Wednesday, November 07, 2007

Waiting for DSL

My mother and I drove to Jacksonville, NC, yesterday to go to the phone store and change her plan. We added DSL to her line. It won't be extremely fast — 768 kbps download and 384 kbps upload — but it will be 12 to 15 times faster than her current dial-up connection. And the cost, at $25 a month, won't break her budget.

I never thought Ma would one day sign up for DSL. But she has. She reads the blogs, and now maybe she'll start sending e-mail and surfing the web with more confidence and enthusiasm. I'll be able to show her some tricks later this week and next.

In Jacksonville, an hour's drive from Morehead City, we drove past a fish market/restaurant. Ma said she wanted to try it one day, and I said we should stop immediately and look around. We did. It was great — like something you might find on the Normandy or Brittany coast in France. There were a dozen or more varieties of fresh local fish on ice — flounders, bluefish, jumping mullets, croakers, and more — as well as nice fresh shrimp with or without the heads, as you wanted. There were soft-shell crabs too.

I bought a bluefish, which is a fish I really like, and a fish market employee cleaned and filleted it for me at no extra charge. It was $1.99 a pound. And I got 20 nice large headless shrimp. That was about a pound and cost $8.00. I shelled and cleaned the shrimp myself at home and made shrimp and grits for dinner. It was mighty fine. That'll be my next blog topic, once the DSL connection is activated and I can more easily and quickly upload pictures. Later...

4 comments:

Betty Carlson said...

Somehow I never imagined your being from a Carolina. Funny the ideas we get...I thought you were a Bay Area person all the way.

Anonymous said...

Bluefish! Wow, it's been a long time. We used to go party boat fishing for bluefish when I lived on the east coast. The meat is dark and light and can be oily, as I recall, but very tasty. I remember a bluefish bit my dad once when he was trying to remove the hook. They have big teeth! $1.99 a pound is a fantastic price. Glad you're enjoying so much seafood. That's the place to do it.

Ken Broadhurst said...

Hi Betty, yes, I am Carolina born and bred. I talk about it in my shrimp and grits post today.

Ginny, bluefish are fierce predators. Monet told me she had bluefish at the Sanitary Fish Market and Restaurant in Morehead City Sunday night, and that's what made me want to buy, cook and eat some. Monet said the bluefish she had was truly excellent.

Anonymous said...

This is probably where I should have started! Since now I understand how you have posted all these photos. I was rather admirative because I thought you were doing that on dialup!
I think it'll be wonderful for your mother to be able to read your blog every day, and write emails. I think blogs and emails make people feel closer in space and in time.