Back Online

Tuesday morning I realized there was a problem with the phone and DSL.  I drove into town to find reliable cell service and call the phone company.  The woman in customer service who answered the phone did her job but wasn't particularly helpful.  She told me to look for a box in my house marked with a telephone symbol where I could plug in a phone to see if we had service at that point where the phone line comes in.  She would put the report on hold until I called back. 

I have painted practically every square inch inside this house and have never seen such a box, not in the house, not in the garage, and not in the utility room which I just painted this summer.  But I looked anyway.  No luck.  I know there is a small box mounted on a corner of the house where the phone line comes out of the ground...but there is no place there to plug in a phone.

I felt silly to not know what to do but this has not been a problem in the more than six years we've lived here.  I was stuck.  If I called back to file the report and they sent a repair person, it would cost us if the problem was inside the house.  Ken was on his way home so I decided to wait.

Ken knew that the telephone box for our house is mounted on the telephone pole on our property at the edge of the road.  He took a phone down and plugged it in.  Sure enough, the problem was somewhere in the main line.  So I called back to file the report.  Apparently neighbors had also called to report trouble and a repair truck was already in the area.

Twenty-four hours later we had phone and internet service restored.  When the repairman called to tell me I asked him what the problem was.  He thought it might be hard to explain but it really wasn't:  two years ago during a hurricane a tree fell across the lines; we lost electricity, not phone, but there was damage done to the telephone line; high winds Monday night must have been the last straw.  Once the problem was found they had to splice the line to restore service.

Two days without phone and internet was inconvenient.  I had phone calls to make and bills to pay online.  Wednesday morning I parked in the town hall parking lot to take advantage of the free wifi they offer the community.  You know what was most important to me?  First, reading your comments [for which I thank you] and second, visiting your blogs.   It has taken me days to catch up, and I have enjoyed every minute.

I tried to explain to in-person friends how much I miss my connections online.  The four women I spoke to over the course of the week did not understand what I was saying.  Most don't use Facebook and none write or read blogs.  I was stymied at how to find the words.  I couldn't do it.  They have no point of reference.

In my mind, they don't know what they're missing ~