This was at a point when most people already had broadband, and used dialup modems were dirt-cheap on eBay (e.g., that&#x27;s why she had a stack of USR Courier V.Everything models instead of Sportsters).  IIRC I got a few of them from toss-out piles at ISPs I worked for, and some were my own stash from before I went to ISDN then cablemodem at home.<p>I couldn&#x27;t depend on her to unplug everything every time there was a storm.