Outsmarting the Internet Outage: A Texan’s Handbook

On November 4, 2023, the city of El Paso, Texas & various parts of the state (some in Del Rio and throughout South Texas) went through what locals are calling: "The Great Spectrum Outage of 2023".

Yes around 12pm on Saturday, many Spectrum customers were left with no tv & no internet for HOURS... about 3 for most, some were left with no internet for 4-5 hours. It was certainly a harrowing experience & we all made it through. But what can you do if this happens again? Well instead of getting mad at your tv or computer screen,

Why not try doing these instead:

Go outside

When the internet went out, it was super sunny outside (and it was a Saturday). It was a beautiful day outside. So if it's a really nice day out, go outside and get some sun. Take the kids to the park, take the dog out for a walk, go talk to the neighbors and laugh at how ridiculous this situation is. It's a beautiful world outside...

Cook (or learn to cook)

If you live with someone who knows how to cook, or you've been meaning to cook, then use that time to LEARN. Many users were still able to use their phone & the internet on their smart phone so you could easily take that time to learn some new recipes. Or if you can't, then go somewhere to eat that you've always wanted to try. There's NO shortage of amazing restaurants throughout Texas...

Read a book

I'll admit...I wish I had more time read books as there are plenty of my library. If you've been meaning to reading something or finishing a book (or maybe even WRITING a book), use that time creatively. You can also use that time to draw or try painting. Who knows?? Maybe you'll discover a new hobby...

Clean yo room!

I've seen many people comment and said they used the time they didn't have internet to actually clean their house. I couldn't agree more; if your house stinks or could use a good mopping or sweeping, clean it! What would your guests think?

Sleep

Listen if you've got nothing to do, no work, no chores, you're completely bored... then why not catch a few z's? This was another common thing I saw online; if you're just waiting for the internet to come back on, then get some rest if you've been trying to catch up on sleep.

Go explore around Texas

And finally, if you don't have internet, why not go for a drive (or hike) and explore Texas? There are so many places to explore around Texas, so many unique cities/monuments/attractions to visit; so many parks to hike around the Lone Star State, that's a perfect chance to go discover something or somewhere you never had before.

Now there's a good chance this will happen again so, if and WHEN it does, at least you'll have some ideas on what to do while you're waiting for the internet to come back. Of course you can always sit and be mad while you wait but...that's not fun.

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