Sandier Pastures

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13 THINGS TO DO WHEN THE NET IS DOWN

The internet is an outstanding resource for learning and entertainment I can’t imagine my life living without it. We have been unplugged at work and here’s some things to dooutside of the rabbit hole.

1. Clean out and categorize bookmarks. Sites that I haven’t visited for a month means it is not important anymore. Eliminate all bookmarks that are not necessary.

2. Go to Control Panel and uninstall programs that are not being used. Why deleting them is good even if there’s still plenty of space on the drive? Because it makes things like Scandisk and Defrag run faster and more effective.

3. Cleanup the office desk. You’ll never know what you might find in the dark corners. Diassemble the ball of cable behind the desk. Untangling a cable ball can induce a state of Zen and it’s rewarding when the mouse reaches as fas as it used to.

4. Unplug the PC and clean-out the dust. I have discovered that my fan has built up a rabbit hutch to keep all the dust bunnies fuzzy enough to dwell. Never forget to clean the keyboard just in case.

5. Talk to other people in the same room.

6. Look around and memorize the faces of the many Indians around. They all look the same, especially when I am looking at my system and just see them in the sidelines. Try to recall their full names and associate with the face. It is a good brain exercise!

7. Write blog posts using a blog client like BlogDesk or just the Notepad. Not being connected may force anyone to write about something different, like ranting or doing a Thursday Thirteen on things to do when you have no internet connection.

8. Write down logins and passwords for all my sites, blogs, email accounts, affiliate programs, webhost - - all information about my online life in a convenient but secure note.

9. Backup all important files and organize photos. Reminiscing on each memorable photo is a good way to while away the time.

10. Reacquaint with the good old bulky dictionary than just relying on online resources. Amuse yourself with the notes you scribbled when you can’t speak Nihongo at all 11 years ago.

11. Grab a notebook and a pen and write the meal plan for the week. This is a task you can also do even without internet connection with notepad or Word but sometimes, it is also good to check on how bad your handwriting got (after all those typing-only sessions).

12. If still bored, go through the temporary internet files and pretend the internet is still working!

13. Go out, see the sun, look up to appreciate the nice weather and pray that internet connection be back real SOON.

Can you suggest anything else?

If you’ve got time, you can check out another TT here.