Connective Visions

Update: My dialogue with my ISP is ongoing. I have a connection, but it drops radically from time to time. I can’t fault Verizon’s tech support for attention; they faithfully call every day to see how I’m doing and make suggestions. Still, it hasn’t rained since Tuesday – so to my mind, the real verdict’s [...]

If you want some evidence of the problems with U.S. broadband service and access, consider this blog. I started my blogging Sunday evening. Unfortunately, a rainstorm moved into the region. For four years, summer rain in Philadelphia has signaled the disruption of my Verizon DSL service (for which I now cough up $23.99/month) – and [...]

A downside to freelancing (“self-employment” in the happy words of government agencies) is that the celebrated U.S. tax refund is slightly rarer than a UFO sighting: the independent contractor almost always owes money. So I emerged yesterday after a week of mathematical gymnastics, tedious typing, and resigned check writing to put my imposed self-absorption behind [...]

The Easter weekend in Norway is a national holiday, running from Thursday through Monday, over which time even supermarkets close. It came to an end yesterday evening, so the traffic warnings had hit the news headlines Sunday night. Adult citizens who don’t work the holiday weekend (for 100% of their usual wage in additional overtime) [...]

This may prove more of a testimony than a standard blog entry. Ah well. There is time. Thursday, I told a close friend in Norway that I was going to be one of seven preachers delivering sermons on the Seven Last Words of Christ from the cross in our church’s Good Friday service. His reaction [...]