Here's what happened: Yesterday, I called the phone company bright and early and explained the problem. The guy said "We'll call you right back." And he did, claiming it was fixed. Alas, it was not, and I called him again to let him know it still wasn't working. This time, they tell me "we'll get a guy working on it, and call you back." (I guess the little Brownie that lives in the office wasn't able to figure it out, so they needed "a guy"...) Later that afternoon, I called my ISP and found out that four of their customers in the my area had no service. Four customers doesn't sound like much, but you have to remember the town has about 370 people. It's a rural area, not exactly booming economically (KWIM), so if you have 10% of the people with a computer online, you're doing good. Out of that number (let's round up and say 40), over half half are going to sign on with the phone company because they don't know enough about computers to even look for another option. You could divide the remaining twenty in half again, for wireless service, with the remaining ten divided between satellite and the only other dial up ISP with a local number for this area. So, four is about right. Yes, there are only two companies in the entire world that offer local dial up service to this area. Lots of companies *claim* to offer a local number, and it probably would be if we had service with another phone compnay, but we do not. It is what it is. My ISP tells me that if the routing has changed, it might not be a localnumber anymore, and if they can't fix it to call accounting to see about a refund. I call the phone company back to see if this is going to be permanent, and he said they were "tracking the lines", which I recognize from past experience is a swell technical sounding phrase meant to placify the customer. He asked meexactly what was going on, and I explained that although this had been a local number for over a year, as of yesterday it stopped working. I could dial in using the area code, but the number wasn't supposed to be long distance. He thought that was curious. I didn't think it was curious so much as irritating, still, I realize it's not this guy's fault, so I don't get upset. We continue chatting and he says "You know, I think we have DSL available in your area." (Technically they do, but despite that big fat cable buried right out in front of my home, the actual service stops two miles west. I called about it a month ago and was told that at this time there isn't enough "customer interest" to activate it further east anytime soon.) Bless his heart, not knowing that, he said, "Have you thought about switching to our DSL? We're running a special, only 69.99 a month plus tax plus..." (I'm thinking, Oooo, what a deal! That's only three times what I'm already paying the company that can't even keep a basic land line operational for 60 days in a row. I'm completely underwhelmed.) I politely cut him off saying "Uh, You know, right now is probably NOT the best time to hit me with a sales pitch to upgrade my service for an even *more* expensive plan..." He laughed and said "Yea, I know, but I'm supposed to..." I said "Hey, I understand, it's like, 'would you like fries with that?' We both laughed, and he promised to give us a call when it was fixed. He really *is* very nice, even if he can't help. Later that afternoon, I discovered that my ability to dial in using the area code had also gone pffffft. When I called the number direct, I got a "This number is no longer in service" message. Of course, that's not true, it's working number for everyone but us. When I called using the 1 plus area code, I got the recording that says 'We're sorry. It is not necessary to dial a 1 or the area code for this number. Please hang up and try your call again." With any other company, this might be discouraging, but coming from these guys it's means they're doing *something*, so that's progress. LOL This morning, the 13th, I call and tell the guy what's going on with the line today and he says "We're aware of the problem". (I get the impression the other three customers might have beat me to the punch with the status update.) Then he tells me, "We'll get someone working on it." I'm thinking, excuse me, but wasn't someone supposed to be "working on it" since yesterday? I'm sure there's a three dollar word for this kind of thing, but all I could think of at the time were the four letter ones. Not good. Instead, I tell him thank you, and go outside. The deal is that my DH works on a pipeline, and they've been laid off for most of the winter. They just started a job this week, but the budget is a bit pinched for me to run out and order a more expensive internet service even if it were available. We're talking dialup or nothing. I just walked around in the yard admiring the crocus and quince and was telling God about it. I mean, he already knows, but it makes *me* feel better to have someone to listen to me rant. ;^) So, I make my rounds inspecting the yard, finish my whine about the internet and said "and Bless my phone company". Now, that is the *first* time I have ever said that. Usually, if I think of them at all, my thoughts immedietly go over to the Dark Side. But there you go; here I was getting all warm and fuzzy over a utility company. I guess all the fresh air and sunshine went to my head. On a whim, I came in, sat down at the desk, tried to connect again, and voil Here I am. Which means the line is *still* local. Looks like God really was listening. That, and someone just had that coffee maker plugged into the wrong outlet afterall...

Cat, Good for you, I turn 75 this summer, my wife turned 75 this month. If she was more mobile I'm sure we would still be riding bikes and hiking, maybe still skiing - we were doing all those things up to at least age 70 or more. I do house work and cooking as well as maintain a 5 acre property (not so good as I should given the time I have). On the tech'y side I just put in a new HDTV and am in the process of changing out set top boxes to get HD from Comcast - I have their minimum package and didn't need the HD when I had only SDTV. I also added Roku (I had that on the previous SDTV which works so well I hate throwing it out). The Roku 2 I have was easy to interface with my home WiFi - but I would have come here if I had experienced problems. Well in truth I did as I wanted to get Youttube on my Roku 2, not available directly but should be possible with the PLEX application, that's something I may think more on if I can work up the energy : ( On photography, I am still sorry digital cameras happened. I had/have a nice B&W darkroom set up and had designs of doing some "Ansal Adams" after retirement. In spit of my lack of expertise on the phone in the camera, I do understand photography better--than-average and have some sophistication in my digital camera arsenal. But I shoot mostly in the 3 mp detail (can do 10 mp) because I don't enlarge anything any more... have a lot from the film camera days. On things I don't get around to I have a 2 GBit SD card that I should put in my main camera...but put it off so long I now can't find it. Aging memory strikes again - as does sitting too much. I guess it's alright to chat with a GW Friend - hope so.

What a fascinating thread! It was like traveling back in time. I had NO idea this many people still use or have landlines! Or that so many places in the U.S. don't get cell reception! So, a few things about me. I have always lived on the west coast. Since the age of 13 I have always lived in a major metropolitan area, yep, I'm a city girl! :-) I'm 55 now. I haven't had a landline since 1998, and have never once wished I did. Oh, I should probably mention that I really dislike talking on the phone, except with a very few relatives and my best friend. And fax and answering machines? OMG NO! LOL!! I have had to fax something twice in the past two decades, both to the east coast. I went down to Staples and faxed. Both times together cost less than $5. I would never consider an answering machine. I'm about to dump my voice mail. We have a saying here, "Friends don't let friends leave voice mail." If you want to tell me something, text it. My kids and friends text, so the only voice mail I get is from businesses, like reminder calls from my doctor. I almost never have my ringer on; I see my texts come up on my iPad or computer, and I check them maybe once a day, unless it's my kids or best friend. Clients for my business contact me via email, and for my business that is the usual protocol. I have unlimited talk and text and it's not that expensive. I pay $20 a month to be able to talk for an hour to people in Zambia. And I have a good data plan because I use it all the time on my phone or iPad when I'm away from my home. The house I just bought is out in the tulies! 20 minutes from downtown Spokane, which is not a major metropolitan area in my book (but don't say that out loud here or you'll be verbally whiplashed! Lol) I lived in that house for the entire month of September as a house guest, so I have ascertained that it has very reliable internet and cell phone coverage. I would not have bought it if it didn't. I don't have a TV or want one. If I want to watch something, I can get it on Amazon, YouTube, or PBS on my computer. We don't have the kinds of natural disasters people in other parts of the country do. If I lived in an area that had hurricanes, tornados, massive snow storms, earthquakes, then I'd definitely consider a land line. But I always keep my cell charged up, and my iPad too. I also have one of those portable battery chargers and will probably get another one. One person mentioned above that her gas range kept the neighbors in hot meals during a power outage. That's one of the reasons I'm getting a wood burning stove. My joints don't like it when I get cold (arthritis)! The house will stay warm and I can heat up food with a wood burning stove. (The other reason is to save money on the power bill.) One of our fellow commenters, Sophie, mentioned a generator. I'm going to look into that, but I think it will be too expensive for my budget. And if I use up all the portable chargers, I can charge my phone and iPad in the car, if I can get to the car. And if the roads are usable, I can go charge stuff up anywhere. Interestingly, third world countries that are greatly expanding phone service are doing so with cell phones. China, for example, will never have to bear the expense of stringing phone lines all over the country. In Zambia, cell reception is excellent, but landlines are unreliable. Cell towers are cheaper than phone lines. My dad was born in 1919. When he was in high school he was on the debate team. One year the topic was: Rural electrification: should the government pay to have electricity brought out to rural areas? My oh my how times have changed! :-)

My thoughts are less tech-y than the above: - In your living room and bedrooms, ask yourself not only where you intend to place your TV now ... ask yourself also where you COULD place your TV in the future. If you decide to turn your sofa or your bed around, for example, you might want to move the TV. Placing a second "hook up" now will cost something, but nothing like the cost later and/or might save you from visible wires. - Put long, hard thought into unusual places you might want outlets. For example, I want a shallow shelf at the end of my kitchen peninsula that can house charging phones or tables ... a place to keep them handy, yet off the countertop. Because I use my table for recipes frequently, this will be useful. I also intend to install four outlets on each side of the bed (at table height) for things that I might want to charge next to the bed. - You mentioned three small children. Be sure you're providing a spot for them to have internet access ... internet access that can be supervised. It was hard enough when my now 19 and 22 year old were small, but today parents have to be so vigilant. - I agree with the idea of going with MORE than you anticipate needing. I'm sure whoever built my house back in 1970 thought two outlets in the kitchen was gracious plenty. That person probably didn't own a microwave, and his coffee pot probably went on the stove top. He probably thought that small appliances (i.e., the mixer) are used and put away -- so why would anyone ever need more than two outlets? The upshot is that we end up charging phones in the nearby office, when I'd really like to have them in the kitchen sometimes.