The Internet stopped working and so did I...

OMG I need the Internet for work..and play..

Published on June 28, 2005 By ShadowWar In Living in Cyberspace

Last night my work came to a crashing halt. I was at work, and we got hit by lighting. I mean the building I work in.

I was getting ready to go teach (I teach at a police academy) and was looking some references up on the internet when BOOOMMM!!! the building was hit by a bolt of lighting. The power went of for about 20 seconds. Not even long enough for the generator we have to kick on. All of the computers of course rebooted, but when they did, NO INTERNET! Well I didn't think much of it and went on to teach.

This morning I came into work at my usual 7:30am and still no Internet. WHAT!!?? I thought, how am I supposed to check my e-mail? How am I supposed to check my network, websites, forums, news, and press releases? I was cut off. So I went downstairs and got a cup of coffee. Thinking that maybe by the time I got it, visited for a minute and got back to my office I would be connected to the rest of the world again.

Thats when something strange happened. I sat down with a cup of coffee and began to talk to my co-workers. And next thing I knew we were laughing, sharing family updates, and having a really nice time. We did this for about an hour and then we all went to our offices to try and get some work accomplished. I am responsible for the entire police academy and all the IT in it also. So I was on the phone (no e-mail) about trying to get us connected again. Of course the college (the one that runs the academy) sent people right out, then they said it was Bellsouth, who said it was GRU(Gainesville Regional Utilities) and back and forth. So knowing nothing was happening fast I got back to what I could do.

I read some papers from students I have been meaning to read, I called some Police Departments I had outstanding computer forensic cases on and talked to them, and basically got a lot done. ALL WITHOUT THE COMPUTER. Then I checked a few times on our connection and still no good, we were still cut off. I took the time to up-date all our lab computers with new programs and cleaned them up. I had to laugh as students would walk into our student computer lab (where my office is located) and they would learn the Internet was down and walk out groaning.

After getting more paperwork done than I have in a long time I took a walk around the campus and talked with some students, checked on some firearms range training going on and some rifle team guys and headed back to my office. Now it was 4pm and I decided to check one more time, STILL NO INTERNET. So I decided, you know I had done a lot today and thought I would go pick my son up early from Summer camp and so I did.

I realized as I was driving to go get him, it was nice today, no e-mail, no internet, no interuptions(IM's) just chatting (in person) and real work getting done. And of course when I got home first thing I had to do was jump on the high speed Internet and check JU. LOL Oh well you can only stay away so long..

Oh and the Internet is still down at work but they said it would be up later tonight. We will see. We will see...

Comments

NightTrainthedark

on Jun 28, 2005

reset the router?

lilstarfish

on Jun 28, 2005

15 years ago most companies didn't even have computers.
Only one or a couple for special tasks.

Today computers are almost everywhere and used as tools
to accomplish things faster and/or easier. Usually making
a lot of boring tasks easier, though still probably boring.

Then there is the other side of the coin where computers,
both home and at work have become more of a distraction
than being "useful".

And there is now also this huge number of companies trying
to make money of just the computers and the internet.
If you look at it closely you see that most of them don't
really contribute anything other than fluff. Fluff to keep
people distracted from the real world believing that the
internet is essential to life, or something in that vein.

But, then again, without the internet and the computers
people wouldn't be able to find out the lies and the crimes
perpetrated by out "governments" in that short time it now
takes for a lie to be exposed.

30 years ago you trusted the radio- and tv-news to tell you
the truth about what was going on in the country and in the
world. Today when that no longer is true, people have learned
to use the internet to communicate with eachother in ways
that was unthinkable 30 years ago.

So, we have both the good and the bad. I hope everyone
can make the right decisions in order to make their lives
as happy and as useful as they possibly can, because in
the end that is all that matters.

Thank you ShadowWar for an interesting retrospective opportunity

ShadowWar

on Jun 28, 2005

Reply By: Night TrainPosted: Tuesday, June 28, 2005reset the router?

the router was the first thing I tried, the fiber connection was second, then I said "Heck withit, let someone else fix this D^&M thing. " And went back to my coffee.

Hippie

on Jun 28, 2005

You know ShadowWar, I gave my Mother a computer a while back, and she's not on the internet. Used to, she would do housework or work out in her garden, or visit friends. She's 73 by the way, all she does now is play Mahjong. I wish I had never given her the computer, and there is no way I would let her get on the internet. People, including me, think you can't do anything without a computer or the internet. It is like an addiction.

I quit after my ISP runs out. Cold turkey.

thomassen

on Jun 30, 2005

Yea. It's somewhat scary if you think of it. I've had times when the internet is down and that has made me realize how often I check my emails and my regular sites.
And then there is times when I've been sitting home considering to disconnect the internet to make sure that I don't interrupt my work by my regualr email and website visits. I've sometimes found my self thinking "Hey! What happend! I was doing my very important work with a tight deadline comming up, how come I'm suddenly browsing through WC again?!? *slap on the wrist*"

starkers

on Jul 03, 2005

No internet...no Wincustomize...not bl..dy likely!

Manopeace

on Jul 03, 2005

If that ever happens again...write something in a Word Document... print it out.... fold the paper into a plane and toss it at a fellow employee... but that's only if you don't want some real conversation.

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