Tag Archives: Lost Communication

Went Off the Grid … Again.

15 Friday May 2015

Posted by in On Writing, Social Media

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From: DepositPhotos.com

From: DepositPhotos.com

Two years ago, I went off-the-grid to Central America and for awhile, folks didn’t hear from me.  About the same time last year, I went to Nevada (see Going Off the Grid for a Human Touch), and got caught up in the wonder of my newborn grandson. Well, I’ve done it again and gone off-the-grid for a few weeks in Mexico. Like my adventure in Central America, local cell service existed if you could speak Spanish. Internet is spotty but available … in-between frequent brownouts. My cell phone didn’t have international access and I chose not to rent one locally (because I’m cheap and who would I call in Mexico). When I did find a working Wi-Fi signal, my laptop had issues speaking the same digital lingo. It might have been the dozen rum drinks I had trying to make it work, but I decided the purpose of my visit was to regale in the splendor of unspoiled sandy beaches and turquoise waters (I took that right off the tourist brochure).

A few days passed before withdrawal symptoms set in. Fingers twitched involuntarily, as if searching for something to type. Fitful nights, separated from emergency calls in case something happened to my daughter or if my house burned down. What about all the unanswered email? Will social media followers drop me? Did Tyrion Lannister survive his harrowing boat journey with the scheming eunuch?

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Going Off The Grid

28 Thursday Mar 2013

Posted by in Writing Dystopian Themes

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At the end of the world.Scenicreflections.com

At the end of the world.
Scenicreflections.com

Ever find yourself off the grid for a couple weeks, away from all forms of normal communication?  Not the kind where you go hiking with expectations of returning later in the day or week. Even then, you probably had a cell phone with you.

I grew up in a time of rotary telephones that only needed five numbers to dial.  Making calls in a remote hamlet of New Hampshire required operator assistance.  It was the age of letters … you know, that form of communication that required penmanship, paper, and pen.  Mail didn’t zip electronically through servers, real humans with the Postal Service walked neighborhoods to deliver it. GPS back then was called a compass.  Get caught without access to a phone or two-way radio, and you could get really lost … signal fire or message-in-a-bottle lost.

Let’s face it, many of us go ape-shit when cell signal is lost, bang keyboards when the internet goes down.  Adolescents enter that special cranky state when cable or satellite goes blank with, “no signal available,” and how does anyone make it through the day without texting?

It isn’t so much what would happen if it all went down, like the popular dystopian TV show, Revolution.  It’s how you’d handle it.  How would you feel?

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