Last night we had a blackout on the Northern Beaches and the first thing I thought of was "Thank God it is not Offspring night.
I know 1st world problems right?
We raced around finding candles and torches and the kids ran around squealing like the world was about to end. The sudden darkness was the equivalent to a cup of creaming soda in the hyper stakes and they didn't want to go to bed because it was too dark. Ruheally? I had no comeback as I was too damn stupefied to respond.
After piling all the kids into one bedroom so they could keep each other company... you know... in the dark and all... *insert major eye roll* I grabbed the phone to ring my parents who live only 2 minutes up the road to just check that they were OK. Except of course the power was out which meant our digital phones weren't working.
Der!
So I reached for my laptop to check the news and find out what was going on with this blackout? Except I had no wifi.
Der!
I grabbed my trusty iPhone to check the Internet that way, and I found that the network was down and I couldn't get online... like AT ALL!
It was then that the shit I have no access to any technology panic set in.
No lights, no TV, no electricity, no wifi, no phone. OMG the kids were right this really was the end of the world.
We eventually gave up and went to bed about 4 hours earlier than we are used to. As I lay there staring out the window watching the wind bending the trees and praying that the basketball hoop didn't fall on the car after I had mocked my husbands suggestion of moving it, I thought to myself "holy shitballs I really am addicted to modern day technology aren't I".
I couldn't stand the thought of not knowing what was going on outside of our little world and I was struggling to cope with not being able to log into Facie or anything else. And then I started thinking about what it would be like if the world had a major crisis and we were forced to live in a world with no wifi or electronics and I swear I could feel the hives practically bubbling to surface of my skin.
I have teased my kids about their addiction to their gadgets, I have laughed mercilessly at my husband's Internet surf checks and yet here I was lying in bed at 9pm at night going practically mental from withdrawal.
This is where I am supposed to say how I had an epiphany about my unhealthy attachment to technology and how I am going to ween my family off it just in case the world does face some catastrophic incident that sees us living underground with no power ...right?
Except I'm not.
Instead I am sitting here googling residential generators and battery operated phone chargers cause you know, old fox, new tricks and all that.
I like technology... very much it seems and with more wind predicted for tonight and the risk of another blackout on the cards, I am looking for a back up place to watch Offspring.
Any space on your couch? I come with vodka and Malteasers.
Do you have an unhealthy attachment to technology?