i had been comtemplating getting a landline phone for our house in brooktondale, since it is highly annoying that i cannot talk with amanda (or anyone lese) on my cellphone; i usually call her before leaving work betwen 9 and 10pm. i am still waffling on the issue tho. at the house, signal ranges from none to not even one bar, and it tends to switch between analog and digital. i did find out that if one drives starts to drive out of the valley where the house is located, one gets excellent signal on one of the little hills for about 200meters or so. unfortunately, this area is about 2 miles from the house, so its a bit far to walk just to make a phone call. i will have to investigate other possibilities in other directions, although it seems unlike that there are any closer cell phone hotspots.
i had considered this issue when looking at new places, but the current house had much to recommend it that outweighed the cell phone issue. it looks like the ants are under control, too, tho they are still dropping crap from the ceiling (much less now, tho).