You know how we always assume the Internet will be there when we need it?

A snafu with the billing and customer service of our small-town Internet provider at our upstate home in Columbia County, New York got our phone and Internet service cut off by mistake.

We actually considered NOT going to the house for the weekend.  Could we live without Internet?  How could we go without it?  What should the name for this syndrome be?
There is actually a slangy name for the fear of being out of mobile phone range, its called nomophobia.   I'm eager to hear if you have a name for it:  email me!

I started thinking ahead to all the Internet activities I thought I might need in the weekend ahead.  Making travel plans for an upcoming trip to California.  Looking up the hours of the car wash.  Checking the weather.  Of course getting email.  Watching my Facebook feed during the political debate.  Getting map directions to a new destination.  Finding out the obscure Shakespeare reference in the crossword puzzle.  Oh and I wouldn't be able to do any work--which is one of the things I love about having my own business, being able totime-shift my work at will. 

With the ubiquity of wi-fi, its like we have a perpetual safety net, always connected to the world.  Even though I lived happily for many years without the Internet,  I admit that the prospect of an Internet-free weekend caused a frisson of anxiety.

We soldiered ahead and got to our house.  We would have a web-free weekend (okay of course we could use up data on our cell phones if we really needed to).  But we'd unplug and just enjoy the country on a fine fall weekend.  Bring it on!

And here's the punch line:  Customer Service was wrong.  We had our wi-fi connection as usual!  The disconnect hadn't really happened at all.  But it did give me a chance to really think about the role of Internet in our everyday lives. 

If you've got a creative name for this new anxiety, love to hear it!