Unease with these modern times

A fiber optic cable got cut over 100 miles from here and telecommunications in the Owens Valley was intermittent at best yesterday.

I could make local calls and calls to Berkeley, where my office is and where AT's office is (I called in incommunicado for her), but to call Denver, I had to get on our cheap pay as you go cellphone that we use for emergencies. I was one of the lucky ones who could dial out.

911 didn't work, and the internet was down for most of the day.

Because long distance and web connectivity were down, nobody could bank (a few banks locked their doors). Some prescriptions could not get filled because pharmacies rely on a central computer network to verify patients and their insurance. Gasp! My credit card was useless unless a) somebody had a credit card franker b) knew how to use it.

Everybody in town sort of walked around aimlessly and got a bit anxious. I did what I always do when I am by myself and have a window of time. I gardened.

If nothing else, the wee window of manmade unease made me feel glad that I horde Wyatt's insulin. I think about the poor people left to their own devices during Katrina.

We live in a really remote place that is served by few roads. All it would take is a breakdown in transportation, say a bad snow storm, or something happening in Los Angeles, and we'd be left to our own devices. With a pantry full of food, a garden with a bit of year round greens, and now a fridge full of insulin, I think we'd be ready.