A few weeks ago we were having problems with our phones. They wouldn't sustain a dial tone - so the connection would brake in the middle of a conversation. Then it worsened and the connection would only last a couple of rings before becoming dead. And finally, they wouldn't work at all.
Since we have been on Comcast we have lost our internet and phone service several times. So I just figured Comcast was having some problems. I called up my in-laws to confirm (they have comcast too and are on the same grid - so if ours doesn't work neither does theirs) but theirs was working. The other unusual thing was that the internet was still working - they usually both go out.
Chris and I figured it must be the actual phones that were then causing the problem. We charged them all up and reset them. But still anything we tried didn't help. We figured the kids must have done something to them.
This all occurred over the weekend. By Wednesday, not having a phone was getting pretty annoying. Again, I went through all the procedures to try and fix the phones but nothing worked. Finally when I looked at our modem, I noticed that it was not blinking right. So, I finally succumbed to calling Comcast for some help (using my cell phone of course - thank goodness for cell phones). After being put on hold for 15 minutes (it is a good thing I don't use that many minutes on my plan) I finally got someone to talk to me. I explained that my phone wasn't working and after a few minutes of getting vital information from me they reported back that we had a failure in our phone line. Well, duh!!!! That is why I am calling.
After giving some more information and trying several different things from their end (rebooting our line and what ever else they do) they said they would have to send someone out. So, I figured that it would be a couple of days before they could get someone out - but as it happens someone was going to be in our area between 3-7 pm that day. (I love how specific they are able to narrow down the times for you! Good thing I had nothing better to do than stay at home and clean and watch kids.)
Finally a worker comes. He checks out our modem - and again tells me that the blinking light means we have a phone failure. (Yes, I think we have already established this!). After plenty of fiddling and using high-tech gadgets he lets me know we have a short in the line. He traces the phone wires in and out of the house to check them out. Nothing. Next he says, "I notice you have kids." (Ah, what tipped you off? The toys flung all over the house or the noisy screams vibrating throughout the house?) "Have any of them played with the phone jacks? Sometimes kids like to put things in the jacks and that will short the phone line."
"Really?" I say, but I am thinking, "Agggh! That Sean! He is going to pay for this." I know it is probably him, because there is a phone jack in his room, right by the plug that we use for the night light. He has fiddled with the night lights so much that he has gone through at least 10 of them just this month. It has to be Sean.
The worker asked me to examine all the indoor phone jacks while he went outside to examine the phone box leading into the house.
I go immediately to Sean's room. But there is nothing stuck in there and I don't see any obvious damage. I proceed to check all the phone jacks in the house. But no, I don't see anything.
I go outside to report my non-findings to the worker. I tell him that all the phone jacks are clear, but I am secretly still convinced that it is all Sean's fault. He responds by saying, "Are you squeamish?" Well, yes I am. But after being a science teacher I have to say, "No, not at all." He then shows me a wadded up napkin in his hands and says, "I think I found the problem." As he unwraps the napkins I see a slug. I hate slugs!!!!! It is a huge yucky slug with one end that has exploded and been burned.
Apparently this slug had slimed it's way into the outside phone box. It had dissolved the plastic coating around the wires (which was causing the initial problem of the line cutting out sometimes). Then after enough wire had been exposed the slug and crawled across two different wires - which provided a conduit between the two wires and shorted them out(thus no phone connection)and also ended the life of the pesky slug.
He then handed me the slug (to show to my husband later) and handed me the bill (I don't know which one was worse to receive).
I was very relived that it wasn't Sean. That was probably a first for Sean, that he wasn't to blame. So, if something goes wrong around our house, I am no longer 100% sure that it is Sean, I am only 99.9% sure!
