January 18th, 2009
No Internet Can Be A Blessing
My weekend started off really crap as our first Telkom ADSL account got capped and the second decided to stop working. After hours of debugging and trying to get the account to work, nothing worked. The same thing Saturday and finally today we had a break through and found out that it is an issue on Telkoms side. Big surprise there hey?
As annoyed and frustrated as I was having no internet it actually was a big blessing in disguise! Why? Well because I discovered some awesome local websites, got to watch 2 movies (that I wouldn’t have watched if the internet was on because I would have been working) and I also got to go out with my Girlfriend and have a really good dinner 
It is so easy to get caught up in this “digital lifestyle” that you kind of forget that there is a whole world out there waiting to be discovered. I definitely need to “turn off” the internet more often and take up more hobbies. Last year I did quite a bit of mountain biking and played a lot of golf. I really want to start that up again and I also want to start playing some action cricket.
I will definitely do a post later for the South Africans talking about some really cool local ftp sites which you can use to download Linux distros, software, games and more on a capped account. I downloaded about 8 gigs of data on our first ADSL account this weekend while our second account wasn’t working.
I also want to write a post about a cool group of guys who have setup local networks in the major cities around South Africa which you can connect to and share files, play games and more. I will be getting my equipment next month to connect to the local network here in Pretoria.
Until then, disconnect, catch a movie or something and enjoy life a little
I guess that’s what you call turning lemons into lemonade. The last time that I lost the internet, I was in the middle of getting involved with some american singles datinghref=”http://chicagodatingservices.net/index.php?p=products/dating-services/matchcom”>american singles dating. I had just signed up for a service and was looking forward to viewing pictures and wham, no internet.
I agree. I need to turn off not just the internet but the television too. Half the time I’m watching TV with a laptop in my lap.
Sounds like you had a good time without the internet ! I`m the same just seem to be living my life sat at my desk in front of the PC screen. Where abouts is Pretoria ?
I moved house recently, and living in Spain means a big wait to get the new place connected… it’s been 3 weeks now and still no internet at home and it’s been great! I do miss Spotify and YouTube, but to be honest it stops me working too much and gets me to spend time with the missus and the cats
We should all try and switch off a couple of days a week!
I sure can relate to your post. I start out saying I’ll do something for an hour or two and then do something in the real world. Many hours later finds me following the original rabbit trail I began early on.
Margaret
I recently had somewhat of a similar experience.
ATT was having issues with on their side and I couldn’t get anything done.
So I got to have some wonderful extra time with our children playing in the snow – although it is frigid cold right now.
Also electricity can be a blessing as well. Then you can either read a book, or go outside, or call a friend you have not talked to for a while.
I mean – NO electricity