We're Getting Fiber Optic Cable!

Rural living can be tough when you live in a technological world. Technology has always seemed to leave rural homeowners behind, from electricity to the telephone to the Internet. I actually live in an area with an electric cooperative, which brought electricity to our area when the major companies chose not to do so. Sometimes, the lack of growth and technology is not a bad thing. My town lacks any traffic lights and fast food, neither of which are missed. On the other hand, we lack all connection with the cable company that serves surrounding communities, so we rely on satellite companies, hot spots, and even our own phones for connection to the Internet. Parents complain that their children are left behind at school, given that they have difficulty doing their homework unless they travel to town to use the computers at the library.

Because, honestly, saying that our connections--both phone and Internet--are "unreliable" is a massive understatement. Dan calls me every morning at 8:00. Our connection is just fine three days out of seven. Some days, the reception goes "tinny," with feedback somewhere on the line. Other days, we lose connection several time during what is usually a 45-minute call. Keep in mind, he lives only about a tenth of a mile from me. It's not unusual for me to walk up the road to talk with him. But the phone? You'd think it was going cross country for the quality of calls we've had recently. Even writing some of these articles has been difficult, particularly the photo-intensive ones. Uploading and downloading photos can be a nightmare. But that's about to change!

About two years ago, a high-speed cable company expressed some interest in coming into the area. The company made a bid for all of the "underserved" areas in the county, which, interestingly enough, were served by the same electric cooperative that had bravely brought power into the area. Sadly, the cooperative that had been so eager to modernize the area back in 1938 was, well, uncooperative. They fussed over the cable company using their infrastructure. They created stories about how their customers would be prey for a company forcing them to take the cable service. They tried to charge exorbitant rental fees per pole so that the company would default on their contract. In the end, all attempts to block the service failed and, three months ago, the cooperative announced in their magazine that YES, fiber optic cable was coming to our area and NO, we poor, frightened creatures cowering in our sod houses did not have to feel forced to get the new technology. Okie dokie then!

So, when these wonderful men who were stringing the cable made their turn down our road, I vowed to be as considerate as I could be to them. I did not, darn it, have the opportunity to bake them cookies. I did, however, offer to move my truck out of the way. And that was just the beginning. You know, because goats. Goats can be an issue whenever a utility company wants to come into my yard, because "my yard" is actually the pasture for my Nigerian Dwarf doe and her kid. There's always a danger that Sunshine can slip out of an open gate and, if the gate is not properly secured, Buckyboo can slip out the bottom and go chugging down the road. Up toward Dunaways' place, that's fine. Down toward the rural highway, that could get a little messy!

And, if the utility company has something to do that stretches down the road front to my property, they have to go across my training ring and into the buck pasture, as well as into the fallow pasture beyond. So, yes, a little courtesy goes a long way. After I finished moving the truck so that they could more easily access the property, I grabbed my loppers and started cutting brush. My bucks are relatively friendly, especially when they're not in rut, but they will harass anyone who comes into their pasture for food. Woe be unto anyone carrying what might be a branch of tasty leaves or a gallon can full of grain! That man pulling the cable behind him? He might be towing all-you-can-eat hay behind him. They need to check! I hung a bunch of brush along the fence line between the pasture and the yard, as well as making strategic piles of brush in their yard. Once I did that, I got on the phone with Dan for him to bring down the key for the gate on the far end of the pastures.

Overall, it took several hours for the cable crew to string the cable from the corner, across the pastures, and down toward Dan's driveway where they had to quit for the day. It was already seven o'clock and who knows how long they'd been working! They've been putting in a lot of overtime to finish the project by the completion date, coming up soon, and they've made incredible progress over the last three months! I'm looking forward to smoother and stronger connections when surfing on my phone and on my computer. Maybe, just maybe, we'll get better phone reception, too? Here's hoping!

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