Well no matter who it's from it's a complement... just much more appreciated from the bonnie lasses. ;)

Internet options in Durham actually aren't bad at all. It's just a series of minor tragedies that have been kicking me down. First and foremost, Verizon is a terrible company to do business with. I gave up on getting a regular house phone and only have a cell phone now (and don't miss the land line at all). But even though I wanted internet connectivity through another company, Verizon had to run the line. They scheduled an appointment, missed it, and only days later could they tell me that DSL was not available after all in my home even though I was close enough to the switch.

Verizon also forced me to cancel my satellite TV, which needed a landline to phone home. So instead I got cable TV (Time Warner has gotten soooo much better to deal with these days). About a week later, I had internet through them as well.

Then my firewall died.

Then I build another one out of an old PC that I put the OpenBSD operating system on. It died, too.

Tonight I have to go to the store and get a cheapo Linksys firewall and cross my fingers.

So contrary to my tales of woe when dealing with the local utilities, North Carolina is actually way ahead of Pennsylvania in a lot of other areas. Better public libraries, better medical care, better roads, better shopping choices, more green space...

But lordy let me tell you I miss those Philly pubs.