DSL seems to be fixed.
So, AT&T sent out a tech yesterday, and he said he couldn't fix the problem, but they were sending maintenance people today. Things were a little better after he left, we figure that while checking things, he at least tweeked something so it was a little happier again. Someone showed up in a truck with one of those baskets for reaching the poles today. He never said anything to us, but he started by looking at the box on our house, then made his way this way and that around the neighborhood stopping at various boxes. The DSL dropped out a couple times here and there, but by the time he left, it was staying on again. Hopefully whatever he did fixed the problem, but as things are behaving better now, everything should be fine now.
Now I can start catching up on things that I couldn't stay on top of due to the frelled up connection. I've got a possible job to bid, as well as continuing work on another I'm doing for a friend for free while trying to figure my pricing out and get a feel for how long this stuff really takes. I've also got some Christmas shopping to do, though I am suspecting that I won't be buying much online, it does help to at least scout what stores to hit before I go out into the wilds of Christmas season retail.