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Damn Speedy Line
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Well, it nearly took a full two weeks, but Verizon finally got us hooked up with DSL last night. Funny -- or sad -- take your pick, but finally getting a dedicated line after 13 days of having to "steal" spotty wireless from some unknown and unknowingly philanthropic neighbor feels like having a missing limb (that works just like it did prior to amputation) sewn back on. I'm thinking I might have to pick "sad" from those two choices, considering how beautiful the area we've moved into is.
On Wednesday night, in fact, we went to see a quarterfinal soccer match in which the identical twin sons of the chair of the Foreign Languages and Literatures department (Steffi's "boss") played. We walked the one mile to the sports field after a spectacular rainstorm, paid the $6 each for tickets, and took a seat in the homestand bleachers, facing West. The view was spectacular, and we both sat there, literally mouths agape, trying to figure out how we had the good fortune of settling in a town backdropped by a shimmering, blue-ridged backbone of mountains. (The "bergs" to which I'm referring, however, aren't a part of the Blue Ridges.) The sun, too, was of intense color, a rich silver dollar-sized tangerine dropping quickly to the horizon. The Blacksburg Bruins put on a great second half shooting show, and we got to celebrate a victory along with Steffi's colleagues.
But, really, I got off track. I was speaking to (or of?) the majesty of Fast Access DSL, by far a much more important part of life than the outdoors. I'm sure it's far healthier, anyway, because I stayed up until 3:30, after completing the simple install a good 4 hours earlier. While I have no idea what it's like to jump on the bandwagon after many years of drinking and then suddenly falling off, I can imagine that the immediate urge is to "go back" and doubly or triply make up for all the drinks missed...Well, that's what I did -- lot's of needless late-night surfing that eventually led to a late morning Internet hangover...Better than walking all these Blacksburg hills.
I AM impressed with my connection speeds, however, as well as the price of Verizon's package -- a one year committment that gives us one month free and the next 11 for $29.99 (a better deal than the $42 a month I was paying for Time Warner Cable in Carrboro.) Not that that's all that interesting, but I have liked being able to download the average 4mb mp3 file in a couple of seconds and not having to worry about "holding my mouth right" in order to pick up that wayward signal from Mr. or Mrs. X.
Speaking of good deals, the Internet, and music, I did stumble upon one little Internet site which is worth mentioning here. In an attempt to use some rather clever Google "hacks" (that someone else developed) to find some songs by the Black Eyed Peas and not having a whole lot of luck, I landed on the website of the The Musical Family Tree, a page that collects tons and tons of great, free recordings of indy bands in and around Chicago. A blurb from the site:
Take a look, and make sure you download a few songs (or the complete playlist) from "The Prom." I clicked on #8, "Cleopatra", as a tester and then got all in a tizzy to deducate all my DSL bandwidth to downloading everything else by the band. I've since left their dance and am now listening to the live set of "El Nino" as I type...
Well, it's late (AGAIN) and time to knock off. I had intended to go into all the NetFlix films we've been watching (using all that money saved from switching from cable to DSL), but that entry's gonna have to wait until a later day.
I'm ashamed to say that I'm kind of hoping all the rain we've been getting will continue. It'll be about the only good excuse we'll have to stay inside and watch the next three films that, according to my NetFlix queue, are supposed to arrive tomorrow...
On Wednesday night, in fact, we went to see a quarterfinal soccer match in which the identical twin sons of the chair of the Foreign Languages and Literatures department (Steffi's "boss") played. We walked the one mile to the sports field after a spectacular rainstorm, paid the $6 each for tickets, and took a seat in the homestand bleachers, facing West. The view was spectacular, and we both sat there, literally mouths agape, trying to figure out how we had the good fortune of settling in a town backdropped by a shimmering, blue-ridged backbone of mountains. (The "bergs" to which I'm referring, however, aren't a part of the Blue Ridges.) The sun, too, was of intense color, a rich silver dollar-sized tangerine dropping quickly to the horizon. The Blacksburg Bruins put on a great second half shooting show, and we got to celebrate a victory along with Steffi's colleagues.
But, really, I got off track. I was speaking to (or of?) the majesty of Fast Access DSL, by far a much more important part of life than the outdoors. I'm sure it's far healthier, anyway, because I stayed up until 3:30, after completing the simple install a good 4 hours earlier. While I have no idea what it's like to jump on the bandwagon after many years of drinking and then suddenly falling off, I can imagine that the immediate urge is to "go back" and doubly or triply make up for all the drinks missed...Well, that's what I did -- lot's of needless late-night surfing that eventually led to a late morning Internet hangover...Better than walking all these Blacksburg hills.
I AM impressed with my connection speeds, however, as well as the price of Verizon's package -- a one year committment that gives us one month free and the next 11 for $29.99 (a better deal than the $42 a month I was paying for Time Warner Cable in Carrboro.) Not that that's all that interesting, but I have liked being able to download the average 4mb mp3 file in a couple of seconds and not having to worry about "holding my mouth right" in order to pick up that wayward signal from Mr. or Mrs. X.
Speaking of good deals, the Internet, and music, I did stumble upon one little Internet site which is worth mentioning here. In an attempt to use some rather clever Google "hacks" (that someone else developed) to find some songs by the Black Eyed Peas and not having a whole lot of luck, I landed on the website of the The Musical Family Tree, a page that collects tons and tons of great, free recordings of indy bands in and around Chicago. A blurb from the site:
This site is run by Jeb Banner of Indianapolis Indiana and is dedicating to archiving the music he and his friends have made, and continue to make, over the past 10 or so years. Most of this music is from a loose group of friends from Indianapolis, Bloomington, Chicago and South Bend. All songs are written by the people playing them with a few exceptions. You are welcome to listen and download these songs.
Take a look, and make sure you download a few songs (or the complete playlist) from "The Prom." I clicked on #8, "Cleopatra", as a tester and then got all in a tizzy to deducate all my DSL bandwidth to downloading everything else by the band. I've since left their dance and am now listening to the live set of "El Nino" as I type...
Well, it's late (AGAIN) and time to knock off. I had intended to go into all the NetFlix films we've been watching (using all that money saved from switching from cable to DSL), but that entry's gonna have to wait until a later day.
I'm ashamed to say that I'm kind of hoping all the rain we've been getting will continue. It'll be about the only good excuse we'll have to stay inside and watch the next three films that, according to my NetFlix queue, are supposed to arrive tomorrow...
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