When you stay close to the ground, you see things differently

Another slow day here, while the crew (can I call the only guy who showed up a "crew"?) works on the remodel out back. No where near time to head over to Lenny's yet, so I'm indulging my favorite sunny-day sport, surfing, and I came across a couple of stories that may or not be connected from anyone else's perspective, but from where I stand with all four paws firmly on the ground, they trigger a caution.

First, there's the weather in the midwest: according to this story on CNN, it'll be another ten days before some of those folks get enough power back to heat or light their homes, because they rely on someone else's infrastructure (just like we do here - my kettle's just as black).

Then, another CNN story, this one about the free web-based software that Google is making available: a word-processor, a spreadsheet, etc. Some of the people quoted in the article are enthused about the built-in capacity to work cooperatively, since the documents are stored on Google servers rather than locally and can be accessed from any on-line computer. Others are concerned about privacy issues. They're both right.

But having the two stories right there in front of me on the same day got my fuzzy little head to wondering: do we really want to rely on someone else's infrastructure for documents we feel are vital? Especially when Mother Nature can be so fickle?