Well Rands, you hit it right on the spot. I'm curious how your call was resolved, because as an on-site technician for a local PC store, I ended up calling SBC quite frequently. I always got someone in the Midwest. And I made a gentleman in the Butternut region quite happy by simply being compentent when I called.

And that's how I reached my conclusion: it's hard to outsource the guy who is willing to come to your house. I believe we'll always need someone local to pop in when the Corporate Machine can't drive over to Suburbia because the roads are too small.

But you're right on about the cogs. Makes me think of a previous co-woker's shirt: "Go away or I will replace you with a small shell script."