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Losing the Internet · 27 January 2024

Lo and behold, we lost power shortly after I posted my blog on power flickers. Not for very long. Maybe an hour. But it was rather funny. Especially since I said not to blame me if you lost power after I posted. Turned out to be a perfectly timed blog. At least at our house.

The really interesting thing though is that losing power is a minor problem, but losing the internet is a major one. I know. It sounds rather silly. After all, if you lose power, you lose the internet, right? Right. The thing is, when you lose power, you expect to lose internet. But if you just lose the internet, life can become a mess.

After we lost power for about an hour, we lost the internet for about 24 hours. A whole day! Thankfully, much of that was at night, but it was quite the upheaval of our daily routine. One of our sons works from home. And while it is true that he often works strange hours, it did not really matter that he wanted to get an early start when the internet was down. In fact, it was so strange that he went to bed about the same time that the rest of the household did.

Another thing about losing the internet is that there are no movies. No streaming. No entertainment. Oh the horror. People must talk to one another. People must interact. People must deal with people. Oh the horror!

Okay. It was not so bad. It was a bit like it must have been in the old days. Before TV. Before the internet. But not before electricity. We were nice and cozy and had the lights. So we read and talked a bit. It was a weeknight, so we did not play a game, but we did think about it. Having no internet and no streaming was a nice thing.

There is one great benefit to losing the internet. That is that the appliances cannot plot their uprising. They can posture and beep all they want when the power comes on after an outage, but they cannot talk with each other when the internet is out. They cannot coordinate their efforts to take over the kitchen. Or beyond.

Well, I for one can live without the internet every once in a while. Maybe we should try it now and then. (If you end up doing it voluntarily, let me know.) For now, we are happy with our internet and power up and running.

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Power Flickers · 20 January 2024

It is interesting when the power flickers on and off. The appliances act like they are waking up. Like they are getting ready for a takeover.

I am not sure if it happens everywhere, but we have power outages every now and then. Usually at least once a winter. Often more. There are times when the power goes out for a few hours. Or even a few days. Thankfully, we have not had a days-long outage for a while. (Which does not mean that I caused one if it comes after I said that.) And often, we get power flickers.

Those flickers can be annoying.

What I mean by a power flicker is when the lights dim and the compressor on the fridge sounds like it is going to die. The most annoying ones are the ones when the lights and appliances all turn off for a few seconds. Just long enough to need to set all the clocks to the correct time. At least all the clocks that do not talk to the internet.

Which is where the creepiness comes in.

Our house has all sorts of sounds when the power flickers or when it comes on after any significant power outage. First, the stove beeps a loud long beep. Then, the printers go through a whole rigmarole. Beeps, whirs, more beeps, and a chime or two. And since they all get their power at the same time, the sequence is always the same. Long loud beep. Beep, whir, beep, chime. And then everything is ready. But ready for what?

I wonder whether those machines are getting ready for the takeover. The rise of the household machinery. The long loud beep is like Reveille. Get the troops ready for the day. Then, the whirring and beeping and chiming are responses from the troops. “We’re ready for action, sir!” And then the quiet. Like they are all ready to pounce at a moment’s notice.

Sounds about right. At least for a sci-fi movie sequence. Rise of the Household Appliances. Coming to a theater near you. Okay. Not a very scary premise. Stoves and printers attacking households? Pshaw. How are they going to move? How are they going to wreak havoc? After all, stoves are heavy or built into the wall. Printers do not even have legs.

Well, this is not really where I was headed, but it is an interesting thought. All those crazy sounds from the household items when the power glitches long enough are enough to make you think crazy thoughts. Or maybe that is just me.

I do have one other crazy thought. Maybe those power glitches are not really due to inclement weather. Or even random. Maybe those power glitches are to keep the appliances on their toes. Maybe power companies know that the machines are ready to rise and take over. And maybe. Just maybe. Those power companies know that glitching the power every now and again keeps the household appliances at bay. Keeps them off balance so that they cannot mount a concerted attack.

Makes you wonder.

I am certain that it will never happen, but I still think all the sounds that come from household appliances when the power flickers are an amazing short concert. I am just glad they are not a call to arms. I am just glad that the appliances are not waking up and getting ready for an uprising every time the power flickers.

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#ThursdayThoughts Preview · 13 January 2024

I am not sure how many people look at the dates of my blog posts, but enough have commented on it that I need to explain. I post my blog on Saturdays, but I give my Twitter and Facebook audiences a preview. That’s it. (But of course, there is more to the story.)

A couple of my friends have commented in the past that the dates on my blog posts were different than the dates they read said posts. (If you have not read said comments, it is because they have commented in person.) First of all, I am happy that I have such a faithful following. I am glad that anybody reads my stuff. Second of all, I am happy that anybody reads my stuff. And thirdly, I am ecstatic that anybody reads my stuff.

I have been blogging for a long time (since 2006) with just a handful of readers (both real and imaginary). And even though I am not a sophisticated blogger, I like to think I am at least a little bit sophisticated. So even though I started blogging just a short time after Facebook (2004) and Twitter (2006) started their operations, I have not done all of the sophisticated things that sophisticated bloggers do. Like try to get readers.

Apparently, sophisticated bloggers have sophisticated websites that encourage people to join. And when you join those websites (whether blogger sites or not), you get special privileges. Some sites have content that you do not get if you are not part of the in-crowd. Others give you all sorts of members-only stuff. (I am not part of those members-only groups on any blogger sites, so I have no idea what that stuff could be.)

At any rate.

I decided long ago that I would not have one of those member websites. At least not with my blog. I cannot actually think of a website I might run with a members-only area. And I could not think of appropriate stuff that could be given to members that I would not give to anybody else. But I thought that there could be somebody I could give special access to my content.

Well, it took a little time, but I joined Facebook and Twitter. I even figured out what a hashtag was and I made some posts and tweets now and again. Then, I saw this special hashtag. #ThursdayThoughts. I posted some tidbits now and then. Nothing deep or spiritual or anything like that. Even if that was what I thought I should do. Then, I thought to myself. What if I gave my Facebook and Twitter audience an advanced look at my blog. That would be some great reward. Like a members-only sneak perk.

So that is what I did. I continued to post my blog on Saturdays and I added a sneak peak on #ThursdayThoughts. And I put those #ThursdayThoughts on both Facebook and Twitter.

Apparently, I never explained that before. Apparently, that sneak peak is not as special as I thought it might be. Ah well. I will still continue to do it. Post on Saturday, but give that special sneak peak on Thursday. Even if nobody thinks it is that special.

So if you look at my blog post date and you see that the date you are reading it is before the post date, you are a special person. (But no, you did not travel to the future.) You are part of the group that gets a preview because you follow me on Facebook and/or Twitter. Now that I explained it, I hope that you feel special.