Thanks everyone, really good information here. I suppose unless its a disaster/event that means TEOTWAWKI, long distance communication will be possible, though it might require some patience and a little creative thinking. I did some searching and was surprised to find that there actually is an emergency auxiliary communications service (ACS) made up of volunteer HAM operators coordinated by the LA City Fire Dept. I had no idea something like that existed here but its good to know. Of course, as OldBaldGuy said, its reassuring to know that if all else fails we can always hire kevin costner.