Hey - I'm on a modem, and they don't take that long to load. You folks lucky enough to have broadband have no room to complain.
That second photo makes a great desktop - it gives me the willies every time I look at it.
That must be something to stabilize the rope at the end (?).
It's just a A3 bag that the line is stowed in and can be weighted in high winds when dropped from the helicopter to keep it from flying up into the tail rotors......