Monday, April 07, 2008

Call Me


I’m a total nut about serendipity. Here’s a recent example.

Our house phone had been out of order for God only knows how long. Since I was away for two weeks, I can’t say when I would have noticed it. Some time during that time though, husband called and asked if I ever had any trouble with the phone. Well, yes that was a strange thing to ask me, but he did set up an appointment with AT&T to have it checked.

The repairman showed up and promptly found the source of trouble. Our service box had been struck by lightning he deduced. Anyway, I was happy that the source of trouble wasn’t with the house wiring which would have meant we would have had to pay for the repair.

Here’s the serendipity. Even before Mike called (that’s the AT&T guy) to tell me the phone was working again, I heard the phone ring and answered. It was a call for Scott about a summer internship. Good timing or serendipity? Well y’all know what I think.

Plus, Mike showed me how I could troubleshoot to see if the house wiring might be at fault should we ever have trouble again. You take a working standard phone (you do still have one of those, don’t you?) out to the service box and plug it in. That could tell you the house wiring is at fault if you get a dial tone out there and not inside. But I guess if you don’t, you’ll need to call the phone company anyway because it could be a case like ours or not.

12 comments:

Empress Bee (of the high sea) said...

your att guy has a "name"? ha ha ha, mine had horns!

smiles, bee
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Sheila said...

Not only did he have a name, he called ahead to let us know he was on the way, he was here within the window of the time we were given, and AT&T did a follow-up customer satisfaction call the next day. I will squeal loud and clear when service is lacking and sing praise when service is great. Kudos to AT&T.

Sarge Charlie said...

thank you so much for your kind remarks on my Manic Monday 1000 post, you never have to agree with me but if you keep reading you will soon realize how logical my point of view is.

Sheila said...

Oh Sarge, you sound like Rush or Sean trying to convert this die-hard liberal.

Anonymous said...

Sheila!

Didn't you know that there's a law in Alabama against the "L" word?

Marion said...

Sheila, this is getting weird. We had the exact same problem with our phone, only we had just moved in and didn't know it, until a week had passed.

The telephone guy...I didn't catch his name, lol...told us the very same thing...about the standard land line phone. We actually had to buy one!

And did you know my stepson is named Scott?

Our telephone is fixed now, I'm glad yours is as well.

Sheila said...

Another coincidence. Glad your phone is fixed too. I didn't know your stepson was a Scott too.

Diane J Standiford said...

My nephew is Scott and I have a land line, and I like AT&T(even though I lost a bundle in their stock. Not that you asked, but I thought Obama did a good job today re Bush/Olympics.

Don said...

My father, with only 4 years of formal education, was wise enough to establish a trust fund with his meager savings to care for his youngest son who was a Down syndrome child. A portion of the fund was invested in AT&T stock over 30 years ago. The trust fund cared for my brother’s every need until his death about 15 months ago His life is a story of its own. In case you’re interested in reading about it, Sheila, I believe I have a copy of a magazine story about him on file that I can email to you. Anyway, to make a long story short, the remainder of the trust was divided among my remaining living siblings last year, and because of our good fortune with that stock and other investments I had to pay around $1,500 in federal tax this year when I normally don’t have to pay any.

BTW, Sheila, what Mike taught you about testing your phone outside is printed in the front of my phone book. Have you every read yours? :-)

Lorelei said...

Wow! So glad it was the phone box that got hit and not the house! Great news on the internship!

Naomi said...

Glad your phone is up and running again Sheila. You don't realise how much damage lighting can cause. Glad it didn't cause any more serious damage. Sounds like Scott is doing really well. You must be really proud Sheila

Rick Rockhill said...

WOW Sheila, I'd call that karma and incredible good luck! That was meant to happen!!!