It's funny how a week without an internet connection can lead to chaos and frustration. I like to think of myself as being capable of doing without the internet, and I could, but the way things are set up today, it is very difficult.

We have all of us run down our mobile data resources in an effort just to check email accounts, pay bills and do the most cursory check of news services. To become truly free of the web and all its subtle arts would mean getting paper bills, insisting on paper communications and being prepared to visit the local library often, amongst other things. With an effort, some of this might be achieved, although providers of various services might baulk.

But the knock on the door 30 minutes ago ushered a new modem into our lives, one which zinged into life with very little effort, except for a massively long password. I dutifully updated all the devices in the house. Modernity had been restored.

Part of me keeps wondering how I might return to the electronic cave that predated the World Wide Web, the smart phone, the everything-now-please.

But the genie is out of the bottle - only calamity will put it back in. And no-one hopes for that, do they?