The chances are pretty high that the reasons you were getting slow load times, as well as round-about routes, are benign. This is because the Internet as you know it is based on an "opportunistic" design - equipment, transmission methods, routing protocols... they all change multiple times as your information traverses the globe. Not only that, but all those equipment, transmission methods, and routing protocols change themselves in their own respective areas. Equipment goes up, equipment goes down. New lines are set in, old ones are cut out. New routing protocols are adopted, and new routes are taught/learned and old ones discarded. All of this, while transparent to the end-user, influences your experience.
If you are a Home/SOHO user, the chances of being hit by something such as source routing is fairly low. That isn't to say it isn't possible, just pretty low. If you think you may be subject to it, keep an eye out for phishing attempts (fake online banking sites, etc). Use secure logins (w/ SSL) where you can. But again, chances are fairly low.
