I asked my ISP a few weeks ago for a trial upgrade - went from 5mb d\l to 20mb. Thought it made a bit of a difference, but after the upgrade of O\S, it didn't seem to matter what d\l speed. So to save the extra $15\month upcharge, I decided to revert back to 5mb d\l.
As for specs - iMac 2.8Ghz Intel Core 2 duo, with 4 gigs or ram. I know it's not much compared your very fine new super machine, and this is what really is getting to me - it was working better before. Check that, it was working in a much more predictable manner before.
Thank you Darin for all the feedback. I really do value your (and everyone else who chimed in) time and approach to my problem.