CRISIS DAY YESTERDAY

We had a major crisis yesterday afternoon, which is about all you need on the kind of day when the temperature is dropping, the snow is falling and it's depressing enough already. No one could have seen it coming, but it hit around 3.17 and for almost five hours things were pretty tense as I waited to see how it would all pan out and indeed, whether it ever would.

Now I know that I give the appearance of being pretty level-headed with some of the unflappable Englishman left in me, but my nerves were almost shot by the time this was all over.

The internet went down!

Yep! One second it was there and the next it was gone. Dear old Optimum Online - faster than Verizon DSL, faster than dial-up - died on me. It didn't just slow down, it was deceased, not breathing, nixed, gone to the happy hunting ground in cyberspace where emails that were never delivered spin around endlessly for eternity.

It was a weird experience. One minute you're in touch with the world and the next you're alone in a basement office in Coram. One second you have access to all kinds of information and tools, then a micro-second later there's nothing.

The internet is a phenomenal resource and I felt totally handicapped without it. Which brings me to my Supercool Person Of The Week Award. No question in my mind, it's a no-brainer. He's my hero, a life-restorer.

My nomination for Supercool Person of The Week is the Cablevision Technician who spent almosty five hours up a pole across the street from us in freezing conditions, with snow swirling around him, just so that I could write this today. And so that I could watch Deal Or No Deal last night!

He could well be Superfrozen, but he has my undying gratitude.