Last Friday, my 20-year-old heater stopped working, under duress from a historic snowstorm that ripped through Portland. On Monday morning, I woke up shivering, confused as to why my electric space heater had shut off overnight—and then I realized my power was out. The power returned Tuesday evening, and I sent a triumphant text to my coworkers.

“I’ll be back online tomorrow,” I typed, followed by the smiling sunglasses emoji. But “online tomorrow” I was not! Because while my electricity was back, my internet access was still gone, and it could take a full week to restore. Suddenly, I wasn’t feeling very “sunglasses emoji” at all.