It seems like almost exactly a year ago we had a pretty substantial internet outage. That one lasted for over 24 hours, and you would've thought the world was going to un-create. I was probably one of those people. We've become so dependent on the web as our chief form of entertainment that we don't know how to handle ourselves without it.

Think about it... you're always there. Even when you're not thinking about it. If any activity stops for more than 2 minutes, most people will pull out their phone and start hitting social media. I bet no one has ever really thought about how many Facebook comments are likely spawned on the toilet. It'd certainly be a frightening statistic.

So what can you do when the internet goes down? Go back to the basics of course. Do all the things we did when we were kids. We used to pass lots of time with no internet, and even if you had cable, it was like 19 channels back in the day and that was it. So let's go old-school for a bit, shall we?

Drag out the dusty old board games. To me, this is always the immediate go-to. When my wife and I are tired of TV, or in horrible situations like no internet, we get out the cribbage board. Or even trusty old Trivial Pursuit. But we all know that a family game of Monopoly can go for days, so there's one sure to keep you going til the intertubes come screaming back.

Go outside and relax in the yard. Before you even throw the word winter in my face, we have a special winter fire pit at our house. It's in a more accessible part of the yard, and we burn stuff in all winter long. So start a fire, regardless of the time of year. Make smores, eat hot dogs... just get outside!

Do some much needed house work. Times like these don't always have to be fun and games. Maybe your house is trashed and it's time to clean up. Maybe there's a mammoth pile of dishes in the sink. Maybe there's laundry to be done. Sure, it isn't the funnest thing in the world, but it beats sitting around staring at the wall.

Read a book. I know that seems painfully obvious, but hey, it will absolutely offer you a means of escape from the doldrums of no internet. Maybe you have some old Stephen King books that you haven't read since high school. Or maybe even drag out your old yearbooks from high school and re-live those crazy memories, and hairstyles, with your family and let your kids laugh at you. Even more than they do already.

Watch the movies that you already own. There's a good chance that, like my wife and I, you have a stack of DVD's that still have the plastic wrap on them. You bought them on a whim, and have never even opened them. Now's your chance. Better still, if you still have a VCR and some old VHS tapes, show your kids how you used to rough it back in the olden days.

Obviously, you can come up with 100 more ideas on your own. But should the internet ever go down again, which of course it will, at least this may provide you with a jumping off point for entertaining yourself and your family. Or, you'll just shut off the WiFi on your phone and use data...... cheater.

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