Dependent on the Internet?

We've been without internet or landline phone service since 1 p.m. Thursday. About 51-1/2 hours in all. The experience was an eye opener due more so to the time of month it occurred. Like many retirees, most of our income arrives in the first few days of each month & we promptly pay bills electronically for most of the month.

George had NEVER before put off bill paying on the first of the month when one check is direct deposited. This month he did and we were left in a lurch. Twice yesterday we tried to access computers at the library across the river in Yankeetown to no avail. A cell phone call to ATT&T told us service was out until the evening of August 7th. Yikes!

We don't own a smart phone and all but our auto insurance is paid online to addresses far from here. Fortunately, in double checking things, a credit card bill had been paid July 30th (due on 8/02) and the other bills could be paid as late as seven days with no penalty.

In the meantime, his Social Security check was deposited as well as an IOU from someone. Every little bit helps!

George has advocated "going paperless" for a long time but event changed his mind.

The outage affected an entire neighborhood on the south side of the Withlacoochee and got a few peopled riled up. Another lesson about how dependent and short fused people are when they go without. We remained inside or on our lot and kept to ourselves and noticed a few neighbors did likewise.

Once ATT&T fixed the problem, we logged onto our accounts, took care of business and did a little shopping in Inglis. Used the debit card to get more cash; filled emergency water jugs & bought more gallons of water; filled the gas tank & checked all fluids & tires and stopped at a yard sale where I got a nice wicker chair for $10.

Overall, we're fine but glad to be connected again. As usual, the lesson is, have back ups in place or in this case, a cell phone and bills paid ahead of time!