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Life's Little Mysteries
Life sure has a way of kicking you in the butt just as a warning to not get too confident that you've got the world on a string. Things have been going along pretty well these days, what with a retirement check at the end of the month, people spending lots of money at eBay on "foxg" items, and plenty of fun activites and fun friends to keep me busy.
But not so fast. All I want to do is make a phone call to Keeseville. Or to Jay. Or to my son in the Albany area. Not gonna happen! I spent the weekend trying to reach a family in Keeseville. Every phone call resulted in a busy signal. From Friday morning till Sunday night their phone rang busy, no matter what time of day I called. Finally by Monday morning I was suspicious. So I tried a few other Keeseville phone numbers at random from the phone book. Those families were also busy on the phone. Sure are a lot of talkative people in Keeseville.
For some mysterious reason I can call all the Plattsburgh and Peru phone numbers I want and make a connection. But other phone numbers ring busy. So this sounds like something Verizon should look into. Have you ever tried reaching a human being at Verizon? I spent thirty minutes yesterday listening to automated messages, and speaking my problem to a machine. I found out that the machine does not understand curse words! Finally I got through to the Customer Service Office, but the taped response was, "Our office is closed. Our business hours are from 8am until 5pm." I looked at the clock. It was 10:30am. Verizon can't even tell time!
I never did get through to a human being at Verizon. I just set that problem aside for another day. My solution to calling someone in Keeseville was to call my brother and ask him to call the Keeseville number and tell that family to call me. I finally connected with that Keeseville family on Monday in the afternoon.
And now I've got my dishwasher to contend with. What normal man of the house can fix a dishwasher problem? My problem is that water is leaking out of the front of the dishwasher when it goes into the rinse cycle. Not just a few drops. I mean what amounts to gallons of water leaking out onto my kitchen floor. But it happens only sometimes. What is the deal with this mystery dishwasher? So far my solution has been to kneel in front of the dishwasher and stare at the water dripping out, hoping that it will stop. It doesn't.
I'm also smart enough to put towels in front of it to soak up the water before it travels across my kitchen floor and out the back door. This is causing extra use of my washer and dryer, so I figure a problem will pop up there some time soon.
Just a couple of life's little aggravations to deal with. I don't really need to call Keeseville that often, and I can always wash dishes in the sink. My sink works fine ... so far! Sure wish I could tell Verizon my problems. Maybe their customer service rep has a dishwasher. Maybe I should just use paper plates and plastic forks. Maybe I can just drive to Keeseville. Maybe next week things will go a little smoother.
Comments
I agree, the automated systems have gotten out of control. I had to contact an agency via their automated system recently, and after 15 minutes of going through their menus, a recorded message proceeded to inform me that all operators were busy and I should try back later... and then I was disconnected... ^&$%@*!
(Foxy's note: Exactly! Thanks for the input!)
Posted by: Sara Lea | October 14, 2006 4:55 PM
Ever think of Westelcom for phone service? We have humans that you can speak to even after 5pm and on weekends. Hmmmm, maybe saving those few dollars every month isn't worth the frustration. Just a thought.
(Foxy's note: I will keep this idea in mind, Laura!)
Posted by: Laura | October 7, 2006 2:32 AM
Did you pay your phone bill? If yes press 1, if no press 2, if you wish to speak to an operator please press your pin number, then enter your mother's maiden name , followed by pound 17, if you are calling from a rotary phone please call back after you have purchased a digital phone, if you are still in need of service (beep,beep,beep,beep......)
(Foxy's note: I can see you have been through what I have been through.)
Posted by: oh my | October 4, 2006 9:52 PM
Hey foxman...life's too short, call nate at wilson's and get a new dishwasher. Probably cost you less than a Bill Russell rookie card! .. it's a local #!! ... heard you've been hangin out with "old timer" at the Penguin?
haven't heard from "bullet " or " W" in awhile .. they still alive?
you'd think around election time we'd get some words of wisdom from them. check in guys.. we miss ya!
Posted by: the carver | October 4, 2006 2:55 PM