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No Internet At Work

I’m sitting at work today and suddenly nothing works. Outlook doesn’t work since it is connected remotely to the server in our home office. The Internet doesn’t work. MSN Messenger doesn’t work. Nothing works. All that works is the local network drives. So I can pull data from the servers, work on local applications but that’s it. There is nothing else.

Try to do a little in Excel and the answers are on “online help”. There aren’t any manuals here, no books on the subject. I’ve always relied on the Internet and forums for help. I can’t even call because our office phones work on VOIP - which requires the Internet to work.

So, I fall behind in my work since it can’t be done. Sit here and realize that once I’ve completed the little bit of work left on my desk all I can do is play Solitaire. Tasks and files are stored in Outlook which I can’t open. The solutions to other problems are online.

It’s a sad state when so much of what I do (and probably a lot of you too) relies on a little wire and communications with the outside world. Tom Barlow, of Wallet Pop, wrote an interesting post on the subject and how to do a little bit of backup, but only for the short term.

Do we have backup plans? I’d hate for a network or two to go down long-term and the company to realize they need to shutter our office or move us to the home city (I wouldn’t go). I can’t dig ditches… Frightening thoughts!

What would you do if you have to totally change the way you work?