In it’s wisdom, the Congress told us to allow competition.  The FCC so Ordered. State Commissions concurred.  Customers got choice to select who would complete 1+ dialed toll.  I didn’t have the money.  The Utah PSC understood.  Two times, they granted annual extensions.  Got a loan from RUS.  Then, in addition to regular R&M,  my eight guys did foundation and preparation for 10 new buildings.  The sole contractor Troy Hicks did all the iron work.  Chuck kept us on schedule.  Our guys did both the new AC and DC plus everything else with two sharing the programming. Chuck and 2 of our guys had gone to Taqua’s programming school. Very valuable.  Not the easiest to make do all we desired -  but we and they - are learning. The last Cutover reminded me of the old days, when I had to devote days and weeks to telling Ma Bell’s guys how to do their jobs.  Those old timers are mostly gone.  But the new kids don’t have a clue about the complex translations we required while converting from 7 digits for lots of EAS and Cell with 10 to 13 or more digits with CIC codes, 911 rerouting, plus everything changing to feature group D instead of FGC.  Our last conversion in Rush Valley required Qwest to do reprogramming of a toll tandem and several major offices.  They managed to take down our signaling to/from those offices as well as ours -several times. Of course, we got blamed for all disruptions. Finally got Jim to ask Bell old timer Ralph Arnold for help.  He pointed Jim in the right direction.  Don’t know what we would have done if Ralph had retired…. So for 900 subs it works out to $2555 per to enable selection of choice for a long distance carrier.  Yet, the majority still dial free call (800) dial around to complete their long distance.  Others grumbled.  So much for the mandate to enable “equal access”.   I’m not complaining of course.  It would have been difficult to justify our system upgrade without that Order saying you “will” spend the dough.  Indians For 20 years I asked the Utah PSC for authority to provide service to the Goshute Indian Tribe in western Utah.  Ten years later, to keep the appearance of “serving” the area, Ma Bell put a MTS high-band radio phone there.  A tiny step.  Eventually,  Utah PSC Chair Millie Bernard got me a Certificate.   After the usual delay they got dial service in 1984. Unemployment runs over 60% in tribal areas and it was about that percentage that used their phones and could not pay.  Disconnect.  Fast foreword to 2002.  The Government has this program to subsidize phones for Indians.  We then plowed 10 miles of fiber to the “upper reservation” and connected  19 phones..  The subsidy enables most all tribal folk to now get on line.  Fiber in water There has been some serious talk about laying 50 miles of fiber in Lake Powell in southern Utah.  It would enable a couple of T-1’s for phones to the ten million dollar Dangling Rope marina.   Lake Powell is Utah’s second most visited attraction.  US Park Service managers say they can’t allow a microwave repeater Navajo Point – the only site suitable to relay into the Marina.  Yet even the Park wants modern communications. With fiber nearly as cheap as the sand used to make the glass – it is asked - why can’t fiber be laid down the main channel?  Figure 8 the strand on Park Service barges. And let the cable fall down to the bottom.  Depth is 500 feet.  No acid or adverse chemicals. The scary part is pressure.  PSI is the only issue.   Any of you chaps have thoughts – about using regular fiber this way?   They are not talking about  big ocean type cable.  But, on the cheap – will it work or not?  Email chuck@beehive.net. NERVA Columbia’s loss means we have to put some serious money in space. Until the three orbiters are cleared, Russian Soyuz/Progress can keep the Space Station operational. The Nerva project from 1945 to the early 60’s did all the work to develop an atomic rocket.  It got shelved when the U.S. signed a treaty to ban all atomic stuff in space.  Nerva rockets go by injecting lots of tiny atomic “bombs” out the aft end.  The explosion(s) push the rocket right along.  Fast.  Sort of like a spark plug with the resulting explosion pushing the housing.  Why not now?  Mars anyone?   Copyright 2003 by A. W. Brothers and Americas Network magazine. All rights reserved.   © Beehive Telephone Co.