Glad to see you back Phil. I can sympathize with your problems with the TelCo, I've had that kind of hassle too. Being told they'd hook up DSL, stalled for a month, then told DSL isn't available in my area, then the neighbor getting DSL the next week. Miserable service, techs that cause more damage than anything else.
One point about digital phone service via cable, if you have a power outage your phone will be out too since it depends on the cable modem. Personally, since I hate talking on the phone anyway I don't see this as a particularly bad thing.