Taking the plunge

Today, I picked up the phone and I called the DSL people, and even though I strenuously -- STRENUOUSLY -- object to some of their policies, I ordered DSL. People, I'm gonna be SO on the INFORMATION SUPER HIGHWAY*. I know you guys are sitting there saying, "Well, what took you so long?" Would you believe it was FEAR? FEAR OF TECHNOLOGY? Last year, I actually ordered DSL, and then the box came, and the box was as big as my television and I just PANICKED. I opened the box and there were instructions about taking your computer apart, about buying this piece of hardware, of installing this kind of software, and I swear, every geek cell in my body just IMPLODED. I grabbed the UPS shipping labels out of the box, sealed it back up and sent the whole kit and caboodle back to whatever Tech Hell it had come from.

This time though, no such luck. I am being forced to adapt because my father has made the decision to drop dial-up and go to DSL. How does this affect me, given that the parental units live three hours to the west of me? For the last few years, I've been piggy-backing on their dial-up connection. For me it was a great deal, as I got to zip along at a rather speedy 50.6 bps. For my parents, not so fast -- top cruising speed for them was around 26.8 bps. My father finally decided he could not take the slowness anymore and dumped the dial-up and ordered DSL. Which meant I could either stay with his ISP and switch it over to my name, or face my fears and order DSL (which now costs the same -- $14.95/month -- as the ISP). So despite the fact I'm frequently irrational, I did the rational thing and ordered the DSL. If there's one thing that conquers my fear of anything, it's finding a good bargain.

*Another phrase that also needs to be banned from the lexicon, and I will try not to use it in my blog again.