Looking back, it all started out as just annoying inconveniences.  Little things that happen throughout the day, things which can take an average day and just make it really difficult.  Generally, we all sail through the day, expecting our devices to work, to function as they are supposed to, and we take no notice of them.  But when the machines, and equipment we use to make our lives easier start giving us trouble, that’s when we take notice, that’s when we say “What’s up with this, why isn’t this piece of crap working?” And it wasn’t really until we sat back and thought about it later,  did it become apparent these inconveniences weren’t just random occurrences at all.

For me, it was the oven.  I had put off cooking dinner until later in the evening.  I went in and pushed the “Bake” button on the keypad  of my stove and nothing happened.  At first I thought the keypad had been locked, it had some type of child lock, so little ones couldn’t turn the broiler on, I suppose. I tried everything.  And nothing. No lights on the display screen, no nothing.  My oven was apparently dead.  And so, I cooked dinner out of the toaster oven.

Then the security system started going haywire.  The camera on the garage kept sending an alarm to say it was offline, even though it had been functioning fine throughout the day.  Then the camera at the front door, kept alarming, “Motion at the Front Door” over and over again, like a million cats had walked by the camera or a horde of zombies had arrived on my doorstep.  I finally, in total frustration, and having checked the front door a million times, disabled the motion sensor (and of course, this is while I was dealing with the non-functional oven).

My son was having troubles as well.  He had come out of work, and gotten into his car, only to find that nothing would turn on.  And as the car was parked directly in front of the store where he worked, he knew he hadn’t left any lights on.  And so it wasn’t the battery.  Besides, it is a relatively new car.  Of course, these cars nowadays, are all electronic, and if there is a glitch in the electronic system – well then, you don’t go anywhere.  So, in the midst of dealing with the oven, the security system going nutty, I had to figure out a way to get him home. When I had spoken to the tow truck driver on the phone, I couldn’t hear him, he kept fading in and out.  I said “I am sorry, I can’t understand a word you are saying.”  and he had said “Jeez, I don’t know what is wrong with this phone!”

And so at the end of the day, when we were all safe and sound, we just chalked up all the little occurrences, to us just having a bad day.  We had said, “We will just go to bed, and deal with all this stuff tomorrow.”  Tomorrow came, and things didn’t get any better. Things only got worse.

My husband, he works at the Navy Base nearby.  Apparently, the security cards they use to get onto the base, to enter the buildings, to access their computers – had all become non-functional.  They wouldn’t scan.  The Navy Base had gone into lock down mode.  No one was allowed to enter or leave the base, and as my husband had never made it onto the base, he simply turned around and came home. I wonder if the Navy had intel on what was happening, and just didn’t let everyone else know, until it was too late for us to prepare.

I went to work, and logged into the computer, only to be warned on the hospital’s Home page, that all the systems were down.  None of the medical records could be opened, all charting would be done the “old school” way.  Everyone was flustered, looking for paper to document, forms to order meds and lab tests.  It was complete chaos. And the staff was wandering around saying things like “Oh this is just great – last night my phones dies, my Smart Home system went down, now this -what else can go wrong?”

Everything.  Everything can go wrong.

This all began a week ago.  The country is a mess.  First it was the cars, then the security systems.  Now the banking systems have all gone down, there is no way to get cash, no way to pay for stuff.  No one can use their computers, our entire Internet system is down.  Nobody knows what is going on, because we don’t have anyway of getting the news.  The cars have died. The only cars on the roads, are the ones built before cars were riddled with electronic devices, but they have stopped working too because there is no way to fill up the gas tanks. The entire country (as far as we know) is at a standstill.

We all have theories on why this is happening.  Some people think it is the Russians.  My sons are convinced it is the aliens – they have finally arrived.  And in an effort to make us submit to their ways, the aliens, prior to their arrival,  have disabled all electronics and brought everything, every machine, every electronic device,  to a stop.

Honestly, I don’t know which is worse – not having all the conveniences of modern life, not knowing why, or not knowing for how long will this all go on.

Photo credit:  zazzle.com