Reality Check (Billings, Missoula, Great Falls: to rent, co-ops, to buy)

[ladyflyfsh]

MHT, you are indeed correct about some small towns having high speed internet, but again that depends on how big the town is, and how far from actual town you live. Out here where I am, (5 miels from town) Qwest will NOT upgrade the phone lines from the antiquated analog to digital so no such thing as DHL or cable etc. BUT, that said, there is a local guy who moved into the area and set up a microwave frequency high speed wireless connection which is available to me where I am. There are still many who live in areas where they are too far away from his antenna or repeater to be able to take advantage of this service. For once I'm one of the lucky ones!!

I realize gas prices in some areas of the country are much higher than we are...I was only referring to the National average. There have indeed been times when the rest of the country was experiencing higher gas prices and ours was among the lowest so that's part of the give and take. We are higher right now and the news stations say there is no reason behind it that they can find when asking AAA. They say we are just slow to catch on, but we've been much better than this in the past. One person I know says there is one individual from Butte who owns the refinery and controls the gas stations here in MT who is controlling the price here right now and is just being greedy. I can't say from personal knowledge, only heresay.

[MTer]

Originally Posted by odiebear

Thanks for the information on high speed internet service...or lack of any service at all. Definitely something to consider. Sometimes I take what I have where I am for granted because I'm so used to it. All of this information is a healthy wake-up call for me - and is much appreciated!

If you have a view of the sky at a required angle, you can get Internet via satellite. Several satellite Internet providers exist. So unless your view of the sky at the required angle is blocked by a high mountain or something else (not a skyscraper in rural Montana!), there is no "lack of any service at all" as you commented.

[Finish Carpenter]

Does anyone have any information on the Stanford, Great Falls area.
We have the possibility for a caretakers postion on a 85 acre ranch near there.

[odiebear]

Originally Posted by MTer

If you have a view of the sky at a required angle, you can get Internet via satellite. Several satellite Internet providers exist. So unless your view of the sky at the required angle is blocked by a high mountain or something else (not a skyscraper in rural Montana!), there is no "lack of any service at all" as you commented.

Thanks, MTer! When I read that some places had no service...that was what I was referring to. I hadn't thought about a satellite provider. Appreciate your comments!

[imbobbbb]

montana most years has the highest or second highest gas tax in the country which explains a lot of the price of gas.

[MTer]

Originally Posted by imbobbbb

montana most years has the highest or second highest gas tax in the country which explains a lot of the price of gas.

Not true since quite often over the past few years MT gas has been cheaper than midwest, back east, and west coast gas at least.

The initial recent surge was attributed to the Alaska Pipeline problem, since it flows down the west coast, feeds Montana refineries apparently, and so on. But once that was declared not a major issue, MT gas stayed high while most of the rest of the country has fallen quite a bit.

[ladyflyfsh]

Well, I'm happy to report that at least here in SW Montana prices for gas are finally falling. Yesterday in Whitehall the price was $2.85/gal. It's getting there but my mother in PA reports buying gas there for $2.45 a few days ago! We still have work to do, obviously!

[KatWrangler]

Gas here in Southern Cal has stalled at $2.89 and on up.

[ladyflyfsh]

Hey KatWrangler, how did it go in Bozeman? Did your husband get the job? How did you like BZN?

[KatWrangler]

Originally Posted by ladyflyfsh

Hey KatWrangler, how did it go in Bozeman? Did your husband get the job? How did you like BZN?

We loved Bozeman! It was a bit smokey, however. If we accept the written job offer, we will go back mid October to look for housing.