I could probably deal with using a privy, but pumping/hauling water for cooking, cleaning and bathing would be rough. On the other hand, living without electricity...
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An observation about all of this: None of us can envision going back to the way things “used to be.” We immediately acclimate ourselves to new inventions and improvements to older ones. But let something be taken away, even for a few hours, and we find it hard to adapt. I am glad for the occasional power failure or winter storm that forces us to appreciate, at least for a little while, what we have and how our lives have been made easier due to the ingenuity of others.
Same here. On any normal evening, my kids are all holed up in their respective lairs, ogling blinking electronic screens of one sort or another. When the occasional power outage hits, it's amazing to watch them all gather together to play board games and such.
We had a widespread power outage in the Dallas area last week. About 200,000 people had their electrical service interrupted. Our power was restored in about five hours, but some folks were without power for days. That had to be tough, and you know they found a new appreciation for the miracle of that technology.