farmdoc's blog post number 581

I think it was in the mid 1990s. And at someone’s wedding. I can’t recall whose – but it matters not. The discussion was about the (then nascent) internet. And I swore I’d never be an internet user. Never, ever. Oh how the worm’s turned. It began to turn in 1998: when Sweetheart Vivienne and I were on our tandem ride in Britain, we sent periodic group email bulletins to relatives and friends. And it grew from there. Nowadays the internet’s an integral part of my life. I even dictate my medical reports on a digital dictaphone and send the sound files to my typist as email attachments. A few years ago my internet usage (and dependence but not, I hope, addiction) ratcheted up when broadband (i.e. ADSL) came to Mole Creek. In comparison, dial-up connections were so primitive. But better than nothing. Anyway, as I wrote yesterday, I’ve had no internet connection since last Friday morning. In a 5:45 a.m. lightning strike, Mother Nature flexed her muscles. I can’t see where the lightning struck, but it tripped my electrical circuit breaker. The lost ADSL connection’s the only damage I’ve discovered so far. I feel lost without it. Isolated. Bereft. I keep humming Joni Mitchell’s line: ‘You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone’. Telstra, bless its corporate heart, is sending a technician to look at the problem on Tuesday morning. I don’t know if he’ll come on Tuesday, or if he’ll fix the problem then. Here’s hoping. I’ll keep you posted. Literally.