Re-Thinking Plans

Whether it was a cut fiber-optic line nearby, or havoc wreaked by solar flares this weekend, our Internet service was down for a good portion of the day yesterday. While the latter may make for interesting nighttime lighting effects for those living up north, whatever it was that took our Internet service down did not do any good for those of us who needed online access to continue our research. We were not amused.

The down time afforded one blessing in disguise, though: the dawning of the sobering thought that, should an unexpected difficulty like this arise during our upcoming research trip, we will need to be prepared with a “Plan B” approach.

Since A Family Tapestry runs on a daily basis, and since the original concept was that you all would (virtually) go with us to Ireland on our soon-approaching research journey there—you are coming, aren’t you?—the thought was to post a journal in transit of each day’s events, discoveries, and even dashed hopes. (Yes, sadly, I am bracing myself for the possibility.)

There is one key ingredient in such a plan: Internet connectivity.

At first, before being educated on the current state of Irish Internet connectivity, I had assumed this would be a challenge. By the time we had thoroughly researched travel arrangements and housing plans for our daughter, who is now studying at University College Cork, we realized one thing about Ireland: there is wifi everywhere. Most of the hotels I checked out offer it. Even the train from Dublin to Cork provides it. And, if all else fails, we can access a cell phone plan which includes hotspot service.

Once I found that out, I thought: no problem. This is do-able. I was gleefully planning daily posts of mini-photo-documentaries from each of the stops along our way up the western coast of the island.

Until I couldn’t even manage to get online in the comfort of my own home. All afternoon.

I envisioned the worst: not being able to create a post for the upcoming day’s issue. And this is before I’ve even left the country.

With that in mind, I’d like to offer a caveat to our upcoming adventure: if, for some reason, you tune in with the expectation of having everything in place, as it always is in your daily blog-reading routine, and find I’ve come up missing, no worries. It’s only been another extra-celestial glitch intruding upon our earthly endeavors.

 Above: "Job Lot Cheap," 1878 oil on canvas by County Cork native William Harnett; courtesy Wikipedia; in the public domain.