LOL Two "dear"'s huh? Do I sound that pitiful? Well, I feel pretty pitiful, alright. I'm spending my 3rd consecutive New Year's at home, alone. Wahhh ... Poor me.
Anyway, yes, I've been having modem problems for a long time. What would happen was I'd be online and crash. When I'd try to get back on, I'd get a msg saying the port was busy.Eventually, someone told me to try reinstalling the modem, and that always worked. I'll check it out in Safe mode and let you know what I found out.
On the job front, something will come up. I just need to move away from Baton Rouge, which has little web dev going on, at all. My deal is that I have a minor degree in Asian Studies, so, I'm trying to find a company that has /localization issues, etc., if at all possible. If not, maybe something musically-related, as I have background in that, too. So, not to worry ...

It's only a matter of time until my web skills are solid enough to get in. Happy New Year to you, too, Mary. Thanks again for all the help.
Dan