I would not have pulled this maneuver had I been traveling with someone. My tolerance for wild goose chases probably wouldn't match theirs.
I'd considered detouring to a library to get online there -- I was at the Wordstock festival for authors and other book-related people earlier today, and wasn't yet going to go back home where my home access is -- but I wasn't sure I'd have time to get to a library before they close at 5:00 Sunday nights. I should have. I would've had time. And knowledge.
That said, I got to ride the train, wander a neighborhood I don't usually see, read, and get south for a grocery run. Though I had the choice of two bus routes home, chose one, and found out by waiting that that line comes every hour at that time on Sunday nights while the other line, a block away, comes every half-hour. I was able to see two of those other line's buses head towards my neighborhood while I waited for the line I'd chosen. I would've known, had I had mobile Net, "Oh, it's X wait for that bus, and X*2 wait for THAT one."
I will upgrade technology -- and by "upgrade," I mean "get." So. No request for advice yet, but it's becoming more likely to happen. Even for me. (It probably won't be for work. I really don't need a cell phone for the job. Yet.)