Forums » Smalltalk » No Electricity = No Bueno

Heeeey there guys!

So, here I sit on my laptop, draining the life and data out of my phone. Why would I do that? Well, there's a big storm here and I've lost power. I've got shelves full of awesome board games and tabletop games to play, but alas, I don't think my dog would be a very good opponent.

What is it you folks do when there's no internet or electricity to be had? (I mean, besides watching the battery drain on your phone with a deep-seated panic setting in as it turns red?)

I die inside.

It's just so... quiet. I need the sound of the fridge running, or the AC kicking on.

When money was so bad for me, I cut out internet so I could do rent, food and phone. Turns out, I actually didn't mind it as much as I thought, but that's because I love going for walks, I live only a 30 leisurely stride away from the ocean, and I love to read. Living alone with no internet also meant I didn't procrastinate on cleaning, or feeding my plants and accidentally killing one.

I know I'll sound like a freak of nature, but I actually didn't mind it all that much and I went months without it.

P.ost S.cript: Forgot the wonder of sewing to make pillows, because comfort & cute, origami (I've done about 3,400 cranes so far), and board games.

I have to have internet. I'm miserable without it. Given I only rp and chat with my rp buddies but still. I have multiple devices so one would be charging in my car while I drained one and then I'd swap out. There's not really anything else I can do when there's no power.

I don't care for board games really. Not like I have anyone to play with anyway.

I'm not artistic. So drawing, creating, etc is not an option.

Reading.... meh. Can't find books to keep my interest past a few pages.

Once we had a really bad snow storm and I was without power and running water for almost two weeks.

I made it almost a week before I went out to my car and charged my phone with my car charger.

....And took advantage of my heater while I was out there too.

Oo yeah, I've had that happen too with ice storms. That's when I played an eight-hour monopoly game and vowed to never play again!

I think if I lived that close to the ocean I would be there all the time! I can definitely see the advantage with lack of procrastination, maybe I need to force myself into that sometime.

When I was out of internet it was the time I learned how to do a new craft for fun. I actually picked up knitting and crochet for these reasons.

No internet is rough and I live in a place where it cuts out consistently enough that it's an ongoing issue. However, I've learned to make sure I have plenty of offline activities available during those times when I'm without my ability to talk to others. One thing I've been doing lately is working on creative writing. I sometimes will work on character sheets, story ideas or in general things that could improve a character that I'm RPing.

If however, I'm in a position of no electricity and no internet, I find napping a good choice of activity. Sleep is something we all need and could use more of. Generally, if the two signs of both a lack of connecting and a lack of light combine, I find that enough of a reason to rest. I will say that sleeping in a quiet home of that level can be difficult, but if one is tired enough it can be soothing.

Ohhh power outages. 8C

I light some candles and if it's cold out, climb into a sleeping bag and strap a head lamp on to read. In the past when traveling to areas without internet, I've drawn a lot, written in my journal, taken up crafts with an almost obsessive focus, and dreamed up story or character ideas to jot down for later.

I also enjoy being outdoors, so I've spent that kind of time walking and biking or otherwise exploring... not idea for a storm, but good for quieter times when you want to regain your bearings.

I actually love it when the power goes out, because it forces me to enjoy things that don't require electricity: candle-light, books, board games, card games, traditional art and writing, actually talking to other people in person.

I've met people who swear up and down that they couldn't live without a connection to electricity or away from their contemporary comforts, and I say to them: try. We didn't have the luxury of electricity in households until the 1870s. I'm sure if humanity went that long without, you can go a few hours or days or even weeks without!

The chaos involved is an excellent conversation-starter, too!

The only time I was seriously out of power was when I was younger, and the Internet wasn't really a good a thing as it is now. (Ugh, Dial up internet) Yet I was young enough at the time that internet didn't really interest me, I would rather have been outside in the ice storm in all honesty. I was a weird child.

This right here. Whenever I have no internet (like right now actually, I'm currently using mobile data and have been on this for two years now), I use what resources I have to kill time. Video games until the power runs out of my game system, drawing, or even catching up on some well-needed rest or reading. If I had no internet on my phone, I'd still be fine. It's going without a phone that scares me, because I need it to call and text people. But with no phone? ...As long as people poke in their heads every so often to see if I'm alive, I'll be fine.

I'm seconding this. Napping aaallll the way.

Or catching up on my reading! Like, real life paper books, which I don't ingest enough of these days and every time I get a chance to read some more it's like I'm surprised how awesome it is all over again.

Books. Books, books, and more books.

We have a tiny nook in our living space that my wife created with our couch, pillows, a small stove, and a couple of shelves stacked sideways. We filled it with things to read because, although we have almost all our reading stuff digitized (Kindle, tablet, etc), we still need the touch of a page.

We have a bunch of card games as well. And if all else fails, we have each other and our memories to run over and over.

I suppose any person with half a brain would have thought to themselves: Hey! I should read a book! I'm sure I would have been plenty entertained had my husband been home, but instead it was just my dog and she just gives me odd looks and refuses to go out in the rain to pee.

Considering I have
I really need to find a comfy chair or couch for that space, though.


When it isn't storming though, I've got