prevent function execution on Emacs startup if not connected to internet

[Brady Trainor <algebrat@uw.edu>]

Hi, I have the following lines of code in my my init files:

if an uninstalled package is not in the list, refresh list
#+BEGIN_SRC emacs-lisp
(setq n 0)                                  ; set n as 0
(dolist (pkg pkgs-2b-present)               ; for each pkg in list
   (unless (or                               ; unless
            (package-installed-p pkg)        ; pkg is installed or
            (assoc pkg                       ; pkg is in the archive list
                   package-archive-contents))
     (setq n (+ n 1))))                      ; add one to n
(when (> n 0)                               ; if n > 0,
   (package-refresh-contents))               ; refresh packages
#+END_SRC

install any uninstalled packages that are in the list
#+BEGIN_SRC emacs-lisp
(dolist (pkg pkgs-2b-present)               ; for each pkg in list
   (when                                     ; if pkg is
       (and
        (not (package-installed-p pkg))      ; not installed
        (assoc pkg package-archive-contents) ; and in the archive list
        )
     (package-install pkg)))                 ; then install it
#+END_SRC

I think the `package-refresh-contents' or the `package-install' 
functions will create an error and prevent my init files from finishing 
loading.

I would guess that I am not the first one to have this problem, or 
someone can tell me what would fix this.


Brady