While Art's away, the general manager will play Chuck McCown here - Art is goofing off this month. I thought I'd take a shot at putting pen to paper and ruminate on broadband issues, life with Art, and too many passwords. Dangling Rope Under direction of our Senior Congressman, the House Resources Committee had prepared a bill that prohibited the National Park Service from declaring a certain small chunk of land in Utah's Glen Canyon Recreation Area as wilderness. Thus allowing Dangling Rope, a marina accessible only by water, to get broadband. Last week, Art was supposed to personally explain details of the bill to Rep. Chris Cannon (R-Utah), who will introduce the bill. Then the bill would go back to resources where all the work has been done. Because Chris's local scheduling clerk was guarding the gate, Art never got to meet or explain. Art was not happy. He is recovering with the help of a couple of arterial stents. Bohemian Brothers I read "The Party Line" while working for telcos in Oregon. Then as an engineering student at BYU in Provo, Utah, I had hoped to meet the cultural icon Art Brothers. Not only did I meet him, but I received a job offer. First week, Art throws me in the Mooney and we head for an industry do in Las Vegas. I was also a pilot and he checked me out in the plane. We stopped at St. George to pick up a couple of employees. These were big guys and the Mooney is not. We checked out the weight. No go. Too heavy. This was after we had consumed fuel and visited the bathroom. We remembered that we had removed the oxygen tank. The missing weight of the tank (and partial fuel) made us barely legal. At the Nortel Hospitality Room we bent the ear of our REA GFR, then on to find a hotel room. Art is known (I found out) for his bohemian style of travel. "No worry", he says, "lots of rooms." Yeah right. After an hour, we find a place. Flea bag. Two rooms. Two beds. It was decided Jim and Lou in one bed. Art and I in the other. After the appropriate homophobic remarks, we hit the rooms. Art was gone. I determined to make the best of the situation, hoping to fall asleep before Art came back. I was really hoping that Art would remain on his side of the bed throughout the night. I was in the bed for maybe 5 minutes, when Art says, "Get your stuff." We moved to a room with 2 beds. We left Jim and Lou together and never told them. It's 15 years later, no change. (Now, I whine if I don't get my own room). When folks ask why Art and I get along so well, I tell 'em that the only way to get ahead at Beehive is to sleep with the boss. Kid Stuff Just got back from vacation. On the way, I showed my kids some of the first central offices I worked in. (You can imagine how excited teenagers were to see concrete block buildings inside chain link fences). At the first, I tried the door. Locked, of course. I noticed some buttons on the lock were shiny. Were those buttons part of the combination? Returning to the van, I had some of my kids calculate the number of possible combinations (factorials are involved) and generate the list of possible combinations. Next stop, same lock, I punched in the first - then the second - bingo! If some of them choose a life of crime, I guess it started here. At Beehive, we have pushbutton locks, and passwords. Our passwords are neither secure nor changed often. Firewalls and other measures to keep the world-at-large out of our systems and plant, but we allow our employees unrestricted access. They reciprocate by being trustworthy and honest. If I have to worry about an employee browsing the contents of my computer, I would rather get rid of that employee than lock up my computer. Copyright 2001 by A. W. Brothers and Americas Network magazine. All rights reserved.   © Beehive Telephone Co.