Yesterday morning, our power and internet connection was disrupted by a storm. To cope with the situation, we made use of our solar generator to power our refrigerator and coffee maker. We had breakfast on our screened patio, enjoying the pleasant weather. Since we had no internet, we spent time working on puzzles from my collection, such as word searches and sudoku. We used pens, mechanical pencils, and erasers from a box to work on them. Even though power was restored at 12:30 pm, we still had no internet. So, I continued to work on sudoku puzzles indoors.

Jeanette Isabelle

It is a good idea or plan to have non-electronic entertainment on hand. I may be an old fuddy-duddy but I am still amazed at it when I see folks any time they have 'down time' such as a waiting room on on a bus, etc. They whip out a device/phone and ignore everything around them.

We've got books, board games and the such for non-electric entertainment too.

I’m a big believer in paper reading material and a deck of cards in a kit. And board games at home.

I´m a bad player = frequent loser. And I´m a bad loser = get angry allthough I don´t show it. So for me it´s better not to engage in such activities.

Aside from games, I also have activity books. Furthermore, I revisited Ollie's today to purchase additional ones.

Jeanette Isabelle

Well, I understand your disdain for "phone zombies" who wander cluelessly into traffic.

But in a waiting room, you don't know what they are looking at.

It may be mindless fluff (more likely). But when I started carrying one of these infernal devices, and had beater tablets at my disposal, I quickly learned that you can download half the world's library of timeless books from gutenberg.org and have them at your fingertips even without internet access.

In addition, phones/tablets are relatively easy to charge, even in an extended power outage. Unlike laptops.

So when you see me in a waiting room with a far-off look, be advised that I may be on one of Twain's Mississipi steamboats, or walking Dickens' streets of Victorian England, immersed in the finest writing that the English language has to offer.