However, extended power outage of almost 4 days, ongoing loss of Internet access, combined with many other events surrounding recent Hurricane Isabel caused me to reassess my priorities.

When "high-tech" business gets into a head-on collision with a natural or man-made disaster, we all need to ask, "Do we really need Internet?"

Well, when you're in line for 3 hours to get gas so you can siphon tank to run your father-in-law's generator in order to save $1,000 worth of food in three freezers - you don't need Internet, you need expectation that you'll find gas.

When you're driving around for 2 hours trying to find ice so you can have a cold drink and make your family more comfortable on a 90+ degree day - you don't need Internet, you need patience and a sense of humor.

When a good friend of yours falls 30 feet off a ladder while helping his neighbors cut a tree off their house, fractures his back and neck, punctures a lung and must be airlifted to hospital in critical condition - you don't need Internet, you need faith he'll be okay!

Limit it to your family, a membership site, or choose to blast it into cyberspace. The latter requires some techniques or lots of techniques. Add to it, delete it, change or update it, make money from it, reveal your inner-most thoughts, invent your thoughts, invent your graphics, write poetry, suggest cookery tips, suggest tips to avoid cooking, write an article, write an article on not writing articles, write and give away/sell, a book or e-book, publish a publishing site or publish a blank page, seek out subscribers, inform public, reform public, write an article on "not being able to reform public", write an e-book on "being actually able to reform public"( possible best seller ), publish a picture of your dog, publish your dog's delightful bark( sound, if any ), tell everyone about "that time", tell everyone that you weren't even there, and finally, suggest to people when they should stop "rambling".

The latter requires some tact.

Anyone with some disposable income, can do any, or all of above. The first thing to do is to register a "domain". Relatively cheap and usually a one or two year contract. Choose a name for your site. If its not available (already taken, yes!, there are other people with a similar imagination ), you will be told, whereby, you have choice to "go again".

Find a "host". Simply put, it is someone else's computer where your files are stored and are available 24/7. Some are free, and almost all are available ( use a search engine ). It may often seem complicated, but if you can read this, then it is within your grasp.

There is some technical jargon but you don't have to take it all in at once. Play around with it instead of "becoming overwhelmed". There is always an e-mail address for support. I suggest trying to figure it out yourself, at least for a while, as this is part of a learning process.