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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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)

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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

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.

Running water? How bourgeois.

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

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