a tale of tails, tenacity, and tedium, as told by me, usually barefoot and bellowing

Wednesday, May 13, 2015

As We Age

there are just some things we can no longer do...like climb trees, move refrigerators by ourselves, or wrestle a calf to the ground.  Just little odds and ends that remind us we may no longer be in our prime.

Jobs that once were done swiftly by one now have to be managed with cooperation of two or more.

Yesterday was a fine example.

Our phone land line was out.  No phones and after doing all the tests that we are required to do before we call in for repair service, we knew without a doubt, it was their problem and not ours.

Here's the dilemma...how can you report a telephone outage if your phone doesn't work?   Luckily the computer did work.  I "chatted" with three different people who told me that was not their department.  I found them from the repair request page.  Hmmmm, could this be a failure to communicate?  Same phone company just one department cannot contact another department or transfer me on the computer or even take a simple message for me. Granted they were all polite and overly helpful regarding anything else I needed.  (I think they take a happy pill before they answer phones for the day)  I didn't need new equipment.  I didn't need to move my service.  I didn't need to upgrade my service.  I just needed the service I was paying for (and they checked that too to make sure I had paid my bill in a timely manner)

After I had reached my frustration peak...which is just before I repeatedly slam the phone with a rock, insist they remove all my services or begin a detailed discussion about their ancestor's origins and abilities .

We live in a valley.  Cell phones have no signal in the house.  We have a multitude of options to remedy that from standing on the bow of our boat holding the phone high in the air, standing on a rock in the back yard and extending phone to get two bars, or driving to the top of the farm to get full signal.

After much debate, Hubby said climb on the rock and call them.  I don't use a cell phone anymore so that would be like giving a Neanderthal a microwave and telling him to cook!  I did try to climb on the rock but my balance took all my attention.

Hubby climbed on the rock and called the phone company. He gave the wrong social so I wrote that in the sand for him to see.   He couldn't hear the person so he disconnected.  Finally he returned to the rock, put the phone on speaker with me standing on the ground yelling to the speaker phone he held high over his head.  After much discussion about all the tests we had already done and a test call to our house to make sure it wasn't ringing we finally got results when Hubby mentioned he had a defibrillator that has to checked by phone.

Guess what...a repairman was here within twenty minutes.  We have phones again!

I dislike phones so I'm turning the ringer off!

22 comments:

Vandana Sharma said...

Phew!! what a day

TexWisGirl said...

i can relate to the spotty/iffy cell service! such frustrations. glad you got satisfactory service after all that!

Gwen said...

We kind of live in a sort of gully, so our cell reception isn't the best in all areas of the house, but we still got rid of our land lines about 5 years ago and have never regretted that. Sorry you had to go to so much hassle to report the problem!

Anonymous said...

Frustration thy name is Bell telephone

MadSnapper said...

i would love to have a phone that would only dial out and nothing could come in.. i got frustrated just reading this. if it required me to get on a rock for anything i would be dead in the water. so glad they came fast. computer chatting is a total frustration and when it pops up and says chat i say no. but then you had to.

Sketching with Dogs said...

Oh my goodness, that is quite a unique way to make a phone call. Glad you got it sorted out so quickly.
Lynne x

Sandy Livesay said...

It's frustrating, you pay for a telephone and service and the phone doesn't work.

Mentioning the defibrillator really got someone's attention and now the phone works. The telephone company has no choice but to respond when it's dealing with medical issues.

21 Wits said...

Finally too bad they just couldn't dream of helping before you had to unload all your guns. A person pays for phone service and should get it! I have to say if anyone saw your rock auditions (we can laugh now hehehe) but it would be a hilarious bit for good home videos!

Anonymous said...

Oh, amen. I could relate to this. I am alone most of the the time. I have to deal with everything by myself. It is not easy. I would have liked to witness the rock communication.

T. Powell Coltrin said...

Ahh, the right words. I tell everyone that wants to listen, It's all about using the power words. And you all knew what they were.

Wsprsweetly Of Cottages said...

OHHHH NOOOOO!!! and I had my finger on the button to call you! Which reminds me..I haven't chatted with you in ages! :) Whatever the case, it's clear he lit a fire under them and now you have phones. :)
big hugs!
Mona

C-ingspots said...

And they say customer service is dead!! :) Atta girl, unplug that monster!

Farm Girl said...

Wow, I think though, living where you do, I would put up with bad service. Just that creek is enough to get me happy. :)

Linda Kay said...

This reminded me of having to take hubby's computer into the Geek Squad. It was so slow and frozen up that I couldn't contact them to take it over on the phone to fix it. So we had to drive all the way to San Antonio to drop it off last week, then drive all the way back today to pick it up.

Coloring Outside the Lines said...

Wow- what a run around they gave you! I don't ever have to talk to the phone co because we don't have land lines, but I go round and round with our rural electric co. I get so worked up with their office girls that I break out in hives. So, I feel for ya!

LindaG said...

*hugs* :-)
Perseverance!
God bless. ♥

Far Side of Fifty said...

Glad you got phone service. I hate the phone too. We need help with some things too, together we can still accomplish most things. I make a list for our Son In Law Handy Andy everytime he visits. Good thing he likes us:)

Lowcarb team member said...

So glad it was sorted in the end.

I much prefer using a land line phone ... but do of course use my mobile. Here in the UK we still have 'pockets' or areas where the signal strength is not good.

I think the younger generation would be at a loss without the modern phones!

All the best Jan

Arkansas Patti said...

Wow, hope they brought one of their happy pills with them for you.
Have the same problem here with cell service. Four miles down the road in a church parking lot is the closest decent cell reception. We call it the local phone booth. It is the same place I download my Kindle.

Bethany Carson said...

Glad it finally worked out! Sounds like it was quite the day!

Susan Anderson said...

Sheesh!

Glad he thought of playing the defibrillator card.

Sometimes drastic measures must be taken…

=)

Lynne said...

Whew . . .
Scaring me!
Good thinker hubs!

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