The Problem with NO INTERNET.

I went 11 days without internet. I was on the phone with the internet company nearly every day during that time. On day 11 someone was finally able to figure out what the problem was and fix it. FINALLY.

Now, there are PLENTY of things I can do without internet, but the whole thing irritated me to no end so here is a list of things that bothered (to enraged) me about no internet:

#1: Pay Bills ~ With the internet, I can pay my bills quickly, in my jammies, and FOR FREE. Paying my bills over the phone has cost me between $2.50 to $15!!! I did ask for those fees to be waived and some companies actually did that for me, but the mortgage payment ended up having to be mailed. ($15?!? REALLY?? Do you know how much gas I can get with $15?? Well, it's more than I can get for $0!!!)

I am so mad about all the extra fees I have had to pay in the last two weeks that I have considered yelling at my internet company that THEY should pay those fees.

SO ANNOYING!

#2: Paperwork ~ Instead of ordering the important papers I need online, I had to get dressed, get in my van, get GASOLINE ($$$) and drive out to the town with the courthouse and go into the building and prove who I was etc, etc, etc...(thank goodness parking is still free there!). After all that I could make a REQUEST for the papers I need and go home. Eventually I will get a call and have to drive all the way BACK out there to pick the papers up. So to there and back TWICE is around-about 100 miles (give or take). That is not only gas money but also more wear and tear on tires I pretty desperately need to replace anyway (more $$$). Soooo maybe I should yell at the internet company to pay for all that, too!.

#3: Music ~ My phone is relatively new. I just got it earlier this year. I do not have any music on it yet. I have music on Amazon but I don't know how to put that on my phone where I can listen to it offline. I have Pandora that I listen to (mostly comedy channels, secondly "today's hits," God music [Christian contemporary], my Les Mis channel that sometimes throws some Disney in there, and when I'm in the mood I have a Classical/Orchestra channel), so with no internet connection I suddenly have NO soundtrack while I'm doing chores, laundry, and yard work. My natural instinct is to sing, badly. Otherwise it's dead silent (except when the kids are home!)

I have hundreds of hours of music on my computer, but my computer speakers are absolute crap and I don't know how to move that music to my phone either. I suppose I could look that information up IF I HAD INTERNET!!!

#4: Email ~ I live in a town so small that my cell phone gets no coverage there, data or otherwise. Literally everywhere else but home. My kids' schools contact me via email. Most people either text or Facebook message me and I have no access to any of that. When we go out and I can quick-check priority messages but other than that, nada.

#5: Job-hunting ~ I CAN NOT LOOK FOR/APPLY/CHECK STATUS for ANY jobs!! This is infuriating!!! Without internet all I can do is check the newspaper. I can't drive around because that's gas money and if I could afford all the gas I wanted I wouldn't need to find a job in the first place! I am so upset about this! What monetary value can I put on that? Needing a job and not even able to look for one!

#6: Sims ~ This pisses me off more than anything, but it's not actually directed at the internet company.

I HAVE THE PLAY DISC! It is physically in my possession! I should be able to play this game, internet or no internet! But NOW (when I started playing this was not the case) for some stupid reason I have to sign in to Origin to play at all.

There HAS to be a way to play my game offline, especially since I HAVE the physical play disc!!! This is ABSURDITY! I am enraged every time I think about it. I bought this game (okay, someone bought it for me, the point is money was exchanged to be able to play this game), I WANNA PLAY IT!! RIDICULOUS!!

I was considering installing all the Elder Scrolls games and just playing those, but as soon as I had internet I knew the first thing I would look up would be how to play Sims offline. I mean SERIOUSLY.

The worst part is I actually get LESS done without my "me" time (Sims mostly, Facebook to a lesser extent, plus these blogs, vlogs, photos, etc) and my music. I get a lot more done when I take play breaks. And for two weeks I didn't have that.

I DID read more. I finally finished "Hyde" (Vincent Churchill ~ awful book, although I have another book he wrote that I hope is better) and I'm more than halfway through "Needful Things" (Stephen King ~ a re-read). My next book is "Cool Careers in Video Games" that my son requested I read. I think he wants me to read it and give him the highlights. My next Stephen King book will be re-reading "The Stand."

Sooooooo I'm thrilled to say I'm back online and I have looked up how to play Sims offline ~ although I'm not sure if it would work without signing in to Origin (I need to tell Origin to LET ME play offline). Hopefully I'll never have to find out.

Back to it!

<3 p="">AmyG