apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time


What Do You Find it Hard to Get By Without?

8-12-08computer.jpg

Since Chicago's big storm last week, our laptop has been out of commission. (Water seeped through our windowsill and fried our keyboard.) We picked up our mended laptop with new keyboard from the Mac store yesterday, and we're so relieved to have it back! Being separated from our computer for the last week definitely threw us for a loop. It's one of those things we use every day...

 
 

When something like a laptop, stove, or heating/cooling system breaks, it can make daily life a lot harder. We take these items for granted until a storm or some other unlucky event sweeps through and decommissions our daily tools. Everyone deals with this on a small or large scale throughout their lives, so we're wondering what you've lost (and/or regained) that you had a difficult time doing without.

Tags

inspiration

Related Links

Share

Comments (23)

i have a tough time being without my mp3 player, i have virtually no attention span, so it's useful to keep my focused on workouts, homework, walks, long drives.

my laptop, too. i use it for everything, school, tv, reading, movies, shopping.

perhaps it's rather materialistic of me, but that's the world i live in. besides, a laptop is pretty integral to my chosen career. (graphic designer).

posted by indiasoup on August 12th 2008 at 8:19am
view indiasoup's profile

I had to have my hard drive replaced in my laptop, and it was a long 3 days. Not to mention I lost everything on the drive (Luckily all the important stuff is backed up to a separate drive).

I don't deal well without a guitar nearby either.

posted by cettelbrick on August 12th 2008 at 8:29am
view cettelbrick's profile

Something lost and regained about which it was surprising and/or validating to learn that it was hard to do without said thing? hmmmmmm.

I'd say that after a recent very long and very hard backpacking trip, I am apprecaiting my beautyrest mattress more than ever before.

Interet access is a close 2nd in general (whether via my own machine or someone else's -- it's not the computer as much as what it enables).

And good coffee. OMG. Yeah, fresh hot, really good coffee.

And fresh veggies. Anyone who's ever lived a stint on dehydrated food knows what this particular gift is all about.

posted by kimg924 on August 12th 2008 at 8:31am
view kimg924's profile

I hate when the power goes out and I can't cook. It's usually at that exact time that I want to cook or bake something SO MUCH... and yet I can't.

The computer? Meh... I work on one all day so when I get home I like to just avoid it. I spend probably 15 minutes in the evening checking email, and then I avoid it like the plauge.

I would be sad if there was no radio.

posted by revolution9 on August 12th 2008 at 8:32am
view revolution9's profile

I was hit by the storm too. I wasn't missing my laptop so much as my refrigerator (out for three or four days) and my A/C - thankfully back after a day. Now I am a girl who got by without A/C for years -- I finally broke down and bought a unit maybe a year ago. But on a hot, humid day where the air just isn't moving...of course I couldn't plug a fan in while the power was out either.

posted by sarahbest on August 12th 2008 at 8:36am
view sarahbest's profile

I'd have to agree with other posts about the laptop, internet connection, really good coffee, and fresh veggies.

I don't think I can do without filtered water in my Klean Kanteen. Ahhh, so refreshing! And my cell phone to gab with friends.

posted by eccola1976 on August 12th 2008 at 8:50am
view eccola1976's profile

My fridge and my iPod are probably up there, followed closely by my stove.

I once cooked during a blackout (my stove and oven are both gas-powered, not electric) with a mini-flashlight in my mouth so I could see what I was doing, so I can't claim the lights are essential.

posted by meg_ues on August 12th 2008 at 8:52am
view meg_ues's profile

the fridge, absolutely (I am currently struggling with one on the fritz)

while being away from my computer throws me for a loop for the first day, the next day and thereafter I am always happy to have cut the cord, and enjoy some of the more valuable things in life.

posted by amt230 on August 12th 2008 at 8:55am
view amt230's profile

My kitchen sink has been clogged shut for the past week-and-a-half and the super has yet to fix it. I'm cleaning our dishes in the bathroom right now so technically I can live without it, but the whole situation is a pain in the butt. I once thought I couldn't live without the Internet at home, but did so for a year in 2006 and managed well enough.

posted by davidasposted on August 12th 2008 at 8:58am
view davidasposted's profile

That should be: "did so for the year 2006..."

posted by davidasposted on August 12th 2008 at 8:59am
view davidasposted's profile

not really on the same train of thought here but..

a quiet, private space.
last summer my building was re-roofed. I would come home from work to people on my patio (they installed a sunlight-blocking awning.. sweet.) and a whole crew on the roof with nailguns and whatnot. it was kind of like a war zone. i'd hear a big boom, and frames would fall off the walls.

i can deal with no electricity.. i have a candle. and an accoustic guitar. but i need to hear my internal dialog. (sp)

posted by antimatt on August 12th 2008 at 9:04am
view antimatt's profile

i want to know who makes the molded plywood chair in the photo and where i can find it...
does anyone know?

posted by bullie on August 12th 2008 at 9:19am
view bullie's profile

My family. My wife and daughter went out of town for five days recently. The first day was awesomely quiet and relaxed. The rest were boring, tedious, and lonely.

posted by Shawn on August 12th 2008 at 9:24am
view Shawn's profile

I have a really hard time going without electricity in my house. If we have a storm and it goes out I can cook because I have a gas stove, but when it's really muggy and hot (like it was a week ago when the lights went out for a couple hours) I feel like I'm going to die without at least a fan moving the air. I also worry about my fish tanks not getting filtered while the electricity is out. The fridge is also a given.

Besides electricity I would be totally lost without my knitting, whatever book I'm reading at the moment and my dogs. I can happily go without the Internet or computer for a week or so, but I have to have something to do with my hands/brain...hence the knitting and book.

posted by Monica on August 12th 2008 at 10:06am
view Monica's profile

Must have my TV. Lately, I must have Apartment Therapy. I rarel surf at home and I find myself logging on at night to see what's new.

posted by ltblmr on August 12th 2008 at 10:08am
view ltblmr's profile

Method aroma pill in cut grass which I am now going to have to get used to living without since it has been discontinued. bastards.

posted by Seaside on August 12th 2008 at 11:54am
view Seaside's profile

My internet connection -- our DSL line has been hit three times since setting up service in Jan 2007. Hoping the new line protector we put on it works well -- the ISP told us not to do it, but we'd lost three modems that take at least two or three days to reach us, and we can't just go out and buy one.

I felt shallow about this, but when our satellite TV went out for three days due to storm damage, I felt lost without it.

Electricity is a necessity for us -- my boyfriend uses a home dialysis machine, so if we have an outage that lasts more than a few hours, we have to pack up and hit a motel. We're on the elec coop's first-restore list, but sometimes the problem still takes a long time to resolve.

posted by madampince on August 12th 2008 at 12:23pm
view madampince's profile

in no particular order, my boyfriend, my cat, string cheese, and my laptop. the rest i can do without.

posted by grphcgurl on August 12th 2008 at 1:36pm
view grphcgurl's profile

My dogs, my Macbook and my personal space. Internet access is nice, but not crucial.

posted by Melissa82 on August 12th 2008 at 1:57pm
view Melissa82's profile

1) petty cash
2) iPod
3) computer/laptop
4) the internet

posted by silvarga on August 12th 2008 at 2:19pm
view silvarga's profile

Wow, what a lot of bourgeois privilege we have up in here! Oh noes, my mp3 player!

Well, 4 days without running water and 11 without electricity or telephone access (land or cell) on or about August 29, 2005 taught me that there's a whole lot I can do without. Running water was the thing I missed the most.

posted by Jezebella on August 12th 2008 at 5:29pm
view Jezebella's profile

Running water? How bourgeois.

My own space. As long as I can retreat into my own, custom-tailored, custom-made space, I'm gravy.

posted by somedudeinvicenza on August 13th 2008 at 2:20am
view somedudeinvicenza's profile

My dog and water. I guess I could say my boyfriend too. He's like my best friend.

posted by Snugglitas on August 13th 2008 at 6:33am
view Snugglitas's profile

Feeds

RSS icon Chicago

+ City Feeds