Broken Computer?

I am still not sure about this computer stuff.  For years we had DOS then Windows and now Apple - yep different systems to learn.
We were told that our next module would be posted Tuesday night and that we could work on it from then and be ready to attend internet conference on Thursday.  Well, after 9.30pm I gave up checking to see if the module had been posted and went to bed.
Wednesday morning early I checked again but it was not there.  I usually go to Beading group on Wednesday 1-4pm and was hoping to get the module done before I went.  Just after 11am I checked and it was up but I wanted to eat lunch before going out so I went and made lunch and thought I could start on the module then go to Beading Group.  Around 12 noon, I went to the computer but could not make it work.  TRAGEDY!!! I thought I might have broken it or something.  I kept trying to get onto the internet but it was not something I could do.  So I called Apple Care,which is a service we purchased just in case something went wrong and we needed expert attention.  After a few minutes of diagnostic exchanges, the man on the Apple phone line asked if we had internet.  I assured him that our bill was paid up and yes we did have internet.  He asked me to check the modem - I did and horror of horrors - the internet was down.  In Panic I called the repair service only to be told that the net was indeed down but would be repaired shortly.
I decided to take my two latest paper pieced quilt blocks to the group at beading just to show them, and I decided that I would not stay long but that I would go back home and work on the module.  I went home at 1.30pm only to find that the internet was still inoperable.
I did not realize how much I depend on the computer and the internet.
So, not to waste the time, I sat with my scriptures and started work on the readings that had been set for us.  Oddly enough this module was on Patience.  A quote from President Thomas S. Monson caught my eye -"Life is full of difficulties, some minor and others of a more serious nature.  There seems to be an unending supply of challenges for one and all.  Our problem is that we often expect instantaneous solutions to such challenges, forgetting that frequently the heavenly virtue of patience is required." Ah yes, food for thought.     I read the scriptural references that dealt with patience and it was a very uplifting and calming experience.  At the end of my readings I went outside and pulled the dead and very dry tomato vines out of their boxes and upturned the boxes to dump out the used and I might add root filled potting soil from the tomato growing venture.  There is no way we can hope to re-use the potting soil - but I do know some people who do just that.  It was lovely being outside in the sunshine with a slight breeze blowing.  I watered the fruit trees as well,  They were very dry, even though we have had some rain lately.
Our neighborhood is filled with blossoming trees.  They are all very early but we have had such warm weather that they seem to think that it is time to bloom.  Luckily my fruit trees have not started to bloom but the buds are all swollen and pink tips are beginning to show.  I hope that if they bloom that we will not have a freeze again - because I really want fruit from the trees this year.
Still no internet!  UGH!!!
So when Bill came home he said - lets go out for dinner.  Yay! no cooking tonight!.  Well, as we drove off we began to wonder if we had enough cash on hand to pay for the meal if the credit cards were not able to be read at the restaurant.  We also wondered if the stores in the area all were having a hard time - Walmart was not having a problem because they use a satellite connection to download and upload card purchases.  We had a nice dinner and by the time we got back home the internet was up and running and I was able to do the module ready for the Thursday meeting. It took till way past 10pm. to complete the work.  Whew!
Just as we were going to bed, Bill told me that a big grocery company had bought out many grocery chains across the nation.  Locally they bought Albertsons and Safeway - Bill works for Safeway.  One store chain from Maine that we patronized a few times while out there named Shaws, was also one of the chains that is now a part of the Albertson/Safeway deal.  It will be a interesting thing to watch if they try to take on Walmart.  Walmart sells something of everything but a huge grocery conglomerate might just give them a run for their money in the grocery department.  Walmart has a reasonable grocery section, but it is minuscule compared to the huge grocery stores - but their prices are better than the huge grocery stores.  You cannot win them all.
This morning we read in the paper that some vandals had broken into the facility that housed the optical cable and cut the cable, thus causing the whole northern half of the state of Arizona to be shut down - read that brought to its collective knees.  It shut down banks, stores and 911.  It makes me wonder what would happen to America if someone hacked the power grid - we would be totally lost and in the dark.  No internet, no phones, no planes could fly, no trains could run - in fact the whole country would grind to a HALT....and we thought that 9/11 was horrendous.