WOW! I feel bad for the residents of Maine who have no options for Internet access. I arrived at my camp here in western Maine just over a week ago, by the way, it was raining when I arrived and its raining again today.

Before I left Florida, I called ahead to the offices of Oxford Networks, the supplier of telephone and Internet access to a good portion of western Maine, including Bethel. I have had Internet access before while at camp in the form of the dreaded dial-up. When I first began connecting while at camp, it was the only service available from Oxford Networks, also known as Megalink.

Then ON offered DSL, to limited customers and a one year minimum contract to get connected. Forget that as I am only here 2 - 3 months out of the year.

The good news is when I arrived I discovered that Megalink was now allowing customers to connect through DSL on a monthly basis, so I'm waiting to get connected. The bad news is, and the list is as long as a grocery list.

I have been struggling with dial-up since I arrived. It takes me approximately 20 attempts to make a connection. Dont laugh! I am anal enough that I count these things. Once I am fortunate enough to get the equipment to cooperate and make a connection, more times than not I'll get booted.

For whatever its worth, I have at times been able to get connected at 50.6 but the connection speed varies considerably to a low of 40.2. A friend of mine who lives a bit more remotely than I do gets connected very consistently at 28.8. Can you imagine? I told him it would be faster if he delivered his mail on foot.

Not only is the equipment and connection inferior but these guys are expensive. They charge $18.95 per month for a dial-up connection. Many companies are now charging around that price for DSL or some kind of broadband connection.

Its the holiday weekend now and the offices aren't open. Oh, did I tell you that you aren't able to get an Internet connection via a telephone connection, modem and computer? They have no such thing. You have to call them on the telephone and sign up that way. Before you ask, no they are not available 24/7, only during office hours. So, if you have connection problems, etc. on a weekend or holiday, you're out of business.

What is ironic about all this is I was just reading somewhere how this company just received an award for some kind of outstanding business in Maine. Imagine?

So, if I can get this blog written before I get booted, Ill have to wait until tomorrow and drive the 25 miles to the nearest Oxford Networks office to pick up my DSL modem. After I get the contract signed and modem in hand, Ill give them some friendly advice, even though I know I will be just as affective if I yelled at the pine tree outside the camp door.

Maine is very rural and I realize that the Bethel area is not unlike many places across the state. Im sure there are thousands of people who have no options at all, I mean no service available.

Enough of this. On to bigger and more positive things this morning. BTW, the forecast says the sun will be shining by the afternoon.

An aside. Maine sits on the far eastern edge of the Eastern Time Zone. As a matter of fact, if you look at a map, you'll notice that Maine is surrounded by the Atlantic Time Zone. In Florida where I live, we are on the western edge of the Eastern Time Zone. What does that mean? In Florida this time of year it is daylight by around 6:00 a.m. In Maine it begins breaking daylight, when it isn't raining, around 4:00 a.m. I haven't gotten used to that yet and am waking around 4:00 - 4:30

Tom Remington