The Day in Progress

[pyat]

I took the girls over to their sitter 45 minutes early, so I could make a 9 AM teleconference and be available for the Bell Telephone tech, who was supposed to arrive between 8 and 12 to switch us from cable telephone service back to Ma Bell. As you may recall from a previous (locked) post, I was recently given a very large project at work. 20 pages by Thursday. Today was to be a prime writing day.

This is what has happened:

7:55 AM - Drop the girls off.
8:05 AM - Arrive back home, log on to work email, find several outstanding messages that arrived overnight. Cannot answer any of them, because of an error at the office server.
8:10 AM - Discover home account is refusing to send mail.
8:12 AM - Discover webmail accounts are blocked by office server.
8:20 AM - Bell tech arrives and has me disconnect phone.
8:40 AM - Still no email, but capable of connecting to office network via VPN to retrieve work.
8:55 AM - Bell tech informs me job too large to handle immediately. Will return. Turn back on phone.
9:00 AM - Teleconference.
9:45 AM - Email starts working.
9:50 AM - Jury-rigged bathroom sink repairs from earlier this year crumble.
9:51 AM - Bathroom sink basin has catatrophic existence failure.
10:00 AM - First attempt to repair sink (with Plumber's Goop and fishing wire) fails.
10:15 AM - Second attempt to repair sink (with waterproof expoxy, string, and duct-tape) fails.
10:45 AM - Third attempt to repair sink (with custom-cut pieces of margarine lids and more Plumber's Goop) is a conditional success.
10:55 AM - Second teleconference starts.
11:00 AM - Bell technician returns to turn off phone. Hang up on office, call in again with cell.
11:30 AM - Bell technician explains that repairs are impossible because access is required to neighbour's yard, and yard is locked. He will wait for neighbour (who is deaf and talking on phone) to respond to his knocks. Coworkers get to listen in on this conversation.
11:45 AM - Teleconference ends. Email goes out again.
12:15 PM - Bell technician goes for lunch.
12:30 PM - Cable technician shows up unannounced to repair damaged cable line from storm several weeks ago. While in back, he notes we have cable phone service and cuts the traditional phone lines...
1:00 PM - Cable technician leaves. Work email comes back again - yet this is not related to the cable tech's work.
1:15 PM - Bell telephone technician returns, gets access to yard, starts work, finds newly cut phone cables, and there is no joy in Phone Land.
2:40 PM - Bell telephone technician finally finishes his "five minute job".
2:43 PM - Post to Livejournal.

Comments

Catatrophic existence failure

[hilson.livejournal.com]

If you don't trademark that, I will!

Re: Catatrophic existence failure

[pyat.livejournal.com]

I'm willing to share my gift with the world!

Re: Catatrophic existence failure

[bandersnitch.livejournal.com]

I second this.

It might even be a tshirt.

Re: Catatrophic existence failure

[pyat.livejournal.com]

"I didn't crash the car, dad. It suffered Spontaneous Catastrophic Existence Failire."

Re: Catatrophic existence failure

[bandersnitch.livejournal.com]

Looks like your spell checker had a Catastrophic Existence Failire

I couldn't resist.

[undeadmuse.livejournal.com]

Why did the cable guy think he had the right to cut or even touch the phone lines?

[pyat.livejournal.com]

It's standard policy for them, apparently, to remove superfluous phone lines when making a service call. At least the Bell guy said that. I suspect the cable guy saw the partially strung phone line and assumed it had also been damanged by the storm, and saw that we didn't have phone service, so he chopped them.

[mrs-dm.livejournal.com]

The Bell guy used the word superfluous?

[pyat.livejournal.com]

*Nods* I found out his nickname, "Ox", is short for "Oxford."

[amarafox.livejournal.com]

What a day D:

[pyat.livejournal.com]

Oi vey. I'll say...

[anidada.livejournal.com]

Good grief. It better not cost you for the idiotic parts of all that. :(

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

Well, the sink is our own damned fault for putting heavy stuff precariously on the shelf above it, but the phone and cable things shouldn't cost us anything.

[pwned-kisa.livejournal.com]

You forgot to mention that while you were doing all of this, you also managed to hand-hold a neurotic kitten's self-esteem throughout the day.

[pyat.livejournal.com]

You're welcome! :)

[the-vulture.livejournal.com]

All I can really say to that is "Wow!"

As for the sink, Plumber's Goop is actually, according to pro plumbers, quite useless. Go with silicon sealant, if you have any handy.

[(Anonymous)]

Replacing the vanity and the cabinet would cost $106.20 plus tax.
Pyat could buy it at his local Rona store on Parkdale. I'd put it in at no cost, except a diet coke.

Pyat's Old Dad

[pyat.livejournal.com]

Sounds good, Old Dad!