If you are moving to Iowa, you can now check out what areas of the state offer broadband coverage via ConnectIowa.org and their online interactive map. Just input an address and see what ISPs are available in that area.

Personally I am still waiting on Qwest to update our ADSL connection. The other choice is MediaCom cable which offers faster connections.

Update…

You can now get a good overview of what connection speeds really look like by viewing your area at Net Index. Their map shows information collected from SpeedTest.net, so these are real world speeds.

Just when you think it is over, February comes and it hits us with seven inches of snow. I managed to shovel most of it yesterday afternoon and felt a little adventurous and went for a ride in the pickup truck… only to find myself not going up a hill! I ended up backing down the hill and sticking to main roads in Iowa City, but needless to say, all roads were pretty bad yesterday during the peak of the storm. On Gilbert Street, right pass the railroad bridge, the police were trying to help out, as a Trailways passenger bus found itself sliding backwards. Schools in Iowa City were definitely closed today. The storm was not as bad as the one that hit during the Christmas break, but this time around, everyone is in town and people have to get to work. It was a pretty good snow storm and not too cold to enjoy it, that is if you don’t have to drive anywhere.

To think the holidays are suppose to be about rushing to the mall, waiting in line forever, and having joyful arguments with family members you haven’t seen in months, well this year nature decided to make it even more uncomfortable by showering the midwest with plenty of cold weather. I don’t know what I enjoyed more, early frost on my windshield, or the torrent of ice and rain that left me without power for eleven hours! About the only two things that worked for me last Tuesday was my F-150 pickup and my iPhone. I used the truck to get some food and the iPhone to call MidAmerica and let them know our power was still out. The lesson learned is that you should always speak with a live operator when calling the power company, otherwise they will assume that the truck they sent out an hour ago fixed the problem, and you will still be sitting in the dark without power. It could have been much worse though. There was no wind at all during the storm and when you have at least a half an inch of ice on trees, any slight breeze is a catastrophe waiting to happen.

If you are in Iowa City, my friend John Fowler recently renamed his barbershop to The Hairport Barbershop. John and his fellow barber Bob are great barbers. His biggest customers also happen to be my two sons. We have tried taking our youngest to hair salons and they all ruined his hair. Our five year-old has incredibly straight and thin hair, that he really needs an experienced professional to cut his hair. He’s had so many bad hair cuts that his mom stopped taking him to the salon and took him to John instead. Since then his mom stopped complaining to me about his hair. Our eight year-old won’t shutup about his cool haircut. He’s even asking me to gel his hair up in the morning and to style it like John did for him. He’s only eight!