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Fear and (cut) cables in Pagosa...
Apr. 22nd, 2005 02:48 pmWell, something happened to our phone line - and no, the bill's been paid, thankyouverymuch - so I ended up doing the last part of the translation without benefit of Web access (though by the time it actually dawned on me that it was the DSL connection and not just the link to this one site I use all the time, I was finished).
When I called the phone company's repair service the first time, I was invited to perform a troubleshooting procedure whose point was to establish that, truly, the source of the problem lay on the phone company's side of the box on the side of the house, the "demark," as I've heard it called (short for "demarcation point"), at which its responsibilities end.
On the one hand, I can appreciate them trying to save me a few bucks (if the repairman comes out and it turns out there's nothing wrong on the phone company's side of that box, well... they charge you for the needless trip, unless you've arranged for them to take care of your inside wiring as well). On the other, if you have to travel any distance to an,... um,... working phone, the proposal to go make the trip back and forth again to make sure the problem is really theirs doesn't sit so well. Too, if you're using a cell without unlimited calling, it can take some time to navigate through the menus and listen to all of the instructions.
On the way home from the store, from where I had called the phone company and done some minor shopping, I noticed several utility trucks on our street, mostly of the telephone company variety, mostly parked at the base of our neighbor's driveway, next to the base of ours. Also, one of those mechanized diggers for excavating small, utility cable sized trenches. I suspected I was looking at the source of the problem.
Unfortunately, there's a translation (and invoice) to send; fortunately, there's always a plan B (go to the store, or barring that, to the coffee shop, or barring that, to the other coffee shop)... which, as it turns out, I won't have to put into play. I just got a call from a telephone guy down on the street, telling me my phone is back on. It turns out he was cutting in a new line and... well... the upshot of it all is that my phone is back up and working, as is the DSL. The translation and invoice are sent.
I've been frantically cleaning up in preparation for the appraiser. The garbage has been disposed of. The dishes are (mostly) washed. The laundry is (mostly) hidden. I also have - by the way - dinner cooking in the crockpot.
Now to go back upstairs and do the counters and the bathrooms. Then, if there is time, police the area around the house and tidy up in the basement. By that time, there won't be any time left to take a nap, which I would really like to do. Frankly, I'd have expected a call from the appraiser by now (she said she'd call in the early afternoon), but I can't stop on the basis of not having received one.
Heck, the place is going to look so good, I'd invite company if I wasn't so tired.
Yikes!
Cheers...
When I called the phone company's repair service the first time, I was invited to perform a troubleshooting procedure whose point was to establish that, truly, the source of the problem lay on the phone company's side of the box on the side of the house, the "demark," as I've heard it called (short for "demarcation point"), at which its responsibilities end.
On the one hand, I can appreciate them trying to save me a few bucks (if the repairman comes out and it turns out there's nothing wrong on the phone company's side of that box, well... they charge you for the needless trip, unless you've arranged for them to take care of your inside wiring as well). On the other, if you have to travel any distance to an,... um,... working phone, the proposal to go make the trip back and forth again to make sure the problem is really theirs doesn't sit so well. Too, if you're using a cell without unlimited calling, it can take some time to navigate through the menus and listen to all of the instructions.
On the way home from the store, from where I had called the phone company and done some minor shopping, I noticed several utility trucks on our street, mostly of the telephone company variety, mostly parked at the base of our neighbor's driveway, next to the base of ours. Also, one of those mechanized diggers for excavating small, utility cable sized trenches. I suspected I was looking at the source of the problem.
Unfortunately, there's a translation (and invoice) to send; fortunately, there's always a plan B (go to the store, or barring that, to the coffee shop, or barring that, to the other coffee shop)... which, as it turns out, I won't have to put into play. I just got a call from a telephone guy down on the street, telling me my phone is back on. It turns out he was cutting in a new line and... well... the upshot of it all is that my phone is back up and working, as is the DSL. The translation and invoice are sent.
I've been frantically cleaning up in preparation for the appraiser. The garbage has been disposed of. The dishes are (mostly) washed. The laundry is (mostly) hidden. I also have - by the way - dinner cooking in the crockpot.
Now to go back upstairs and do the counters and the bathrooms. Then, if there is time, police the area around the house and tidy up in the basement. By that time, there won't be any time left to take a nap, which I would really like to do. Frankly, I'd have expected a call from the appraiser by now (she said she'd call in the early afternoon), but I can't stop on the basis of not having received one.
Heck, the place is going to look so good, I'd invite company if I wasn't so tired.
Yikes!
Cheers...
