update

After coming home from work and finding the same problems, only worse - my connection kept kicking off - I contacted Comcast again and they helped me to reset my modem. My connection was speedier and stable, but I still couldn't upload photos.

Frustrated to the point of giving up, I figured out another possible workaround and gave it a try. I found that I had over 5000 "starred items" in Google Reader, dating back to February. I un-starred them and deleted all of my gadgets on iGoogle. I also found that I had close to 1100 RSS subscriptions, so I dropped those down to under 500. On top of all that, I uninstalled and reinstalled Firefox, in case there was a problem with Java, in the process losing hundreds of bookmarks. All of this time consuming work made everything run much more smoothly, but still the same trouble with pics.

Any of you that saw my previous message - now deleted - know that I am not yet at the point of reformatting, but the option is still on the table. If you'd like to read it, it's still up on Technorati.

After a long nap, I find that I can upload photos again, but I'm not convinced that this is a permanent condition. Regardless, I'll keep trying to post.

After all of this, the only thing known for certain is that I really have no idea what I'm doing. I'm shooting in the dark. If any of these measures remedy the situation, in the end, whatever the cause or the solution turns out to be will remain unknown. One thing's for sure, my high-speed internet is now truly high-speed, so that's a bonus.

Wish me luck, and I'll keep my fingers crossed and my hopes up.