# You know you're addicted to the Internet when... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 10, 2010, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-youre-addicted-to-the-internet-when/538974 "2010-05-10T22:52:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![sevenwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6de8d8/32.png) [@sevenwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sevenwood)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2010, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-youre-addicted-to-the-internet-when/538974/1 "2010-05-10T22:52:39Z")
A windstorm Saturday night knocked down a tree branch which in turn snapped our FIOS line. No Internet, TV, or landline until it was repaired early Monday evening. During that interval I did without the TV and landline just fine. The Internet was another matter. I discovered that if I rolled one of our office chairs into the bedroom, piled two large cardboard boxes on top of it, put a laptop on top of the boxes, and rolled the results over to the bedroom window with a direct line-of-sight to our neighbor’s house across the street I could get a very weak signal from his wireless router that would give me an Internet connection. Not a good one, mind you - it would cut out every couple of minutes and had to be reconnected. But I was able to access the more important sites like [comics.com](http://comics.com). I am one sick puppy. (I got permission from my neighbor first. Since I help him with his network on occasion he didn’t mind.) ---
**Author:** ![Carnick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Carnick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carnick)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2010, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-youre-addicted-to-the-internet-when/538974/2 "2010-05-10T23:28:07Z")
cool story bro ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2010, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-youre-addicted-to-the-internet-when/538974/3 "2010-05-10T23:41:20Z")
Time to bust out the Yagi antenna. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Perciful](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b38774/32.png) [@Perciful](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Perciful)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2010, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-youre-addicted-to-the-internet-when/538974/4 "2010-05-10T23:44:18Z")
That windstorm got me too. I lose everything and the longest it has been out is a day but I do miss it. At least you have a laptop! ---
**Author:** ![MacTech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2010, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-youre-addicted-to-the-internet-when/538974/5 "2010-05-11T00:04:28Z")
During the last major “windstorm” that hit New England (I’m reasonably sure it was a small, undocumented hurricane, or at the very least, a powerful Nor’Easter) we lost power and cable for five days, during that time, my iPhone was my “lifeline”, I was able to stay connected to the web, follow the incompetence of Central Maine Power on their website, and rant about it on my forums… Me likey iPhone… ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2010, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-youre-addicted-to-the-internet-when/538974/6 "2010-05-11T03:37:25Z")
I’m addicted, but mostly because it’s the only thing that keeps me sane. I have to have something to do when I’m feeling anxious so I won’t concentrate on the bad feelings and make it worse. And the net is a nice endless source of something to do that is intellectually stimulating. ---
**Author:** ![Illuminatiprimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/illuminatiprimus/32/11520_2.png) [@Illuminatiprimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Illuminatiprimus)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2010, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-know-youre-addicted-to-the-internet-when/538974/7 "2010-05-11T12:29:59Z")
I’d like to think that in such a situation I’d shrug and just do a lot more reading. I know in reality, however, that I’d probably spend a lot more time in the local internet cafe.