have a pile of New Yorker issues and a few books that can keep me busy, though…
- dancohen | March 13, 2012 at 5:02 pm |
  
  What’s a book Doug???
  
  Sent from my iPad

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