emp-athy

after a major (and we're talking window rattling, cat scaring mother humper of a big honkin' storm-o-doom here) electrical storm blasted over my town yesterday afternoon, I came home from work to find my shiny new modem blinking feebly at me - the IT equivalent of 'the dilithium crystals cannae take it, Cap'n!'

so, ideal opportunity for another VS/writing related topic - what to do when you get cut off from the outside world. this kind of ties in to yesterday's post about delays, and it's more about what practical things you can do when you find yourself in the middle of an unexpected communications blackout.

first off, don't panic! sound advice, and you don't even need a towel to remind you of it. at most, in this day and age, you'll be cut off for a few days, and even if it's a more serious problem or situation (moving house, going away, not paying bills, frazzled modem/computer), then you'll find there are plenty of ways to keep in touch with your crew and adoring public. Internet cafes, libraries - heck, even work, if you're lucky enough to have an office where you can get away with it! If you know a few of your team personally, send them a text or give them a call, explain the situation and get them to pass messages on for you.

have some kind of support network in place, too. If you maintain a website and will miss updates during your downtime, then try to have at least one other person who can access the site, update it and upload any relevant files to keep things ticking over. You can usually do this when you first set the thing up (something we'll no doubt cover later on), so don't be afraid to leave the keys to the kingdom with another trusted colleague if it means things still run on time without you.

at the end of the day, all you can do is exercise some patience until you get yourself back online. there are still plenty of things you can do with your time until then, like plotting, storyboarding, video editing, music editing, web page design - all the things you start out full of good intentions to work on but always end up surfing aimlessly for hours at a time instead. downtime can be productive, so don't wail and gnash your teeth when your modem lights go out - do something to stop you going crazy in the meantime!