Don't let the naysayers get you down - it's a good domain name!
It may not rank as fast as a .com, but it's a searchable name that you can link to. Do good SEO on the page and you'll do fine.
I agree with the first part of your comment but I dont think a domain extension has anything to do with the
time or duration of getting good search engine ranking.If your content is good and unique,and you do a good on page and off page seo,you can get good ranking as you would normally with a .com domain