Ed,   
      
   EV>IIRC, around $66.00 USD is my monthly bill for Telephone and DSL.   
      
     It might be different in other parts of the country. But, after   
   numerous tries of attempting to get DSL, and being told that it   
   wouldn't be available (even though an AT&T store is in a shopping center   
   only a mile away), I went with Comcast...who has a Customer Service   
   Center maybe 3/4 of a mile from my apartment.   
      
     Besides, I still feel that $50 for a vanilla phone line, with just   
   caller ID, is too much. Yet, they'll do their darndest to get you to   
   subscribe to other services. I had a large amount of trouble the last   
   time I had that analog line, in dealing with Customer Service, that I   
   finally cancelled it. While I do have a US Robotics External v.92 56K   
   Fax Modem, I can't see adding dial-up to the BBS.   
      
     The only reason I'd use the other line, was in the event of an   
   emergency....but I don't like to have anything plugged in when   
   thunderstorms are in the area. Lightning hit the sidewalk grate not 50   
   feet from the front door once, and it shook the entire building.   
      
     Another strike hit the tree on the southwest side of my building, and   
   while I had some damage to the alarm system, I escaped "unscathed", as   
   everything else was unplugged. But, neighbors in my building, and   
   adjacent buildings, were taking scores of electronic appliances out to   
   the dumpster. The surge had so spread out, that it wiped out practically   
   everything that was plugged in.   
      
     Lightning dances around here like an ungrounded Faraday cage during   
   thunderstorms...and even the phone company advises that "absolute   
   protection from lightning is impossible".   
      
   Daryl   
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