Well, today was basically a wasted day while I sat around and waited... for the ATT tech to get to the area and call and let me know he was working on the land line. The phone went out late Friday. We were out getting something to eat when the Daughter called the cell and told us the home phone must be out as all she could get was a busy signal, wasn't rolling over to the Answering Machine after four rings as usual.
I said, "Let's hope there is trouble on the line or a burglar is making a lot of calls while we are out."
When we got home, YUP, lot's of screeching and static. I called in on my cell to place a Repair Call, waded thru the menu, and talked to Roberta Robot. I was 99% thru the long list of setup questions and almost done, I was speaking my first and last name for the tech's call information, when my cell dropped the call.
I called back, it was two minutes AFTER they quit on Friday. "Call back during business hours Monday thru Friday or go online to enter a repair call." Ah... you can't enter repair calls online in a number of state, with Oklahoma being one of them. So, I called in at 0800 exactly, and placed the work order. Got a recording, Heavy Call volume, push one to schedule a call back in the order in which your call was received, YOU will not lose your place in line. They called me back just after 9am and set up for the tech to come out between 1:15pm and 4:30pm.
He texted about 2pm and told me he was on the way to my area. They always go to the main hub first, and I never saw him. He called on the land line and told me he found the problem and repaired it, was calling to check the line. Crystal Clear.
Seems some Juvenile Delinquent had been bored the previous week and had taken a brick or large rock and knocked out the 2" Conduit plug in the top of one of the junction boxes adjacent to the main hub. We had heavy rains Friday and then severe thunderstorms during the day Saturday, and Saturday night into Sunday and most of the morning Sunday. There was about six inches of standing water in the bottom of the junction box. The tech drained the box, replaced the plug and the lock on the front of the box and Boom, Clear and static free. Until the cards in the box began to corrode. (I'm sure he sprayed them with protectant, but lets hope it works.) There are NO replacement cards for any of the equipment in that hub. It is VERY old and ATT doesn't want to update it due to our small town there being a ghost town... too few residents to make it a smart fiscal move.
As if we don't have enough problems without the Juveniles vandalizing the infrastructure.
The little rugrats zoom around the area on their small dirtbikes willy nilly, usually failing to check for traffic and just blow through intersections without looking, as if they are too young to die. Most of the residents slow as they approach intersections in town and drive well below the limit because they know that these morons will blow out between hedges into the street or jump out from between buildings and blow across the street in front of you, then blow between two other buildings and be gone in a flash.
Every now and then the Sheriff's Office will set up and watch for them, and if they catch them in the act on dash cam, they will pull them over or follow them home and seize their dirt bikes and hold them until court. The judge decides if they get them back. Normally they will if it's a first offense. If not, they might find the court auctioning off the precious bike.
** It's legal to drive your UTV on the rural roadways and the roads less traveled here, for licensed drivers. Some of the JDs are six and eight years old. Not legal at all for them, but it's farm country. Ride responsibly and the Deputies aren't going to say much. But we get the little "Gangs" (groups really) of kids trying to impress one another and they ride up and down the back roads riding wheelies on the poor condition roads pockmarked with potholes and cracks an inch wide running diagonally across the entire road. My wife spoke to a group of them tearing up and down the road with no helmets doing these tricks and stunts, as a former EMT who has worked MC accidents we were concerned. So she walked out and spoke with them calmly and explained some concerns: and they were very respectful.
"Yes Ma'am. You are correct Ma'am, we never thought of that, it could be very dangerous... Thank you Ma'am."
She turned and walked into the house and they started their bikes and rode sedately away, for 50 yards, then popped wheelies and sped off at high speed, whooping. Someone called the sheriff's office on them and they all had their bikes seized.
Her prediction came true not too long after that. A neighbor's grandson was riding on a friends four wheeler (Without Granddad's knowledge or permission...) when they rolled it. Badly broke his arm, in two places. He spent the summer in a rigid cast, and had just made the varsity football team for his senior year. Oops. Summer in Oklahoma last year, 45 days straight of 110 - 115 degree temps, and he had his arm in a cast from wrist to shoulder for three months. Karma is a beotch.
